Author: Marshall Schott

The holiday season is upon us, which means it’s time to start thinking about gifts we wish to give as well as receive! Running with an idea proposed by readers last year, the contributors came together to suggest gifts based on brewing experience with beginner, intermediate, and advanced sections. It’s fully possible something we think is a good gift for an advanced brewer would be ideal for a someone with less experience, so make sure to read through the whole thing. We also included a final “splurge” section where we suggest bigger ticket items many might avoid buying for themselves but we trust any brewer would love to receive as a gift.

2016 Gift Ideas For Homebrewers

This was written with the assumption the gift receiver already homebrews, meaning they own at least enough equipment to make beer. If that’s not the case, then I’d recommend reading our article on Getting Started in the hobby and picking up a starter kit from a place like MoreBeer, Adventures In Homebrewing, or Love2Brew.

| BEGINNER |

Homebrewers just starting out are in a phase of building– not just their breweries, but their knowledge, which is where many of these gift ideas stem from.

Brewing Books

I always enjoy receiving good books as gifts, in fact that’s exactly how I built the majority of my brewing book collection. In addition to classics like How To Brew, Designing Great Beers, and the entire Brewing Elements series, Drew Beechum and Denny Conn’s latest Homebrew All-Stars offers a look into the brewing minds of a number of today’s successful homebrewers. Chock full of beautiful photos and interesting tips, Homebrew All-Stars is accessible enough for beginners while remaining interesting enough to hold the attention of those with more experience.

Brew Your Own Magazine Subscription

Another thing I think is absolutely crucial to turning a person curious about making beer into an obsessed homebrewer is digging into accessible and relevant information, which for me came in the form of a Brew Your Own magazine subscription. With fantastic articles written by experienced and thoughtful brewers, the annual subscription is more than worth the awesome amount of knowledge contained it each edition’s pages.

The Brew Bag Fabric Filter

I credit the Brew In A Bag (BIAB) movement for the huge rise in brewers using all-grain methods, and The Brew Bag has been around since the beginning, providing high quality, durable, and well designed fabric filters that have become a staple in my brewery. Whether looking to transition from extract or simplify the process, The Brew Bag offers inexpensive options that would make great stocking stuffers.

Small Fermentors

Many homebrewers get started by making beer on the stovetop, which can make full 5 gallon batches difficult. Besides being more manageable, brewing smaller batches can help beginners develop a grasp of the process without as much risk while also increasing their output. Contributor Jake Huolihan prefers 3 gallon glass carboys due to their durability, ease of cleaning, and xBmt results showing they may have an impact on beer quality. Other options include 3 gallon PET carboys, high quality stainless buckets, or even used icing buckets often given away at grocery store bakeries.

Basic Brewing Brewer’s Logbook

A common practice among many of the best brewers is document each brew from recipe changes and gravity measurements to missed temperatures and tasting notes. Good documentation can help brewers develop a better understanding and mastery of brewing ingredients of process. Thoughtfully organized, the Basic Brewing Brewer’s Logbook is a fantastic resource that provides brewers an easy and convenient way to record each batch.

| INTERMEDIATE |

In my mind, the intermediate homebrewer is the person who has brewed 12 or so batches on their own, has developed a decent understanding of the general process, and whose interest in brewing continues to grow. Since this brewer already has the requisite beer making gear, equipment and process upgrades tend to be a big thing at during this phase.

JaDeD Brewing Immersion Chiller

In my nearly 14 years of homebrewing, I’ve yet to encounter chillers as well designed, effective, and convenient as what JaDeD Brewing offers. The Hydra is capable of chilling 10 gallon batches of wort in as little as 7 minutes while the King Cobra can chill a 5 gallon batch in under 4 minutes. These chillers were a game changer for me just as I’m sure they’d be for many brewers, check out my reviews for more details: King Cobra Review | The Hydra Review

Water Chemistry Stuff

Improvements in process as a result of upgrading equipment are great, but often times they have little effect on the actual quality of the finished product. It’s for this reason I think a fantastic gift for the intermediate brewer is a water chemistry starter kit, which doesn’t really exist, but it’s easy enough to put together and doesn’t cost much at all! The one potentially expensive thing here is a pH meter, and while I personally use and love a Milwaukee MW102, I know a few people who have had great experiences with the more cost friendly Milwaukee pH56. Besides that, all that’s left are minerals and acid, I stick to using just gypsum and calcium chloride purchased in bulk because it’s so cheap, as well as lactic acid for mash pH control. Toss in a copy of Palmer and Kaminski’s Water book for the ultimate brewing water chemistry gift set!

Propane Burner

There’s no question that moving my brew days from the kitchen to the garage kicked my brewing game into high gear, especially after picking up a powerful Bayou KAB4 burner, which I still use today. Recently, the Bayou KAB6 was on sale for a few dollars more than the KAB4, the only difference being the latter has a slightly smaller cooking surface.

Grain Mill

What brewer wouldn’t love the freedom to brew on a whim? This is the beauty of keeping bulk ingredients on hand, though it means the brewer has to mill her own grains. Thankfully there are some killer options available to brewers these days including the less expensive Cereal Killer to the more heavy duty Monster Mill MM3 and MM2 models, which all of us here at Brülosophy use and absolutely love!

Bulk Equipment

Speaking of bulk, there’s not a homebrewer I know who wouldn’t love to shave some costs off of their brewing habit, and one very effective way to do this is to buy ingredients in bulk. Storing multiple sacks of grain may not be feasible for those with space limitations, but finding a couple empty spots in the freezer to store bulk hops isn’t terribly difficult and can reduce the per ounce price by 30% or more. With a vacuum sealer and some bags, anyone can have quality hops accessible and ready to use whenever the brewing bug bites.

| ADVANCED |

One of the biggest differences I’ve noticed between intermediate and advanced brewers has little to do with brewing ability, but rather focus of interests. Whereas intermediate brewers apply what they learned as beginners, advanced brewers seem to focus more on geekier things like measurement and numbers. The following gift ideas may have a larger effect on tickling a brewer’s inner nerd than on the quality of the beer they brew.

ThermoWorks ThermaPen Super-Fast Thermometer

Temperature is important at various times in the brewing process, and while myriad thermometers exist to get the job done, none provides measurements as quickly as the ThermaPen by ThermoWorks. Providing accurate temperature readings in as little as 3 seconds and packed with features such as a rotating display, automatic back-light, and water resistance, the ThermaPen adds surprising convenience to the brew day.

Finishing Gravity Hydrometer

When a friend suggested I buy a finishing gravity hydrometer to improve xBmt data, I hesitated thinking the $20 price tag wouldn’t be worth the marginal improvement in accuracy. It didn’t take long for me to start recommending it to other process and precision nerds. I’ve been using the same unit for nearly two years now and it’s still going strong.

Off-Flavor Tasting Kits

The most legitimate method brewers have to learn how to identify problems in their own beer is to experience off-flavors for themselves, which requires the use of concentrated forms of the offending compounds. For the brewer dedicated to honing their sensory abilities, a FlavorActiv sensory kit would make for a fantastic gift!

Laboratory Analysis

Advanced homebrewers usually have a few go-to recipes they’ve honed and brew more frequently than others, though any objective data about that beer is based on predictions, which we’re learning may not be as accurate as we once thought. For these brewers, having their beer analyzed for things like bitterness, alcohol content, and color would provide a greater sense of certainty in their measurements. Oregon BrewLab offers all of these options and more to homebrewers at a reasonable price, though since they don’t seem to sell gift certificates, you may need to get creative with how the gift is presented.

| SPLURGE |

Homebrewing can be as cheap or expensive as one chooses to make it, and while I truly believe that a beer fermented in a $5 plastic bucket can be just as high in quality as one fermented in a pricey stainless conical, it’s fun to splurge for the bling sometimes. Whether you’re looking for a nice gift for a special brewer in your life or rewarding yourself this holiday season, the following stuff kicks major ass!

Stainless Steel Insulated Mash Tun

I’d reckon converted plastic cooler MLTs are the most common mashing vessel used by all grain homebrewers today, and for good reason, they’re cheap, easy to build, and effective. After over 4 years of regular use, mine were starting to show their age– broken hinges, cracks in the inner liner, and the lids weren’t holding a seal. Based on Ray’s very positive experience with Chapman Equipment’s ThermoBarrel, my interest in a durable stainless solution admittedly increased, so I agreed to give Ss Brewtech’s InfuSsion a spin. I tend to be very skeptical of higher priced products, but my experience mirrors Ray’s. The bottom drain eliminates any deadspace as well as the need for a diptube, the etched volume markings make transferring strike water a piece of cake, and the insulation allows for incredible heat retention– the most I’ve lost over 8 uses has been 0.7°F/0.3°C during a 1 hour mash. While the false bottom works just fine, I recently began using an inexpensive custom fabric filter from The Brew Bag in my mash tuns to ensure huskless lautering and super easy clean-up. Ultimately, insulated stainless mash tuns may not be for everyone, but the dedicated brewing interested in gear that’ll last a lifetime and looks as gorgeous as the beer it helps make, it’s a killer option.

Keezer/Kegerator Parts

Without question, and I know I’m not alone on this, my least favorite aspect of brewing when I first started was bottling. I attribute kegging as being one of the primary changes that kept me in the hobby, as it reduced my packaging time from over an hour to about 20 minutes. The cost of kegging can be a drawback, though I felt the sting  dissolve immediately when pouring my first beer from a tap. Rather than list everything out here, if kegging parts is what you’re after, have a look at our Simple Keezer Build and Slightly Less Simple Keezer Build articles, both of which contain equipment lists.

LaMotte Brew Lab Kit

If the xBmts have taught us anything, it’s that water matters, and the LaMotte Brew Lab kit can help to improve one’s understanding of the most abundant and influential beer ingredient! This kit measure 7 important water quality factors including sulfate and chloride levels, eliminating the need to send water off for laboratory testing.

Temperature Controlled Stainless Conical Fermentor

For the homebrewer looking to emulate a professional setting, a stainless conical is often viewed as a quintessential part of the setup. Malcolm has been using his Ss Brewtech Chronical fermentors for a few months now with no complaints, he simply transfer his wort from the kettle, sets the temperature controller to maintain a desired temperature, then lets the Chronical do the rest. Pro-minded brewers who don’t want to fuss with lifting carboys in/out of freezers would surely appreciate the convenience of a temperature conical.

For more gift ideas, have a look at our recommendations from previous years!

2014 Holiday Gift Ideas | 2015 Holiday Gift Ideas

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