With the ubiquity of beer subscriptions available to us all, it can be difficult to identify the best one to meet your libation needs.
If you’re looking for a regular selection of delicious beers delivered to your door then it can be tempting to plump for the one that offers the best ratio of beers-per-pounds spent, but it’s worth looking beyond price alone.
Some services go to great lengths to source the latest, rarest brews, making them pricier than others; some have finely tuned beer profiling mechanisms, creating boxes unique to your tastes; while some focus on themes that allow you to further expand your knowledge of the beer world.
To help you choose the right subscription service for you we’ve profiled the best, each offering something slightly different. Take a look at what each one offers, then sit back and enjoy the unique pleasure of having delicious new beers delivered direct to your door.
8 beers every 8 weeks, £24
BeerBods are now the wise old sages of the beer subscription service world, with their unique form of sociable drinking more valuable than ever during lockdown. The model is simple: sign up to their club and you’ll get 8 beers delivered every 8 weeks.
Drink them when you like or set aside Thursdays at 9pm, when social media channels are alive with chat about that week’s beer, often with the brewers joining in. The beer is of a high standard and, besides the occasional classic, the ‘bods are continually unearthing new gems.
£24 for 8 beers, monthly
Beer52 takes its subscribers on a round-the-world beer tour, packing its boxes with booze from a different country each month.
Preferences are limited to ‘mixed beers’ or ‘light beers only’, and from there on you’re in the hands of the breweries from whatever nation they visit, but the standard is universally pretty high.
To help you learn more about what you’re drinking subscribers also receive a copy of Ferment – one of the best beer magazines around – and they also throw in a snack for good measure.
£19.90 for 8 beers, monthly
If you’re looking for a booze bargain then head over to Flavourly, where for under £20 you’ll get eight beers, an exclusive magazine and a snack, with their excellent beer subscription service.
The breweries featured include some of the best names in the contemporary beers scene, including Fuller’s, Burning Sky and Lost & Grounded, along with plenty more less familiar small batch producers and even the occasional rarity.
6 beers £22.90; 9 beers £29.90; 12 beers £36.90, monthly
Sign up to an Honest Brew subscription service and you’ll not only receive regular deliveries of the latest craft beers from some of the world’s most exciting independent breweries, but you’ll also be able to plunder the Honest Brew’s shop at discount prices.
The team behind the scenes are excellent at stuffing boxes with the very best beer, but if you would rather build your own box then they’ll let you do that instead.
£24.95 for 24 330ml cans
A love-them-or-hate-them proposition among beer aficionados, the fact remains that BrewDogs' fans are legion - and enthusiastic in their allegiance.
Which is why they’d be advised to sign up for this beer subscription: you can either pick a bundle of your favourites, or a selection of their favourite ‘headliner’ brews, all for just over £1 a can.
£20 for 8 alcohol free beers, monthly
The alcohol free beer market has advanced so rapidly that you can now get monthly deliveries of the stuff without ever receiving a repeat product.
Dry Drinker is the specialist retailer to turn to for this promise, and with breweries including Beavertown and Adnams now producing alcohol free beers, alongside booze-free specialists such as Big Drop and Nirvana, you can be certain that the quality is always high.
£30 for 6 X 500ml cans, monthly
Ghost Whale runs two London tap rooms that serve up the most exciting new craft ales around, and their crowler club allows you to experience this beery goodness from your own home.
For each delivery they’ll fill six ‘crowlers’ (500ml cans) with the freshest, tastiest beer straight from the kegs and send them to your door. If breweries such as Burnt Mill, Jolly Pumpkin and Gueuzerie Tilquin get your taste buds trembling then the Crowler Club could be the service for you.
£155 for 12 x 500ml bottles, four times a year
If you’ve been missing ‘getting the rounds in’ for friends and family during lockdown then the simplicity of the Best of British service makes it the best option for gifting.
For a payment of £155 you’ll get four deliveries throughout the year, on dates of your choosing.
The beer is from British breweries, comes in 500ml bottles (with only the very occasional 330ml bottle included) and is consistently excellent. And to complete your pub-at-home pleasures you even get a branded glass and quiz as part of the deal.
£49.95 for 12 beers, monthly
Hop Burns & Black’s ‘all killer, no filler’ subs boxes are pitched at those who take their craft beer drinking a little more seriously than most, sourcing some of the most sought after beers in the UK.
You’ll get limited edition beers, small batch collabs, eagerly anticipated releases and hard-to-find international brews, all served up with comprehensive tasting notes and food pairing suggestions. Each beer is of top notch quality and will help its recipients become the kings and queens of the beer nerds.
£23 for 6 beers, monthly
This new service digs deep into your beer preferences to help put together boxes tailored to your taste buds, with as much emphasis placed on rejecting beers you won’t like as including those you will.
Their range already includes a decent mix of more familiar names (including Yeastie Boys and Magic Rock) alongside some less well known breweries (Frome Brewing Co and No Heroes) with lots more exciting breweries set to join them. One to watch.
£65 for 6 to 12 beers, quarterly
Beer Merchants is one of the best beer importers in the UK, with a habit of striking up good relationships with many of the world’s most celebrated breweries.
Each quarter, the Beer Merchants team will load you box with 6 to 12 beers to the value of your subscription and dispatch them for your supping pleasure – which means there will be plenty of expensive, flashy brews heading your way.
