Craft Beer Club September 2016 Subscription Box Review & Coupon

Very few things in life rival the pleasure of having delicious craft beer delivered to your doorstep. 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 it as a gift, the subscription will come with bonus items – no coupon code required!

The Club delivers a mixed twelve pack each month which includes three cans or bottles of each of four varieties – most month’s selections come in bottles.  Each box has had two offerings each from two featured micro breweries. This month’s brewers were Spider Bite Beer Company, a West Coast inspired brewery situated on Long Island, and Evil Genius Beer Company from Philly. This is a rare edition of CCB, as both breweries are in locales with which we are on a first name basis – often they go far off the beaten trail for their selections.

Two separate volumes of Micro Brew News were included, one for each Brewer.  They include 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. The trivia is very instructive, covering some facet of brewing or brew culture in depth.

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

Evil Genius Beer Company Purple Monkey Dishwasher Porter:  The peanut butter flavor was very pronounced, but the underlying porter was solid. This beer is a bit of a novelty, but it is well-balanced and surprisingly drinkable.

Evil Genius Beer Company Stacy’s Mom IPA:  This one has certainly got it going on! The citra hops have a flavor profile completely unto themselves – this IPA registers 85 IBUs, but it isn’t the least bit bitter. Instead, the hops have very distinct tropical aromas and flavor notes. The texture is creamy and boisterous – this is really an IPA that redefines the genre by providing the strong backstop of a heavy malting while completing skirting the bitterness. Loved it!

Spider Bite Beer Co. First Bite Pale Ale: This pale ale is touted as a great introductory pale because of its subtle bitterness and nice balance. I thoroughly enjoyed this approach to an American pale – it captured the dry crispness I associated with the style, but it used the hops as a moderating influence instead of a hammer, rendering an enjoyable ale that is as refreshing as a lager.

Spider Bite Beer Co. Boris The Spider Russian Imperial Stout: For those who are not in the know, “Imperial” = strong. This stout logs in at 10% a/v, weighing on its carbonation. The flavor was superb, with a beautiful tableau of malt that avoided the over-toasted and didn’t taste merely of coffee and char. It was very deep in flavor, but I absolutely loved that it didn’t go full molasses, my point of reference being Sam Adams’ Triple Bock, a double-digit that approximates date syrup in flavor and has no carbonation to speak of.  In contrast, Boris has is still a beer, but he displays a starless and moonless sky type blackness.

Occasionally, a porter finds its way into the box – this month was unusual because it featured two very dark beers along with the more typical pale, hoppy offerings. When held in front of a light, the Purple Monkey was dark, but it still let some light through; the Boris was completely opaque!

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 – quite a few IPAs and pale ales find their way into the box, but none have been hopped heavily enough to fall outside the realm of good taste. 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!