Life

Craft Beer: Beer club subscription is a Christmas gift worth considering

Online beer clubs provide a steady flow of beers to subscribers each month
Online beer clubs provide a steady flow of beers to subscribers each month Online beer clubs provide a steady flow of beers to subscribers each month

IF THE shops can ferry in truckloads of selection boxes at the stroke of midnight on August 31, then I think I can safely mention the ‘C’ word as October winds down.

To be fair, any brewers who are bringing out special Christmas beers will have them safely tucked away in fermentation tanks or oak barrels by now so they will be ready to be sipped and chugged by the fire in a the ubiquitous garish seasonal jumper.

But now could be the time to start thinking about the perfect beery Christmas gift for your ale-obsessed friend or family member.

Online beer clubs have spread like wildfire in the last couple of years and provide a steady flow of beers to subscribers each month. They are also a good way for small breweries without established distribution lines to get their beer out to a wide audience.

Some beer clubs will also include their own collaboration brews with the brewers they feature as well as well-produced magazine and snacks. A six-month subscription would be an ideal gift as it allows them to discover new beers with the option of renewing themselves or sticking with some of their favourites.

Splashing out on a subscription this Christmas will be guaranteed to put a smile on any beer lovers face. But what should you be looking for?

Striking the right balance between quality and price is key. Subscriptions can range from £20 to £40 depending on the amount of beers you get each month.

Flavourly is one of the best-value boxes as you can get eight beers for £20. From personal experience, they deliver some good beers, but the quality can be a bit hit and miss at times, particularly their collaboration brews.

Beer52 strikes a good balance between price and quality. They deliver eight beers a month for £24 and frequently have themed boxes from well-known breweries such as Mikkeller, Buxton, Founders and Thornbridge. BeerHawk also deal with some of the heavy hitters of the craft beer world and their boxes are available with eight, 12 or 15 beers with price of course varying.

If you prefer a more interactive experience, there are beer clubs that conduct ‘live’ tastings. Thebeerclub.ie is an Irish beer club which delivers six different beers each month, two of each, and host tasting discussions on Twitter among their discerning communities.

UK-based Beerbods takes a similar approach in that they deliver 12 beers every 12 weeks and encourage their customers to drink a specific bottle every Thursday evening in order to take part in a live social media discussion.