I tried searching and didn't see a thread. I am very interested in joining a beer of the month club. Any of you guys in one? If so how much is it and do you consider it a decent deal? I was looking at beeronthewall but they don't ship to my state (VA). Thanks!
This one: http://www.beermonthclub.com/the-rare-beer-club.htm Most all of the rest can be spotty in their selections and all are a bit pricy for what you get. I tried a different one for a few months until I found that the reason many won't ship to PA was a certain lack of clarity in PA law that created the possibility I was breaking the law by receiving out of state beer shipments that nobody was paying state tax on. Also in the 3 months of membership I found that there was about a 50% chance that I'd never have bought the beer for myself even if I had had acess to it in PA.
$44.95 a month for two 750ml bottles seems high to me, Is the value of what they send you really that high?
Some months it's worth it, other months it's not. It really depends upon your distribution, too. Join with an "open membership" and you'll get options each month. You will see the beer selections ahead of time and can decide if you want to: skip that month, add more bottles, switch out bottles, etc. It's very flexible and, in my opinion, worth keeping open to see what the bottles are each month.
Oh, I had no idea you could actually see what was available and pick and choose what months to take delivery. That's excellent. I thought you just signed up and was sent whatever they want without you know until you opened the box.
Not if you join with an open monthly membership. The first month you join, however, you'll get whatever they're sending out. Then, you'll get an e-mail at the end of the month with the selections for the next month, and have about a week to respond/decide what you'd like to do. It's an online form in the e-mail. Works really smoothly and their customer support is excellent.
yeah, you gotta figure just about any beer of the month club shipping is going to be ~13 bucks. so 32 bucks for 2 750's of pretty decent beer isn't too bad. I was looking at some of the past selections and they aren't bad, especially if you live in a place with poor distro
Right. On a related note, the selections sometimes are ones that you'll receive a month or more ahead of time before it hits distribution. For example, Anchorage Galaxy White IPA was a selection last month in February that was sent to the beer club, but is only hitting distribution this month (or later this month?). Other beers are ones brewed specifically for the Rare Beer Club, like January's selection by Saint Somewhere: Cynthiana. They also have exclusive offers sometimes. Currently, there is an offer from Jester King to purchase 4 different of their "Farmhouse" beers - Black Metal Farmhouse, Mad Meg Farmhouse, Noble King Farmhouse and Farmhouse Wytchmaker Rye IPA I believe. Completely optional, but as a member you have the choice. Since I don't think anyone outside of Texas gets Jester King (maybe limited in CA?), that is a pretty cool one to get.
I see. Well the ability to get stuff that isn't normally distributed in my area is a pretty good draw.
I was given two memberships at different points through the years and drtth mentioned, the selections can be spotty. I was never able to pull the trigger on the Rare because of the price, but if you have the extra cash that would be the way to go. Also, France44 (online purveyors of Surly among others) has something called the Rathskeller Club that I have been meaning to look into. Not sure of price but you can email them. http://www.france44.com/page.cfm/RATHSKELLER_CLUB.html
I've had a membership at http://www.craftbeerclub.com for nearly a year now, and love it. It's about $38 a month for a half case, with 2 selections from 2 different breweries from all around the country. Shipping adds about $13. So, it's not the cheapest way to buy beer, but you get a great selection, in depth information on each Brewery, and you get some freebies if you sign up for a year long membership.
Is there any other good reason to buy one of these memberships for one's self? (As opposed to graciously accepting a gift of one - what the hell, free beer.)
Oops...so it does! I had this link saved and a note to check price. Guess I meant to email about shipping costs.
If I were to go the Beer of The Month Club again, it would be with either Beer On The Wall or France 44.
My wife got me a membership in the Rare Beer of the Month Club. I concur with the previous posts about the flexibility, and I would say the selection for the most part has been satisfactory.
I'm in the MJ Rare Beer Club that has been mentioned. I feel like you have to get at least 4 bottles to make it worth it. 2 for 44.95 or 4 for around $66, this way after shipping, it comes to about $16 per bottle. And you have an extra to cellar or trade. Like others have said, the slection is usually pretty solid, and having the option to preview before buying is definitely one of the things that makes it great. Here's a list of the last year of brews: http://rarebeerclub.beveragebistro.com/rare_selection.html
Wait, you seriously searched and didn't find anything? Did you google? I have been incredibly unimpressed with the beers shipped in the Rare club. All but I think two I've been able to get on the shelf, and very few of them have been beers I would call "good". Probably because it seems to be half saisons and I don't like saisons (and am too lazy to change my orders beforehand). I also seem to have not gotten last month's, which is kind of strange, I don't think my subscription is up. My mom signed me up for the normal craft beer one, and that one sucks. First off, they sent Mendocino brewing to someone who lives in the bay area. Yeah, thanks for that. Second, they use this shitty-ass carrier who can't be assed to walk to my apt's complex, instead deciding to call me every goddamn month for the gate code, which then won't do anything because they won't leave the package AND I have to sign for it. It's like they think fucking everyone is unemployed. I should ask for my mom's money back, just because I am never going to get another package from them.
Sorry everyone, The Monthly Beer Club (Beer Society/Rathskeller) at France44 is ending. We are not taking any new members.
I'm a major beer geek and I tried all the beer of the month clubs out there. The best of the bunch is - www.greatclubs.com and www.rarebeerclub.com All the others are junk. Its a cool gift I give to my friends time to time.
