Best Gifts for Beer Lovers
Trying to buy a gift for a beer lover can be tricky when you don’t know yourself the difference between a porter and an IPA. If you always go for the safe option of a six-pack of Stella as a gift, it might be time to try something more unique. To help inspire you, we've put together this guide to the best gifts for beer lovers:
Brewery tours
With more than 2000 breweries all over the UK creating premium-quality beer, it's little wonder the number of craft beer enthusiasts is multiplying.
There are many brewery tour options across the country, from Lancaster to London and Chester to Cardiff.
What to expect
A brewery tour usually begins with you gaining an insight into the history of beer making, a walk around the brewery, a peek into the brewer's processes, and often a sample or two of what they create.
Why a brewery tour?
For beer lovers, a brewery tour is educational. Experience gifts are always popular because they are unique and can often align with a hobby or interest, while creating long-lasting memories of an time shared. Experiences can also inspire new passions — for example, a brewery tour may ignite a new love for home brewing. If this turns out to be the case, for the next gift-giving occasion, you could buy them equipment to help them continue their passion.
The craft beer trend is similar to the boom in artisan gin producers — ensure you take a look through our gin gift experiences for your favourite G&T lover.
If you don't think a brewery tour is right for your beer-loving loved one, why not give them a delicious meal at a pub or restaurant renowned for its selection of lagers and ales? Spend quality time together, catching up while you enjoy food and your loved one gets to sample the beers on offer.
Beer tastings
If you think your loved one wouldn't be interested in learning about the production of the beer, there are many tastings across the country to choose from instead. Tastings have more traditionally involved wine, but as craft beer has become more popular, experts have begun matching food with beer for incredible tasting experiences.
What to expect
Usually, there will be an expert at hand to explain the brewing process and guide guests through the different beers that you sample. Some tastings are totally beer-focused, and others include nibbles to pair with the drinks or different types of drinks like mead.
Why a beer tasting?
As with a brewery tour, the experience of a guided craft beer tasting session with an expert is a fantastic gift for lovers of the drink. It gives your loved one the opportunity to discover a new favourite beer and learn how each step of the production process creates a unique flavour. If they really enjoy a particular ale from the tasting session, you could even send them home with a crate afterwards.
Beer-themed stocking fillers
Once you have purchased your experience or gift, you can use stocking fillers to give away clues. Considering the rise in popularity of craft beer, you may not be surprised to discover that there is a plethora of beer accessories available, including bottle openers, tankards, glasses, and coasters. These additional extras are perfectly suited to supplementing an experience gift.
Why stocking fillers?
If you add stocking filler gifts, you can build up to giving the experience gift with smaller "hint" presents. Label each tag with a fun message and finish with the main gift.
So there you have it — hopefully, our beer-themed gifts for the ale lover in your life have helped to inspire you with present ideas. Struggling to buy a gift for a man in your life? Check out our collection of gift experiences for him to browse through all of our current deals.