Reorder Your Favorites

Despite the light ABV, this has plenty of acidity and should be good for a bit of time in the cellar. We don’t expect lambic-like longevity, and certain elements of the fruit character may dissipate sooner rather than later. Given its acidity and cranberry character, you could do far worse things with your life than bust a bottle of Scarlet Letter out for Thanksgiving turkey.

As one of our two featured offerings this month, we’ve been looking forward to getting this special, exclusive release from Calicraft Brewing Co. out to our members. We featured their sparkling ale Buzzerkeley a few years back, and the highly positive response to that beer had us wanting to circle back again at the next good opportunity. Well... that good opportunity’s finally presented itself. The earliest samples we had of the brewery’s rare...

We’re excited to showcase Golden Prairie’s Doppel Alt this month as an exclusive offer to our Rare Beer Club members. This new release from Golden Prairie is going to be especially limited, with the first ever distribution of it going straight to The Rare Beer Club. It will see some light public availability in 2018, primarily in kegs around the Chicago area, plus a very limited number of bottles to be sold out of the brewery’s tasting room.

One Friday evening, with a new and as-yet unnamed pale ale sitting in the tanks, brewmaster Steve Bradt went for a stroll through a nearby field, only to return with a couple puncture marks in his ankle. After a couple days in the hospital, he came back to work to find the new beer had been christened "Copperhead Pale Ale" in honor of his adventure. Appropriately named, this rich copper-amber beer presents beautifully in the glass with...

Few beers are as satisfying on a cold winter's day as a good oatmeal stout like Free State's. Do let this one come up from fridge temp though; a cool cellar temperature is the best for serving. This brew pours very dark brown, almost black, capped by a head of medium-brown foam. The aroma profile had us hooked immediately, as the malts and hops combine to create a complex and engaging character. Look for roasted chocolate and coffee notes...

Pouring a hazy, rich golden color and topped by a robust head of foam that laces nicely as it recedes, this brew is certainly inviting in appearance and looks just like what we’d expect from a traditional Belgian-style Triple (or Tripel). Made with an authentic Belgian Trappist yeast strain, it's no surprise we picked up plenty of traditional Belgian yeast character. Look for fruity overtones reminiscent of stone fruits and maybe a little...

First brewed in 2015 to celebrate Sprecher's 30th anniversary, and in conjunction with local Milwaukee radio station WKLH, Hometown Brew is a European-style pale lager crafted to be simple but tasty, satisfying, and quenching. And it is! This bright golden-hued beer incorporates old-school Cluster hops (which are very underrated in our opinion) along with the rare (in this country) Celeia variety from Slovenia, which together offer up aromas...

The 1906 Red Vintage is actually a blast from the past – a recipe that was almost lost to time. Long ago the brewery produced a beer named Especial Extra, though it was better known as "La Colorada" (The Red). The Hijos de Rivera brewmasters managed to recover the recipe and began brewing the beer again recently, and we're thankful they did! Red Vintage, which is brewed in the style of a German doppelbock, presents an attractive...

The term "coupage" is used in the wine world to refer to the blending of wines to make a finished product. Hijos de Rivera uses the term here to refer to the mixture of four traditionally floor-malted Czech barley malts which they use to brew this excellent lager. Pouring very dark brown – approaching black – with reddish flashes, 1906 Black Coupage offers up a wonderful aroma. Look for richly bready notes with toast, touches of licorice...

As with many of Brasserie de Bastogne’s beers, their old ale is actually fermented courtesy of the same yeast strain as the world-famous Orval. (The brewery sources yeast and lab services through Brasserie d’Orval itself.) Ardenne Spirit Old Ale was the beer in Bastogne’s line that truly gave us pause. It uses 100% malt, which is to also say no sugar, which helps contribute to the lush, multilayered malt character that serves as one of the...

We’ve been very much looking forward to Reuzenbieren’s debut in the U.S., and Rare Beer Club members will have the opportunity to check this one out well in advance of it hitting any shelves. This black IPA from Reuzenbieren offered an experience we haven’t been able to find anywhere else, combining the brewery’s Belle Saison yeast with a generous selection of Amarillo, Cascade, Chinook and Citra hops—making for a potent, exceptionally nuanced...

Named in honor of Yakima Valley, WA, the undisputed hop capital of North America, Yakimaniac is a worthy love letter to the region. Pouring a bright golden hue with a crisp, almost white, head of foam, this unfiltered IPA presents a very bold and resinous hop aroma that jumps out from the glass. Look for very bright notes of citrus rind/zest including grapefruit and lemon, tropical flora, melon, cannabis, and touches of tropical fruit.

Presenting a rich copper color with good clarity and a cap of light beige foam, this IPA from Free State offers up a big blast of hoppy aromas from the moment it's poured. Juicy fruit notes of tangerine and orange lead the way, augmented by tropical fruits reminiscent of pineapple and passion fruit, plus a touch of peach. The resinous hop aromas are underpinned by light malty impressions of toasty bread. The engaging hop aroma profile carries...

Sprecher's double IPA looks great in the glass, presenting a rich-looking amber color with a voluminous and persistent head of tight-bubbled foam that leaves behind lots of lacing as it descends slowly to a lasting collar. Beautiful, luscious hop aromas drew us in, as well; look for bold citrus notes of grapefruit, orange, and lemon, plus hints of pine, soft floral tones, and a touch of herbal spice. A caramelized malt note underpins it all...