The Original Craft Beer Club Review For 2022:
A Look Inside The Membership
The Original Craft Beer Club finds the tastiest and most exclusive craft brews from only the best independent breweries across the United States.
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You know there is seemingly no end to the different varieties and styles of craft beer that is widely available. In fact, craft breweries are popping up in record numbers all across the country. The best way to find out what’s out there is by joining a craft beer club subscription service.
There are a number of craft beer membership companies, so it can be hard to choose. We have reviewed a few other beer clubs on this website previously to help with the confusion.
But when it comes to selecting the right club with high-quality selections, look at all the details so you can choose the best beer subscription for you.
Here is our take on The Original Craft Beer Of The Month Club.
Table of Contents
The Original Craft Beer Club Review
The Original Craft Beer Club is a monthly beer membership service that searches for the best selection of craft beer from more than 8,000 microbreweries and brew pubs in the United States.
Once the beers are chosen, they are sampled and then they will deliver their favorites in a craft beer subscription box to your door for however long you choose.
The varieties are so vast, they make sure not to repeat the same brewery for at least two years. But if the same brewery is chosen again, a different type and style of beer will be shipped.
Who is the Club For?
Well, first and foremost, The Original Craft Beer Club is for beer drinkers! And not just any beer drinker, but those who like to sample styles and flavors. If you constantly walk up and down the isles of your favorite store, looking for something new every now and then, this is the beer subscription service for you.
Lightly distributed and not available in most liquor stores, this is an opportunity to try unique craft brews you may never have heard of, and share them with your family and friends.
However, if you are happy with your big brewery pale ale, lager or pilsner, and rarely try anything else, then this is not for you. Also, if you are a big fan of beers brewed internationally, this is probably not the right club for you either, because all selections are domestically brewed here in the states.
A craft beer gift pack is also a great beer delivery gift for a friend or someone else who is also a beer enthusiast.
What Does the Membership Include?
Each Original Craft Beer Club subscription box contains 12 or 24 beers:
- Craft Beers. This is broken down to four different styles, and three of each style per month. You could also choose the 24 craft beer membership, which is the same out of styles but a six pack of each. The beers come in cans or bottles, depending on the distributor.
- A monthly newsletter. This contains tasting notes, information related to the micro breweries featured in that shipment, recommended and the best types of food to pair with your beer, and more.
- Free gifts! If you choose the three-month plan you get a free bottle opener as your beer club gift. If you choose the six-month plan, you get the opener plus free beer Koozies.
If you go the full year, the Original Craft Beer Club offers a 30% off the price of the membership, plus all three of the gifts included with the smaller monthly plans.
There are other free gifts and discounts listed on their website.
With every Original Craft Beer Club subscription, you will also get a FREE 1-year subscription to Beer Connoisseur E-Magazine ($24.95 Value)
Pricing
Like just about every craft beer club, there is a two month minimum requirement with The Original Craft Beer Club. After that, you can choose how long you want to keep your membership going.
However, they do offer a 1-month option, but it will come with 24 beers instead of 12. These will include 4 beer styles and 6 of each. But this 1-month will still cost you $89.50, which is the same as 2 shipments.
If you pre-pay for a full 12-months, you will get a 30% discount, which comes out to about $3.52 per beer.
- 2 shipments – $89.50
- 3 shipments – $134.25
- 4 shipments – $179.00
- 5 shipments – $223.75
- 6 shipments – $268.50
- 12 shipments – $507.00
- On going until you cancel – $44.75
Shipping Information
First, you need to select how often you wish to receive your order. You can choose monthly, every other month, or quarterly. You can choose a finite amount of orders, or leave it open ended.
If you choose to receive your first shipment of craft beers as soon as possible, the order will arrive 10-15 days after your payment is processed. If you choose a specific start month, your order will arrive 10-15 days into that month. Otherwise, all monthly orders arrive in the last week or so of the month.
Since this order contains alcohol you or someone aged 21 or older will have to sign for the package, with proof of age on an officially recognized identification card. So you cannot become a subscriber if you are under 21, and you also cannot give a beer subscription gift to someone under 21 as well.
If you miss your delivery, don’t worry: another attempt will be made the next day. However, only three consecutive attempts will be made before the package is returned.
What is the Beer Selection Process?
The Original Craft Beer Club chooses the monthly beer styles and selections by quality first and foremost. They come from craft brewers who are hand selected by experts in the craft beer industry, searching for highest rated options .
They just don’t select they same styles over and over, so there is always a wide variety each month. Each monthly shipment generally includes two different types of beer from each brewery.
The Original Craft Beer Club Pros
There are definitely benefits to joining a craft beer subscription box:
- Wide variety of craft beers from just about every state in the U.S.
- Introduces you to beer you may have never heard of or tried before
- Makes a great beer gift for a beer lover
- Flexibility in purchase options and no commitment
The Original Craft Beer Club Cons
And there are certainly some things to think about too:
- No guarantee that you will enjoy what you receive
- Domestic only, so if you want beers from around the world, you should check out other clubs that offer international selections
Customer Service
If you have questions about your membership or a problem with your recent order, you can easily reach out to their friendly customer service department.
Even though you will receive both bottles and cans, you can reach out to customer service and request bottles or cans only. But switching up your bottle/can preferences could change the months that you get an order.
Their customer service can be contacted by phone, email, or live chat.
How it Compares to Other Beer Clubs
The Original Beer of the Month Club is actually a bit cheaper than most other clubs, because shipping is always free. Most other beer clubs charge shipping and handling fees of $15.00 or more per month.
Other clubs have memberships where you will only receive beers from the United States, internationally, combo of both, hoppy beers, or hard-to-find and rare beers.
The variety of this club is that it includes many different styles and a wide range of high quality beers, including lightly distributed selections from inside the U.S. only.
What Customers are Saying
Ready to Join The Club?
Determining which club offers the best beer subscription is highly subjective, but the variety of the Original Craft Beer Club makes it worth checking out.
There is something pretty cool when you open the box of your first shipment and see what new beers you get to try.
Every box will include a wide range of craft brews from domestic micro craft breweries from all across America, giving you the opportunity to try new craft beers every month for as long as you wish.
Cheers!
P.S. If you want to join a beer club, but would like to have more hoppy craft beer selections or see what the international brewing scene is like, check out our beer of the month review page of more monthly craft beer clubs.
