With the Beer of the Month club, you get 12 beers each month, it’s 4 different beers from 2 different breweries so you get 3 of each beer.    They have several different clubs, the one I am a member of currently is the domestic microbrew beer of the month club.  As the name suggests, all of the beer is from the USA.  They have one that is half  USA and half International, one that is all International and a rare beer of the month club that features very rare and hard to find beer.

The reason I joined the club was because I wanted to try as many styles as I could from as many good breweries as I could.  Microbrews are great but they are microbrews for a reason, they are small and often have very limited distribution.  This club allows me to try a wide selection of beer that I didn’t have access to and I have discovered and tried some really great beers.  What’s really  nice is if you try a beer that you like, you can buy more from them.

The beer club I joined has excellent customer service, I wasn’t thinking when I placed my order and used my home address.  Since they are shipping alcohol, a signature is often required so I called and had it shipped to my work.  I called and had it switched within 5 minutes of placing my order and they were very nice.

The club memberships are very flexible, you can sign someone up for 2 – 12 months and if they like it they can re-subscribe.  I want to try all the different beer of the month clubs that they offer so I signed up for 3 months.  When my 3rd shipment arrives I plan on joining their domestic + international club for 3 months.

If you read this early enough in the shopping season, keep in mind that it’s very easy to call and change the delivery address.  If you want the gift recipient to have something to open for Christmas, have the first shipment shipped to your house and wrap it up.  After you receive your first shipment, give them a call and switch it to the gift recipients address.  That way, they have a case of beer to open at Christmas and they know they have more on the way.  A very cool gift for anyone that loves beer.

To join or order this as a gift for someone, go to Gourmet Microbrewed Beer of the Month Club.

Update:  We were sent some coupons that you may find useful if you decide to get this as a gift for someone.  Check them out at Beer of the Month Coupons.

Please Note: This article is part of our Holiday series highlighting the top 12 gift ideas for beer enthusiasts and homebrewers. Read the original post to get the full list of beer gift ideas.

First Shipment from Beer of the Month Club

A few weeks back I wrote a post about the Microbrew Beer of the Month club that I had joined.  I have been waiting patiently (or at least I have been trying to wait patiently) for my first shipment to arrive and it came today.  I had it shipped to my work since it required an adult signature and was pleasantly surprised to see that the packaging was very discreet.  It showed no signs of what might be inside.  For me, it’s not a problem either way, I am an owner of the business, but it’s still nice to see that they got the little things right with this beer of the month club.

For my first 3 months, I signed up to receive all domestic microbrews.  However, they must have run out of two of the selections as I got two domestic beers and two beers from the Czech Republic.  They did include a note letting me know that they had to make these substitutions.   I am not complaining, they have a club that sends 2 domestic beers and 2 International beers and it’s more expensive than the one I signed up for so I was glad that if they couldn’t fill my order, they upgraded me.

The shipment came with a newsletter that gives you background on the breweries as well as the beers that were chosen.  The newsletter was well written but I found the formatting to be a bit confusing.

I am going to do a review of all 4 beers that I received but until that time, here is what I got:

• Diamond Beer Brewing Company – Presidential IPA
• Florida Beer Company – Hurricane Reef Pale Ale
• Pivovar Herold – Bohemian Granat Lager
• Pivovar Herold – Bohemian Black Lager

I will update this post with links to each review as I do them.  you can follow along with me if you like and join the same Beer of the Month club that I belong to by going to the Gourmet Beer of the Month Club.

According to the Brewers Association (the trade organization that represents most breweries in the US), growth of the craft beer industry is up 5% by volume and 9% by dollars.  That means that not only are we buying more craft beer than we did last year, we are spending more money on that beer.   In 2008, craft brewers sold 4 Million barrels of beer.  In 2009, craft brewers sold 4.2 Million barrels.  What makes these numbers even more impressive is that overall, beer sales in the US are down 1.3% and imported beer is down 9.5% for the same period of time.

Below is a chart from the Brewers Association showing the growth of the beer industry in the last 100 years.