Beer Tips: What beer to choose as a gift? (Day 3)

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In this series I'm exploring the difficulties of buying beer as a gift. Today I'm using BeerAdvocate to help in my search. I discovered that Bryan listed his favorite beer on his BeerAdvocate profile as Belgian Strong Pale Ales. So I check out the list on BeerAdvocate for that style.

20 most reviewed Belgian Strong Pale Ales

• Duvel, Brouwerij Duvel Moortgat NV
• La Fin Du Monde, Unibroue
• Delirium Tremens, Brouwerij Huyghe
• Don de Dieu, Unibroue
• Pranqster, North Coast Brewing Co.
• La Chouffe, Brasserie d'Achouffe
• Allagash Grand Cru, Allagash Brewing Company
• Pauwel Kwak, Brouwerij Bosteels
• Salvation, Avery Brewing Company
• Au Courant, Dogfish Head Craft Brewery
• Damnation, Russian River Brewing Company
• Affligem Blond, Brouwerij De Smedt / Brouwerij Affligem
• Pangaea, Dogfish Head Craft Brewery
• Lucifer, Brouwerij Riva S.A.
• Moinette Blond, Brasserie Dupont sprl
• Demolition 1800 Ale, Goose Island
• Hitachino Nest Red Rice Ale, Kiuchi Brewery
• Unibroue 15, Unibroue
• Southampton Grand Cru, Southampton Publick House
• AleSmith Horny Devil, AleSmith Brewing Company

I might just print this out and take it to a store and see if I can find some of them. Hmmm...now I have to find a store that sells singles in PA.

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Beer Tips: What beer to choose as a gift? (day 2)

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In this series I'm exploring the difficulties of buying beer as a gift. Today I'm concerned about the availability of beer. Ok folks, I need some help here. What beer do I get for Bryan this year? Yesterday I listed some characteristics of beer, but, I don't think that will help me with Bryan. He likes all kinds of beer and all kinds of tastes. It is safe to say he probably wouldn't appreciate a macro beer. He did comment yesterdays post and suggested I check out these sites.

• Liquid Solutions
• Belgian Shop

I quickly checked them out, but, I think I'm going to be limited by local availability. I don't think I can get beer delivered via any shipping service.

Read part three of this series

Beer Tips: What beer do I choose when buying a gift?

Read part two of this series

This time of year people spend alot of effort looking for the best beer to give as a gift. We wrote about what to get the beer geek a while back. That was more about what to have on hand at your house for a visit from a beer geek though. Today I want to talk about buying a special beer or two...or six...or twenty four...(you get the picture), for that special person.

Well...this is a tall order. Maybe there are a few different approaches to this one. Here are some questions.

• Are they a beer geek or do they just like beer in general?
  
• If they aren't a beer geek then just find out what their favorite beer is and buy them what you can afford.
• If they are, well you may have your work cut out for you! Read on.
  

• Do they like a certain type of beer?
• lager vs. ale
• light vs. dark
• german vs. belgian vs. irish etc.
  
• domestic vs. imported
• mild vs. extreme
• hops vs. malt
• wheat vs. barley
• West Coast vs. East Coast
• Bitter vs. Mild
• big vs. little (abv.)
• typical vs. extreme
• fruit vs. no fruit
• fancy vs. plain
• well known vs. obscure
• rare vs. mainstream
• seasonal vs. year round

Wow I didn't realize how many factors there are! At this point you might want to give up and just give them a gift certificate or money ;-) Ok...Ok...if you don't want to take the easy option, there might be some things for you to do. Hmmm how should I explain this. Ok, I have an idea. Why don't we try to figure out what Bryan would appreciate.

Bryan, if this works out I guess I'll have to buy if for you! If it doesn't, you're getting a case of macro brew...heheh.

So, over the next couple of days I'll document my effort to buy Bryan the perfect beer for Christmas. If you want to help, just let me know by leaving a comment. I think I'm going to need all the help I can get!

Read part two of this series