Six packs of craft beer are great. With a six pack, you get a small (but not too small) quantity of beer to enjoy with a group of friends or family, allowing you all to be drinking the same beer at the same time.
They’re the perfect product for getting a party together and promoting community.
However, it can be fairly bland getting a mix of six of the same beer, a pre-chosen blend of six different beers.
There are times when you will want to switch it up and get your own mix of six craft beers, getting only the flavors and makes that you want.
Thankfully, this is more possible than ever, with many grocery stores even adding Mix A Six Pack stations where you can put together your own dream team six pack.
These give you a huge variety of craft beers to choose from, meaning that there will definitely be six different ones that you love. But what else should you look out for when picking on the beers?
With all that choice, it can be hard to find the very best selection.
That’s where I come in! In my handy guide below, I’m going to tell you all about the factors that you should take into consideration when building your own six pack of craft beer.
By the end, you’ll know exactly how to find your own dream team six pack.
How To Find Your Own Dream Team Six Pack
Exploring New Beers
The option to make a six pack of craft beers entirely of your own choosing is a fantastic way to enjoy what you know and love – but it’s also a great way to try out some new beers.
This will be at no great loss, because you’ll still have some of your old favorites to fall back on if you end up not liking the new beers you’ve also chosen.
This is especially useful if you’re going to try out a beer that people both love and hate, and you want to know which side of the fence you fall on.
If you don’t end up liking it? Then there’s still five other cans of craft beer that you know you will like, if you’ve chosen a bunch of favorites to accompany your new one.
Customizing To Your Crew
If you know that you’re making your dream team six pack of craft beers for a group of friends to all hang out and share, you can customize the beers for them.
If there;s a particular craft beer that each friend likes, you can get that one, collecting all their individual favorites in an easy six pack.
After all, if you get a six pack full of craft beers that your friends don’t like, then nobody’s going to be happy.
Therefore, it’s always a good idea to make sure that you have at least one for each person that you know they’re going to love.
Know The “Best By”
When you buy a premade six pack of beer, it’s likely that all the best by dates are going to be aligned, with all the beers going off at roughly the same time.
However, when it comes to making your own dream team craft beer six pack, you’re going to need to keep an eye on all the best by dates of the beer that you’re picking.
Since you’re likely picking a different range of craft beers, each of them will have different best by dates.
For this reason, you’ll need to make sure that each of them isn’t nearing expiry, in order to keep your drink fresh and you healthy.
Some stores actually use their six pack mixing station as a place to dump their beers that are approaching their best by date.
This means that you’ll need to make extra sure to check all of the dates in order to avoid a beer that has gone flat and lost its flavor.
Beer Blend
If you’ve ever had a beer blend, where two types of beer are blended together, then you’ll know how delicious that mixture is. With a dream team six pack, you can do the same.
Since you’re deciding on the different types of beer, you’ll know exactly what might combine nicely when mixed together. So, when you make your dream team, make sure you’re picking ones that can be blended together to great effect.
Balance Out The Selection
It’s a good idea to mix up your dream team six pack with a carefully balanced sequence of flavors and types.
Why? Well, when you drink an IPA after drinking an IPA then the intensity of the hops will change the way that you taste the later IPAs, dulling their flavor and making them worse.
For this reason, you need a sequencing balance for your drinking. Try to get variation with the drinks.
For example, if you have an IPA, try and have a sour type of beer afterwards, in order to reset your tastebuds and allow you to enjoy the next IPA.
Great Value
Some stores will offer their “build your own” six packs at a flat rate, while others will charge you an individual price for each bottle. When you come across a case of the former, you can use it to make sure that you’re enjoying great savings.
For example, if you’re getting a six pack for a flat rate of $11.99 and you know that if you bought a six pack comprised entirely of one of the types of beers it would cost you $13.99, then you’re likely already saving money on that craft beer brand alone.
Final Thoughts
Follow my steps and you’ll have your dream team six pack of craft beer!