10 Best Craft Beer Subscription Boxes for 2020

It’s been one month since Boris Johnson’s government placed the UK on lockdown, with pubs ordered to close their doors just days before. As we all stay indoors to limit the spread of Covid-19,  why not bring the small pub experience to your living room?

Craft beer clubs are a great way to support independent breweries from the safety of your own home. Not only are they an accessible way to get your hands on small-batch beer, but many beer subscription boxes also come with additional notes on brewers and their stories, as well as the best way to enjoy your drink. Some even come with snacks!

Whether you’re looking for an affordable fridge filler or the opportunity to try a few really special beers, there’s a craft beer subscription box for you.

Beer52

UK beer subscription boxes
Image: Beer52

Beer52 boasts that it’s the UK’s No. 1 craft beer club; with 70,000 Beer Club members, it certainly has the numbers. Over 1.3 million beer reviews have been published by its ale aficionados, and the brand recently held the world’s first online beer festival to support breweries through the Covid-19 pandemic.

A Beer52 craft beer discovery club subscription delivers eight beers, a snack and Ferment magazine to your door every month, and is available with mixed light and dark beers or with a vegan-friendly light beer option. Every month celebrates a new theme by country or area: past boxes include Rugby Nations, The Alps and Christmas in California.

Beer52 subscriptions cost £24 per month with free delivery.

 

BeerBods

UK beer subscription boxes

BeerBods offers a subscription box that’s a little bit different: every 12 weeks, you’ll receive 12 beers, one to try every week. Every Thursday you’ll receive an email with a story about the beer of the week and an invite to a live tasting and chat with other subscribers—think book club for beer drinkers. Boxes average out to £3 per week and the focus on breweries and methods makes them a great gift option for anyone seriously interested in craft beer.

BeerBods subscriptions cost £36 for 12 weeks with free delivery.

 

HonestBrew

UK beer delivery service
Image: HonestBrew

HonestBrew sources small-batch beers from microbreweries around the world to ensure your box is always full of beer you can’t find in supermarkets.

Subscriptions are flexible: you choose the frequency of your deliveries, whether that’s weekly, fortnightly, quarterly or otherwise, and you can pick from mixed styles, IPAs and pales or choose-your-own. It’s simple to skip boxes or to move them up (for when that Zoom pub night just can’t wait).

HonestBrew subscriptions start from £22.90 per box with free delivery. They are currently offering £10 off your first box.

 

Hoppist

Hoppist London craft beer subscription
Image: Hoppist

Proud Londoner? Hoppist focuses on the city’s craft beer scene, with every one of your bottles or cans guaranteed to be locally made by an independent brewer. Most boxes include hard-to-find beers, including limited runs and seasonal brews, with a mixture of better-known brewers and brand new indies. If you rate your beers every month, Hoppist will tailor boxes to your tastes.

Hoppist is currently at capacity for April, but new slots open each month.

Subscriptions start from £31 per month with free delivery. Use code ILOVELONDON for £10 off your first box.

 

Craft Metropolis

Image: Craft Metropolis

Craft Metropolis lets you pick your own box exactly to your tastes, or sit back and have the experts do it. For those going the pick-your-own route, there are nearly 150 brews, including fun options like donut stout, strawberry and cherry sours and barley wine. Can’t decide? Add a mystery brew to your box and let Craft Metropolis pick for you. The sheer choice available for boxes, as well as a transparent pricing system and the option to buy a one-off box, make Craft Metropolis a very palatable option.

Subscription boxes cost £36, or £38 for a one-off box with free delivery on all orders. Premium beers cost extra.

 

Hop Burns & Black Sub Club

London beer subscription services
Image: Hop Burns & Black

Hop Burns & Black, best known for their shops in South London, celebrate all things beer, hot sauce and vinyl—hence the name. The brand offers three monthly subscription boxes for premium beer, natural wine and hot sauces from around the world; the All Killer No Filler box contains up to 12 beers, along with tasting notes, food pairings and a recipe. While it’s by far the most costly of the beer subscription boxes on this list, HB&B says that each of its picks is ‘mind-blowing’.

Subscriptions to the HB&B Sub Club All Killer No Filler box cost £49.99 per month plus shipping.

 

Craved Monthly Beer & Jerky Club

Craved London beer and jerky subscription box
Image: Craved London

Craved style themselves ‘curators of British craft food’, and one look at their shop shows a plethora of British made snacks, gin, beer, cheese and make-your-own kits to please most palates. Feeling thirsty? They offer a monthly craft beer and jerky box, which includes six craft beers and two packs of handmade meat jerky to pair with them. (They also have monthly gin and cheese and charcuterie boxes.)

Craved Monthly Beer & Jerky Club subscriptions cost £34 per month with free delivery.

 

Flavourly

Flavourly beer subscription box UK
Image: Flavourly

Flavourly works with award-winning breweries to create exclusive beers for their boxes at one of the most affordable price points we’ve found. Sign up for the Craft Beer Discovery Club to try eight expertly selected small-batch craft brews, Flavourly magazine and a snack for £19.90, or fill your fridge with Subscribe & Save for £26.90 a month.

Flavourly subscriptions start from £19.90 per month with free delivery.

Best of British Beer Craft Beer Club

Image: Best of British Beer

Best of British Beer‘s Craft Beer Club does what it says on the box: every month you’ll receive a case of six of the most exciting contemporary beers being brewed in the UK, along with tasting notes and a pub quiz. Each beer comes as a full 500ml bottle and subscriptions can be tailored to deliver mixed cases or only pale or dark beers.

Subscriptions cost £24 per month with free delivery to mainland UK.

Beer Merchants Club

UK beer subscription boxes
Image: Beer Merchants

Beer Merchants have been importing beer since 1979, bringing in exciting brands you’ll be hard-pressed to find anywhere else. They offer two tiers of subscription boxes: the Fresh Club, which delivers eight favourite new arrivals for £25 per month, and the Premium Club, which includes six to 12 carefully curated prestige beers for £65 per quarter. Boxes are standard and include a range of beers, including lighter and darker brews, with the idea that each shipment will challenge your taste and help you to discover new styles.

Subscriptions start from £25 per month with free delivery.