Beer of the Month Club Recommendation

Greetings, Advocates

My beer-loving sister has a significant birthday coming up in October. (Let’s just say the age ends with a zero and leave it at that, shall we? LOL) She truly loves good beer, and I’m thinking of giving her a subscription to a Beer of the Month club that will deliver a selection of beers to her at a frequency that I specify. I know that as Advocates, we take pride in curating our own beer purchases. But perhaps some of you have received such a gift, or have researched such a gift for someone. I would love to hear your opinions on what would be a good club to choose, and what your experience has been like. Do these companies ship good beer that is reasonably fresh? Or are these clubs a way for breweries to off-load beers that don’t sell well or are getting long in the tooth?

A quick google search turns up this website, but I’m not sure how much stock to put in their rankings and reviews. The highest ranked one, Amazing Clubs’ Beer of the Month Club, has clubs for lots of gourmet items – everything from bacon to wine. Not sure if that’s a good thing or not.

https://buyersguide.org/beer-of-the-month-club-reviews

My sister is not a fan of hoppy beers (with the possible exception of NE IPAs). I guess one downside of this gift idea is that a certain percentage of the beers would be IPAs she would not enjoy (and given the IPA market domination, I fear that IPAs could dominate the curated beers that are shipped as well). I suppose there is nothing to be done about that. I assume one cannot create any rules, so to speak, that the company would follow for the subscription, e.g. no IPAs.

An alternative I am considering is a gift from Tavour, a company I know and trust. Either a gift certificate, or a gift box or two. With a gift certificate, she would be able to choose her own beers, which would solve the IPA problem.

Thank you for any opinions or observations.