In a little more than a week, the holiday shopping rush will be over. Presents will be exchanged, copious amount of booze will be drunk, and all the food will be eaten as another Christmas goes in the books. That gives us all about seven days to find a gift. Tick, tock. If you’re still fretting over what to give your friends and family, we recommend the gift of beer.
A case of local craft or a killer specialty bottle or even a nice set of glasses makes for the perfect gift for the beer lover in your life. We’ve compiled a list of some of our favorite beer-related gifts below. For that most part, these are fairly easy-to-source beer and beer-adjacent products nationwide. You might have to go to a specialty shop or two but these beer gifts will be worth hunting down.
Upslope Brown Ale Pico Pak
Upslope Brewing Co. out in Colorado is brewing up some of the best craft beer in America right now. While the bulk of their brews are served in and around the Boulder, CO, area, the good stuff is starting to trickle into other markets around the country. Even still though, it’s a bit difficult to find outside of the region.
Well, we have a fix for that. The good folks over at Pico Brew have a brew set to brew Upslope’s famous Brown Ale at home. The box comes with the recipe, malt, and hop needed to brew. While it’s set up to be used with the Pico Countertop Brewing machine, the ingredients and recipe are all there, making it adaptable to any home brewing kit.
Deschutes Variety Pack
Deschutes Brewery is one of the most important micro-breweries in American craft beer. Founded in 1988 out in Bend, Oregon, the master brewers have been killing the suds game for 30 years now. This is master craft at its best, folks.
Their special variety pack includes three bottles each of Black Butte Porter, Mirror Pond Pale Ale, Pacific Wonderland Lager, and Fresh Squeezed IPA. This 12-pack is the perfect box of beer. As a gift, it’ll give the giftee a great introduction to the brewery and the old-school microbrew styles of the Pacific Northwest.
Elysian IPA Variety Pack
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Sticking with the Great Pacific Northwest, Elysian Brewing has been brewing up special beers with a mindful eye towards innovation and fun for over 20 years. This is an excellent craft beer that keeps things light and delicious. Elysian’s IPAs are some of the best in the game and make for the perfect gift for any beer lover.
Their variety pack includes three bottles each of Immortal IPA, Space Dust IPA, Dayglow IPA, and Avatar Jasmine IPA. These are the IPAs that beer lovers rave about. They’re subtle, hop-forward, dank, and innovative. Any IPA-lover will be beaming from ear to ear with a gift like this.
Sierra Nevada Celebration Fresh Hop IPA
Sierra Nevada’s Celebration IPA is a Christmas-time essential beer. The local craft brewery started brewing this one back in 1981 and haven’t looked back (making this a heritage IPA in our opinion). A 12-pack of the winter seasonal is the perfect way to celebrate the depths of winter with a well-balanced beer.
It’s hard not to love this beer. There’s a subtlety here that shines and a distinct “West Coast” vibe that marries bright citrus with dank, earthy pine; yet, neither element overpowers the other. There’s balance and it’s totally delicious.
New Belgium Seasonal Variety Pack
New Belgium is one of the easiest independent craft brews to buy from sea to shining sea in America. But don’t let the ease of availability fool you, this is still some of the best beer out there. There’s a sense of inventiveness to their output every year that keeps us coming back again and again.
This year’s seasonal variety pack has three each of Fat Tire Amber Ale, Voodoo Ranger IPA, Pilsener, and Fat Tire Belgian White. It’s a great introduction to the brewery and the brewing skills at play. Plus, this is just good, smile-inducing beer — the perfect gift for under any tree.
St. Bernardus Christmas Ale
You can’t go wrong with the gift of a truly special bottle of beer that’s a little harder to find. St. Bernardus Christmas Ale is a damn-near perfect winter sipper. The bottle also has a nice presentation, making it feel more like a present than just a drink.
This Belgian classic combines the spicy flavors of a Christmas cake with a dark and distant sweetness followed by smile-inducing richness. The muselet, cork, large bottle, and the beer inside make for the perfect stocking stuffer.
Samuel Adams Winter Classics
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Samuel Adams is probably the only other nationally massive independent craft beer that you can get everywhere in America and still be completely satisfied by the suds. The brewery has been perfecting their line of beers since 1984 and continue to innovate (while sticking to well-received classics).
The winter variety pack comes with two each of their Boston Lager, Winter Lager, Sam ’76, Old Fezziwig, Holiday Porter, and Chocolate Bock. It’s a great mix of their standards, new ideas, and winter sips. This is a surefire way to ensure any beer lover on your gift list will have a smile on their face come the 25th.
YETI Rambler Colster
If you’re looking for a way to keep your cans as cold as possible while you drink, look no further than right here. The YETI Rambler Colster is vacuum sealed science for your hand.
The Colster works amazingly well and will keep a beer ice cold on the hottest of days. It’s kind of mind-boggling how long the beer stays cold in one of these. It’s much longer than it takes to drink a can of beer — at least 45 minutes.
Ultimate Pint Glasses
Not all beer is the best out of the can. That’s where beer glasses come in. The Ultimate Pint Glasses are a great set to have around for anyone getting into tasting beer. The bulbous shape of the glass allows for aromas to concentrate and escape, giving the drinker the full experience. These glasses are great for anyone who wants to start upping their tasting prowess.
CAMRA’s Good Beer Guide To Belgium
Belgium is a beer haven for even the casual beer lover. A trip to the veritable holy land of beer is an essential bucket list trip. There’s so much to see and do while you’re in Belgium if you’re there for the beer, it is actually overwhelming.
CAMRA’s Good Beer Guide To Belgium is the only book you need to get you through the experience. Tim Webb and Joe Stange’s guide to the bars, breweries, and beer scene around the country is in-depth, accessible, and essential. This stocking stuffer is the perfect travel and beer guide to help any beer enthusiast plan and execute the perfect beer-trip next year.
Yeti, New Belgium, and Upslope supplied Uproxx with sample products for us to review. As an Amazon Associate Uproxx may earn commission on qualifying purchases.
