If you want to make sure the craft beer drinkers in your life really knows you love them, the holiday season is a great time of year.
Liquor store shelves are stocked full of beer gift packs, and there are many other beer-related items you can pick up for lovers of ales and lagers.
Some people may look at buying beer as a Christmas gift as a little low brow, but look at it this way: What's the difference between buying a $15 bottle of wine for someone or a $15 bottle of beer? The difference is you get a much higher-quality beer at that price.
There is a large variety of gift packs available and here's an overview of some of the best in stores throughout MetroWest.
One of my personal favorites is the Brewery Ommegang pack it features three 750 ml bottles of beer the Hennepin, the Chocolate Indulgence Stout and Three Philosophers. It also comes with a nice glass.
If Belgian beers are your loved one's favorite, there are several top-of-the-line gifts that you get.
St. Bernardus (my favorite Belgian brewery) has a four-pack of beer the Pater 6, the Prior 8, the Abt 12 and the Tripel available, packed with a very nice St. Bernardus chalice.
The Duvel gift set is also a nice buy. Not only does it include four bottles of Duvel, it comes with the brewery's trademarked oversized Duvel tulip glass, which is one of the best beer glasses anyone can have ever have. I use mine constantly.
Staying with Belgian beers, the Chimay gift set features one each of all three of the beers from the Trappist brewery, as well as a glass.
You're probably sensing a theme here a good gift set should include a nice glass. There's just something about drinking a great beer from a glass designed for it.
Vermont's Otter Creek has an interesting gift idea a three pack of its World Tour series with, you guessed it, an Otter Creek glass.
The Rogue Brewery of Oregon has an attractive Christmas gift set. It includes a 22-ounce bottle of the Santa's Private Reserve ale, along with a Rogue glass, packaged in a wooden box.
The Samuel Smith's Selection Box is a yearly favorite of mine. It includes three 18.7-ounce bottles of beer the oatmeal stout, the nut brown ale and the Old Brewery Pale ale. It also comes with an imperial pint glass and two coasters.
One of the gift sets I asked Santa for is the Weihenstephaner gift pack, which features five beers from this German brewery, and a German wheat beer glass.
Maybe, instead of buying a particular gift pack, find out what style of beer is a favorite of the person you are buying for, and personally make a gift pack.
For example, if your husband is a big fan of hoppy beers, such as double India pale ale, mix and match a six-pack of that style. If someone gave me a mixed pack that included bottles of Rogue's XS Imperial IPA, Moylan's Hopsicle, Southern Tier's Unearthly Imperial IPA, Stone's Ruination, Dogfish Head's 90 Minute IPA and Hoppin' Frog's Mean Manalishi, I'd be in hop lover's heaven.
It does not have to be all about the beer.
Several Web sites feature many beer-related gifts, ranging from shirts and glasses to bottle openers and towels. Beergeekshop.com and truebeer.com are two of the better sites to shop at, as well as amazon.com.
Books also make a good Christmas gift. Some recommendations include Michael Jackson's "Great Beers of Belgium," "Travels with Barley: The Quest for the Perfect Beer Joint" by Ken Wells, and "The Brewmasters Table: Discovering the Pleasures of Real Beer with Real Food" by Brooklyn Brewery brewmaster Garrett Oliver.
Another good gift could be gift certificates to a place like Barleycorn's in Natick or Deja Brew in Shrewsbury. There, people can brew a batch of their own beer to bring home and enjoy. It's definitely a fun time.
Also, gift certificates to their favorite brewpubs, maybe John Harvard's in Framingham or the Cambridge Brewing Company, always makes a good gift.
Whatever it is, the beer lover in your life will appreciate that you made an effort to to buy something they really enjoy.
Norman Miller is a Daily News staff writer. For questions, comments, suggestions or recommendations, e-mail nmiller@cnc.com or call 508-626-3823. Check out the Beer Nut blog at http://blogs.townonline.com/beernut/.
author: Norman Miller