Woodbridge / Lake Ridge Brewery Club Summary

Ok, it is time to sum up the recent reviews of the 5 Woodbridge / Lake Ridge VA breweries and who gives the best return on your annual membership fees.  The conclusions in this post is based off the numbers only.  Really it is YOU that determine what is the really best membership based on what you like to drink and where you like to hang out.

As stated in a previous post (Waters End review) the calculated costs of the bonus beer you receive as a member with the larger pour had to be recalculated.  As such the calculation is now based of the average cost of each establishments beer per ounce multiplied by the number of bonus ounces you receive over a week, based off 4-beers per week and 52 weeks in a year.  This summary also includes member growler discounts based off 2- 64oz and 2-32oz growler fills per month.  Included in the final calculations are the cost of ‘free’ perks such as t-shirts, or glasses a brewery may offer members.  What is not calculated are the discounts on food, merchandise or free tastings on new releases.

With all of the above being considered, the “Best Bang For Your Buck” or the best return-on-investment for your annual membership cost would go to Growling Bear Brewing Company!!  With a ROI of 446% based off the initial $69.99 joining fee.  WOW!!  Now THAT is a return on investment.  An honorable mention should go out to Water’s End +1 membership which has a whopping 522% ROI!!  However, since the +1 membership is tied to a Water’s End full membership the combined ROI of the full and +1 memberships brings the ROI down to a 265%.

To sum up in order, and based off of numbers alone, the rankings are as follows:

1. Growling Bear Brewing Company
2. Ornery Beer Company & Public House
3. Heroic Aleworks
4. Water’s End Brewery
5. Brew Republic Bierwerks

Here is the chart used for calculations.  It also shows the average cost of each establishments beers as well as the pour sizes available.  Please remember, these prices were just a snapshot in time as each establishment has changed beers and associated prices since the initial investigation… and they always will.

All the beer club memberships are good.  If you look at Brew Republic, even though they are at the bottom of the list, they still provide over 150% ROI.  You are not going to get anything that good on Wall Street!  😊  In full disclosure, I am a beer club member of both Brew Republic and Water’s End and being a member did not change my calculations or summary at all. Heck… I put them at the bottom… 😔… so, I hope they still allow me to come in!

I also want to take a moment to say that I really enjoyed working on these posts and getting to learn more about each of the local breweries in my area.  The people that run these establishments have a passion for what they are doing and truly love the job.  I met many of the owners and managers of these places and they were very nice to me in answering any questions I had about their beer clubs or their establishments in general.  Heck, I have even wound up becoming “The Duke” of all 5 establishments on Yelp… which may indicate I have a drinking problem… but hey these are great places!!

Congratulations again Growling Bear!!  Next, I will look at branching out and trying out some of the other Prince William County breweries and beer pubs and maybe venture into  Fairfax County as well.  If you have any recommendations or suggestions, please let me know in the comments section!!