Beer of the Week: Firestone Walker's subscription box isn't cheap, but hoooo buddy it's worth it

If you like bold, heavy beers, that is.

Welcome back to FTW’s Beverage of the Week series. Here, we mostly chronicle and review beers, but happily expand that scope to any beverage that pairs well with sports. Yes, even cookie dough whiskey.

Firestone Walker’s Brewmasters Collective isn’t cheap. For a shade under $400, you get an exclusive membership in a tight knit club, discounts on purchases online and at the brewery, access to a rare beer library and — and most importantly for my purposes, a quarterly beer shipment straight to your home.

In the spirit of full disclosure, I’m not a Brewmasters Collective member. But the brewery occasionally surprises me with deliveries out of nowhere because I am living inside some kind of glorious coma dream as my family worries around me, furious I left no will. So around last November, this showed up at my door (after I signed for it and proved I am, in fact, a grown up).

At the risk of turning into a character from an insurance commercial, it’s a really nice box! I kept it! I’m gonna put stuff in it!

Here’s what was inside:

Five unique, boozy beers (well, four and a barleywine), a couple of boxes of curated cookies and a spiffy brochure explaining the contents and what other perks come with membership. There’s no doubt a lot of thought has gone into this subscription crate. And since it’s Firestone Walker, it’s a near certainty these beers are going to be good.

Let’s see if they’re $99.25 good.