fresh gifts | day 15 | beer of the month club

Today is my husband's birthday, so I thought I'd share with you what I bought him for Christmas last year.

I'd always wanted to get Chris a beer-of-the-month club membership, but I was worried about the quality of the beer. My dad had gotten one as a gift a few years ago, and all of the beer was disgusting. Like, take-a-sip-and-spit-it-out disgusting. And my family never spits out booze.

Chris is a beer snob. Blame it on his Pacific Northwest roots - all of those craft breweries and grunge music and the fact that they serve beer in the movie theaters. Too bad he moved to Pennsylvania, where the beer laws are ridiculous. (But, at least we have a few great local craft breweries like Victory and Dogfish Head).

I didn't want the club's selections to include beer that we could buy at the local liquor store. If that were the case, I could have just driven to the closest beer store and stuck a six-pack in the mailbox every four weeks. I searched and searched until I found a club called Micro Beer Club that ships to PA. This company offers a "High End Micro Beer Club". I know - it sounds awful fancy.

This club only includes beer brewed in California and the Pacific Northwest. And each of the beers has an "A" Rating by BeerAdvocate - a bunch of smart drunks who tell you how awesome or skunky a beer tastes. You get three BIG bottles of beer a month, for however many months you want. And by BIG bottles, I mean that they are almost the size of a standard wine bottle.

I was worried since you can't choose the style of beer that you want. For example, Chris prefers pale ales to stouts, porters and wheat beers. He was disappointed when his first shipment had a stout. He started sobbing and wailing. It was really embarrassing for him. But, we found that no matter what style of beer he received, they always tasted great since they are ranked so high. Believe me - Chris drank every beer to the very last drop. Lots of swallowing. No spitting.

I ended up getting Chris six months worth of shipments that each contained three different microbrews. It was around $185, so when you break it down, it is $10 per big bottle which includes shipping. It seems steep, but we both agreed that it was a worthwhile gift for a beer geek who craves craft brews that can't be found locally. And it was like a mini-Christmas each month when we got a new shipment.

This makes a great group gift, too. Especially if you are a procrastinator. On Christmas morning, you can print out a little card right on the website, and hand it to your recipient. You lazy bastard.

Have you ever bought or received the gift of a something-of-the-month club? What was your experience with it?

 

Find the round-up of all the gifts here.

P.S. Happy Birthday, Chris!

Comments

[Into Vintage]

The reason the PNW is so beer-centric is because the weather here is intolerable nine months out of the year so we MUST DRINK. At the movies, in gardens, at festivals (in the rain ... see?). Drinking distracts us from our environment and keeps SAD at arms length. We'd all move away if it wasn't for the beer.

Happy Birthday, Chris!

[Melissa's Antiques]

I am a SUPER HUGE beer snob! I think in my list of loves it falls right in line or after vintage stuff/junking/antiquing. Because the bf is currently living in LA, he sends me all the wonderful West Coast brewed beer every month. Way better than a beer of the month club! :) Love Victory and DFH. My faves out of the West are Rogue and Lost Coast. If he hasn't had it and you can get it, get him ANYTHING from Breckenridge. Hands down one of my faves. I think I could talk about beer as long as I could talk about the junk I buy. (Also - those big bottles are called bombers.)

[Lisa @ milkshake crafts]

I got this for my husband for his birthday last year. He (we) loved it! I remember receiving one shipment in August, opening it, inviting the neighbors over and finishing it before we even exited the pool.