The Microbrewed Beer of the Month Club is a subscription from monthlyclubs.com that includes 12-12oz. craft beers from two different U.S. microbreweries. Monthlyclubs.com also offers The International Wine, The Premium Cigar, The Gourmet Cheese, The Gourmet Chocolate, and The Fresh Cut Flowers monthly clubs.
Within The Microbrewed Beer of the Month Club, subscribers can also choose between 5 options: The U.S. Microbrewed Beer Club, The U.S. and International Variety Beer Club, The Hops-Head Beer Club, The International Beer Club, and the Rare Beer Club.
My Subscription Addiction paid for this box. (Check out our review process post to learn more about how we review boxes.)
This review is of The U.S. Microbrewed Beer of the Month Club, $27.95 a month, box.
The Subscription Box: The Microbrewed Beer of the Month Club
The Cost: $27.95 a month + $15 shipping and handling
LIMITED TIME DEAL: Use MDAY10 to save $10 off a 3-month subscription, MDAY15, to save $15 off a 6-month subscription, or MDAY25 to save $25 off a 12-month subscription
ACTIVE DEAL: $10 off a 4 shipment order
CODE: SAVE10
The Products: Twelve 12 oz. hand-crafted beers (3 of each) from "two different lightly distributed U.S. microbreweries."
Ships to: U.S. only, excluding Alaska, Hawaii, and Utah
Good to know: Not only can you choose from one of the six monthlyclubs.com memberships, you can also “Design Your Own Club” by combining any or all clubs into one. This is a great idea for upcoming birthday gifts, Mother’s and/or Father’s Day.
Check out all of our The Microbrewed Beer of the Month Club reviews and the Beer of the Month Club Subscription Box Directory!
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This month's box included a one-sheet flyer and booklet about the various monthly clubs and Mother's Day promotion monthlyclubs.com is offering. I love the idea of combining chocolate and wine in the Design Your Own Club for my mom!
I also received the usual newsletter, which describes the two breweries featured. This month's breweries are Crazy Mountain Brewing Company, Shmaltz Brewing Company, and Alphabet City Brewing Company. I am not familiar with any of the three companies, so this will definitely come in handy when trying the beers. It also helps in appreciating the brewery's process and ultimately discovering what I like or dislike about each beer.
Crazy Mountain Brewing Company Cara de Luna Black Ale
Crazy Mountain Brewing Company is located in Colorado and was founded in 2010 by a husband-wife team. It is a popular destination for Vail tourists and in addition to being Vail's first production brewery, their website promotes live music events at their tap room.
The first of their beers I tried is the Cara de Luna Black Ale. It has an alcohol content of 5.0% and 25 Int'l Bittering Units (IBUs). I really like this beer. It's not overly bitter and chocolate is apparent. It oddly reminds me of a Belgian beer, which after reading the newsletter, makes sense because it's made with Belgian malt (in addition to German hops and American yeast). I'm a fan of darker beers and this one is a great balance of rich flavor but not overly heavy to drink.
Crazy Mountain Brewing Company Snowcat Coffee Stout
The second beer from Crazy Mountain Brewing Company is another dark beer, but this time a coffee stout - I'm excited! This beer is fantastic! Coffee is the most obvious flavor, but I can also taste chocolate and caramel. There is an alcohol content of 5.9% and 59 IBUs, which gives this beer quite a bite. One other note about this brewery: they have the best website across the various breweries I've been introduced to by The Microbrewed Beer of the Month Club. Each beer is detailed in an understandable way and they offer creative meal pairings for each beer. Crazy Mountain is a great discovery this month!
Shmaltz Brewing Company Hop Orgy
Shmaltz Brewing Company was founded in New York and has a classic start-up story. Their first batch of He-Brew was created as a Kosher, celebratory beer for various Jewish holidays. After successfully selling out the cases being sold out of his trunk, the founder made his idea a brewing company reality. Shmaltz Brewing's marketing is playful and as they put it, "award-winning beer and quality schtick since 1996."
The Microbrewed Beer of the Month Club sent one beer from Shmaltz Brewing called Hop Orgy. It is a seasonal American IPA that is copper in color, fruity, spicy, and really hoppy. It has an alcohol content of 6.0% and 69 IBUs. I really want to like this beer because of the fruitiness, but it is my least favorite of this month's box, mainly due to the strong bite and bitterness.
Alphabet City Brewing Company Easy Blonde
Alphabet City Brewing Company was founded in 2001 in NYC and Easy Blonde was their first product and flagship beer. Easy Blond is a German-style beer with an alcohol content of 4.7% and 20 IBUs. It's golden in color and notes of citrus and spice. It's neither awesome nor awful in my opinion, rather a middle-of-the-road, but good-to-have in your fridge kind of beer.
Here's a comparison of all the beers. From left to right: Alphabet City Brewing Company Easy Blonde, Shmaltz Brewing Company Hop Orgy, Crazy Mountain Brewing Company Cara de Luna Black Ale, and Crazy Mountain Brewing Company Snowcat Coffee Stout.
Verdict: This month's The Microbrewed Beer of the Month Club was solid. My favorite beers came from Crazy Mountain Brewing Company, although I loved learning about each of these new-to-me breweries. I like that this subscription not only sends quality beer but also a lot of information promoting the brewing companies. I didn't love them all, but each beer is top-notch and I was sent a variety of styles and taste.
For $42.95 a month (including shipping), you receive 12 beers, which breaks down to $3.57 a beer. While not a bargain, you would likely pay more for each beer out at a bar or sampling at the brewery itself. I like how this subscription brings local and craft-brewed varieties straight to your home, and feel the value is there for me again this month.
What did you think of April's The Microbrewed Beer of the Month Club? Which was your favorite beer?
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