Check out All Gifts Considered’s Classy Gifts for Men post that recently went up, highlighting our premium hand-rolled cigar clubs as the #1 rated gift!
Cheers to 30 Years of Great Beers!
30 years ago today, on July 7th, 1994, Greg Hall and I signed a partnership agreement to create Malt of the Earth™, the original name of The Microbrewed Beer of the Month Club. The agreement was signed in Greg’s garage which served as our corporate headquarters for the first 4 months of the company’s existence. Our attached “formal” announcement was indeed, not so formal!
The Garage and First Year
I still recall vividly plugging one ear while on the phone with breweries, attempting to muffle out the sound of Greg’s dogs that were penned up on the roof of the garage and often running around barking at everything from the mailman to a leaf falling off a nearby tree. We brewed our first (and last) batch of beer while formulating our strategic business plan. The beer was just okay and after taking our first shipment into the warehouse, we quickly reasoned that we’d be much better off drinking the beers we were lining up for the club!
We moved into our first warehouse and made full use of the space, hosting poker parties on tables constructed of cases of beer and pallets, smoking fine cigars and drinking the best craft beers in the country. We’d crack open a beer at our desk every now and then and Greg even smoked a cigar from time to time…Just because we could. In that first year, we solicited friends and family shamelessly, answered any and all customer related calls, packed the beer, wrote the newsletters and began to attend festivals, signing up our customers face to face, one at a time.
Festivals, Festivals and More Festivals
The festivals were a lot of work, but they were also heaps of fun. Very cool to talk to existing customers at festivals that we returned to year after year and get direct input. Many often shared how much they loved Murl, a newsletter column “written” by my sister Annie’s Australian sheep dog, Murl. She did the graphic design work on our newsletters for free back then, so when she suggested her dog get his own column, it seemed like a reasonable request. I didn’t have the heart to tell customers that I was actually Murl.
We hadn’t found much that seemed to work from our guerilla marketing playbook except for the festivals and the internet was still largely the Wild West with very few understanding much about ecommerce, so we did what we knew how to do…Festivals…and a lot of them, sometimes 3 or 4 in a weekend. Big beer festivals like the Lodo Beer Fest in Denver and Oregon Brewers Festival in Portland became our primary source of acquiring new customers. We’d pitch anyone with a pulse for 10-12 hours straight and then get up and do it again for another 3 or more days for some of the bigger events. We did Sturgis, Mardi Gras, Street Scene, City Stages, The Barrett-Jackson Classic Car Auto Auction, and countless Blues, Jazz, Beer, Wine and Food festivals for the next five years.
Hard Times and Rebirth
We hit hard times three years in when we mismanaged our cash flow and couldn’t pay our bills on product that had already been shipped. Greg’s first born was only 2 or 3 years old and our unstable income proved to be too much of a burden on his young family so we downsized from 5 to myself and one CSR who went on disability a few months later. The next few months and Christmas ‘97 were pretty much the all-time low as I was doing everything myself and wondering what the hell I was doing giving up a promising career with IBM to sell beer. Lucky for me all I had to take care of was my Maine Coon cat, Rosie.
I was so emotionally invested in what Greg and I had done for the last 3 years that I just couldn’t bear to shut it down just yet so I sold all those personal memberships that we had worked so hard to acquire at festivals to a competitor to give us a little cash infusion and kept doing as many festivals as I could to keep the doors open until I figured out our next move. The good news is that we bought that competitor a few years later so we got a good chunk of our friends back! The next move turned out to be dumping our original website and launching two new sites, one for our beer club, the other for our cigar club which seemed a logical extension early on. The sites went up in 1998, right about the time Google was born and lucky for us, our new web developer knew what they were doing and we fared well in the search engines. That was about the time things started to look up. We launched The International Wine of the Month Club in December of 1998.
A Family Affair
My mother, Kathleen Calef, joined the company shortly thereafter and we put her strong marketing background to work improving our marketing materials, website copy and pretty much anything that touched our customers. She launched our cheese, chocolate and flower clubs in 2002 and created our Whatever Whenever Program which later became Design Your Own Club, allowing our customers to combine our six clubs in any way to create personalized memberships. I’ve been fortunate to have been able to work closely with my mother, father, and sister over the years. How cool is that?
A Natural Evolution to an Ecommerce Business
Over the years, we stopped doing festivals as they were just too much work and not the best use of our time. As the internet and search engine popularity grew, so did we and the focus became on diversifying our marketing mix so we weren’t so heavily reliant on the engines. We’ve invested heavily back into the company over the years, re-launching our websites and rebranding the company to MonthlyClubs.com™ in the process. It’s a ton of work for a small business to stay competitive with the everchanging challenges related to staying current with ecommerce best practices, but I strongly believe we’ve risen to the occasion over the years. Shortly after our first re-launch went live, the sites were recognized as one of Internet Retailer magazine’s Hot 100 E-Retailers, a pretty prestigious annual award where editors at Internet Retailer magazine choose what they feel to be the best, most innovative websites in the world. Sweet.
The Last Decade
Since our 20 year anniversary, we’ve been busy building out new products like our Hop-Heads Beer Club, The Rare Cigar Club, and The Rare Cheese Club, adding the ability to buy Gift Cards, and selling accessories with memberships to the clubs. We blew up our internal order management system, automating much of how we get the goods out the door. The timing of that one kind of sucked as we launched in July of 2020, just 4 months after the Pandemic lockdown. The increased order volume taxed our new baby and we couldn’t hire and train additional folks as we were all working remotely. 2020 was a good year on the books, but man, it took a toll on us all. Post pandemic challenges still linger and we celebrate our 30th anniversary at one of the more difficult times in recent years.
There’s so much more to tell, but I figure if you’ve made it this far, you’re either an employee, family member or friend and you’ll hear more when we celebrate the anniversary properly at the party. If you’re one of our longtime customers or just someone interested in our story…Thank you for your time and thank you for your business. We’re nothing without you.
I’m so proud of what we’ve accomplished in the last 30 years. I’ve got a rock-solid team, top to bottom, solid fulfillment and marketing partners, and a loyal customer base, many who have been members well over 15 years, and a few that were signed up by me at festivals nearly 25 years ago. What more could a guy ask for?
Prost!
#30yearsofbeer
Top 10 Picks Reviews Not to Miss
We’re excited to be prominently featured on Top 10 Picks Reviews Not to Miss which recently posted a great article about ten of our monthly subscription services including our 2 Distinctive Cigar of the Month Clubs, as well as our wine, beer, cheese, chocolate, and flower clubs.
Pretty cool to get some nice ink as we celebrate our 30th year in business!
Prost!
Kris
DIY Craft Beer Advent Calendar
The holidays are packed with traditions. Things like Christmas trees, carols, cookie baking, drinking Christmas beers and winter warmers, and frantic, last-minute gift shopping keep us busy throughout the season, but it’s the little traditions that make it so enjoyable. Customary gifts, like advent calendars, are classic holiday mainstays that plenty of parents give to their kids. What’s not to love about getting a surprise piece of candy every day for 24 days? Count us in. But, what about those who want a little more in their advent calendar? Well, The Microbrewed Beer of the Month Club™ has got the perfect homemade solution: a Craft Beer Advent Calendar.
Yes, you read that right: an entire DIY advent calendar full of sweet, delicious craft beer. The Microbrewed Beer of the Month Club™ has noted the rising popularity of these great gifts, and we’ve decided that it’s time to ensure everyone knows how to make one for the beer enthusiasts in their life. When you give someone a Craft Beer Advent Calendar packed with tasty microbrews, you aren’t just giving them a craft beer Christmas gift – you’re giving them 24 days of great beers. Santa’s got nothing on you.
How to Build a Craft Beer Advent Calendar
Steps:
- Decide on a design (square, rectangular, or triangular)
- Cut shipping tubes or dividers
- Glue shipping tubes or dividers together
- Fill each tube with a craft beer bottle or can
- Decorate
- Enjoy
Building a Craft Beer Advent Calendar isn’t as easy as grabbing a random box in your house, throwing in your extra/unwanted beer, and putting some wrapping paper over the top. You need the right materials, some spare time, and a little bit of craftiness (or at least those “cut stuff up and glue things together” skills you hopefully mastered in kindergarten).
Start by deciding which design you want to use. There are three common options: square, rectangular, or triangular. You can find plenty of DIY beer advent calendar instructions all over the web, but making your own homemade Craft Beer Advent Calendar doesn’t require a Master’s in structural engineering. The Microbrewed Beer of the Month Club™ has got you covered with the basics.
Tools & supplies for a square or rectangular Craft Beer Advent Calendar:
• A box or a case of beer
• Cardboard dividers
• Glue
• Scissors
• Wrapping paper
• A marker
For the square and rectangular options, you can easily use a moving box or a used case of beer, specifically the kind with built-in cardboard dividers – any case of bottled beer should have these. You can choose to lay the box on its side, or keep it flat on its bottom. Simply place your beers into the box, make sure they’re held in place with the dividers, and cover the top with festive wrapping paper. Mark the locations of each beer using the numbers 1-24, and you’re set. Feel free to pat yourself on the back and enjoy a celebration beer (NOT one of the beers from the calendar). If you want, you can add a 25th slot for a little extra something something. More on that below.
Tools & supplies for a triangular Craft Beer Advent Calendar:
• Poster/shipping tubes
• Glue
• Scissors
• Wrapping paper
• A marker
• Stickers (optional)
Now, for those with a craftier side, the triangular option offers a little extra fun. You’ll need to buy some long shipping tubes capable of fitting bottles or cans, and then cut these up into 24 even sections. Glue them together however you want, though we suggest making it triangular, as it’ll look a little like a Christmas tree. You could even put a star on top if you’re feeling particularly festive – we won’t judge you.
After gluing the tubes together, fill the tubes with tasty beers, decorate and cover the front with a little wrapping paper, and mark the tube openings with the numbers 1-24. You now have a triangular Craft Beer Advent Calendar to give to your best beer buddy. He or she’s gonna love it.
An important side note that must be mentioned: don’t be lame and fill your Beer Advent Calendar with a case of the same macrobeer. Be creative with the beer you choose by selecting unique beers from all 7 continents. Well, 6 of the 7, at least. We don’t think anyone is brewing in Antarctica (even though that’s an awesome idea). You could be extra festive and fill it with nothing but unique holiday beers!
Keep in mind that a Craft Beer Advent Calendar isn’t confined to Christmas time. Arbor Day, Flag Day, Bring Your Daughter to Work day, it doesn’t matter – you can make the 24 days leading up to any holiday special (and tasty) with your Craft Beer Advent Calendar.
Improving Your Beer Advent Calendar
So, how do you improve on something as awesome as a Beer Advent Calendar? It’s simple, really: you spread that cheer throughout the year.
A traditional advent calendar features 24 slots representing the 24 days leading up to Christmas, but who says that you have to follow tradition? Add a 25th slot, and give your friend a gift that keeps on giving: a membership to The Microbrewed Beer of the Month Club. After all, who doesn’t want amazing craft beers from around the country (and the world) delivered to their door once a month throughout the year? No one, that’s who.
For the widest selection of beers, choose between our brand-new Hop-Heads Beer Club, our U.S. Microbrewed Beer Club, our International Beer Club, or get the best of both worlds with our U.S. and International Variety Beer Club. But, if you’ve got a beer lover who spends their time and energy hunting down the rarest, most obscure beers, we’ll suggest The Rare Beer Club™, our only club that features the world’s best hand-selected rare beers.
Now, go out there, build your own Craft Beer Advent Calendar, and make some lucky beer lover’s Christmas the best one they’ve had. And remember: if you really want to make sure they have the best Beer Year of their lives, give them a membership to The Microbrewed Beer of the Month Club. Santa always likes those who are nice.
Rare Beer Club Special Offer – Les Trois Mousquetaires
The Québécois good-beer scene is perhaps most renowned for breweries like Unibroue and Dieu du Ciel!, both of which see significant distribution throughout the U.S., but it’s small-scale operations like Les Trois Mousquetaires that remind us that it’s almost always better to visit. Located directly southeast of Montreal, about an hour north from the Vermont border, the brewery exports only a few occasional offerings, making their beers very difficult to find here south of the border. No doubt this is the reason they are far less well-known here than their fellow Quebec brewers, but we aim to help change that.
Les Trois Mousquetaires got its start back in 2004, shortly after its three founders (hence the Alexandre Dumas reference) had lost their jobs when a production plant was moved to Ontario. Using their experience as production engineers, they decided to purchase a small brewing operation on the north shore of Montreal. In 2008, brewer Alex Ganivet-Boileau took over the brewing responsibilities, and over the years the company has expanded its lineup from a pair of lagers to its current, expansive focus on German-style creations. Like the Greater Montreal region itself, the Les Trois Mousquetaires offerings capture a certain Old-World, European charm, but in a very bold and exciting way. We’ve been extremely big fans of this brewery for a number of years and we’re thrilled to secure limited quantities of not one but four superb examples of their brewing skill. Enjoy!
A list of the beers appears below, but we encourage you to visit the special offer page for full tasting notes and access to the order form.
- Grande Cuvée Porter Baltique 2022 – Baltic Porter. 10% ABV.
- Grande Cuvée Doppelbock 2022 – Doppelbock. 8.6% ABV.
- Grande Cuvée Porter Baltique Édition Spéciale (Bourbon & Brandy Barrel Aged) 2021 – Baltic Porter aged in Bourbon & Brandy Barrels. 10.5% ABV.
- Grande Cuvée Déjeuner Impérial 2021 – Imperial Stout aged in Bourbon barrels w/ maple staves and maple syrup, then cold-steeped w/ premium coffee. 11.5% ABV.
Flexible ordering allows you to order 4, 6, 8, 12, 18, or 24 total bottles, combining any of the six featured beers in any way to get there so that you can easily try them all.
ORDER ONLINE or at 800-625-8238 Mon – Fri, 7am – 4 pm Pacific. If your Rare Beer Club membership was a gift, you will be contacted by one of our team members for payment information if you submit your order online.
Learn More for full tasting notes, and to access the order form.
The order cut-off for this Special Offer is Tuesday, October 18th at 12:00 PM Pacific. Orders will begin shipping out about a week later.
Kris Calef
President, The Rare Beer Club®
Beyond the Bottle: Been a Pleasure Exploring Beer with You
Had to dig real deep into my inbox to figure out when I’d started doing this work. Adam Nason from BeerPulse, who I had worked with while running the RateBeer Weekly newsletter, had put me in touch with Kris Calef here at the Rare Beer Club, and things just went from there. I couldn’t find the exact month I’d first started sending in notes, but it would’ve been around December of 2012—almost ten years ago! That’s longer than I’ve done just about anything ever.
I stuck around with this job for a number of reasons. I really liked working with all the folks here—Kris, Lindsay, Brett, Kristina, Gina, and Tony. I’d always really enjoyed the beers and was impressed by how consistent the club’s tasting panel was at choosing good options; even though my tastes had shifted more to lagers and IPAs in recent years, it was fun to get to try world-class Belgian strong ales and barrel-aged imperial stouts—or whatever out-there RBC collab Kris and company had cooked up for the club. For a lot of our exclusive beers, I was one of the first people on the planet to get a taste of these new releases—sometimes before the actual brewers did! It’s a weird, wonderful job. And I’ve tried hard to do my best with it. Getting samples to land on time was the hardest part. Pretty sure we were never more than a few days late with notes in the past 9+ years. I’m proud of that, and wow, that was not easy.
Where am I headed? I opened up an online art store about a year ago (kenweaver.com/shop) focusing on watercolor-and-ink art inspired by Sonoma County. And I picked up a part-time job doing technical writing and editing work in the clean-energy industry. Going to miss this gig, you folks, and the people I’ve gotten to work with at Rare Beer Club. Say hi if you catch me at a beer or art event anytime in the future. Wish you all the best, and thanks for reading!
Rare Beer Club Special Offer – The Bruery
After literally several years of shameless groveling, pleading with the good folks at The Bruery to allow us to bring in some of their coveted annual release of Black Tuesday, a massive 18.9% bourbon barrel aged imperial stout, they finally caved. But there’s more! We’ve secured not only the 2021 vintage of Black Tuesday, but also the 2019 vintage of their most popular variant of it, Cherry Chocolate rain which is aged in rye whiskey barrels with cacao nibs, vanilla beans and tart cherries. Yeah, it’s as good as it sounds.
So with those two rarities locked, I challenged the brewery to slide me two others that would make an irresistible combination that would leave you feeling empty inside if you were not to order all four beers. I think they’ve delivered, but you’ll be the judge of that. The 2021 Mélange Noir is a 16.6% Bourbon barrel-aged Barleywine-style ale blended with a bourbon barrel-aged imperial stout. Are you with me? It’s good, right? Lastly, the 2020 Glenwort is 14.9% scotch whisky barrel-aged ale (not a Scotch Ale mind you, but indeed brewed towards a Peated Scotch flavor profile.
I’m excited about this offer. There’s only so much of these babies and we’re not going in too heavy on them so I’d encourage you to order sooner than later if you’re interested. I hope you love these beers every bit as much as we did.
A list of the beers appears below, but we encourage you to visit the special offer page for full tasting notes and access to the order form.
- Mélange Noir – 2021 Vintage – Bourbon Barrel-Aged Barleywine Ales Blended w/ Bourbon Barrel-Aged Imperial Stout. 16.6% ABV.
- Glenwort – 2020 Vintage – Scotch Whisky Barrel-Aged Smoked Ale. 14.9% ABV.
- Black Tuesday – 2021 Vintage – Bourbon Barrel-Aged Imperial Stout. 18.9% ABV.
- Cherry Chocolate Rain – 2019 Vintage – Imperial Stout aged in Rye Whiskey Barrels w/ Cacao Nibs, Vanilla Beans, and Tart Cherries. 19% ABV.
Flexible ordering allows you to order 4, 6, 8, 12, 18, or 24 total bottles, combining any of the six featured beers in any way to get there so that you can easily try them all.
ORDER ONLINE or at 800-625-8238 Mon – Fri, 7am – 4 pm Pacific. If your Rare Beer Club membership was a gift, you will be contacted by one of our team members for payment information if you submit your order online.
Learn More for full tasting notes, and to access the order form.
The order cut-off for this Special Offer is 12:00 PM Pacific on Tuesday, September 13th. Orders will begin shipping out about a week later.
Kris Calef
President, The Rare Beer Club®
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