In 2016, The Microbrewed Beer of the Month Club announced a new hops-centric club offering they called The Hop-Heads Beer Club. IPA lovers rejoiced!
This particular club is designed to celebrate and share hoppy beer styles of all kinds, including traditional IPAs and IPLs, Double IPAs, Imperial IPAs, Session IPAs and IPLs and more.
Each month the guys at Hop-Heads Beer Club send their subscribers a dozen bottles of beer from 3 different domestic or international breweries (4 from each) along with a monthly newsletter. Most of the brews are domestic (IPAs are bigger in the US, after all) but if an international one makes it on the list, you know it’s really good.
Since its late 2016 launch, the Hop-Heads IPA beer of the month club has gained a steady and loyal following and is today considered one of the best of the online beer clubs, and definitely an ideal pick if you are part of the IPA craze.
They do a good job of mixing up their monthly offerings to focus on different aspects of hops-heavy brews, including those with different aromas and flavor characteristics and different levels of bitterness.
In other words, just because you’re getting only hoppy beers it does not mean you’re getting a dozen bottles that all taste pretty much the same. In fact, it’s amazing just how much variety there can be even when focusing on just a relatively narrow niche of craft beer. They do a good job in showing you this with their selections.
Until the end of the year, use coupon code 52BREWS35 for $35 off any Prepaid 12-shipment order!
– Learn more about the Hop-Heads IPA Beer Club –
Hop Heads Beer Variety
Here’s an example of some recent selections by the Hop Heads Beer Club. This should give you a taste of the range and caliber of beers they choose:
- Flying Fish Brewing Company – Exit 10 Trail Mix
- De Proef Brouwerij & Surly Brewing Co. – Zwart Black Star
- Exit 16 Double IPA Flying Fish Brewing Company – Exit 16 Double IPA
- Flying Fish Brewing Co. – Red Fish
- Carlow Brewing Company – O’Hara’s Leann Folláin
- Carlow Brewing Co. – O’Hara’s Irish Red
- Clipper City Brewing Company – Heavy Seas TropiCannon
- Flying Fish Brewing Co. – Abbey Dubbel
- Clipper City Brewing Company – Heavy Seas Peg Leg
- Libertine Brewing Company – Aubree
- Kannah Creek Brewing Company – Broken Oar IPA
- Argus Brewery – Pegasus IPA
- Sprecher Ipa 2 Double India Pale Ale
- Calicraft Brewing Company – The City
- Ipswich Ale Brewery – Route 1A
- Arcadia Brewing Company – Rapunzel
- Red River Brewing Company – Session 18
Monthly Selection Process
The folks behind the Hop-Heads Beer Club are busy beavers who strive to ensure that subscribers get to sample only the highest quality IPAs, IPLs, and other hoppy goodness each month. Here’s how they do that:
They convene regularly to compare finds – These folks boast of having more than 100 years of brewing industry experience between them. Several have also served as judges at events like the prestigious Great American Beer Festival. With these taste buds on the job, you can be pretty sure the resulting selections will be top notch.- They drink lots of beer. Some of it lousy – To come up with high-quality selections for their subscribers, the Hop Heads Beer Club taste meisters sample lots of different brews. All told, however, only around 20% of the beers they taste ever make the cut. Beers are chosen for their aromatic qualities, body, flavor and more.
- They keep their eyes open – Whether they’re getting together to decide the three selections for the month or traveling to various microbreweries or beer festivals these folks stay neck deep in the craft beer industry. They talk with brewers, create their own brews and drink lots of new beers in the never-ending search for the perfect beer experience.
- They build and maintain industry relationships – As with any industry, it’s important to establish and maintain healthy relationships with those who make it tick. The guys behind the Hop Heads Beer Club work tirelessly to cultivate such relationships and use them to keep their finger on the pulse of the ever-expanding craft beer universe.
- They don’t miss a trick – They are well aware that some of the most amazing brews are only produced on a seasonal basis. As such, they make a concerted effort not to let any of these short-lived hops-based phenomena slip by unnoticed.
They convene regularly to compare findsUntil the end of the year, use coupon code 52BREWS35 for $35 off any Prepaid 12-shipment order!
– Check Out the IPA beer of the month club here! –
The Community at Hop Heads Beer Club
With Microbrewed backing up the Hop Heads beer club, you know you’re in good hands. Microbrewed does a commendable job maintaining a vibrant community environment for its members.
They regularly publish guides and newsletters, and their blog updates are typically fun and informative.
Beyond their website, they cultivate a robust social media presence with all the usual suspects (Facebook, Twitter and more) where community input is encouraged and a respectful dialogue maintained.
For more great beer communities, check out our other beer club recommendations.
Shipping
Your 12 bottles of beer from Hop Heads beer club are well packed in a substantial cardboard box with a molded egg crate insert that fully encapsulates each beer, protecting them from shocks, and partially insulating them from extreme temperatures.
With your first box, you also receive a bottle opener from the Microbrewed Beer of the Month Club.
Each shipment contains an informative newsletter that details the history of each featured brewery and a comprehensive description of each selected beer.
Ordering beer online can test the nerves a bit because any time you have to ship glass, there’s the risk of an accident that could leave you – in this case – with a wet box full of shards.
However, Microbrewed has extensive experience in this area, and 99 times out of 100 you’re going to receive your brews in fine condition.
Customer Service
Customer service is everything when it comes to Internet-based enterprises. You can’t just walk in and air your grievances or exchange your product in a store, so you must rely on the company to respond to emails and phone calls in a timely and effective manner in the event of problems.
Fortunately, the people at the Hop-Heads Beer Club understand this, and each shipment comes with a 100% satisfaction guarantee.
If you’re unhappy for any reason, they’ll just replace the shipment or refund your money. This is why they’ve been in business for so long and are so respected in the beer subscription niche.
The Hop-Heads IPA Beer Club: Bottom Line
The Hop-Heads Beer Club is a great way for novices to introduce themselves to the world of hoppy craft beers and an equally great way for IPA aficionados to stay current with the newest hoppy offerings from both established and emerging microbreweries.
Give it a try. Your next party will be better off for it.
Until the end of the year, use coupon code 52BREWS35 for $35 off any Prepaid 12-shipment order!