BC’s Bottle Lodge is a new bar and bottle shop coming to West Chester, Ohio. I stopped by this afternoon to talk to the owners and learn about what they have planned.
BC’s Bottle Lodge Location
I’ve lived in around West Chester for eight years. Eight years ago I was hard pressed to find great beer out here. A Kroger Marketplace had all the big name craft beers along with a few locals, other than that it was 20 minutes to Jungle Jim’s or O’Bryan’s in Loveland (this predates Cappy’s by a good six years). The situation hasn’t changed much since then, but we’ve got Middletown Fine Wine and Spirits in (duh) Middletown, Craft Pointe in Mason, two killer gas stations that shall remain my secret honey holes and now, BC’s Bottle Lodge.
They’re perfectly situated at the intersection of I-75 and I-129, right off the 129 exit, and two minutes down from the new Liberty Centre.
They’re also about five minutes up Cincinnati-Dayton road from Tylersville Rd, DogBerry, and the I-75/Cin-Day exit. Upper income, bedroom communities in need of a great bar and bottle shop surround BC’s Bottle Lodge.
BC’s Bottle Lodge AND Bar
BC’s isn’t going to be your typical bottle shop, nor your standard bar. They’re doing a solid job of running a 50/50 split on this. A little more than half the space is set aside for the bar and tables while the other half is all shelving for warm beer, and three cooler doors for cold to-go beer (pictures of both in the gallery below).
They’ve got 24-taps and the two big TV’s over the taps will show what’s on each. The beers will be available in pints or flights of four (kick ass flight boards in the gallery).
The beers on tap at any time are going to be very varied. Caleb went to great lengths to say how they won’t just be six IPAs, but a wide-ranging variety of local, regional, and national beers.
As far as bottles available there will be a shelf just for wine, a shelf for locals, another for bombers. BC’s will also have many shelves along the wall running from the windows to the cooler doors, west coast to east coast respectively.
Bottle Lodge Mug Club
As a special reward to dedicated customers, they’ll be offering a mug club. If you get in before the grand opening, it’s $120, after that, it’ll be $150 for the first year, then decreasing each year, $90 the second year, $72 for year three and on. The club will get you one of these awesome custom hand blown glass mugs. After the grand opening, you’ll get to design your mug, picking out the colors and general design.
Along with a rocking mug to drink from, you’ll get $1 off every pint you order, first access to special releases, and become one of the only customers to be able to place holds on new releases. Basically, if you know you’ll be going to BC’s Bottle Lodge a lot, join the mug club and they’ll take care of you.
Patio
As of this moment, there is no patio. Sometime in Spring, they’ll be taking out a few parking spots (don’t worry, they have plenty) to build a large fenced in patio. These plans include a smaller fenced in area with some rubber tire stuff, a Little Tyke house, and some other stuff for kids to play with while their parents enjoy a beer on the patio.
They’re also planning on having food trucks pull up along this patio to serve up food. Oh, speaking of food. Turns out they had to get a food license to get their bar and growler license. So, all I’m going to say is that if you want a good laugh, you should ask about the hot subs.
There’s plenty of food near them including a Donato’s that’ll deliver straight to the door and a Chinese place next door. That Donato’s will be providing pizza for any tasting events held at BC’s.
BC’s Bottle Lodge Gallery
Here are all the other shots I’ve been promising.
Opening Dates
I’m writing this on Wednesday, March 3rd. They’re getting their liquor license tomorrow, placing orders the same day, hopefully receiving orders and entering inventory Friday, then a very soft opening this Saturday, March 5th at 5 p.m.
The grand opening celebration will be on the 3rd or 4th weekend of March, the 19th or 26th respectively. Be sure to follow them on Facebook and Twitter for all the details on that event and everything coming up in their future.
I’ll be honest, I’m buying the hype, and I’m excited about this place. If their plans work out, you’ll find me there often. Update 1 year later, as predicted, I am there a lot.
BrewMinds 