This question was discussed recently on a social media forum dedicated to craft beer: What happened to the phenomenon known as bottle shares? With no definitive answer forthcoming, the online debate did reveal some key timely points about the industry and its modern culture.
As the name implies, a bottle share is the craft beer equivalent of a pot luck dinner. Participants each bring a favorite bottled beer (or dozen) to share among a small group of friends, often at a private residence but possibly organized at a local beer bar or craft brewery (with permission, of course). Sampling follows, usually singularly as each product is opened, enjoyed, debated and sometimes documented or rated like a novel in a book club.
Bottle shares were once more common only a decade or two ago, not just in North Texas but around the country, but such events have subsided somewhat in recent years for a constellation of reasons. Even the name “bottle share” reveals its age, where most beers once packaged in quite sharable 22-oz bombers or only available in point-of-sale, half-gallon growlers are now commercially canned as 12-oz or 16-oz aluminum products.
Obviously, one of the major recent impacts on such social craft beer gatherings was the health and safety concerns of the COVID-19 pandemic in the years 2020 through about mid-2022. Public exposure, both commercial and private, was severely curtailed by state ordinances and personal decisions made for private and familial protection. Just as many worked or attended school remotely, social gatherings of a number of strangers all but disappeared―and has yet to rebound to pre-pandemic levels for many social categories involving many still-ongoing reasons.
One major influence working against modern bottle shares is the increased distribution of craft beer in general. Just before and throughout the pandemic, major advances were made in the simple business of packaging and distribution of craft beer products nationwide. What were once rare and coveted brands in one state became available nationwide fairly easily, filling both retail shelves and emerging craft beer bar franchises. Texas more than most states benefitted from the business and regulatory floodgates relaxing enough to accommodate both prominent brands and local brewers eager to expand.
Whether related to personal preference, health, family or career, many of us who enjoyed participating in bottle shares have simply aged out of that demographic.
Another influence cited in the discussion was the relative reduction in travel associated with the pandemic and emerging improvements with video communications technologies. Craft beer fans who once bounced around the US as part of their jobs, gathering local bottles like pollinators, saw their travel significantly curtailed or eliminated. Once critical sources of craft beer largesse fueled by corporate needs began to dry up as travel was deemed unnecessary or unaffordable. Private travel in recent years has similarly seen its own ups-and-downs.
Related to travel, the downturn of popular craft beer social websites such as RateBeer, BeerAdvocate* and others has also contributed to the decline of discovery and sharing of new beers. At their height, websites such as these provided an active worldwide community that even casual craft beer fans could plug into and benefit from their online organization. (Many functions of businesses such as these have moved to smartphone apps instead of full websites, another generational indicator.) Events and friendships were not only found but maintained with an active social presence, and nothing has quite inherited that same public function with their loss.
Further reasons for a downturn in amateur craft beer events like bottle shares waxed somewhat philosophical. The craft beer industry itself has experienced a generational decline in business as younger consumers are both drinking less craft beer and less alcohol in general. Reasons for the ongoing decline are still debated, with reasons ranging from health to competition to simple personal finances as craft beer costs continue to rise. Likewise, the outlay for rare or specialized products (and willingness to share them among strangers) has been in similar decline.
The wares that craft brewers now produce has inevitably changed compared to decades past as both brewers and the industry as a whole have matured. Specialized, limited edition, experimental and aged styles have given way to more sellable products like fruity trends or overly sweet malt beverages, following consumer demand. Balance sheets must be obeyed, and quick turnarounds have become favored over months of lagering, specialized ingredients or barrel aging. Simply put, the overall number of craft beer “white whales” made today for fans to avidly pursue has declined precipitously.
One personal revelation in the online debate was particularly poignant. An entire generation has now aged up and out of the modern craft beer movement―which began in the mid-1990s, with its current resurgence dating to the late 2000s―replaced by younger consumers with distinctly different tastes and experiences. Whether related to personal preference, health, family or career, many of us who enjoyed participating in bottle shares have simply aged out of that demographic. A younger crowd with different priorities and social habits has emerged, and bottle shares are simply not part of their vision.
All this is not to say that traditional bottle shares are entirely extinct. Many legacy groups continue to meet and share in person with regularity, largely driven by close networks of friends made and maintained through such events. But the frequency of these gatherings has noticeably declined, and that is a net loss for the craft beer community at large. PH
* BeerAdvocate is still a functional website and community but its reach and popularity have both tanked compared to years past, when myself and many beer friends were active participants. Once a bellwether, I cannot recall the last time I met any craft beer fan who even knew of its existence.
