About Time: You Discovered Beacon & BuckBy Elliot Mitchell
At About Time we live by the mantra ‘variety is the spice of life’, and as you can tell from our extensive reviews of everything from gin to whiskey to hard seltzer via absinthe, the drinks world is perhaps the most varied space of them all.
Of course, over the summer we’ve enjoyed heading back to our local pubs and getting some glorious draught beers in, but it’s fair to say for many lovers of the amber nectar, lockdown was all about expanding horizons and trying new things.
With the option of going up to the bar and ordering a generic lager taken away, the pandemic saw us being more adventurous with our beer choices, swapping out the bottles of Bud for a crisp pilsner or light session IPA, or even just looking to smaller breweries rather than the big boys. Regardless, for many lockdown was a time of experimentation.
Naturally, this saw a huge rise in beer delivery services, with more places delivering craft cans to your door than ever before. Like many, we jumped on this trend last spring (we’ve all used a free beer52 trial then cancelled it right?) and a lot of these companies can feel a bit interchangeable, however, new kids on the block Beacon & Buck appear to be doing things differently.
Where other beer subscription services offer an arguably too broad selection of beers (look, we’re not always in the mood for an imperial stout alongside a kölsch lager), B&B tailor-make their packages based on your taste profile. Not a fan of heavy IPAs? That’s fine, get their ‘light and crisp’ box which features fresh lagers and sessionable pales. Alternatively, if you’re looking for something heavier the ‘big juicy’ box packs a punch with a selection of bold, flavoursome pale ales and IPAs.
We opted for the middle ground – the ‘Fresh Easy’ box – which featured a selection of juicy and lighter beers that could suit any mood, whether it’s a swift can on a Tuesday evening or cracking open a high percent brew on a Friday night.
What really stood out in the box to us was the genius selection of breweries to feature. Where many boxes go either all mainstream or all independent, B&B curated a box that included breweries we were already aware of and fans of (Two Tribes, Northern Monk, Wiper and True), while also showcasing some we were less familiar with, but will definitely buy from again.
Perfect for craft novices or connoisseurs, Beacon & Buck undoubtedly fill a remarkable gap in the market, and are doing much-needed things in the beer at home scene, cheers to that!
For further information, see here.
