Brett Keating
December 8, 2021
Buying a gift for the beer drinker in your life isn’t easy. And as a beer drinker, there are only so many novelty growlers you can fit in your kitchen cupboard before you start re-gifting them. So we thought we’d put together a gift guide for the beer drinkers in your life – full of gifts that they will actually like.
Beachwood Blendery Gift Set
Beer: check. Glassware: check. Sweet wooden six pack: check. Beachwood Blendery, which specializes in spontaneously-fermented barrel-aged lambic ales, is offering this gift set for $85. The set includes your choice of two beers, and the handmade carrier made by woodworker (and Beachwood co-owner) Gabe Gordon. Find all the details here.
Greenbar Distillery Amaro
Even the best local beer drinkers need a night off from another IPA. A fantastic substitute for those nights is locally-made spirits – and Downtown LA distillery Greenbar is always near the top of our list. The first post-Prohibition distillery to open in Los Angeles, they make whiskey, rum, vodka, tequila, and more. We especially like their amaro – it’s well-balanced, like a great sour, equal parts bitter and sweet, made with California poppies, citrus, bayleaf, and 12 other botanicals. Drink it over some soda water with some champagne for a great spritz. Find it nearby here.
HPB Exploding Can Tee
The design team at Highland Park Brewery has been making classics since the beginning, but one of our favorites is the recently re-released Exploding Can tee. Get it on their website.
Hermetus Beer Bottle Resealer
Pastry stouts are among the hottest styles right now. The problem is, these sweet, high-ABV stunners are usually served as bombers (20 oz. bottles), which can be pretty hard to drink by yourself in one night. But day-old beer is flat, oxidized, and generally disgusting. Enter: this beer resealer. By far the best one on the market is this $10 German-made metal Hermetus Beer Resealer – it keeps beer bubbly and fresh for at least three days after opening. Buy it on Amazon.
Walt’s Hat
Walt’s is our favorite arcade bar in the city, and their merch is extremely fresh. This nylon snapback, embroidered with their logo in red, will give any beer lover in your life ready for some pinball. Buy it on their merchandiser’s website.
Propagator Tee
Since opening in 2016, Firestone Walker in Venice has quietly been putting out a lot of excellent and innovative house-brewed beers. They also just released a bunch of cool new tees exclusive to their Venice location, like this Lion and Bear Firestone Walker Brew Pack shirt. Get it on their website.
Modern Times Coffee
It’s only so long before any caffeine-loving craft beer fan starts to get into fancy coffee – particularly when Modern Times – one of the best breweries in SoCal – also makes some of the best coffee, too. Along with their flagship Black House and a bunch of seasonal options, they also make bourbon barrel-aged beans, which create an incredible, complex – and alcohol-free – cup of joe. Get it on their website.
Bier Beer Crewneck
Bier? Beer! Mumford’s classic American lager gets the Animal House COLLEGE shirt treatment, and the result is extremely spiffy and surprisingly classy. Order it for pickup or delivery on their website.
Beer from Cellador Ales
Free beer delivery? Really? That’s what Cellador Ales offers each week, so if you’re totally at a loss for what to buy – or you waited too long to stock up for your upcoming holiday party – order a case or two from this excellent North Hills sour specialist. (LA County only, $75 minimum order for free delivery). Find all the details on their website.
Ambitious Ales Tee
No one has ever been mad about receiving a crisp, clean, and simple white logo tee – which is why you can’t go wrong with this tee from Long Beach’s Ambitious Ales. Get it on their website.
Radiant Tie Dyed Socks
Radiant Beer in Anaheim was one of the best new breweries in Southern California to open year, so we highly recommend grabbing a piece of their merch to support them going into year two. Hand tie-dyed by members of the Radiant team, these socks are a fantastic gift for the brewery lover (or Grateful Dead) fan in your life. Order them for pick-up or delivery via their website.
Hopped’s Limited Edition “The GT” Shirt
Of course, we have to plug a couple of our own products on this list. While we love all of our merch items, we are especially partial to the super exclusive Hop Box collab we launched with The Glendale Tap earlier this year. Featuring a custom illustration by Design on Draft, this shirt is printed on a super soft Next Level tee and pays homage to yours and my favorite local beer bar. There are just a handful of these shirts left in existence and they will never be printed again, so pick one up for a special gift for the local LA craft beer nerd in your life.
The Hazy Hop Box
Our third batch of the Hop Box features 8 amazing Hazy beers —a Hazy Pale Ale, Hazy IPAs, Hazy Double IPAs, and a Hazy Triple IPA—all from some of California’s best hazy brewers. In addition to the beers, you’ll get a hazy-inspired custom tasting glass (our very first glassware release!) plus access to an exclusive tasting video, all wrapped up in a fun holiday hop-themed box. We may be biased, but this is one of the coolest gifts you can give a craft beer drinker, but they are very limited and will sell out. So order your Hazy Hop Box today! (psst…you can use code GIFTGUIDE for $10 off)
