Craft Beer Club is one of the original beer subscription services, and it currently remains one of the most popular as well. It offers monthly deliveries of assorted craft beers from breweries across the country, and it’s a popular way of trying local beers outside of your own area. Customers can choose from monthly subscriptions along with other options.
Since Craft Beer Club isn’t the only beer subscription service available, it’s worth learning more about it to decide if it’s right for you. This guide will go over everything you need to know about Craft Beer Club including its offerings, subscription model, plus all the pros and cons of the service. I hope you enjoy this Craft Beer Club review!
What is Craft Beer Club? Who’s It For?
Craft Beer Club is a monthly subscription service where you receive 12 or more craft beers delivered to your door each month. The basic subscription offers 12 brews, but you can also choose to increase your delivery to 24, 36 or more per month.
The beers are from craft breweries across the US, and they come in a variety of styles including:
• Pale Ales
• IPAs
• Lagers
• Stouts
• Brown Ales
• Red Ales
• Pilsners
• Porters
• Hefeweizens
• Bocks
• And more!
The average beer contains 5-7% alc, although some beers may be lighter or stronger. The purpose of Craft Beer Club is to showcase local favorites throughout the country that may be difficult or impossible to find in your local area.
These are generally micro craft beers which don’t have a national distribution. The beers come from both brand new microbreweries along with older ones from every state. Each month showcases different beers from two breweries, and while you may receive similar styles in subsequent shipments, the breweries and individual products will differ.
Craft Beer Club is ideal for those who aren’t picky about their beer and want to get into new styles and flavors. If you only drink very highly rated or premium craft beers, then you may want to look elsewhere. Many of the beers are touted for their drinkability, but this does mean that you won’t get anything completely unique or mind-blowing.
Key Features of Craft Beer Club
Each shipment from Craft Beer Club contains, at minimum, four separate styles of beer from two different microbreweries.
It may seem confusing at first, so to clear things up, let’s pretend your next shipment contains IPAs, Stouts, Ales, and Porters. If you choose the 12 beer classic subscription, your order will arrive like this:
3 IPAs from Brewer A
3 Stouts from Brewer A
3 Ales from Brewer B
3 Porters from Brewer B
If you opt for more shipments per order, you would receive the same products listed above only in increased quantities of 12. So a double order would contain 24 beers, while a triple would contain 36, and so on.
You can also choose monthly, quarterly, or every-other-month shipments if you prefer to drink less. You can also try the service by only ordering for one month at first, and you can cancel afterwards if the service isn’t right for you.
Gift subscriptions work the same way as any other subscription; you would simply add the recipients address for shipping instead of yours. However, if you’re currently a subscriber, there are occasional gift add-ons that you can purchase during certain holidays for roughly $20. These gift add-ons include extra beers and various themed props like bottle openers, magnets, and more.
The price for the most basic monthly 12-beer option is $46.75 per shipment. Shipping is included as well.
If you pay for 6 months in advance, you can receive $30 off your order, and paying for 7 months will get you $60 off. Ordering for fewer months won’t bring any discounts, but you can receive a free gift such as a bottle opener or can chiller by ordering for two or more months.
Craft Beer Club’s average price per beer is $3.89, which is fairly good for a micro craft beer. Some beers may be cans containing 12oz, while others may be bottles containing 22oz.
Pros and Cons of Craft Beer Club
Pros
Simplicity: If you enjoy or want to get into craft beer, Craft Beer Club makes it very easy to discover new breweries and beer styles. You don’t have to research online for the perfect purchase, and you don’t have to wander through the aisles hoping to find something new. Simply order, wait, and enjoy!
Discover New Styles: It’s easy to stick to one style of beer, whether it’s an IPA or stout, but Craft Beer Club makes it simple and fun to try new and exciting styles. Enjoy a new Hefeweizen, or an Imperial stout, and then branch out further as you expand your taste!
Surprises Are Always Fun: Most adults receive fewer gifts than kids, but that doesn’t mean that receiving a gift is any less exciting! Having new beers delivered to your door each month can bring excitement and joy as you wait and wonder what’s in the box. It’s like a holiday every month!
Always Have Beers on Hand: Whether you drink rarely or a lot, it’s worthwhile to have some extra beers in your fridge for unexpected guests. With Craft Beer Club, you’ll always have something in your fridge to enjoy or share. Plus, if you dislike a certain style, you can just save it for your guests!
Beer Pairings: The website features many foods that can be paired with your delivered beers, and this makes it easy to find great new culinary combinations when your beer arrives!
Support American Microbreweries: Craft beer is mostly about flavors, but it’s also about the community. It’s nice to support small and upcoming businesses, and it feels great when you discover a new brewery and become a supporter. Craft Beer Club makes it easy to discover microbreweries from around the country that you may not have otherwise heard about, and you never know if you’ll soon discover a new favorite!
Cons
Whether You Like the Beers or Not: Craft Beer Club’s biggest selling point is also it’s biggest weakness: you can’t choose your beers and it’s always a surprise. Surprises are fun, but not if you’re a picky drinker. If you know you’re not a fan of darker ales or any other random style, you may be disappointed if 25% of your shipment is a style you dislike.
Of course, you can always hand these beers out as gifts, but the lack of choice is something to consider if you’re not a fan of many different styles. Luckily, you can refuse certain styles for future shipments, but you’re not guaranteed to like all of the beers even if they’re in a style you usually enjoy.
Possibly Difficult Shipping: Craft Beer Club deliveries usually arrive between the 16th and 30th of each month, and while waiting for your beer isn’t the worst problem in the world, all alcoholic deliveries require a signature and ID verification from someone 21 years or older. This can make it very tricky, especially if no one is at your residence during the week, and it can make receiving orders a hassle.
In reviews, some customers stated that the delivery process was troublesome, and that some bottles or cans even arrived opened from a rough shipment. While this is to be expected with any drink delivery service, the necessary signature and age verification can make it a fairly big hassle each month.
Beer Quality and Ratings: Some subscribers dislike that none of the beers featured are known as amazing or world-class beers, and are often beers with a 3-star or lower rating on sites like BeerAdvocate.
What Are People Saying About Craft Beer Club?
Craft Beer Club reviews are generally mixed. On the official site, the general reviews are very positive with users praising the great selection of drinks, fast shipping, and friendly customer service. Of course, websites will often highlight the good reviews over the bad, but these reviews are still from real customers.
On other websites, such as Yelp, Trustpilot, and Reddit, the original Craft Beer Club reviews are a bit mixed. Some users dislike the slow and sporadic delivery times, while others dislike the selection of beers.
The average Craft Beer Club review shows that it’s a nice way to get started in the world of craft beer since it makes discovering new brands and styles so effortless, but it’s not the best value for those who are already invested in the hobby.
Ratings
Ease of Use
3/5 Starting and stopping the service is as easy as ordering anything else online, but the delivery requiring a signature does make it a bit more of a hassle. These laws aren’t the fault of Craft Beer Club of course, but it does bring the rating to 3 out of 5 stars since the package can’t simply be left at your doorstep.
Features
3/5 Aside from some holiday themed gifts and paid add-ons, there aren’t many special features for Craft Beer Club. It’s getting a solid 3 stars in that regard since it does what it promises (delivers beer,) but don’t expect any extra surprises with each subsequent shipment.
You may also be able to cancel certain styles for future shipments or choose to receive only bottles as well. This can be helpful if you dislike, say, porters or IPAs.
Customer Service
2/5 As with anything, customer service can be a gamble. Some users report that customer service is responsive, helpful, and overall friendly, while others have said that it’s often slow and not very helpful.
Of course, all reviews generally trend towards the negative online, since happy people are at home enjoying their product, while those who have a problem usually want to write something online. This doesn’t mean that those negative reviews are false, but there are usually more negative than positive reviews for any given site.
We’ll award 2 stars to customer service given that there are some complaints about the shipments and response-time to questions, but we won’t award anything lower since there is confirmed feedback that the site can be helpful as well.
Value for Money
3/5 Overall, each beer costs roughly $3.89 which may or may not be a value depending on the brewery, style, and of course, your personal preference. However, since this price includes shipping costs (which saves you gas and the time of searching for new beers yourself,) the overall value is decent.
It’s certainly not a cheap subscription, but it’s also not prohibitively expensive. In short: if you like all of the beers in your shipments, it’s a very good value. If you dislike some of them, the price gets a bit worse the fewer beers you enjoy.
How to Sign Up for Craft Beer Club
Simply go to their official website, choose your desired quantity and shipment frequency, and then enter your shipping/billing details along with your payment method. It’s that simple!
How to Cancel Craft Beer Club
Canceling is also quite simple, and it can be done on their site or by contacting customer service directly.
Craft Beer Club FAQ
Q: Can I refuse certain beer styles?
A: You may be able to exclude certain styles if you have allergies or simply do not like the flavor. However, this must be done on a case-by-case basis and should be done by calling customer service directly.
Q: Can I cancel at any time?
A: Yes, you may cancel at any time, but you may not be refunded for the following month’s shipment if it’s already being processed or has shipped.
Q: Will my shipment contain bottles or cans? Can I choose?
A: Your shipment will likely contain both bottles and cans. If you prefer not to receive cans, you may contact customer service to note the preference and receive only bottles in the future. This may mean that certain shipments contain more duplicate beers.
Q: Do I need to be 21 or older to order?
A: Yes, you need to be 21 or older to order and will have to provide a valid ID and signature upon delivery.