January 09, 2021

KBC - Bottle Club 2 Announcement

With a return to a semi-lock-down state, we decided to take the opportunity to put together a new “Nowhere Like Home” course that people can hopefully look forward to enjoying

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At the end of April, with people largely restricted to their homes, we decided to release a special “Nowhere Like Home” limited 3 month bottle club. We offered two sets, one with a mix of general limited release beers, and one featuring our more limited offerings, including our few first ever barrel-aged beers.

We appear to, unfortunately, be about to enter another restricted period due to the increase of cases, especially in the Kanto region, but affecting people across the country.

While we are still a little way off allowing for a formalised year-round bottle club, we do have a number of special high ABV beers that we just released, and a couple of barrel-aged beers reaching maturity and coming together nicely for shipping out between now and the end of March. We thought this was the right time, therefore, to release our second “Nowhere Like Home” course. We will be focusing on one course this time, rather than the “special” and “regular” versions that the Garden Den and Treasure Hunt courses represented. Details of the courses can be found below.

Some people may remember that the original Treasure Hunt set from last year involved Okuriinu (which we felt needed more maturing to reach its best state) being switched out for a very limited bottling of barrel-aged Heretic’s Revenge. Depending on timing and how the beers come along, certain products may have to be switched out for others but we will do our best to ensure that, just as with last time, all replacement beers will be of equal or higher value. Barrel-aged beer lovers will be pleased to know that, after over a year in barrels, one featured beer will be the Okuriinu that didn’t make it last time around!

Sale timing and planned set contents are as below. Please note that sets are limited. While we planned to sell the sets for a week last time, we unfortunately sold out in 2 days despite creating additional inventory. As a result, we recommend that those interested in signing up do so as soon as possible.

Course price: ¥13,500 w/ tax (shipping separate)

Sale period: Jan 11th (Mon) @ 5 p.m. - Jan 17th (Sun) @ 11:59pm (or while stocks last)

1st Shipment：Jan 29th（Fri）Contents：6 Items

  1. Veil of Darkness（Imperial Stout）- 500ml bottle
  2. Winter's End - 1 year matured version（Belgian Imperial Stout）- 500ml bottle
  3. Ruby Royal（Belgian Imperial Red Ale）- 500ml bottle
  4. Mariko（Belgian IPA）- 330ml bottle
  5. Unnamed New Release（Belgian Pale Ale）- 330ml bottle
  6. Kan（American IPA）- 330ml bottle

2nd Shipment：Feb 26th（Fri）Contents：4 Items

  1. Okuriinu - Barrel-Aged Version（Belgian Barley Wine）- 500ml bottle
  2. Unnamed New Release（Collaboration 'Nakama Series'）- 350ml can
  3. Haru no Kimagure 2021（IPA）- 350ml can
  4. Unnamed New Release（New 'Locality Series'）- 350ml can

３rd Shipment：Mar 26th（Fri）Contents：4 Items

  1. Farmer's Table - Barrel-Aged Version（Table Saison）- 375ml bottle-conditioned champagne bottle
    Desc: Collaboration with Upright Brewing secondary fermentation in a wooden barrel with Brettanomyces
  2. Unnamed New Release（New 'Mari- Family Series'）- 350ml can
  3. Unnamed New Release（New '6 Tastes Series'）- 350ml can
  4. Unnamed New Release（New 'Sui Series'）- 350ml can

 

Bottle Club FAQ

Q1. What’s the period in which I can join the bottle club? A1. From Mon, Jan 11th @ 5pm to Sun, Jan 17th @ 11:59pm (or until the packs sell out).
Q2. How many sets do you have available? A2. Nowhere Like Home Course = 150 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. Nowhere Like Home 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 Feb, 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. How will I know that the beers have shipped? A13. 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.
Q14. 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? A14. Please reach out to us at order-retail@kyotobrewing.com with your order number so we can confirm the status of your shipment.
Q15. Can I change the contents of the shipment? A15. The contents of each shipment is decided in advance and cannot be modified.
Q16.I live in Kyoto, can I pick up my beers at the brewery? A16. Unfortunately, no. We hope to be able to accommodate pick-ups for future clubs.
Q17. Will you be doing more of these clubs in the future? A17. 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.