What beer can I give as a gift to true beer snobs who've likely tried most beers out there?
I want to give a gift of rare or otherwise amazing beer to a couple of guys I work with. These guys are hard core beer geeks and I am sure they have sampled most things out there. Thus, I am looking for some very rare/unique suds that will make their day.
Thanks for your thoughts!
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Sapporo. It’s Japanese and good and pretty cheap and comes in obscenely large bottles.
The thing is I’m not sure how uncommon it is here (or where you live, for that matter), so they may have tried it already.
Edit: Actually it seems pretty common. So maybe not…
Instead of getting them beer, why don’t you get them a pair of mugs or a vintage sign or some other beer accessory. I am a beer snob myself, and I really can’t afford to buy new accessories to go along with the beer. Plus, there’s less risk in guessing what they have and have not drank.
Where do you live? If you’re on the east coast, Dogfish head has some pretty unique beers theobroma, and king Midas come to mind. If you live in Colorado Bristol beers makes some very rare stuff.
Why not get them a homebrew kit?
one of my favorites is Saranac Pomegranate Wheat Ale, it’s pretty cheap, about 11 bucks a 6 pack here in ny york. And it’s a Micro Brew so no one outside of NY sells it I don’t think. But you can order Cases online. I usually don’t like fruit malt beers, but this one is damn tasty.
I would have to say “don’t”. No two beer snobs like all the same stuff. Just because something is rare and/or expensive doesn’t make it good. Opinions on what makes one beer better than another range widely. Very widely. Do you even know what types of brews these guys like? Some folks go for the IPAs. Others go for Hefeweizen, Pilsners, Stouts, etc. Nothing any of us say is going to be the end-all be-all for any other beer snobs. My husband and I are both beer snobs with very different tastes. Odds are these guys have a running argument -or several – about which beers are better than which other beers.
One thing that might work is getting them some beer-of-the-month club that gets a 6-pack delivered to their doors (if you’re in a state that allows such things) or a gift certificate to a place that has many many rotating taps or maybe tickets to a tasting event. That way they can try many things “on you” and have some choices. It’s more thoughtful, and more likely to make their day, than picking something just because it’s rare.
I hope this helps. Cheers and more beers!
When I was working in a beer specialty bar, we served almost 100 different Belgian and Dutch beers. The one that was always among the most appreciated by our American guests was Pauwel Kwak from the Begian Bosteels brewery. It comes with a nice coach drivers glass.
The story is that the beer was inspired by a Belgian innkeeper that had an inn for coach drivers and passengers. They designed a special glass that could be stored in a special glass holder attached to the side of the coach and would not easily spill.
The beers of this brewery have consistently been voted amongst the best in the world and should be available in the US. Your friend may already have drank it though.
Link to the brewery in Dutch
Link to the brewery in French
wikipedia on the brewery
wikipedia on the beer
Depends on what kid of beer they like, and how dark. Look for a microbrewed beer not from your area. Rogue is interesting and Dead Guy Ale has seasonal intimations, not to mention cool packaging.
I personally like St. Peter’s Ale, which is a British import. At $4.50 a bottle at the grocery, it would definitely count as upscale.
I would find a beer bar in your area, then give them a giftcard that will buy them 2 beers each. You give them beer, a night on the town, and no worries about their favorite style of beer.
Microbrews from an area they don’t live in seems the answer.
I live in the SF bay area, and there must be a 100 here.
Two different suggestions:
Theakston’s Old Peculiar is a very dark unusual beer from Yorkshire, England
There’s a beer of the month club (I think that’s its name) that will send a 6 or 12 bottles of different microbrews’ beers for 3, 6 or 12 months. You should be able to find them online. That may be pricier than you want.
I agree with @EmpressPixie – find a place that they’d like and give them free reign (within reason). :)
You almost never go wrong with Newcastle Brown Ale. The breakfast of champions.
It’s extremely hard to find, but if you do, Odell Brewing Company’s Cascadian Ale is the best beer I’ve ever had.
Without knowing exactly what these people like, one guideline is to look for beer that’s bottled individually. It might be hard to go out looking for specific beers, so I’ll just give you guidelines. Depending on the alcohol laws where you live, you might be able to find beer in a gourmet grocery store, a big store like total wine and liquor, or just the liquor store, or a wine shop. (Stores that focus on wine will often have a selection of gourmet beers, too.) Beers that are sold by the individual bottle are usually either really high-end or really low-end, because they’re going for two different markets. They’re outlawing individual beer sales in some places because a lot of the time homeless people will just buy them and drink them on the street. At the other end of the spectrum, some beers are meant to be enjoyed more like wine, and they’re sold in bottles that are maybe around 20 ounces to a liter. These usually cost anywhere from a few dollars to maybe ten dollars. A good example is Chimay, which I think is pretty much always sold this way. (How much do you want to spend on their gift?) The good thing about doing this is they might open it then and share it with you. :)
Where ever you go, talk to the salespeople and ask them what the beer is like or for recommendations. They’ll probably be more helpful if you go to a specialty place. Not everyone likes Yelp, but I think it is great for retail. It might be cool if you got these guys a Trappist beer. The name means beers that are brewed by Trappist monks, mostly located in or around Belgium and the Netherlands. They have a broad range of styles, but are known for quality, and this might be the unique sort of thing you’re looking for.
This is a very daunting beer menu of a pub in my area. It would take forever to try everything on that list, and anyway they’re usually out of half of it at any one time. But it at least might help you to know the names of a bunch of alternative breweries out there. Anyway, it might not matter too much what you get them. I always appreciate free beer.
Pliny the Elder can’t be beat. It’s hard to find though.
Also, Avery’s The Reverend is somewhat widely available and mighty tasty.
Young’s Double Chocolate Stout.
Yeah, this is a tough one because even if they’re ‘beer snobs’ that doesn’t narrow it down much at all! If you want to find something different and unique you can try tooking at Cost Plus either online or in person if they have one in your area. One of my favorites is Sierra Nevada. Its an IPA, so ya gotta have an aquired taste for the very strong hops taste. If you’re not a dedicated beer drinker, you won’t like Sierra Nevada.
So…. what did you end up buying them?
@janbb Old Peculiar isw interesting.
Why not see if there is a local hobbyist brewer in your area, buy it, try it, and if a go, send it?
I bought some from a local brewer at a church fundraising sale.
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