Six gift ideas for the beer lovers on your list

You’d think that craft beer fanatics would be easy to shop for — a few bottles or cans of craft beer or maybe some fancy Belgian imports are foolproof gifts, right? But as with any borderline obsessive connoisseurs, finding a gift that’s more thoughtful than, say, a bottle, can be a challenge.

Here are some stocking stuffers, perfect for the beer fans on your list.

A waiter’s corkscrew

The humble bottle opener isn’t an item than any beer lover really needs. They tend to amass branded key chain openers until drawers are overflowing with the inadvertent collection. But a bottle opener is also an item that a beer drinker uses, and uses often. A waiter-style corkscrew will quickly become any beer geek’s favorite way into their beloved brews. Besides simply getting a cap off, the foil knife will cut through wax seals on specialty bottles, and, of course, they’ll open the odd bottle of wine (or the tony Belgian beers sealed with corks). You can spend a few bucks on generic waiter’s corkscrews or drop well over $100 dollars for a Laguiole-branded version available in all manner of handle materials, from French oak to antler. These boozy multi-tools aren’t exciting, but they’ll get years — maybe a lifetime — of use.

A Champagne bottle stopper

Another wine accessory that beer drinkers will find unexpectedly useful are the stoppers built to reseal a bottle of bubbly. Though an open bottle of beer doesn’t often sit around long enough to go flat, the proliferation of large-format bottles of potent barrel-aged stouts or acerbic sour ales that demand slow sipping on small pours makes preserving the carbonation of a half-bottle for an evening a useful trick. Typical wine bottle stoppers don’t hold muster for beer as the carbonation will still slowly escape (and the vacuum sealers are a total no-go as they’ll rapidly draw carbonation from the brew). The best option is the type of Champagne stopper that clips onto the bottle’s neck to hold the rubber seal firmly inside the bottle, such as these $6 versions from Crate and Barrel.

Brewery socks

One marker of achieving official adulthood is when you stop rolling your eyes at getting socks as a gift and start appreciating a gift of fun, funky or otherwise characterful stockings. Many large craft brewers, and a few smaller local brewing companies, sell branded socks, and now Etsy, Amazon and even Target offer socks adorned with beer mugs, beer foam or pithy slogans announcing your allegiance to your favorite hops. Wearing a pair of Sierra Nevada narwhal socks under your suit is a delightfully low-key subversion of business-friendly wardrobe.

Tasting journals

The rise of online beer rating sites and beer review smartphone apps means there are a lot less beer-nerds scribbling in paper journals at the local craft beer bars, but there’s something about journaling your beer journey in longhand that’s more immediate and visceral than tapping on a glowing screen. A dedicated beer tasting journal is a great way to get in the habit of remembering all those new beers you’ve tried, and they’re especially helpful to drinkers just beginning to explore the world of beer. Try the 33 Bottles of Beer pocket journal from 33 Books Co. These notebooks feature smart layouts and graphics that help you jot down what you’re tasting, and they only cost about $5.

Gift cards and beer club memberships

Though not the most original gift, some credit at a beer retailer is often a better stocking stuffer than an actual bottle of beer. Gift cards for the big-box beertailers such as BevMo! or Total Wines are good, but store credit at independent craft-beer-focused retailers such as Sunset Beer in Echo Park, Select Beer in Redondo Beach, Southland Beer in Koreatown or either location of Craft Beer Cellar (Eagle Rock and Torrance) are even better. Many local breweries offer gift certificates, and a branded growler plus enough credit for a fill-up or two is always a welcome gifts for beer lovers.

A few local breweries also offer subscriptions and club memberships, which make great gifts. The $300 annual membership to Phantom Carriage’s Barrel Guild is a stretch for a stocking stuffer; the $60-per-quarter membership to the Bruery’s Preservation Society is a bit easier to swallow. New local breweries Dry River (Boyle Heights) and Cellador Ales (North Hills) also offer membership subscriptions at various price points.

Another membership to look into is an Enthusiast membership to the Los Angeles Brewers Guild. For $50, Enthusiasts get a membership card good for discounts on pints, merchandise and food at more than a dozen bars and restaurants across Los Angeles, a T-shirt or tank top, a printed map and guide to L.A.’s beer scene and discounted VIP tickets for the annual L.A. Beer Week kickoff festival and this year’s inaugural L.A. Beer and Food Festival.

A foolproof bottle of beer

With so many different styles or beer and such varied tastes among beer-lovers, there’s no such thing as a one-size-fits-all beer recommendation. But there are a few brews that just about every serious beer lover would be elated to find in their stocking. You can’t go wrong with the superlative Trappist brew from Orval — the pale ale is not only one of the best beers in the world, Orval’s special formulation means it’s nearly immune to the ravages of time, so you won’t have to worry about gifting a stale bottle. It’s easy to find at local shops, where the striking bottle should be less than $8. And if you can find a branded Orval glass (said to be designed by the same architect who designed the Orval abbey west of Luxembourg), even better.

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