10 Gifts Ideas for Your Favorite Homebrewer

With the holidays coming up, it’s time to start thinking about what gifts you’ll be giving out this year. To get the ball rolling, here are ten gifts ideas for that special homebrewer in your life.

1. Beer! – You can’t go wrong with quality beer. Ask your local bottle shop for recommendations or check out the Top 250 Beers on BeerAdvocate for ideas. Try to get your hands on something rare or pricey that they probably won’t drink otherwise.
2. Beer Recipe Kit – E. C. Kraus offers dozens of homebrew recipe kits to choose from, everything from IPAs and Irish stouts to Belgian saisons and German lagers. Pick a style you know your brewer enjoys, or choose something they’ve never brewed before.
3. Books – A good brewing book is a great way to find inspiration and expert advice. Some of my favorite brewing books include Marty Nachel’s Homebrewing for Dummies, Charlie Papazian’s Complete Joy of Homebrewing, and Ray Daniels’ Designing Great Beers.
4. Beard Conditioner – Odds are pretty good that your favorite homebrewer has a beard — or some kind of facial hair. I recommend the Bluebeards lineup of conditioners and lotions for keeping that scruff in check.
5. Auto-Siphon – This is one of those items that every homebrewer should have (it’s included in some homebrew equipment kits, so make sure your homebrewer doesn’t have one already). An auto-siphon (3/8”, 1/2”) makes transferring beer and wort from one vessel to another extremely easy and hassle free. Plus, it’s shape makes it a great stocking stuffer!
6. 10 Gallon Mash-Lauter Tun – This mash-lauter tun setup is an excellent upgrade for someone with a basic equipment kit who wants to move up to all grain brewing. With this equipment, the brewer will have no problem collecting 7.5 gallons of wort, plenty for a full volume boil and more than enough to end up with a five-gallon batch.
7. Homebrew Draft Kit – If you really want to show your brewer how much you love them, help them transition from bottled to draft beer. The Homebrew Draft System includes everything needed to put homebrewed beer on tap. Bonus: no more bottles taking up valuable closet space!
8. Gift Certificate – Sometimes it’s nice to be able to pick your own gift. With a gift card from E. C. Kraus, your homebrewer can pick out whatever homebrewing gear they need the most!
9. 3 Gallon Keg – This compact, commercial grade 3 Gallon Cornelius Keg is great for splitting up batches for experimentation and transporting beer to social events. Keep in mind your brewer will need a CO2 tank, ball lock disconnects and a method for dispensing the beer.
10. Beer Yeast Starter Kit – Preparing a yeast starter is a great way to improve the quality of your homebrew. Our Beer Yeast Starter Kit includes: 1000 mL Flask, Foam Stopper and 4 Beermaker Food Starters.

Don’t wait til the last minute! The holidays are right around the corner…
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David Ackley is a beer writer, brewer, and self-described “craft beer crusader.” He holds a General Certificate in Brewing from the Institute of Brewing and Distilling and is founder and editor of the Local Beer Blog.