• Atwater Michigan Lager from Atwater Block Brewery in Detroit, Michigan
• Atwater Vanilla Java Porter from Atwater Block Brewery in Detroit, Michigan
• India Pale Ale from Bison Brewery in Berkely, California
• Organic Gingerbread Ale from Bison Brewery in Berkely, California

I’m especially looking forward to trying the Vanilla Java Porter and the Gingerbread Ale.  They are so fitting for this time of year and are sure to put me in the holiday spirit!

…fa la la la laaa… la la la – LA!!!

To learn more about this Beer of the Month Club, visit the Clubs of America website

Sprecher offered a Winter Brew and a Dunkle Weizen. Winter Brew is a Munich-style bock beer that pours a very dark brown chestnut color and a pale tan head. A wonderful German-style beer! The Dunkle Weizen is a dark wheat beer, deep caramel in color. To really enjoy this beer, drink it while eating a German smoked sausage!

The selections from Yards were the Brawler and a Philadelphia Pale Ale. The Brawler is a clear medium brown color. The flavor is mild, but ample. The Pale Ale is a medium straw color with a big hoppy aroma.

To learn more or to order a Beer of the Month Club membership for yourself or as a gift, visit Gourmet Monthly Clubs.

Oatmeal Stout from Hub City Brewery in Stanley, Iowa

The Beer of the Month Club from Clubs of America included 4 types of beer from 2 different microbreweries. The 2 beers from Geary’s Brewery were already discussed in this post. The other 2 beers – Oatmeal Stout and Paradise Ale, were from the Hub City Brewery in Stanley, Iowa.

Oatmeal Stout

Mmm…. a nice dark, rich-tasting beer. My favorite! This Oatmeal Stout with tastes of chocolate and coffee was my favorite of the 4 beers received.

They say to serve it between 50 – 55 degrees, bit I like it a little colder than that. Of course, by the time I reach the end, it probably falls into that temperature range.

I enjoy this beer either all by itself or with light snacks. It’s too heavy (for my taste) to be served with a meal. I just get too full. But some may enjoy it with burgers & sandwiches.

I’ll admit that I don’t ordinarily walk into the liquor store and buy a dark beer like this. So it’s a real treat when a dark stout is included as a selection in the Beer of the Month Club.

Paradise Ale from Hub City Brewery in Stanly, Iowa

Paradise Ale

The most intriguing thing about this beer? The label…  featuring scantily clad beach people.

The Paradise Ale is a tropical-style IPA with hints of grapefruit, orange, and mango. I thought it would be my favorite, but I was let down a bit. It had an after-bite that I just didn’t care for.

But it’s definitely a fun beer. Great for a sunny summer afternoon when you’re feeling festive!

Hampshire Special Ale from Geary's Brewery - Portland, Maine

Hampshire Special Ale

The Hampshire Special Ale was described by Clubs of America newsletter as having:

…a huge toasted malt flavor, balanced by assertive hoppiness. The finish is long and lingering.

That description is right on!

You can see in the photo that this beer has a nice rich, golden color. I prefer this type of beer with snacks, like cheese & crackers, rather than a heavy meal.

The newsletter describes ales in general as:

…expressive and complex in flavor, with a pleasing fruitiness not found in lagers… Called the beers of antiquity, ales come in a wide range of styles and flavors. And ale is a great companion to everything from hearty stews and soups, to cheese and cracker snacks, to friends, old and new.

All in all, a very tasty and enjoyable beer.

London Porter

London Porter from Geary's Brewing - Portland, Maine

The second beer selection was the London Porter. It is much darker than the Hampshire Special Ale, as you can see in the photo.When I drink dark beers such as this, I usually prefer to just have one. Any more than that and you just don’t enjoy the bold taste.

This classic English style ale has deep mahogany color and restrained roasted malt flavor. The result is rich and complex, smooth and refreshing.

And a little about the porter style, in general:

…Porter was named for the street-market porters who drank it for its nourishment. Dark and robust, top-fermented porters are excellent with fresh raw oysters, shellfish, Porterhouse steak, and chocolaty, creamy fruit desserts.

To learn more about the Beer of the Month Club from Clubs of America, or to place an online order, visit their website.

Inside we found 4 different types of beer from 2 different breweries.

The two beer selections from Geary’s Brewery in Portland, Maine were  London Porter and  Hampshire Special Ale. And the two beers from Hub City Brewery in Stanly, Iowa were Oatmeal Stout and Paradise Ale. We’ll post more specifics about these beers once we’ve had a chance to sample them for ourselves.

Also included in the box was a two-page newsletter that talks about the breweries and the beer selections, along with some tips on temperature, storage and serving. They also have a history on American Brewing which was pretty interesting.

This Beer of the Month Club from Clubs of America. costs $36.95 per month (includes shipping). They have flexible membership plans, with no monthly minimum. You can also have beer delivered every other month or every third month (quarterly). So there are lots of options to choose from.

To learn more or to place an online order, please visit Clubs of America.

The Beer of the Month Club shipment included four interesting selections of brews…

• Butt Head Bock from the Tommyknocker Brewery in Idaho Springs, Colorado
• Red Rack Ale from the Woodstock Inn Station & Brewery
• Hobgoblin Strong Dark Ale from the Wychwood Brewery in Central South England
• Golden Pheasant – made from 100% barley – straight from the Slovak Republic

…a fabulous assortment of beer we would never buy for ourselves from the local liquor store!

Also included was the beer newsletter which told all kinds of interesting tidbits about the beer selections… ideal serving temperature, what kind of glass to drink it from, all about the brewery where it was made, suggestd food pairings, tasting notes…

They packed in quite a bit of info into a little newsletter!

All in all, we were impressed with the quality of beer included in our Beer of the Month Club. It would certainly make great gift. Keep it in mind when the holidays arrive and you just can’t think what to get dad, or brother, or boyfriend… or sister… and so on. Anyone who enjoys sampling Beers of the World is going to LOVE this special gift!

Get more info and pricing for the International & Domestic Variety Beer Club or check out more great Beer of the Month Clubs from Gourmet Monthly Clubs

The first brewery, the Shipyard Brewing Company in Portland, Maine, included Prelude Special Ale – a full-bodied ale with a deep amber hue – and Longfellow Winter Ale – a hybrid between a Porter and a Scottish Ale. Both were very hearty beers.

The second brewery, Sherwood Forest Brewers Limited in Marlborough, Massachusetts, offered the Archer’s Ale – similar to an English Pale Ale – and Maiden’s Blueberry Ale – described as “a colored pale ale with the subtle flavor and aroma of fresh blueberries.” The Archer’s Ale was pretty much what you would expect of an English Pale Ale. The Blueberry Pale Ale was definitely interesting… not overly saturated with the blueberry flavor.  But it gave it a nice, sweet taste. Best to drink just one of these at a time. Don’t expect to sit down and put back all three unless you really like sweet.

As you can see, the beer arrived in sturdy packaging and all bottles arrived perfectly in tact.

There was also a 1-page flyer that tells a little about the breweries and each of the beers. It’s nothing fancy – just an 8.5 x 11 piece of paper that looks like it was photocopied (and some of the ink is smeared). The backside just contains sales info. We always enjoy reading a little more about the beers we taste as we kick back and enjoy the hops.

For more information on this Beer of the Month Club, visit the Amazing Clubs website.

Cheers!
The “Beer of the Month Club” Crew