Gift ideas help!

Hi all,

I have never done this sort of thing.. but I'm trying to think of Christmas gift ideas for my boyfriend who homebrews. Last year, I thought it would be really cool to get him a "chillsner" (basically stick it in your beer and have it be cool for a longer period of time" , but he said he didn't really need that (basically useless!)

Anyways, found this thing called a Sonic Foamer - creates a foam head?
Is that a good gift?

Or any other ideas would be much appreciated!

Thanks,
Stressed out Girlfriend

Well, all the sonic foamer is doing is knocking carbonation out of solution to enhance the head, not unlike a sparkler does with cask ale (don't mind what that means because it's not important). There's a cost, in that it leaves the beer a little flatter, which your boyfriend may or may not want. No way to magically increase head formation in a beer on the serving end without having a drawback.

Without knowing your boyfriend's setup it's hard to offer any concrete suggestions, and if he's like the rest of us, unless there's something specific he's told you he wants, he'd probably rather make the decision himself. I've simply told folks if they want to buy me anything brewing related, give me a gift card to my local homebrew shop. That way I can get exactly what I need at that particular moment, or make sure whatever equipment I'm buying works well with my setup.

However, depending on how much you need to spend, and how serious your boyfriend is about the hobby, there's a few things I would say he could probably use if he doesn't already have one. You can buy any of these things from just about any homebrew retailer. An immersion chiller for wort is a good one. A refractometer is another. A 2L Erlenmeyer flask, a stir plate, and a stir bar is another.

I personally would not like a sonic foamer as it really serves no useful purpose in my mind.

To better help we would need to know first what your price range is. Then people here can better toss out ideas for you.

I second the gift card idea,a 6 gal glass carboy is always useful, beer bottles/caps he can always use them and/or buy his favorite Homebrew kit hope this helps

Wow! Thanks so much. Yeah, he has told me it would be better if I didn't try to surprise him homebrewing related gifts, haha. I just really want to though. (I may have to give up eventually)

I would say he is pretty serious about this. He has invested a lot of money and time. He also made a quite a few batches.

I would be willing to spend about anything less than $100. I will check out your suggestions.

Thanks so much again!

Tell him you were going to buy him this until he told you not to surprise him.

And if he doesn't have one, a refractometer is perfect.

A ph meter is in your price range and quite a useful tool for not only brewing but if you garden or have fish as well. Will help him up his beer game to the next level!

Does he have a stir plate?

Buy a couple of hydrometers and then a gift-card to his local homebrew store.

This is just my opinion, but I LOVE brewing. And I LOVE gifts.

I don't however love brewing gifts. No one could possibly know what I have, what I don't need, what I do need, or what I want. Unless you know for sure that he has a therminator chiller, and needs an inline thermometer (as an example), I would stay away from buying a gift for a brewer.

We all have different systems and techniques. I have a chiller that probably wouldn't work for him, and I only want a certain thermometer or a certain pH meter.

For a beginning brewer, it's pretty easy as they generally don't have much beyond a basic kit. But for anybody who is really into the hobby, they are almost impossible to buy for, even if you are a brewer too. My husband is retired, and has actually watched me brew, but he has no idea what I have or what I would add to the system. He doesn't know a mash paddle from a counterflow chiller, and never heard the word "sparge". He'd not be able to pick out a usable gift, but that's ok as I couldn't pick out a good part for an outboard motor for him either.

I love the thought, but most brewers have a list of what they want or need, and if you don't know what's on that list specifically, I wouldn't buy something for brewing I'm afraid.

I agree with Yooper here, without knowing his setup, it's tough to guess what he needs. If someone gave me a glass carboy, it would sit and collect dust (I use better bottles... lighter & safer).

I recommend having him make a list. Otherwise, maybe glassware (?). I know I like having a variety of tasting glasses and pint glasses for different beer styles.

Sorry to be a downer, but trying to help. Best of luck!

Agreed with all the rest. Gift Cards are usually the best brewing related gifts because that way you don't give something he already has or something he doesn't really need with his process. If you catch him drooling over anything in particular at the home brew store near him, that can be an idea, but it really is hard to determine which toys he may need. Maybe an offer to buy his ingredients for a batch that you make with him? Brew assistantry can be really nice, especially if you offer to help clean everything up, and bring him a beer when he needs one. Not to mention that he may really enjoy showing you the ropes and sharing the process with you. Just my $0.02 though.

While I agree that it is hard to recommend gifts without knowing a brewer's current set-up, I think that there is also a useful distinction to be made between useless "novelty" items that should simply be ignored (like the aforementioned chillsner and Sonic Foamer) and serious pieces of brew gear.

Gift cards in a home made coupon book with helpful coupons.

A trip to the brew shop (you driving), stop for lunch. (a date)

A brew day assistant, help him brew. dress sexy, make a beer drinking list plan schedule and snacks, be the chief bottle washer. Create a Brew outfit for yourself take a picture of you dressed and include it.

beer tasting night with friends.

How about some really nice beer glasses? Everybody loves drinking their homebrew out of that special glass from that special someone.

VApatriot said:

How about some really nice beer glasses? Everybody loves drinking their homebrew out of that special glass from that special someone.

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I think this is a great idea!
discount mugs

custom ink mugs
could design a logo if he doesn't already have one or doesn't have a brewery name if you're brave!

or you could get him a type of glass for his favorite style of beer! like a set of IPA glasses if he really likes IPAs...
or a historic stein if he's a fan of German beers...

Custom glasses would be cool, like mentioned above. If is into kegging, another keg is always nice, if not, might be time to get him a starter set, a little more than $100 but will save time and money in the long run.