UK-based online beer platform Honest Brew has added bitcoin to its list of payment methods.

The company specialises in craft beers from its own and guest breweries – including quirky labels like Weird Beard, BrewDog and Pressure Drop – and is now very likely the first online alcohol merchant to sell directly to the bitcoin-wielding public.

Andrew Reeve, Honest Brew’s CEO, said:

“As the first online platform [for alcoholic products] to offer payment by bitcoin, we are hoping the community gets behind it.”

Heady brew

Honest Brew was started up in London by Reeve, a New Zealander who had long been a fan of both home-brewed beer and bitcoin.

In 2013, Reeve graduated to commercial-scale brewing at Late Knights Brewery in South London, after which he and his small team “brewed with hops flown in from New Zealand, dabbled in chilli and were even convinced […] to do a brew with woodlice”.

More recently, marrying a love of technology and beer, Honest Brew set up its online merchant platform to allow its wares to be sampled by a wider audience across the UK and Europe.

The company’s decision to accept bitcoin payments was down to this affinity for technology and an appreciation of the bitcoin community.

Said Reeve:

“Our goal is to make it easy for people to enjoy great craft beer. Bitcoin is an easy way for people to pay and it’s a near-direct transaction. This fits what we are trying to achieve at Honest brew, so it makes perfect sense to accept bitcoin.”