The alcohol industry has changed drastically in the last couple of years when it comes to craft beer, the mass-produced lager of yesteryear has recently been losing ground to the craft beer market, and the big players are taking note. In the UK this has been brought into the mainstream by Scottish brewers BrewDog who changed the face of the industry forever with their now iconic Punk IPA. Supermarket shelves are now not only trying to stock the major craft beer breweries but also starting to host a slightly better variety of micro-breweries. However from anyone simply looking for better beer to your craft beer enthusiast this continues to be fairly limited and inconsistent. It a brave new beery world we are living in. As people’s tastes change so does the world around them and some crafty businesses have developed Craft Beer Clubs, where you pay a monthly fee and have access to score of breweries and hundreds of beers – including one off specialist brews – right there to choose from at your leisure.
How does it arrive?
It can be so tiresome to drive or walk miles to a specialist craft beer club or lug them home in a tattered carrier bag – however it doesn’t have to be that way, you can get the beer delivered straight to your door. The craft beer clubs send their beer in a nifty box through the post so you don’t even need to leave the house. They’re great for one-off gifts but mainly perfect for those who feel good beer is a way of life. Just think, beer in the post – is there anything better?
But what about the price?
My immediate concern was that the beer would be so overpriced, that I’d be sucked into some pretentious know-it-all club or one that sells £1000 bottles of beer. This isn’t the case. Although more expensive than the supermarket these are hand-made delicacies, crafted with love and care, and that shows in the flavour. Plus take into account the overheads of an online store are lower than a physical shop it actually means the box price is pretty reasonable when you take into account the fact shipping is included in the cost. Sure, it’s more expensive that getting a 20 pack of Carlsberg from Tesco, but for a monthly subscription of around £35 you’ll be can transporting your tastebuds into to a world of unknown adventures, instead of putting them through a Game of Thrones level of torture.
What kind of beer can we find there?
It’s not just your bog standard brown-water IPA or ale you see on supermarket shelves, devoid of real flavour. Here you’ll find this craft beer club hosts absolutely every type of beer thinkable. Whatever you fancy it’s there online. From modern twists on old recipes like an amber ale or a German inspired wheat beer, it is available. Have you ever gulped down a blonde beer, or even tried a true craft lager packed with flavour? From stout to mead, golden ale to Hefeweizen and beyond to double IPAs and pale ales with over 150 types of beer to choose from you’ll be able to find a beer for absolutely anyone. Get dad it for his birthday, surprise your mates with a pack for the game or simply join the fast-growing craft beer community and start drinking better beer.
So what are you waiting for?
There are plenty of craft beer clubs to choose from in the UK, so start your google search today and join the gang The craft beer world is exciting, captivating and most of all one of the tastiest new trends of the 21st century.
Enjoy our blog, why not check out our craft beer club?
When we were first asked to #raiseatoast way back last year we didn’t really know what to make of it all. When the creators of Toast ale came to us to tell us all about their beer we were naturally interested to hear more. Our intrigue was expanded beyond the fact there was a new beer in London town by the fact they had brewed their new ale with bread! Now, you may have read about this unique beer or even seen it on the television in the last 12 months and it got airtime for the exact same reason we were interested; it was unique, tasted great and was above all for charity. What’s not to like? Quite, so we were the first craft beer club to support the beer made with bread. If you don’t know about Toast ale then in their own words here is their story of making beer from bread Toast Ale-the story
In a nutshell nearly HALF the bread made goes to waste, and the UK is one of the worst culprits, so these clever scamps started using some of those wasted crumbs to make beer. They started in London and have since moved out to Yorkshire (two of the worlds best places IMHO) and continue to follow their dream of ending this type of food waste.
So after a stint with Jamie Oliver at the end of his pier and fresh out of the Saturday Kitchen TV studios what next for the team who have returned all their profits to the charity Feedback? New beer that’s what!
Not content with making a crust and giving that crust back to the ones that need it the Toast team are now hoping to expand their beer range to include two new beers – but there’s just one thing standing in their way – a crowdfund target. Trying to make a chip into a food waste pile the size of Wales is not easy and they have decided to call on the help of beer lovers far and wide. And what do we get in return? Well two new beers for starters and a host of great payback incentives. Toast hope that should they hit their target of £20,000 they will brew a craft lager and a IPA using the same techniques and values as the first lovely beer, only this time with a new twist. Anyone can get involved and they are already half way towards their target as we type. Here at Craft Metropolis we have always supported not just good, varied beer styles but charity and can’t wait to add the new brews to the Toast bread beer we already stock.
So to be part of a brewing revolution – for charity – then put your pennies into combating food waste and get some beer in return. Win win.
Here is the crowdfund link again, don’t delay 22nd March is the cut off for pledges
Cheers and #raiseatoast, Craft Metropolis proud supporters of Toast charity beer
How much money do I have? Keep your nose out!…but if I had a pound for everyone that said “beer in the post that’s a great idea” I wouldn’t be writing this. I’d be on a beach. It’s great because getting beer delivered to your door is one of life’s ultimate pleasures.
Beer in the post….tell me more?
You already love beer right? You may already have a taste for new craft beers but you don’t know how to get a regular supply of delicious craft brews when you’re miles from a good outlet – either way that’s where we come in. We do all the hard work and pop beers in the post to your home or work whenever you want and however often you want them.
Sounds good but I already enjoy normal beer – what is craft beer?
It’s beer that’s full of flavour and packed with character. It’s made by the small breweries and because of that it tastes better, looks better and is better for you. No hangovers here!*
*Not a promise!
What do I get if I join?
Well you will not only get 12 small batch beers delivered to your home every 1, 2 or 3 months but you get to join the scores of people joining London’s best craft beer club every month. It’s a box of delightful discovery through a world full of beer.
Why Craft Metropolis?
Here you don’t talk to admin or staff – drop us an email and the boss will answer it. Plus with our beer club you can pick your own beer. That’s right, unlike all the other clubs that throw whatever THEY want at you we give you the option to choose. Or we can do that for you. We work direct with the breweries and pack the beer ourselves. No big warehouse, no middle men. This is a beer club with nothing hidden or held back on. Flexibility. Community. Craft beer. All here.
Isn’t it more expensive than the supermarket?
Yes, absolutely. And for good reason. You can’t get most of these beers on their shelves full of tasteless fizz. These beautiful brews are delivered directly to us from tiny breweries all over London and beyond. that comes at a cost but compare us to our competitors and we are bang on the money. Literally. Oh, but you can pick your own beers too. No on else allows that, just us. Did I mention that? Our boxes range from £34.50 to £38 – try us and I know you’ll be impressed.
So sum it up…
Beer. Delivered. Value. Delivered. Quality. Delivered. Flexibility. Delivered. Delivery delivered even! Delivery is FREE on ALL orders by the way. It’s time to upgrade your fridge!
Excellent, so how do I join up?
Easy it takes two minutes – we can’t wait to welcome you to one of the UK’s top craft beer box clubs (as rated by the Independent in 2016)
So sign up right here and let me send you some beer. I’ll even throw in your first 4 beers on ME! Yep, free beer you heard correctly.
Sign up here for our great CRAFT BEER CLUB and when you join any of our monthly boxes code: BLOG4FREE gets you the FREE brews. This is a limited offer and free beer does not hang about so grab yours now!
Go on, you’re worth it.
Cheers
Oli (Founder, Craft Metropolis)
OK, I’ll admit I was a little sceptical when I was approached by That Thing – the company making “life hack” products. Here they were with a white wand – the Ultrabeer – wanting to explain to me how this thing would improve my enjoyment of my craft beer.
I’m open minded and I had to be. On first showing this looks like a sex toy. There’s no two ways about it, it can’t be hidden, it’s been said many times – it just does. So I’m supposed to stick this in my beer right? Correct, the makers of That Ultra Beer Thing explained to me how to get that perfect head on my pint. Now this intrigued me. I’m a Yorkshireman (exiled to London many years ago) and I’m a fan of a head on a beer. Tell me more oh makers of the white wand…
So they did. ” You may have seen our viral advert” they said. I had. I t had been doing the rounds as my friends tagged me left right and centre in it. “Oli, check this out lol it’s you” etc etc was the general theme as the beer advert was tagged upon. If you haven’t seen it it’s here in all it’s glory That Ultra Beer Thing. I’m always wary of things like this as it has gimmick etched all over it and the video backed that up. I’ll be honest it did ring a little true as the beer-bore in all of us craft beer fanatics comes out. So do I really need to be adding this beer wand to my itinerary for enjoying the perfect beer? So I followed the instructions on their site:
“After pouring your beer, insert Ultrabeer for 1-2 seconds to create microbubbles. Repeat as often as desired, or until all CO2 has been released from the beer. The amount of CO2 in beer varies widely and this will affect the volume of bubbles one beer can release.”
Here is my first attempt using That UltraBeer Thing
As it happened the device is actually quite good as you can see. It does a simple job rather well. You simply insert it into your drink, press the button and a creamy head is added to your craft beer. It’s even better with stouts and porters.
The question now arises, in true Dragons Den style; did we actually need this? If I’m honest it does feel like a product that’s jumped on the wave of the craft beer band-wagon. It’s trying to be hip and cool in a craft beer world yet it looks like something you clean your teeth with (at best), yet I can’t say it doesn’t work nor that I didn’t enjoy it. In fact the more I use it the more I enjoy my beers – it just seem to make them silky and quaffable.
It’s hardly groundbreaking but a good product that in conclusion works for fans of craft beer who like a head, of which I am certainly one. If that’s you then this is right up your street. A bit niche? Hell yes but then that’s also why I quite like it. The only downside is getting it out in the bar, it looks a bit suspect. And makes you look like a beer geek. Hey-ho, I guess I am. Still maybe the Ultra Beer thing is one to enjoy just at home.
No.
OK, hold on there. “You do sell Lupuloid online right?” you ask. Yes, and like the rest of the craft beer world I couldn’t wait to try the newest beer from Beavertown but the answer is still no. Let me explain. They say all good things come to those who wait and Beavertown’s IPA was a long time in the waiting – 4 years to be exact. For such a massive and influential brewery such as the lurid monster of N17 not to have a core IPA beer is unheard of. Most craft breweries have a staple pale, lager, IPA and porter, blah, so why not Beavertown? They’d clearly made the decision to hold back on this then wow us in the future with a brand new beer and they did just that, visually anyway. As the images of the can were circulated online it was hard to ignore, oh so very hard, with the now classic Beavaertown artwork plain to see. Actually it was far from plain it was absolutely in-your-face, no massive surprise there but it added to the hype-train. The can is drenched in a vivid pink from cap to toes and featured the usual outer-space landscape and tom-foolery in it’s character images.
So a good start? Yes, very promising. Now onto the beer. You almost expect it to pour pink such is the power of the can’s cloak but the usual gorgeous dank looking IPA soup comes out. And all the core flavours are there – it’s a citrusy, fruity, hoppy lovely modern IPA. Winner! Hold on, you said it wasn’t worth the hype? Correct. It isn’t. To hold back for 4 years without making an IPA then release this is always going to drop short unless you’ve canned something in line with a Cloudwater DIPA. But this beer isn’t that and was never supposed to be that either. What it was supposed to be is a core beer that compliments an already brilliant range. So on that front it wins, it scores all it’s points, but where it drops a yard short is in the hype. Of course the brewery are going to make a big deal about it, and due to their ongoing phenomenal success the fans are going to make a big deal out of it. But this isn’t a groundbreaking beer. Where the expectation comes from is the fans. Everyone in the craft beer world wanted to know when Beavertown Lulupoid was being released. Everyone wanted it to be brilliant. Everyone wanted one. And they got one, so the hype worked. Where Lulupoid fails is it doesn’t push the boundaries enough for the hardcore beer fans. They wanted something out-there and off the chart but dress this up any way you want (and in that can they certainly did just that!) and it falls short. Only short by a small margin but short never the less. Is this a great beer? No. Is it a wonderful core beer to add to a range that already excels? Yes. Would I recommend buying a can of Lupuloid to see what the clamour is all about? Absolutely and that’s why I couldn’t wait to add it to our Beavertown range online. The point here is this beer is brilliant in so many ways from it’s can, it’s natural Beavertown swager. But the beer itself? It just never stood a chance of living up to our expectations. If it popped up as a white label people would love it but by being part of the Beavertown clan it had already made a rod for it’s own back it was never going to be able to rest on. A victim of it’s own success. Seek it out, drink it, enjoy it, it’s a cracking beer, but don’t believe the hype.going to be able to rest on. A victim of it’s own success. Seek it out, drink it, enjoy it, it’s a cracking beer, but don’t believe the hype.
Next time your see someone swilling a pint of generic mainstream lager think of all the fish guts in that pint of “beer”. OK, I know what you’re thinking; “sounds a bit extreme Oli, I know you like banging on about proper beer but telling someone it’s full of disgusting stuff is a bit far”…or is it? Most people quaffing a pint in the pub or popping open a bottle at home wouldn’t think twice about if the beer was vegan, vegetarian or Venetian for that matter – beer is beer right, just water and stuff. Well yes and no, theres certainly water in there and certainly “stuff but what is that s stuff? A lot of beer is made with added chemicals, very similar to the ones that probably give you the hangovers only this one is more disgusting. The fish I mentioned has a stage name – Isinglass – and is a type of clarifying agent that’s used in beer production and is responsible for getting rid of all that gunk, you know, the real stuff. No one would want a beer with depth, colour and flavour now would they? If you search online for most big beer makers somewhere down the like you will find this little additive know by it’s street name as Isinglass but really when you break it down it’s a fish swim bladder. Told you it was disgusting didn’t I? Now for people that don’t mind an anchovy or a jelly baby with some gelatine in it that’s fine but when it comes to supplying people with vegan produce it’s essential to know what’s what. Beer is a prime example of where animal products are introduced into more things than we realise, mainly for the sake of few pennies here and there for the . So the chances are if you are quaffing a pint of mass-produced lager than it’s neither nice for you or the animals that went into making it.
Of course I’m not saying all craft beer is vegan, it’s not. Some do still use this technique to help take the murk from their beer. But more often than not when you select a craft beer you’re already upgrading your brew to something on a much better level. Everyone wins, not just the fish. Chances are the produce used is locally sourced and brought in using an agreement with a smaller distributor. Again it’s not always the case but the actual ingredients are many times over more likely to be organic, ethically sourced, sustainable and cared for. That’s exactly what micro-brewing is and has to remain – a skilled exacting process based on tradition and executed with modern innovation and care. And that’s why people love a craft beer. You start with the amazing flavour and work backwards. What else is going on here? So you have the beer types and flavours, the changing variations in seasonal brews, the incredible artwork, the organic produce and the skill and graft from someone down the line who cares. PLUS chances are no fish will have been injured, maimed or killed in the process. It seems like small insignificance to some people but it’s all part of what makes great beer great. As I said not everything we sell is vegan. For example Kew have a great beer made with milk but that’s out straight away. It’s delicious and boasts Milk Chocolate as an ingredient in their Chocolate Milk Stout which I’m partial to I cannot lie! However the point I’m trying to make is the craft beer world is a much more thoughtful one, certainly more than the big boys shovelling out they yellow fizz. That’s why as well as out new “in stock” product button and our new “new beer” button we will soon be labelling in all our notes if a beer is vegan or not. We’ll take this info straight from the breweries themselves so you don’t have to worry about crossed wires.
So the next time you see someone order a pint of “generic” remind yourself (and them if you dare) that all is not as clear as it first seems.
For some people the excesses of Christmas are all just too much. As the remnants of the last scraps of turkey fizzle away in their belly and the scales starts shouting their annual abuse at them they start to reevaluate their lives as they stare down the barrel. The barrel is January. January brings with it a whole host of challenges and conundrums. You’re fat, you have to go back to work, you’re skint and the bin men are coming on….what day again?! It’s a nightmare of epic proportions. You’re already feeling down and to compound it all the f-ing recycling is stacked up beyond the lid and the foxes have been sniffing around your cans and bottle mountain. What could be worse? What if for the the whole month of January you took away booze glorious booze? Now, it’s not just the wonderful medicinal qualities of alcohol you are missing out on, when you’re a craft beer fan then it’s much more. Going dry for January is not just a removal of booze it would mean taking the punishment to your tastebuds too. As a lot of craft-reformed drinkers will testify drinking in a craft beer world is different to the normal lager-life intake. It’s less about guzzling down the gullet and more about flavour and savour as it were. So in short please don’t bother! The serious point is that it really impacts businesses and not just this one. We are bang in the middle of a truly dry January. Sales drastically down and we are sure this will be the same in your local boozer as well. It’s killing the industry in a feast or famine time. Sure December is a big smash-bang-wallop of beer but then dry January? Give it a rest. There’s already Stoptober and other dry times of year in place – why make the worst month of the year even worse?
To help with all this we have teamed up with the wonderful campaign Tryanury
They take the sensible approach to boozing in the blackhole month of the new year which is simple – stop stopping and get trying!
They’re not encouraging an all out booze-fest, almost the opposite. They say:
This isn’t about drinking more.
It’s about trying something different.
Tasting something new.
Experiencing something interesting.
So for an exclusive deal on your first Craft Metropolis box on any of our monthly deals and to get behind an amazing campaign they really makes January much more bearable have a look and get involved. Remember to use #Tryanuary on your beer posts this month and lets show January who is boss!
Thanks for listening as ever.
Oli,
Beer snacks have come a great way since the old days of a floppy bag of overpriced crisps and the infamous peanuts with revealing backgrounds – but then so has beer. It is becoming increasingly common to start seeing the craft beer world take it’s foody friends seriously when it comes to it’s snacking place alongside drinking. Not a week goes by without new research or articles being written about the importance of beer tasting and food pairings. It’s thought by some to be a better and more refined drink than the old stalwart wine and is now not looked down upon where it possibly was in years gone by. When you think about the brilliant word of craft beer and the innovations that are occurring within it it seems only common sense that this revolution and partnership is a natural one. From malt to hop to palate beer is taking it’s place alongside food as a sophisticated and complex palate cleanser and accompaniment – all hail a wonderful marriage!
The new Cleaver and Keg range
We couldn’t let these developments pass us by a Craft Metropolis Central and we have taken in Cleaver and Keg and their “meaty morsels for the modern drinker” as part of our range. Meat and beer is a wonderful combination, whether it is a dark smoky stout with chewy robust beef or tangy saisons and fruity pales with sweet salami these snacks have been made with one thought foremost in the creators mind – beer. Of course you can eat them on their own but where is the fun in that when something has been specifically made with an IPA, for example in mind? Dan Searle the owner of Cleaver and Keg tells us this:
“Meat needs beer and beer needs meat’ dan agreed with his old school mate Sean,a London charcuterist, as obsessed by the craft of curing meat as danny was by the craft of brewing beer. Which was when they took matters into their own hands.
Cleaver & Keg; good meat, the best in fact, 100% British too, ready to be paired with pints that deserve them. Salt cured, air-dried, richly-spiced meaty morsels, doing more to set off your pint and tastebuds than a crisp, scratching or peanut ever could.”
We couldn’t have put it better ourselves and that’s why you can find all four styles – chorizo, salami, beef and spicy beef at our checkout page. Enjoy!
The festive period. Christmas, the new year and all those parties. It’s great isn’t it? No. It’s not that I dislike the fun element of it all and being jolly. I can be jolly with the best of them and I actually enjoy it all but one problem still exists – getting good beer at Christmas. Now, all the same establishments exist and all the great watering holes of London town or wherever and open and have craft beer flowing.However it’s not down to you where the office decamps to is it? We are in the lucky position where we have a great craft beer Christmas for obvious reasons. However I was invited to an office party the other day outside of the beery world and I had to say no. Not because the venue was a horrible pink and purple central monstrosity miles from home or the fact it would be wall to wall with selfie-takers and overly preened peacocks. No, the straw that broke the Craft Metropolis back was the beer on offer. I googled the bar and it had “Spain’s finest” in bottles (straight from Northhampton not Spain) and a Belgian beast (Stella). That was the best they could do. I wouldn’t count myself as a beer snob rather someone who likes beer and loves good beer. Of course I would miss the social element of the night but I knew I couldn’t pile a load of fizzy yellow water down my neck while everyone else wheezes towards a drunken wreck fuelled by said juice. Why is it when people choose a venue for a Christmas do they always try to get somewhere with good food – yet when it comes to the drinking (the most important part) and old hole is game?
Answers on a postcard.
Have a brilliant and craft beer filled Christmas everyone!
Drink responsibly, and by that I mean craft!
Cheers
Oli
Enjoy our blog, why not check out our craft beer club?
I had the pleasure of dropping into the bar on the banks of the canal in Hackney the other night after seeking out this takeover from Pirate Brewery. Anyone that hasn’t had the chance to pop into the chance to get over east to the bar is missing out. It’s in a strange place. Beautiful, but strange. Situated on the banks of the canal in Stratford it feels oddly all alone in a small stretch of brand spanking new facades. These include other drinking-holes and eateries but it’s at Mason and Company where the craft beer lover will find most reward.
Mason and Company Bar from Five Points Brewery
It’s an arm of Five Points brewing so you already know that the core beers are going to be very solid. Add to that the constant rotation of 20 beer taps and you can imagine that this relatively sleepy little stretch of water will soon become rather busy as the occupants of nearly BT offices and Loughborough University get wind of it and as the area become better known. Tonight along with a selection from Cloudwater and Beavertown the taps held the delicious liquid from Pirate Life. They are an Australian brewery with a quirky title who are just starting to extend their reach into the world outside down-under. They will be warmly welcomed if what was on offer continues.
I managed to try each of their IPA, their pale ale and the porter. The IPA was fruity without being overly so and nice and bitter to boot. The porter was also solid but the pale ale was where the real beauty sat. A massive punchy late hit or orangey tangerine followed a sharp but subtle bitterness, almost peel-zest like. A wonderful beer all round and whetted my appetite for more. I’ll be looking up these guys whenever I can and with the new market opening up to them the UK beer scene will hear much more about them soon I’m sure.
Step 1
We trawl the globe tasting great beer
