Craft beer gifts

Ohh, I like that idea. If you would pm me with details if it's not to much trouble. I'm big on breaking shit, a second is perfect.

 

My in-laws usually buy me a 12-pack of SN Celebration for my birthday (12/4) or Christmas every year. This year they bought me a 6er of a Celebration and a 6er of Grey Sail’s Dave’s Coffee Stout. Great choices all around.

 

My friends and family know to not ever give me any beer accoutrements. I have all sorts of stuff.
This time of year, a nice gift would be a magnum bottle of some very nice Belgian classic.

 

Whisky stones.
You're welcome.

 

I'll be damned. I love cold drinks. I don't drink anything hot, few things warm, and "cellar temp" beers even tend to a bit warmer than my preference. These fuckers are right up my alley for when my friends want to drink a big beer warm (by my standards), yet I want my pour cold and don't want to water down my beer with ice.

This shit gonna settle a lot of arguments for us. Gracias amigo!

 

I should be ashamed, I put my gin and high end whiskeys in the freezer. Then let them, we'll do nothing but warm from freezing. The only thing I like celler temp is red wines. I like my beers colder as well, I don't care for beers at 50 +, especially hoppy stuff.

 

Oh, all my my booze lives in the freezer. Right next to the ice cubes and frozen burritos. Ice Cube 'bout to get replaced by Ice Stone. WORD!

 

Off topic, but cold kills flavor !!

 

Yes, but sometimes that's what you want.

 

I'll admit to a dull palate, that misses details. But, any flavors I get at 45-50 degrees, I get at 35.

Shrug.

The physical enjoyment of a cold drink, across the tongue, that refreshing, interesting finish, far outweighs any marginal variation in flavor.

Again, shrug.

 

Many yrs. ago while in the army in Germany I came to appreciate beer at less than ice cold temps. Some years after that while doing a real ale tour in England that feeling was reinforced. However, too each his own. Cheers guys.

 

They are ugly. They are heavy. They do not enhance the drinking experience. I'm willing to give them away to someone local if they want them

 

I'd take you up on that offer if you had their "English mug," but I'm guessing that's not in your set.

 

Nope, my set is exactly what you see in the page banner. The English mug is nice, and not reflective of the set I have at all.

 

A year or 2 back I took an empty BCBS case, cut the labeled sides down, put a fancy leather or asphalt textured mat on them, then put each one into a slightly different dark burlwood frame. Made excellent presents and kept one for myself. They would be at home in any mancave despite just being 'trash.'

I work in a frame shop so have access to scraps of very expensive raw framing materials. If anyone has beer swag to frame HMU. If it wasn't such a PITA to post pics here I would. Here's a pic someone posted of a Mornin' Delight one I did.

 

I did the same once of the side of a green Pliny case box. It looked great for being a cheap gift. (Has the brewery gone back to using the green cardboard with the red Pliny circle logo, which was in use the first time I was there, or still using the black print on cardboard case, which was in use on my last visit 2-3 years ago?)

 

I was there this summer and have one of those green & red Pliney cases to frame but none of our vendors make a green matboard that matches it! Will probably cut out a square with the logo and set it back in a shallow shadowbox to make it interesting.

I've found I really enjoy the creative challenge of finding uses for interesting branded craft beer packaging like this. With the plethora of goofey labels and instagram bragging people do I'm surprised I don't see more of this and have thought of ways to turn it into a little side gig for myself (museum quality beer framing LOL). Sticker labels can be peeled off and turned into coasters, boxes or even bottles can be framed, etc. Last month I made a giant collage of our road trip with photos from every place we stopped and caps from beers we drank pegged to where they were from floating over or set into a map showing where we went. Making stuff for gifts is always funner than buying them.

 

Wine drinkers sometimes make "ice cubes" out of wine for this reason. I wonder if you could do it with beer?

 

I think I went to Hobby Lobby and had them cut a white or antique white mat board. I still have the other side of the case box and will probably create one for myself someday.