We all have friends or colleagues who enjoy nothing more than sitting down to a really great beer. Imagine how much they’ll look forward to checking the mail each day day knowing that their next shipment of premium beer might be waiting for them thanks to you. After all, you really can’t go wrong with giving the gift of a beer club membership these days when it comes for finding the perfect gift for the beer lovers in your life.
It’s hard to believe that it was just a short time ago that most guys were only familiar with a handful of breweries and stuck to one or two domestic pilsners with fanatical devotion. With new microbreweries appearing throughout the country dedicated to the craft of brewing artisanal ale, it appears that beer has entered a golden age. Beer clubs let members celebrate the era of quality craft beer in style with samplings of different types of beer from around the country and even the world.
One of the best things about choosing a beer club membership for someone is that it’s the type of gift that keeps on giving. Months after you’ve given your friends subscriptions to a beer club, they’ll continue receiving new beers to try, often for an entire year or longer. In addition to giving them the opportunity to sample some new beers that they may never have had before, their beer club membership can serve as a great conversation topic when they let you know what they’ve tried most recently.
Although membership in most beer clubs isn’t exactly cheap, there are different programs available to fit just about any pocket book. Some clubs focus primarily on providing members with beers from some of the better known microbreweries like Sierra Nevada and Red Hook, and memberships in these programs tends to be pretty affordable. Other clubs specialize in distributing high quality Flemish ales and other craft brews that are hard to find in most parts of the country, and these memberships tend to be a little more pricey.
If you are thinking of purchasing a beer club subscription for a friend but aren’t quite sure what type of beer he happens to like, you might consider simply letting him pick out a subscription for himself. Many beer clubs offer multiple programs and provide customers with the option to purchase a gift card so that recipients can pick out what type of membership they would like for themselves.
Although many people choose to go with annual subscriptions when it comes to signing up for beer of the month clubs, there are other options available if you are interested in a shorter commitment. Subscriptions in most beer clubs are available for durations from three to twelve month terms. Purchasing a 3 or 6-month subscription can be a great way to see if someone will enjoy your gift as much as you hope they will while providing you with the option to renew their subscription when the next special occasion roles around.
Not only do beer clubs provide members with the opportunity to sample a wide selection of brews, they also usually offer decent discounts on buying larger orders of beer as well. If your friend happens to really enjoy a particular beer that he’s received, most beer clubs will provide him with the opportunity to order more at a substantial discount.
No matter what types of beer club membership you decide to give as a gift, you’ll be providing him with a great way to learn more about the wide world of beer. Beer clubs usually send along some detailed information about each of their monthly beers, including how the beer was made and some background information about the brewery itself. Some also include a monthly newsletter about beer in general with topics that range from industry news to home brewing. In fact, with so many benefits of membership, you might just find yourself signing up for a subscription yourself.