Poll: Do you give beer as gifts?

Just wondering how many of us give beer away as gifts. Everyone shares their brew, but I'm talking about real gifting, i.e. Christmas.

Yes. I wouldn't say I put a LOT of work into the presentation though. I uaually gift bombers that I cleaned the labels off of. I have a strong background in graphic design, so I make a nice looking label too.

I went all-out on mead one year, with 2 liter swingtops in nice burlap cinch sacks I made up. I made parchment labels, applied a gold wax seal to the labels, and tied the swingtop wires shut with jute and fancy knots. I was pretty proud of the results, and they seemed to be well received.

I don't think anybody really appreciates my beer given as a gift. Oh, they drink it just fine, but it seems like they think it's not a "real gift" since it's homebrewed. I swear, some people think of homebrew as free beer and don't recognize the amount of effort, the cost, and the time put into a batch.

So, no. I don't give homebrew as gifts to anybody.

YooperBrew said:

I don't think anybody really appreciates my beer given as a gift. Oh, they drink it just fine, but it seems like they think it's not a "real gift" since it's homebrewed. I swear, some people think of homebrew as free beer and don't recognize the amount of effort, the cost, and the time put into a batch.

So, no. I don't give homebrew as gifts to anybody.

Click to expand...

Yea, I get that a lot too, but mainly when I take homebrew places. People are very reluctant to try it and say its good just to please me. I did about 6 bombers of a Kolsch I brewed with a special label for wedding gifts one time. The couple (my fiancee's cousin) told me it was the best wedding gift out of the whole lot. My RIS this Christmas went over very well too. I really only try to gift beer to my beer loving friends.

YooperBrew said:

I don't think anybody really appreciates my beer given as a gift. Oh, they drink it just fine, but it seems like they think it's not a "real gift" since it's homebrewed. I swear, some people think of homebrew as free beer and don't recognize the amount of effort, the cost, and the time put into a batch.

So, no. I don't give homebrew as gifts to anybody.

Click to expand...

What about very 'special' beers, like maybe some kind of high gravity, home-grown fruit beer or something?

I've gotten my fair share of baked goods, etc. to know that 'homemade' doesn't equate to 'lousy gift' to the majority of people.

I'll concede that nobody is probably going to be overly impressed with a bomber of cream ale from a canned kit under the Christmas tree.

Im always giving myself the gift of beer.

DaveMcPhee said:

Im always giving myself the gift of beer.

Click to expand...

x2 haha... I am new to brewing but plan on giving it out at x-mas to my family... they keep asking me how my new hobby is going, and expect some beer!

Yeah. The Lady and I hosted our friends' engagement party. I made them both a batch of their choice. I let them choose which tap handle they even wanted.

He got the Aberdeen Brown, and she got Ginger Beer.

This Christmas I'll be giving beer to friends. I'll do the labels up all fancy schmancy.

B

PintOfBitter said:

What about very 'special' beers, like maybe some kind of high gravity, home-grown fruit beer or something?

I've gotten my fair share of baked goods, etc. to know that 'homemade' doesn't equate to 'lousy gift' to the majority of people.

I'll concede that nobody is probably going to be overly impressed with a bomber of cream ale from a canned kit under the Christmas tree.

Click to expand...

Thats what I do. RIS, Barley wines etc. Something strong and out of the ordinary (for the recipients).

GT

I'm actually thinking of brewing a batch specifically to give the family around X-Mas, with special labels and all for the fam. Maybe a collage of family photos or something.

Grandma has given people salad dressing that has the family name on it for the last few years so there's a precedent here

I give away about 1/2 of the beer I make, I especially like to Tip with a bottle of beer. I went to test drive a car, and left the sales person with a couple of bottles, if I ever need anything they know who gave them the beer. I leave a couple of bottles out for the garbage man and paper carrier. If some one does something for me, they get beer. I don't substitute beer for dollars, I only beer Tip people who I would not tip with dollars, like a waitress would get only dollar tips. I usually keep a cooler in my trunk with a couple of homebrew just for the occasional beer tip.

yodalegomaster said:

I give away about 1/2 of the beer I make, I especially like to Tip with a bottle of beer. I went to test drive a car, and left the sales person with a couple of bottles, if I ever need anything they know who gave them the beer. I leave a couple of bottles out for the garbage man and paper carrier. If some one does something for me, they get beer. I don't substitute beer for dollars, I only beer Tip people who I would not tip with dollars, like a waitress would get only dollar tips. I usually keep a cooler in my trunk with a couple of homebrew just for the occasional beer tip.

Click to expand...

I like this idea.

I Once gave a 6-pack of Widmer Hefe to my neighbor for the winter holidays. I thought the Widmer would be a gateway beer into crafts for him to try. He drinks alot of high life and Mil best. Any way the next day I opened my door and on the porch sat the Hefe with 5 full bottles. Apparently it was not his cup of tea. He will never change. One year my wife got me all different kinds of craft beer for X-mas. It was the best holiday ever. Yes , Yes ,Yes give your beer away as gifts. I think it is a great Idea. J

I wish I would receive ONLY beer for gifts. If I really wanted any of the other crap people got me I would have already bought it myself. If the thought counted they would have bought me (good)beer Yeah, I'm a a$$hole.

Livendadream said:

I Once gave a 6-pack of Widmer Hefe to my neighbor for the winter holidays. I thought the Widmer would be a gateway beer into crafts for him to try. He drinks alot of high life and Mil best. Any way the next day I opened my door and on the porch sat the Hefe with 5 full bottles. Apparently it was not his cup of tea. He will never change. One year my wife got me all different kinds of craft beer for X-mas. It was the best holiday ever. Yes , Yes ,Yes give your beer away as gifts. I think it is a great Idea. J

Click to expand...

I was thinking strictly about homebrew, but man, I would sure love a nice mixer sixer of exotic brews from my wife as a gift... how can I drop the hint for father's day?

I really have been thinking about this. I have many family members and friends that I think would really appreciate a batch of "custom" HB.

EXAMPLE: My uncle likes good beer and the kind of scotch that will make you poor. He was just telling me how he has bottles with only a glass left in them all over the place (he owns multiple homes/cabin). I would be willing to bet my aunt would let me grab one of the "lower end" bottles. He probably would NEVER miss it.
I then could "toast" an oak dowel rod in the oven, grab a beaker and soak the dowel in the scotch until all the scotch was gone and make a "pseudo scotch barrel aged beer" by adding that dowel and if any scotch is left, that too, to the secondary for a week.
Then give him a 30 pack of bottles for xmas and keep the rest for quality control/testing...

At this point I would feel that a "home brew beer gift" would be "quite a kingly gift" to give and would really only ever consider giving it to someone who would also think so.

PintOfBitter said:

I was thinking strictly about homebrew, but man, I would sure love a nice mixer sixer of exotic brews from my wife as a gift... how can I drop the hint for father's day?

Click to expand...

Get a nice, large piece of card board. With SWMBO around, soak a few labels off some bottles and stick them to the card board, close together, leaving a very large area to "fill".
When she asks "what that is or what you are doing?" simply reply "I am trying to design my brewery label for fun and thought it would be good to compare the labels of the expensive single beers against each other to aid with my design AND it will look nice in my brewery when it is done!" You could also explain that you actually wanted to taste the beers to in the process, so you do not get empties.

:rockin:

Half my family gets a variety pack of homebrew for Christmas. Depending on how much beer is available and how the year has gone, sometimes neighbors and coworkers get beer too.

Bastards never return my bottles.

We've given it a couple times, the wife doctors the artistic appeal of the bottles up. Personally, my perception is that most people think it's not good, and aren't excited about it... so they don't get it anymore.

The people i know enjoy it and really like drinking good beer (and recognize that good beer doesn't only come from the liquor store or bar), get as much as they want.

I would but all relatives live out of state so would need to ship.

yeah, shipping adds another dimension to it. I double-bag and custom fit foam into the containers.

The $$ investment isn't really a big deal when you compare it to other gifts, and you can score points for thoughtfulness much more than a gift card or something.

The first christmas I started brewing, I gave everyone at work a bottle of apfelwein. It was well received, but it wasn't a situation where people were normally giving gifts. We didn't have an exchange or anything... I just wanted an excuse to share and get feedback.

yodalegomaster said:

I give away about 1/2 of the beer I make, I especially like to Tip with a bottle of beer. I went to test drive a car, and left the sales person with a couple of bottles, if I ever need anything they know who gave them the beer. I leave a couple of bottles out for the garbage man and paper carrier. If some one does something for me, they get beer. I don't substitute beer for dollars, I only beer Tip people who I would not tip with dollars, like a waitress would get only dollar tips. I usually keep a cooler in my trunk with a couple of homebrew just for the occasional beer tip.

Click to expand...

hell i take it one step further then this even. all the girls at the strip clubs know me because im the guy shoving bottles in their panties

Almost every time I brew (that is every week) I bottle two 1/2 litre bottles wich will be used as gifts, only for those who I know they love my beer and know the work it takes but I never use them as special ocasion gift, just like Hey, this is for you. Don't need to get married for that.

Sometimes I gave them as gifts and were not apreciated, those won't recibe anymore and that's it.