Craft Beer Club June 2016 Subscription Box Review & Coupon

Craft Beer Club is a monthly subscription that delivers a twelve pack of select microbrews right to your home.  Each selection has received acclaim and is very popular within its distribution area — CBC lets you enjoy them wherever you may be.

Every shipment includes relevant issues of the Micro Brew News.

When you subscribe or give a gift the subscription will come with bonus gifts – no coupon code required!

The Club delivers a mixed twelve pack each month.  We received three each of four varieties.  The selections have been a couple selections each from two featured micro breweries:  Belfast, Maine’s Belfast Bay Brewing Co., and Cincinnati, Ohio’s Rivertown Brewery & Barrel House.

Two separate volumes of Micro Brew News were included, one for each pair of selections.  Each issue included information on the history and philosophy of the featured breweries, as well as details on the style, stats, and composition of each brew.

The back of each sheet had a recipe designed to pair well with the beer selections (or in some cases, actually use the beer in the recipe!), as well as some beer-related trivia.

All the righteous bottles we received in this month’s box!

Belfast Bay Lobster Ale:  This red ale is crisp and pleasantly hoppy.  Don’t expect a strawberry blonde — this is a less delicate creature.  It’s built to be more drinkable than standard red ales, with some darker malt and lighter hops added, but is actually quite assertive with a wonderful mouth feel.  

Belfast Bay Stone Crab IPA:   This is a beautifully gentle IPA with blended malts and hops.  It has a great dry and floral character, with the dry hopping pushing the tart notes to the palate instead of attacking the tastebuds.  One of those beers balanced in such a way as to make you thirstier the more you drink.  

River Town Divergent Sour Ale:   Perhaps its the suggestive green label, but this beer gives me a very sour green apple vibe.  It is lively in its tartness, but also exceptionally light and sweet.  It reminds me of a batch of “Tommy Brew” I once made, a kicked up apple and honey sparkling wine — good carbonation, crisp mouthfeel, lots of tart fruity notes, and a light, refreshing body.  One could easily mistake this beer for a granny smith cider.

River Town Roebling Vanilla Espresso:   If ever there was a beer born to be used in baking a chocolate cake, this is it!  Slightly too powerful on the vanilla to be an all-evening drink, sipping this porter is a bit like sipping a whisky.  The alcohol content is high enough to be tasted, and the flavor notes that accompany it are similar to those one might tease out of a Scotch.  The espresso is surprisingly mild and forms a broad base for the beer, adding lots of richness without any bitter or overly bold notes.  I set this down and came back to it after awhile.  Upon re-tasting, the vanilla didn’t pack as big a punch, and the coffee was more pronounced.  Though a little flavored for me, I could see ordering this when everyone is having their after dinner coffee.

Left to right:  Belfast’s Lobster Ale and Stone Crab IPA and Rivertown’s Divergent and Roebling.

This edition was a bit unique.  The Belfast offerings comprised styles not seen too often in the U.S. (red ale being more popular in Canada, and this mellowed version of IPA being out of synch with the amped up versions commonly brewed).  The Rivertown brews were true curveballs — they had very strong flavors that blurred the line between beer and flavored malt beverage.

I’ve enjoyed this subscription immensely, and I like that the selections include two beers from each featured brewery, as it allows you to appreciate their mastery of multiple styles.  They are all highly drinkable and appeal to a wide audience of beer lovers — none have been too dark or hoppy for my palate, with even this month’s IPA displaying a great balance and drinkability.   This is a great subscription to split for boy’s (or girl’s) night, or just to have an ever-evolving selection of craft beers on hand for your own enjoyment.

Visit Craft Beer Club to subscribe or find out more!