Serious Pig + BrewDog 'Big Night In' Review: a hefty craft beer and snack box that actually feels like a proper night in

I got this Serious Pig + BrewDog "Big Night In" hamper as a present, and unlike a lot of gift sets, this one didn’t end up sitting in a cupboard for months. It’s basically a mix of six BrewDog beers, a pile of Serious Pig snacks, a branded beer glass and some tasting notes. On paper it sounds a bit gimmicky, but in practice it’s a pretty solid kit for a Friday night at home. I went through it over two evenings with a friend, so it had a proper test, not just a quick unboxing.

The first thing that hit me was the weight. At 3.4 kg you actually feel like you’re getting something for the money. There are 19 items in total, so it doesn’t look empty when you open it, which is often the case with cheaper hampers that are mostly cardboard and padding. Here it’s mostly cans and snack packs, so the box feels full and usable, not like a showroom piece.

Over two nights we tried all six beers and most of the snacks. I’m already familiar with BrewDog classics like Punk IPA and Hazy Jane, so I had a rough idea what to expect on the beer side. The real curiosity for me was the Serious Pig stuff: snacking cheese, pork snackalami, and pickles. I usually just grab crisps and nuts, so this felt a bit more put together without being anything fancy or restaurant-like.

Overall, my first impression was that it’s a decent, no-fuss gift for someone who likes craft beer and salty snacks. It’s not some luxury hamper with silver ribbons, but it does the job: you open it, crack a beer, open two or three packets, and you’ve got a simple “night in” sorted. There are a few details that could be better, but as an actual user experience, it’s pretty solid and, more importantly, everything actually gets used.

On taste, it does what it says on the tin: you get six classic BrewDog beers and a mix of salty, rich snacks that work well alongside. If you already know BrewDog, nothing here will surprise you: Hazy Jane, Punk IPA, Black Heart and the others are pretty standard in their range. The beers are around 5% ABV, so not super strong, and they’re fairly easy to drink. We had them straight from the fridge in the included glass, and they were exactly what I expected from supermarket BrewDog cans: good, consistent, not mind-blowing but reliable.

The snacks are where the box feels a bit more special. The snacking cheese is probably the standout. It’s salty, a bit tangy, and has a nice chewy-crunchy texture. You don’t need a lot of it to feel satisfied, so a small pack goes a long way. The snackalami has a good peppery flavour and isn’t greasy or floppy like some cheap salamis. It’s closer to a proper cured sausage, just in snack form. The pickles are sharp and cut through the fat nicely, so if you’re doing a little tasting line-up with the beers, they help reset your palate between sips.

After two evenings of going through everything, nothing felt like a throwaway item. There were no sad plain biscuits or random things you push to the back of the cupboard. Every packet opened got eaten. That’s pretty rare for a hamper. The overall taste profile is straightforward: salty, savoury, slightly tangy, and made to keep you drinking. If you don’t like strong salt or rich snacks, you might find it a bit heavy, but that’s the whole point of this style of food.

Compared with cheaper bar snacks, the flavour here is a bit more defined and less bland, but it’s still casual food. Don’t expect restaurant-level charcuterie or fancy cheese. It’s decent, it tastes good with beer, and you’ll happily finish it while watching a film or a match. For what it’s meant to be, I was genuinely happy with the taste across the board.

Price-wise, this sits in that mid-to-upper range for a beer hamper. You’re paying for six branded craft beers, 12 premium-style snacks, a proper glass, and some tasting notes. If you tried to buy all of this separately, especially the Serious Pig snacks and BrewDog cans, you’d probably end up in a similar ballpark, maybe slightly less, but then you’d lose the gift-ready aspect and the convenience of it all coming together in one box.

For what you get (3.43 kg total, 4.4 litres of beer, 19 items), the value feels fair. It’s not a bargain, but it’s not a rip-off either. The snacks are definitely higher quality than standard pub crisps, and the box doesn’t feel padded with cheap filler items. Everything is something you’ll likely eat or drink. That’s a big plus for me: I’d rather pay a bit more and have 19 useful items than 30 things where half end up in the bin.

The Amazon rating (around 4.7/5 from 80+ reviews) lines up with my experience: most people seem genuinely happy with it. I’d say it’s ideal as a present for a beer lover, a Father’s Day gift, a birthday, or just a treat for a couple’s night in. For yourself, if you’re just after cheap beer and snacks, you can definitely get more litres and grams for the same money by going supermarket-only. Here you’re paying for the brand mix, the nicer ingredients, and the gift factor.

So in terms of value, I’d call it good but not crazy cheap. If your budget is tight, this might feel like a bit of a splurge. If you’re in the market for a decent gift that feels generous without going into luxury hamper territory, it hits a nice middle ground. I didn’t feel short-changed, and nothing in the box felt like a waste, which is more than I can say for a lot of gift sets.

The concept is pretty straightforward: six BrewDog beers, a decent glass, and a bunch of Serious Pig snacks that actually pair with beer. No random chocolate bars, no jam, no weird biscuits. Everything is salty and savoury, made to go with alcohol. I like that focus. It means when you open the box, you instantly understand how it’s meant to be used: crack a can, grab two or three snack packs, and you’re sorted. There’s no need to cook or prepare anything.

The inclusion of the beer glass and tasting notes is a nice touch, even if it’s a bit geeky. The glass is a proper heavyweight piece, not some flimsy freebie. It makes the whole thing feel a bit more like an experience, especially if the person you give it to is just getting into craft beer. The tasting notes are simple: a description of each beer, what you might taste, and some pairing ideas. Nothing over the top, but enough to guide you if you want to make a mini tasting session out of it.

What I also liked is the balance between beers and snacks. Some hampers are very beer-heavy with barely anything to eat, or the other way around. Here, with 12 snack items, you can easily spread the box over two evenings without running out of food. We did three beers and a few snacks on one night, then the rest on another. It didn’t feel like we had to ration anything. If you’re two people, it’s a good size. For more than two, you’ll probably want to add extra crisps or something.

It’s not perfect: there’s no non-alcoholic option in the mix, and the selection is very BrewDog-focused, so if the person doesn’t like that style of beer, they’re a bit stuck. Also, the snacks lean heavily on pork and cheese, so it’s clearly not designed for vegetarians or anyone with dietary restrictions. But as a design choice, it’s consistent: it’s a box for people who eat meat, like salty snacks, and drink modern British craft beer. In that sense, the design is clear and honest, and it works.

From a practical point of view, the packaging is well thought out. Everything comes in a single sturdy box that handled shipping without any drama. No crushed cans, no ripped snack packets, and the glass was intact. The internal layout keeps things from banging around too much, and there isn’t loads of pointless plastic filler. Once you’ve opened it, the box is still usable for storage if you want, but realistically I just pulled everything out and stuck the beers in the fridge.

One real advantage is that none of the snacks need refrigeration. The instructions say to keep them in a dry place at ambient temperature. That makes it easy if you’re sending this to someone who doesn’t have much fridge space, or if you want to store it for a couple of weeks before you actually use it. I left mine in a cupboard for a few days before opening and everything was fine. No weird smells, no stale texture.

The individual snack packs are small and easy to share. You can open one packet of cheese, one snackalami, one pickle, and you’re set for a round of drinks. You don’t feel forced to open everything at once. The cans are standard size, and the glass is a good weight, so it doesn’t feel like a toy. From a user angle, you basically unbox, chill the beers, and you’re good. No extra prep, no repackaging needed if you’re gifting it in person.

If I had to nitpick, the outer box is decent but not fancy. For some people that’s perfect; for others, it might feel a bit plain compared to wicker baskets and ribbons. Personally, I prefer this more functional approach. It looks neat, travels well, and doesn’t create a mountain of useless decoration you’ll just throw away. As long as you’re not expecting luxury-level presentation, the packaging is honestly one of the strong points of this set.

On the ingredient side, it’s a notch above the usual pub snack level. Serious Pig uses outdoor-reared British pork for the snackalami, and the cheese is aged Italian, not some anonymous processed stuff. You can tell the difference when you eat it: the snackalami has a firm bite and decent flavour, and the snacking cheese tastes like actual cheese cubes you might get from a deli, just dried and seasoned. It’s still snack food, not health food, but at least you feel like you’re eating something with a bit of thought behind it.

There are some important allergen points though. The box clearly states it contains gluten, milk, sesame seeds and sulphites. So if you’re buying this for someone with allergies or who’s gluten-free, it’s basically a non-starter. Most of the snacks are either meat-based or cheese-based, and the beers obviously contain gluten. It’s very much a “no diet, no restrictions” sort of hamper. For my use, that’s fine, but you need to know who you’re buying for.

The pickles add a nice touch too. They cut through the fat from the pork and cheese, and they don’t taste like cheap vinegar bombs. Ingredients-wise, it’s still preserved food of course, but the overall feel is a bit more crafted than standard crisps and peanuts. Nothing feels watered down or padded out with weird fillers. If you’re the type who reads ingredient lists, you’ll probably still roll your eyes at some of the preservatives, but that’s standard for packaged snacks.

Compared with typical supermarket beer-and-snack bundles, I’d say the ingredient quality here is clearly a step up. You’re paying for that, of course, but at least it’s visible: proper cheese, decent pork, and pickles that actually taste like something. It’s not health-conscious and it doesn’t pretend to be, but for a treat night, I was fine with what I was putting in my body. For me, that’s enough for this kind of product.

The main thing with any hamper is how it looks when you hand it over. This one comes in a sturdy branded box that feels more like a proper gift than a supermarket multipack. It’s not luxury level, but the cardboard is thick, the print is clean, and it doesn’t look cheap. When I opened it, the beers and snacks were arranged in rows, not just thrown in. Nothing was rattling around or dented, which is honestly half the battle with these things when they’re shipped.

Inside, you see the six BrewDog cans lined up on one side, the Serious Pig snacks on the other, and the glass protected so it doesn’t arrive smashed. The tasting notes are tucked in like a mini booklet. It’s a small detail, but it gives you the feeling this is a “set” and not just random items shoved together. For a gift, that matters. You don’t need to repackage it or hide anything; you can basically hand it over as-is, maybe slap a gift tag on top.

In terms of variety, the 19 pieces make the box look full when you open it. You get 6 beers, the glass, and 12 snack packs. Visually it’s satisfying: lots of small items, different colours on the packaging, and you instantly see what the evening is going to look like. No mystery jars of chutney that will expire in three years. Everything is clearly meant to be opened and eaten with the beer, which makes the presentation straightforward and practical.

If I compare it with cheaper beer gift sets I’ve seen in supermarkets around Christmas, this one looks more thought-out. Those often have one or two tiny snacks and loads of empty space. Here, the box feels dense and busy in a good way. It’s not fancy enough for someone who expects luxury hampers with ribbons and baskets, but for a mate, a partner, or a family member who likes beer, it looks honest and generous. I’d be happy both to receive it and to give it without feeling like I cheaped out.