April 28, 2020

KBC - Bottle Club Announcement

We have recently been speaking much of our need to shift our business model due to the impact of Covid 19. While we don’t want to make light of any aspect of what is going on, now is a time more than ever to attempt the new and interesting, and to try to see the good in the current situation.

For us, this has meant the opportunity to put more and more products out in bottle format. It has also meant trying to put ourselves in the shoes of beer lovers and giving some thought as to what might excite them and give something to look forward to, even if largely restricted to their homes in their private time, if not their work time as well. As beer lovers largely restricted to our homes in our private time, this has perhaps been the easier part of our recent work, and certainly the more fun!

One thing we have long been wanting to being able to do, is to start a bottle club. While we have some general long-term plans for this, we also have a shorter-term opportunity to have our first go at such an offering.

We happen to be fortunate that our first wild and barrel-aged beers happen to be finally ready to release. Knowing that these kinds of beers are not everyone’s cup of tea, but that craft beer fans definitely enjoy variety, we decided to put on offer two “Nowhere Like Home” sets that will take the form of two 3 month beer courses.

The first will be a set offering 6 different products each month for 3 months, for a total of 18 different beers. These beers will be a mix of our year-rounds, seasonal, and general limited release beers. The second will be one for the connoisseurs, with our first 4 bottled wild and barrel-aged beers making it in there.

The first box of each set comes with an original KBC logo bottle opener. Details of the sets are provided below:

Garden Den Course: ¥12,000 (w/ tax | shipping separate)

6 bottles per month for 3 months.

Month 1 (shipping date: May 7th) The following 6 330ml bottles

  1. Ichigo Ichie (Saison)
  2. Haru no Kimagure (American Pale Ale)
  3. Mariko (Belgian IPA)
  4. Sunset Juice (Fruit Sour w/ Hibiscus and Mikan Orange Peel)
  5. Shunkashuto - Spring (Saison)
  6. A different 330ml special

Month 2 (shipping date: early June): 6 different 330ml bottles

  1. All Together (AmericanIPA)
  2. Five different 330ml specials

Month 3 (shipping date: early July): 6 different 330ml bottles


Treasure Hunt Course: ¥13,995 (w/ tax | shipping separate)

Month 1 (shipping date: May 7th)：The following 8 bottles

  1. Winter's End (Belgian Imperial Stout - Barrel Aged) - 500ml
    Desc: Our yearly Belgian Imperial Stout aged in Ichiro's Malt domestic whiskey barrels for 14 months.
  2. Bonds of Friendship (Belgian Golden Ale [w/ brettanomyces]) - 500ml
    Desc: Collaboration with Godspeed of Toronto using our house Belgian yeast co-fermented with Brettanomyces.
  3. 6-Day Weekend (Belgian Session Pale Ale) - 330ml
  4. TBA Eng Name (Table Saison) - 330ml
  5. Mariko (Belgian IPA) - 330ml
  6. Sunset Juice (Fruit Sour [w/ hibiscus and mikan orange peel])- 330ml
  7. Indigo Skies (Fruit Sour [w/ blueberry and raspberry puree]) - 330ml
  8. A different 330ml special

Month 2 (shipping date: early June): 4 different bottles including

  • Farmer's Table（Table Saison [w/ brettanomyces])- 500ml ※available only in this set!!
    Desc: Collaboration with Upright Brewing secondary fermented with Brettanomyces
  • All Together (American IPA) - 330ml
  • Two different 330ml specials

Month 3 (shipping date: early July): 4 different bottles including

  • Okuriinu (Belgian Blonde Barleywine [Barrel Aged]) - 500ml
    Desc: The follow-up brew to our collaboration with Anglo Japanese Brewing Company (AJB Co.), this version is a malty yet dry barleywine aged in Ichiro's Malt domestic whiskey barrels.
  • Three different 330ml specials

Bottle Club FAQ

Q1. What’s the period in which I can join the bottle club? A1. From Thu, Apr 30th @ 7pm to Wed, May 6th @ 7pm (or until the packs sell out).
Q2. How many sets do you have available? A2.
Garden Den Course = 500 sets
Treasure Hunt Course = 100 sets
Q3. What happens if I miss that date? A3. We plan to create additional bottle clubs in the future and so you can hopefully join one of those.
Q4. Can I buy multiple packs? A4.
Garden Den Course = no limit
Treasure Hunt Course = 2 per shipping address
Note: While we hope we never need to do it, KBC retains the right to cancel a membership and refund a prorated portion should anyone be found violating this policy.
Q5. I want to buy a set for my friend, what do I do? A5. Please create a separate order for each unique shipping address.
Q6. What payment methods are available? A6. Credit card and cash on delivery (COD).
Note: For COD orders, Sagawa will collect the entirety of the bottle club fee when delivering your first beer shipment.
Q7. I want to buy other beers along with this set, is that possible? A7. Unfortunately, subscription packs can only be purchased individually, meaning our system will remove non-subscription items in from your cart. We apologize for any inconvenience.
Q8. I’m going to move in June, how do I notify you about my address change? A8. Please reach out to us at order-retail@kyotobrewing.com with your new address and original order number.
Q9. Can I tell you what day of the week and/or time I’d like to receive my package? A9. Unfortunately, we don’t have the ability to receive shipping instructions from members at this time. By default, we will preset arrival times to be from 7-9pm. If the package arrives when you are not at home, please use the delivery attempt form to contact Sagawa to arrange a different delivery time.
Q10. Can you provide me with a tracking number for my package? A10. Unfortunately, this feature of our online ordering system is not yet operational.
Q11. Can I cancel? A11. In general, we will not offer refunds during the course of the bottle club but if you have extenuating circumstances, please reach out to us at order-retail@kyotobrewing.com.
Q12. What happens if I’m going to be away for an extended period of time? A12. We will be notifying members approximately 1 week ahead of time the specific contents and the date the boxes leave our facility. If you plan to be away for an extended period of time after the shipping date, please reach out to us at order-retail@kyotobrewing.com.
Q13. Will I be updated about the specific contents later? A13. Contents for the May packs have already been disclosed on our website (please visit https://kyotobrewing.com/en/blogs/news/bottleclub#bottle-club-content
Q14. How will I know that the beers have shipped? A14. With the initial order, you will receive a system confirmation email that your beer is on its way to you. Subsequent (ie. June and July) package contents and their ship dates will be notified via email.
Q15. It’s been several days since I’ve been notified that my beer shipped out and it still hasn’t arrived, what should I do? A15. Please reach out to us at order-retail@kyotobrewing.com with your order number so we can confirm the status of your shipment.
Q16. Can I change the contents of the shipment? A16. The contents of each shipment is decided in advance and cannot be modified.
Q17.I live in Kyoto, can I pick up my beers at the brewery? A17. Unfortunately, no. We hope to be able to accommodate pick-ups for future clubs.
Q18. Will you be doing more of these clubs in the future? A18. We hope to take our initial experience from this club and introduce a wider range of clubs moving forward.

Disclaimer: Bottle clubs meant to provide beer several months into the future often mean that beers that we hope to include have not even been made yet. In order to ensure that only beer that meets the high standards we set for it is included in the packs, we reserve the right to change release dates, beers to be included, and variations of club content. Should this become necessary, we will contact club members in advance with more details.