If you’re shopping for a gift for the beer geek in your life, the most simple gift you can buy them is craft beer. But if you’re one of those Leslie Knope-type gift-givers – the type of friend who buys extraordinary and personally perfect gifts – you’re looking for a gift that’ll really wow your friend who likes beer. You’ve come to the right place to find extraordinary beer gifts.
If you’re the big gift-giver type, skip our guide to affordable beer gifts and check out the extraordinary beer gifts guide below. Some of the gifts are from breweries, but the bulk of the guide is full of items that could bring the beer exploring experience to the next level.
Here are some splurge-worthy options for the truly deserving beer drinker on your list.
Fashionable Beer Gifts
Limited Edition Merrell X Dogfish Agility Synthesis X | $110
Performance shoemaker Merrell collaborated with Dogfish Head Craft Brewery to create a shoe inspired by the brewery’s popular SeaQuench™ Ale. The material comes from a variety of sustainable and recycled sources (the midsole is made from 10 percent algae; the laces are 100 percent recycled materials). The brands say they’ll be donating $10,000 to the Conservation Alliance as part of the brewery-shoe collaboration.
adidas München Oktoberfest Sneakers | $240
With these sweet kicks, beer will always be on your mind and feet. Inspired by the traditional Oktoberfest fashions, the adidas München Oktoberfest beer shoes come with high-quality leather and premium materials. Who knew adidas stood for “All day I dream about suds”?
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Extraordinary Beer Gifts for the Home
Kegmate™ 54 Qt. Jockey Box Cooler | $399
The ultimate outdoor party planner would love to have their very own jockey box for draft beer in the backyard. Trust me. Made out of stainless steel, this single faucet cooler is designed for ideal portability so you can ditch the bucket and keep the keg dry. The Kegmate™ comes complete with stainless steel 54-quart cooler, an interchangeable tap handle, coils and connections.
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Champagne (Du Nord) Saber | $165.95
A few years ago, our good pals at the American Homebrewers Association showed us that sabering wasn’t just for wine bottles. Tis the season to drink your beer cellar and sabering all of those large format bottles is made way easier and far more festive with a sabering sword. Please, wear eye protection!
Waterford Crystal Decanting Carafe | $275
Surprise! Fancy schmancy decanters aren’t just for wine – beer drinkers can use them for wild and sour beers, and it makes a great splurge-worthy beer gift. At Denver’s Goed Zuur, John Fayman’s team ensures that when you order a wonderfully complex bottle of gueuze, no one gets stuck with a glass of dregs with your charcuterie board. “We always try to offer the most authentic beer experience possible and when dealing with sour and wild ales that means pouring the bottle for the customer to ensure a perfect, yeast-free pour,” John tells us. “It’s a great tool for allowing a slow pour and a impart a softer mouthfeel to the beer if it’s lively.”
Epicurean Mash Paddle | $108.90
This epicurean mash paddle is a great gift for the legit homebrewer who should probably just make her hobby a business.
High-end Can Art by Christina Massey | $150 to $850
Perhaps in your formative beer years, when you displayed what one could call “can art,” it was triangular. Today, beer art is more permanent and still spectacular. Take, for instance, artist Christina Massey, the sculptor who turns her favorite hazy IPA cans into vivid bursts of shape and color. Many of the cans she uses are sourced from her home base in NYC from craft brewers like Other Half and Sixpoint.
Rush Creek Reserve Cheese | $35 per wheel
We love whale beers, but what about whale cheeses? I’d call this one a game-changer cheese. Rush Creek Reserve lives up to the hype. This limited cheese from Upland Cheese is produced only in the fall, as the diet of Rush Creek’s cows begins to change from summer pasture to the winter’s dry hay. This rich milk is perfect for a cheese like Rush Creek Reserve. The cheese is soft and so decadent it’s often referred to as savory custard. Each Rush Creek Reserve is wrapped in spruce bark which gives shape to the cheese and imparts a subtle woodsy flavor.
I can personally vouch that this cheese is bonkers when you pair it with beer. John Mallett of Bell’s Brewery once served it with Bell’s Cherry Stout at an event. He wrapped each piece of cheese in foil and placed it in the oven until it was warm and gooey. At $35 a wheel, this is the least expensive beer gift on the list, but you’ll want to by at least three to share.
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Beer Travel Gift Ideas
BierGardeValise™ | $349
What do you give the beer lover who loves to go on beercations? Give them a way to safely transport their newfound beer stashes home safely. The BierGardeValise™ is built as luggage for beer travelers. The carrier helps keep those special releases and hard-to-find beers secure during travel. As a beer lover who travels, trust me: nothing says you care like alleviating anxiety at baggage claim.
Guided Fly Fishing at Blackberry Farms | $95 to $495
Is your beer nut also a trout bum? Instead of buying them bottles and tippet, why not share an experience with them? Famed Blackberry Farm in Walland, Tennessee, is quite the experience and spending a day on the water is but one of the many experiences they provide. No matter what you choose, there’s always a farmhouse ale from Blackberry Farm Brewery to end the night.
Any beer fan would be lucky to get any one of these extraordinary beer gifts, but if you’re the type of person looking to splurge on a gift for someone, they’re pretty lucky already. We hope they appreciate you and your generosity and make time to open a few special bottles from their beer cellar this holiday season. Ultimately, the best gift of all for a beer lover is someone to share a bottle with. Happy holidays from CraftBeer.com.
Editor’s Note: We are not getting financial kickbacks from this list. We just thought these were really cool gifts for beer lovers.
CraftBeer.com is fully dedicated to small and independent U.S. breweries. We are published by the Brewers Association, the not-for-profit trade group dedicated to promoting and protecting America’s small and independent craft brewers. Stories and opinions shared on CraftBeer.com do not imply endorsement by or positions taken by the Brewers Association or its members.
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