In these days of ever more online shopping, webshops are probably growing in market share in the beer world, too. Beer subscriptions are the extreme end of that spectrum for the beer geek: you pay once (or re-occurring, but you subscribe once) and then get beer delivered to your doorstep regularly. Easy. Subscriptions come in all kinds of shapes and sizes. Some are with a brewery while others are orchestrated by wholesalers and some exist only of membership-only beers while others contain mostly beer that can also be found in the supermarket. Ergo, whatever you want, it’s there.
Over the past year I have been a member of three such subscriptions. The first was only an advent, a one-time box with 24 beers supposedly opened once a day in the dark weeks before Christmas. All three were organised by Dutch breweries, but oh my were they different…
Why this blog post? I guess I have learned a thing or two about what I could possible expect from subscriptions. Also, the past year has contributed to my opinion about what beer subscriptions could offer, and what they perhaps should offer. Of course, this is all just my opinion and other people may experience this very differently. Although I will try to be a bit general, be aware of my personal shining true in all its brightness.
I feel comfortable sharing the names of the breweries and subscription plan names of all of these, as in general I have been rather happy with them. I knew what I was in for, and got pretty much what I expected. The advent was by Jopen. The box had 24 amazing beers, great variation in styles and all of them with surprising elements. It wasn’t necessarily very cheap, but I enjoyed it very much and thought it was more than worth the price tag.
(Logo courtsey of bierista, Indulgence of Moersleutel)
For one full year I have now been a member of The Guild, the membership of the Moersleutel brewery from the Netherlands. They’re known for thick, heavy stouts, as well very juicy hazy IPAs. So when you get membership, it will be much of that. Nice extras were the occasional session beer (a lighter stout or session IPA), and some sours, in the summer box. Every other month you would get a box with 12-16 beers, mostly in 44cl cans. There is also the Guild exclusive “Indulgence” series: an exclusive multi-barrel aged imperil stout that without exception has been exceptional. As a Guild member one also has access to the Guild-only part of their webshop with some early releases, fun merch, older editions of Guild-exclusive beers, and modest discount on some items. There are fun extras like two beers that developed over the year, with the recipe evolving according to tasting notes and suggestions by the members. The last box of the year is much bigger, as it is an advent as well. 24 heavy duty beers, to be unpacked (and in my case, stored; I can’t handle this much in one month) one a day in December. With so many beers, 92 in total, the price of 500 euros is high, but very very reasonable! Things people complain about on the internet: guest beers taking some of the spots in the box. I personally don’t have an issue with that at all, especially if these would be from befriended breweries that they feel deserve a spot among their beers. That it was taken, more than once, by beers that can be bought at the supermarket is somewhat of a downside… Filling up spots with the same supermarket guest beer in more than box is also something I can relate to some outrage for. It was a good year, but I’m moving elsewhere for the coming year, mostly because I want to allow other breweries some of my money, too.
A “traditional” Dutch brewery, Hertog Jan (owned by AB InBev) also started an experimental membership that they call their Proeftuin (Experimental garden, or more freely translated, their sandbox). In this membership they release 4 new beers per year in styles that are not yet too common for them. You get 3 stone jugs of 50cl of their newest creation, along with some notes and videos from the brewers about the creation process. First package of the year contains 2 glasses also, exclusive to the membership. The beers were, in order: Bourgondische Stout (a low-ish abv coffee stout), Vienna Lager, New England IPA and Tarwewijn (wheat wine), so a steady increase in abv over the year. It’s my own fault, but I was expecting 3 different beers in each package, but it isn’t. Contrary to many complaints I saw online (I know, biased!) I was pretty happy with most of the beers. The NEIPA wasn’t actually all that juicy or hazy, so I guess that for me was the one that was the least among the 4. My biggest concern is the price tag in this case. At 130 euros, you basically pay 10 euros per 50cl bottle, which is not cheap, especially not for fairly common styles, no matter how new they are for HJ to make. I have drank some myself, I have given bottles away, and if I manage to sell a few more for a reasonable amount, this membership is still worth its money though, I would say. You get some special member events as well, but they are organized at their brewery, which is just a bit too far away for me. Still considering to extent this membership.
Now we’re approaching Christmas and New Year’s. A time of reflection. Life choices sometimes deserve reconsideration and beer subscriptions are no different. In my search for interesting memberships around here (the Netherlands) I have considered a few breweries that could take over the cost center of Moersleutel for me, but I came to the realization that many breweries have their own accents: some styles are more popular among their fan base and will therefore dominate their mailings. Breweries that mix up their styles a bit more typically don’t release enough new beers to make for interesting subscriptions. After asking online about the experience of a company who does membership boxes that they fill up with small breweries from all over the country, the owner offered me to send me an example box for free. I don’t complain! I’m hopefully awaiting, and perhaps he just brought me in for the next year!
I’m curious to hear about your experiences, too! What did you like and what made you less enthusiastic! Reach out down here, or on Mastodon! Happy holidays!
Tasting Craft Beer 
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