Beer of the Month clubs. What do you imagine when you hear those words? Well, a new company is looking to turn that thought inside out.

I recently spoke with CraftX co-founder Steve Ezell over beers at Mohawk Bend. Ezell, Jordan Toplitzky, and Ted Hamory are looking to make big changes to what will arrive at your doorstep each month.

CraftX is short for craft exchange and has a beer trader ethos in that the beers offered are done especially for the club. All of the beers will be canned (no bottles) a few days before shipment and will be really fresh when you get them.

The genesis of the project was a m’eh Beer of the Month subscription. A bunch of older pumpkin beers paired with other bottles that could have been purchased down the street from where Ezell lived. CraftX then became a MBA thesis / feasibility study. From there it was building the company and tasting beers to see which up and coming breweries would be a good fit.

There will be default packages with some slight customization available. Other extras include videos shot at each brewery so that you can not only read a summary of what is in the beer but see the people who brew the beers and also what their brewery looks like. The packaging has been chosen to be able to be re-used and down the road may even have a program to ship the empty box back.

California breweries and some local L.A. ones too are also on the docket to work with CraftX. Making it worth signing up to get e-mail updates.

The BEER OF THE WEEK is a new IPA from Julian Shrago at Beachwood Brewing. That should be enough reason for me to write, but I will add a bit more. Cool WIPA is “a white IPA brewed with three types of wheat. Generously hopped with a blend of American and Australian hops, this aromatic IPA has a soft wheaty finish.”

Your HOMEWORK is to scan through the listings for the upcoming L.A. Times sponsored L.A. Food Bowl. No, you won’t have to drink beer out of a bowl. Yes, you will have to parse through the foodie listings to get to the craft beer, but there are some gems including a spontaneous fermentation tasting at the new Mikkeller DTLA and a beer and food pairing at Indie Brewing.

Find more of Sean Inman’s writing on his blog, Beer Search Party.