June 19, 2016
Craft beer fans rejoice, Melbourne has a brand new beer club that delivers ice cold beers right to your door.
Imagine coming home on Friday night after work to find a fresh batch of beers on your front doorstep just waiting to be poured. This is the dream of Hops to Home, a uniquely Melbourne beer club where fans receive a home delivery of hand-picked craft beers to enjoy.
The concept is the boozy brainchild of founders Peter Van Shaik and Darren Smith. The pair met working together and bonded over their shared passion for top-quality beers, with a belief that the best stuff comes straight from the tap. The only difficulty for them was finding the time between work and raising their families to get to their favourite growler and takeaway beer venues.
“We were drawn to that idea of recreating the old-fashioned milk bottle delivery service – where you can get a fresh growler of beer at the start of the month, and have it exchanged at the end of the month with more fresh beer,” Smith tells Local Eyes.
Each month Hops To Home selects three craft beers from their line-up of partner breweries, including Wolf of the Willows, Hawkers Beer, Hop Nation and Southern Bay Brewing Co, plus a special selection from New South Wales’ Modus Operandi. Using their Pegas counter pressure tapping systems and specialised canning machines, Hops To Home fills up their growlers and massive 945ml CANimals straight from the keg and ship them chilled to your doorstep. A handy tasting sheet then guides drinkers through the flavour profiles and ingredients in each brew.
“The beauty of the canning process is that the beers will keep at their best for up to four weeks, which allows drinkers to casually enjoy their growlers or CANimals over the month before being topped up again”, says Van Shaik.
The service is ideal for fans wanting to discover different beers as well as keeping some of their favourites. The large servings are also perfect for sharing a tasting session with friends too (or keeping for yourself as a greedy treat).
July’s subscription features Parrot Dog’s Clipped Wing American Pale Ale, the Sun Hunter IPA from Kooinda (which returns after popular demand), and Wolf of the Willows’ Johnny Smoke Porter, a perfect winter beer with espresso, dark chocolate and campfire aromas.
Smith and Van Shaik are also looking at fuelling your after-work drinks, with Hops To Work in the pipeline to begin delivering fresh growlers and CANimals to the workplace mess hall.
Hops To Home delivers on the first Monday of every month, with final subscriptions being accepted up until the last day of each preceding month. To find out more about Hops to Home or to subscribe to their craft beer delivery service, visit www.hopstohome.com.au.
Words by Justin Meneguzzi and photos by Hops To Home (supplied).
Editor of Local Eyes, urban explorer and general travel-aholic.
www.local-eyes-melbourne.com.au
Hops to Home supports the Responsible Service of Alcohol
WARNING Under the Liquor Control Reform Act 1998 it is an offence to supply alcohol to a person under the age of 18 years (Penalty exceeds $6,000). For a person under the age of 18 years to purchase or receive liquor. (Penalty exceeds $500)
Liquor License Number 36138005