Back to 2015. I just visited Hertog Jan, I tried a different beer every time I went to a pub, I used Untappd for over two years by then, and I hadn’t begun StiBON yet (I din’t even know about StiBON yet). But somehow Beer in a Box came to my attention and in March 2015 – less than a year after they begun their enterprise – I took a subscription.
“Anders ben je even aangemeld!”
Hoi Boukje,
En ineens ben je klant. Jij early adopter jij! En het komt goed uit dat je voor Beer in a Box hebt gekozen, want we hebben je er ontzettend graag bij!
In contrast to what this seems, it’s not an advertorial. I have had no contact with the Beer/Bear about this blog, I don’t get paid, but since this box was probably the final push for me to start a study in beer, I wanted to tell you about it anyway.
Beer in a Box is a Dutch beer service. Beer as a Service. BaaS (boss in Dutch). The Bear (Beer in Dutch means Bear) sends you a box full of beers every two months. They try their best to send you beers that are not readily available and beers you probably didn’t know yet.
Back then you received boxes of 6 different beers, 12 bottles. They had just the one box, but still my Untappd exploded. In every box there was probably one beer, maybe two I already knew, but most of them were new to me! What I liked most about it though, were the extensive beer descriptions they sent with the beers and the tasting forms on which you could make your tasting notes. It was (and is) the perfect entry in learning to really really taste your beers and getting to know new beers. It is a perfect appetizer for StiBON.
These days you can choose between different boxes: Different sizes (6 or 12 bottles), different combinations. You can choose to your taste: Light and subtile, intense and complex or a combination. As an extra option you can select up to twelve beerstyles, or more deselect up to six beerstyles you don’t want to receive. When you don’t know what you like, you can first try their tasting box with all kind of different flavours. You can choose if you want to receive just one box or Beer as a service (subscription). They add more extras as well, like quizes, a beer world map and beer mats.
They also offer other services, like beer tasting, a pub at location, brewing courses and the like.
I hope in the future they add even more options, like: no lactose or my personal beer enemies NO VANILLA AND/OR TONKA BEANS 😀
Five years in, I still have that subscription. I changed it to: Surprise me. I missed the last one, because I still have a full beer fridge due to the sickness of the last few months, but I’ll probably try the next one again, or maybe the one after. These days I already tried so many beers though, that more and more beers in the box are already known to me. But it’s still good practice (For the championships for example).
All in all, if you want to know more about beer tasting, want to try different styles but are a bit afraid to buy them in the store (or are overwhelmed by the choice), try Beer in a Box.
(After writing this blog Beer in a Box interviewed me for their new Grizzly Gazet. You can find that article below between the pictures and a second part online: https://blog.beerinabox.nl/bierdame-boukje-koop-over-bierstijlen-puur-verwachtingsmanagement/)
Have you ever tried Beer in a Box before? Or another beer subscription service?
