One of my big goals for this year is to try at least 200 different beers and review at least 100 of them.  I am hoping I can do more than that but with budget and time constraints, I think the goal I have set will be hard enough to reach.  One of the best ways to add variety to my Beer drinking this year is going to be through a Beer of the Month Club.

I was surprised to find how many Beer of the Month clubs there were to choose from.  I researched it for the last week before deciding on which one to go with and found at least 8 different Beer of the Month clubs.  Some are just reselling other clubs memberships as far as I can tell and some didn’t have as impressive of a selection of beer that they send out.

When you get right down to it, after you add in the shipping costs, a beer of the month club is not the cheapest way to get your hands on a good beer but it’s not all that expensive either.  At $35 for a 12-pack comes out to almost $3 a bottle.  The big advantage I see in a Beer of the Month club is most of the beer I expect to receive will be from microbreweries I wouldn’t have normally had access to.  The club I choose will give me access to a wide variety of regional microbrews that I wouldn’t have otherwise been exposed to.  For that reason alone, I think the club is more than worth it.

The club I joined today is called the Microbrewed Beer of the Month Club.  It’s put out by the Gourmet Clubs of America and from my research, it is the best reviewed club I could find.  They have several different clubs you can join:

• Original Microbrewed Beer of the Month Club – This is the one I joined.  It is all American microbrews, you get 3 bottles of 4 different American beers from microbreweries all over the country.  They advertise this club as $20.95 a month but with shipping the price is actually $34.95 a month.
• International and Domestic Variety Beer Club – The second club is a mix of American and International beers.  With the second club you get 3 bottles of 2 different American beers and 3 bottles of 2 different International beers.  They advertise this club as $28.95 a month but with shipping the price is actually $42.95 a month
• International Beer Club – The third option is 3 bottles of 4 different International beers.  They advertise this club at $32.95 a month but with shipping it’s actually $46.95 a month

I opted for a 3 month membership of the Original Microbrewed Beer of the Month club.  I opted for 3 months simply because I want to try more than one club.  I intend to do 3 months of the original club, 3 months of the variety club, 3 months of the International club.  I will finish out my year with another 3 month membership to the club I enjoyed the most.

I will be reviewing every beer I get from the club.  Want to follow along with me and drink the same beers I am drinking?  You can join by going to Microbrewed Beer of the Month Club

Updates:

• First Month