Buying beer via the web.
Posted: April 24th, 2019, 5:10 pm
I always keep an eye out for beers new to me that I think might suit, but it's proving increasingly hard to find any. I'm effectively unable to find any more within a half-hour walk of my home in west London, or else the shops/beers are $$$. But then I started noticing more breweries offering direct home delivery from their ranges, plus some specialist beer retailers offering similar.
Here was a chance to access a wider pool of new beers, and not just almost 'anything new' I came upon locally, but beer types I already am sure I enjoy. One beer bottle from Norfolk or Suffolk listed their website for home-delivery, but that redirected me to https://www.beersofeurope.co.uk/ My eyes almost popped out, 'like a kid in a candy store'...
Pluses:
A vast range. You can filter vs your chosen criteria, country/style/strength etc. Their offering will keep me in new beers for a looong while.
The listings come with at least some basic style details and tasting notes.
For the convenience I was surprised that their prices do not seem inflated - as say a niche retailer might.
The beers came superbly packaged, the courier even carried them up to my flat's inside hallway (2*20Kg boxes, so very helpful).
Minuses:
I ordered over Easter, and their tracking didn't work too well for me. So I spent a couple of days staying in pending delivery not knowing when to expect it. Ordered 18/4 evening, arrived today. When the tracking kicked-in this morning, it predicted delivery today at 6pm+ ... good job I stayed in; it arrived at 9.30am!
So my beer larder is currently replete with promise. Focused on beers that are 4.5% ABV and higher. Mostly ales and darker beers. From the Orkneys, Belgium, a few Germans, one Spanish and an Estonian, and mostly mainland Brits in between. I'd never heard of Adnam's Triple Knot Tripel... bring it on
But this is just one retailer, and my first online beer purchase. So I'd like to ask others for their experiences, and to share the names of any similar companies they have used and would recommend. Some come up via Google [below from the first page of hits...]
Beerhawk
Beerwulf [lol the literary reference]
BestofBritishBeer
HonestBrew
Any experiences/tips?
Here was a chance to access a wider pool of new beers, and not just almost 'anything new' I came upon locally, but beer types I already am sure I enjoy. One beer bottle from Norfolk or Suffolk listed their website for home-delivery, but that redirected me to https://www.beersofeurope.co.uk/ My eyes almost popped out, 'like a kid in a candy store'...
Pluses:
A vast range. You can filter vs your chosen criteria, country/style/strength etc. Their offering will keep me in new beers for a looong while.
The listings come with at least some basic style details and tasting notes.
For the convenience I was surprised that their prices do not seem inflated - as say a niche retailer might.
The beers came superbly packaged, the courier even carried them up to my flat's inside hallway (2*20Kg boxes, so very helpful).
Minuses:
I ordered over Easter, and their tracking didn't work too well for me. So I spent a couple of days staying in pending delivery not knowing when to expect it. Ordered 18/4 evening, arrived today. When the tracking kicked-in this morning, it predicted delivery today at 6pm+ ... good job I stayed in; it arrived at 9.30am!
So my beer larder is currently replete with promise. Focused on beers that are 4.5% ABV and higher. Mostly ales and darker beers. From the Orkneys, Belgium, a few Germans, one Spanish and an Estonian, and mostly mainland Brits in between. I'd never heard of Adnam's Triple Knot Tripel... bring it on
But this is just one retailer, and my first online beer purchase. So I'd like to ask others for their experiences, and to share the names of any similar companies they have used and would recommend. Some come up via Google [below from the first page of hits...]
Beerhawk
Beerwulf [lol the literary reference]
BestofBritishBeer
HonestBrew
Any experiences/tips?