The best beer subscription overall is the Craft Beer Club, a simple monthly box of 12 or 24 fresh craft beers from rotating U.S. breweries that has been running long enough to know what it is doing. But the right box for you depends on whether you want full control over every can, or a passport to beer styles you cannot get at home.
I am Dan, and beer is my life. I have been an active homebrewer for over 10 years and have tasted breweries all over the world. You can read more about me or see everything I have reviewed on my author page.
Below are the 3 beer subscriptions I would actually recommend joining right now, plus 6 more worth knowing about if none of those fit. We buy, drink and research everything ourselves; some links are affiliate links, and if you buy through them we may earn a small commission at no extra cost to you.
A beer subscription will not replace your local bottle shop, and it does not need to. What it does well is put beer in front of you that you would never have picked yourself: a brewery three states over, a style you have never tried, a case from another country entirely.
Best Beer Subscriptions, at a Glance
Full breakdowns of each are below. Here is the short version.
| Subscription | From | What you get | Best for |
|---|---|---|---|
| Craft Beer Club | $47.95/mo | 12 or 24 cans, 2 U.S. breweries a month | Best overall, gifting |
| Beerdrop | $29.99/mo + $9.99 shipping | 10 cans, styles you pick yourself | Full control |
| Beer52 | GBP 27 first case | 8 to 16 beers, magazine, 2 snacks | World beer discovery |
| Rare Beer Club | $46/mo + $15 shipping | Two 750ml bottles, rotating styles | Rare, high-end bottles |
| Tavour | $30 to $80+ per order | You build the box, app-based | Serious collectors |
| Brewvana | $70 to $80/mo | 8 beers from one U.S. beer city | Hyperlocal deep dives |
Best Craft Beer Subscription: Craft Beer Club
The Original Craft Beer Club has been sending U.S. craft beer since long before subscription boxes were a category, and it is still the one I point beginners toward. Every shipment pulls 4 styles of beer from 2 rotating American breweries, so you get variety without having to make a single decision yourself.
| Price | $47.95/mo for 12 beers (24-beer option available) |
| What’s in the box | 4 styles x 3 cans from 2 U.S. breweries, tasting notes included |
| Shipping | Calculated at checkout, continental U.S. |
| Commitment | None, cancel or pause anytime |
- The most affordable way into a full monthly box, around $4 a beer before shipping
- Fresh beer, brewed close to shipping rather than sitting in a warehouse
- Zero effort. You never have to pick a style or log into an app
- Reliable gift option; over 1,900 reviews on the product page
- Not much room for rare or ultra-limited bottles, this is about solid variety, not hype beers
- No option to swap out a style you already know you dislike
Full review: Best Craft Beer Subscription: Craft Beer Club Review.
Most Customizable Beer Subscription: Beerdrop
Beerdrop flips the usual beer club model. Instead of a curated surprise, you pick up to 5 styles (hoppy, sour, dark, malty, and so on) from a shortlist, and Beerdrop fills your box with 10 canned beers, 2 of each style, from small independent U.S. breweries. If you already know what you like and just want more of it from breweries you have never heard of, this is the one.
| Price | From $29.99/mo for the smallest tier, up to $44.99 for the largest |
| What’s in the box | 10 cans total, up to 5 styles you choose yourself |
| Shipping | Flat $9.99 per box |
| Commitment | None, skip or cancel anytime, all beer arrives canned |
- You choose the styles, so you never get a box full of beer you do not drink
- Everything ships in cans, so nothing arrives broken
- Skip a month with one click if your fridge is already full
- A-la-carte menu of 100+ beers if you want to buy outside your subscription
- Less of a surprise element than a fully curated box like Craft Beer Club or Beer52
- Popular or higher-ABV beers sometimes carry a small upcharge over the base price
Full review: Most Customizable Beer Subscription: Beerdrop Review.
Best International Beer Subscription: Beer52
Beer52 is a UK based discovery club that builds every box around a different country or region, so one month you are drinking Iberian pale ales and the next it is Taiwanese lagers. Every box also comes with a copy of Ferment magazine and 2 artisan snacks, which makes it feel more like a monthly beer trip than a delivery. If your goal is to taste styles you cannot get at a U.S. bottle shop, this is the pick.
| Price | GBP 27 for 8 beers, up to GBP 51 for 16, billed every 28 days |
| What’s in the box | 8 to 16 beers plus Ferment magazine and 2 snacks, mixed or light-only |
| Shipping | GBP 2.95 to 2.99 from your second box, remote surcharge may apply |
| Commitment | None, adjust frequency or cancel anytime; UK company, check shipping to your country before joining |
- A genuinely different theme every month, built around a country or region
- Ferment magazine and snacks add real value beyond just the beer
- Rate and review beers to earn loyalty points toward future shop credit
- Great for anyone who has already worked through the usual U.S. craft rotation
- Priced and billed in GBP, so cost and shipping will vary if you are ordering from outside the UK
- The most expensive per-beer of the three here once the delivery charge kicks in
Full review: Best International Beer Subscription: Beer52 Review.
Cheapest Beer Subscription
If price is the deciding factor, Beerdrop’s entry tier is the lowest all-in cost of the three subscriptions above: $29.99 plus $9.99 flat shipping gets you 10 beers, right around $4 a can delivered. Craft Beer Club is close behind on a per-beer basis at $47.95 for 12 cans, which works out to about the same $4 a beer once you factor in that shipping is often included or discounted at checkout. Beer52’s GBP 27 entry case looks cheap on the label, but once currency conversion and the delivery charge are added in, it usually lands as the priciest per beer of the three, especially if you are ordering into the U.S.
| Subscription | Cheapest entry price | Beers included | Rough cost per beer |
|---|---|---|---|
| Beerdrop | $29.99 + $9.99 shipping | 10 (6 beers on the smallest tier) | ~$4-6 |
| Craft Beer Club | $47.95 | 12 | ~$4 |
| Beer52 | GBP 27 (~$34) | 8 | ~$4.25 (before currency conversion) |
| Hop-Heads Beer Club | $44 + $16 shipping | 12 | ~$5 |
| Rare Beer Club | $46 + $15 shipping | 2 (750ml bottles) | ~$30 per bottle |
Best Rare Beer Club
If you already have a full fridge of everyday craft beer and want something harder to find, the Rare Beer Club from MonthlyClubs.com is the one worth knowing about. It ships just two 750ml bottles a month, but they are genuinely unusual: barrel-aged sours, one-off collaborations and imports from breweries in Brazil, Japan and Scandinavia that do not otherwise reach U.S. shelves. Pricing runs $46 plus $15 shipping for the base 2-bottle plan, up to $90 plus $24 for six bottles a month.
For the truly obsessive, some individual breweries run their own bottle societies rather than a general subscription. Firestone Walker’s Brewmaster’s Collective, for example, is a roughly $400 a year membership that gets you into barrel-aged and one-off releases you cannot buy any other way. That is a different kind of purchase than the boxes above, closer to a fan club than a beer delivery, but worth knowing about if a single brewery is the real draw.
Also Worth a Look
Tavour works more like an app-based marketplace than a box: a rotating shelf of 8 to 15 rare, independent-brewery beers goes live each week, you add what you want to a running cart, and it ships once you hit the minimum order. It is the most hands-on option here, best for drinkers who already know exactly what they want to try next.
Brewvana (by City Brew Tours) builds each monthly box around one U.S. beer city, 8 beers from 4 breweries in that city, along with a local guide and brewery swag. It runs $70 to $80 a month, on the pricier end, but it is a fun way to explore a specific beer scene without buying a plane ticket.
Hop-Heads Beer Club is a good fit if IPAs and other hop-forward styles are all you care about, sending 3 beers x 4 cans a month for $44 plus $16 shipping. Craft Beer Kings sells one-off, style-themed gift boxes (sours, hazy IPAs, stouts) from $59.99 to $99.99 if you want a single box rather than an ongoing subscription.
Tips for Getting the Most Out of a Beer Subscription
A few things that make any beer subscription more worthwhile, based on how most people actually use them:
- Use the skip feature. Every subscription on this list lets you pause a month; it costs nothing and keeps your fridge from backing up.
- Rate or review your beers if the service asks. Beer52’s points system and Beerdrop’s style preferences both use your feedback to send you better boxes over time.
- Treat it as a way to find new favorites, not a replacement for your regular six-pack. The real value is tasting breweries you would never find on your own store’s shelf.
- Gift a few months instead of a year upfront the first time, for yourself or someone else, so you can confirm the style mix actually fits before committing longer term.
- Keep a note of any standout can or bottle. Most of these services rotate breweries constantly, so a beer you loved might not come back around for months.
Which Beer Subscription Should You Buy
Start with Craft Beer Club if you want the simplest, most affordable monthly box and do not want to think about it. Pick Beerdrop if you already know your favorite styles and want full control over what shows up. And if you have worked through most of what your local shop carries and want to taste your way around the world, Beer52 is the one to join.
Looking for the beers themselves rather than a subscription? See our best IPAs and best stouts roundups, both ranked from my own tasting notes.
