Help finding beer for christmas gift

Not sure where you live, but a nice IPA that may be available is Lagunitus Sucks (yes, that is what it is called!). It is bright and flavorful.

I do not pursue "rare" beers, which may be what you want for a special Christmas gift, so I am not a big help here. Someone else please help the whiskey girl!

 

Just google search where the nearest craft beer store is from where you live. Go in...talk to an employee and tell them what your b/f generally likes to drink. They'll give you some suggestions.

 

Sip Of Sunshine is categorized as an American IPA style, so he apparently likes IPA beer. Lots of choices there, and as suggested you should be able to get help at a local liquor store specializing in craft beer. Just tell them about Sip Of Sunshine IPA, and they should be able to put an assortment of highly rated beers together. We can't really advise on brand without knowing where you live, since the available beers vary by state.

You mention rare beers - many/most of those are bourbon barrel aged so taste a lot like bourbon. Some don't like that, so getting them one of those might not come off well. If you want the best rare beer and can find it, a Sam Adams Utopias beer sells for about $200. A major metro area should have it somewhere. It is 23oz, very strong, and uncarbonated. It is nothing like a beer but is reportedly extremely good. But again, if he despises bourbony beers, he probably won't like it.

 

Or you could do this...put Sip of Sunshine into the search box, click on it when it comes up, and look at the similar beers listed on the right side of the page...

http://www.beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/17980/117177/

Depending on where you live, you might not find a bunch of those listed. Assuming you are from New England with him liking Sip of Sunshine, lots of options. Trillium, TreeHouse, Maine Brewing are three breweries that come to mind for IPA right away. Some easy to find, some not. I wouldnt get hung up on the rare personally. You can spend a lot of (wasted) effort looking for one beer, or assemble a variety pack of really solid brews. With an IPA, you want to check the bottle date...fresher is better, so you dont want a ten month old bottle that has gathered dust on the shelf.

 

Instead of buying some beer. Why don't you plan a trip to a brewery?

 

A fun Christmas present for an IPA lover might be Stone Enjoy By 12/25/2015. Probably not hard to find but as with most beers it really depends on where you live.. What is rare but still obtainable might depend upon your area. Hill farmstead, alchemist, and tree house are all great breweries that are basically impossible to score a bottle/can of in philly without trading but would be obtainable in New England. In philly it's pretty easy to find a brewery like Russian river at a bottle shop but you're not going to find it in most other states. The advice of talking to the guy at your local bottle shop is the way to go in my opinion

 

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It'd probably help to know what kind of distro you get in your state, but if you're in the NE, definitely agree with the idea of going to a brewery instead. From a not-just-beer-but-relationship-related standpoint, it doesn't get much better than making a weekend of your hobby and significant other.

 

I love the brewery idea.

Or you could get him a few bottles of Goose Island BCBS and meet him in the middle? Might be enjoyable for both of you.

Seriously though, Sip of Sunshine is great. Most importantly....what part of the country do you live in?

I ask because certain hard to find examples are easier or tougher to get depending on geography. So when I lived on the East Coast I had a buddy who could get me Heady Topper or Double Sunshine when he visited his mother in Vermont. Another guy could get me stuff from Trillium when he was up visiting his daughter in Boston. Now that I am back in California, its really hard to get those. But there are some great examples out here that you can't get back East.

So it really depends on where you live. The most important thing about hoppy beers like Sip of Sunshine is they are best FRESH. Check dates...90 days is my max...others usually go up to 120 days. Any older than that and I pass on them. Lagunitas Sucks like Puck suggests is a great beer, but Lagunitas, as far as I know lacks date codes. I have had it fresh on tap and a stale....there is a difference.

 

Yes, enjoying your interest while sharing with your SO makes things much better. I expect there are a lot of craft beer "hobbyists" who not only don't have the support of their SO, but are nagged, ridiculed, etc for drinking, spending lots of money and wasting time on what the SO sees as a vice. I went to a beerfest recently with two friends. My wife and another wife went along as DD's and they got free pop, glasses, shirts, and got to laugh their asses off at the drunks. A brewery trip is a good idea, though you will need to be the DD. Or even better, take a taxi.

 

What about ordering beer online and give him something he can't get where you live?

 

Take the advice of the guys above. Plan a trip to a brewery. However, since he has already had SOS, there is a release of Maine Brewing Company's Dinner this Saturday morning. A majority of the people would probably back that this is a better beer than SOS or even Heady Topper. You will have to get there early, around 5 in the morning to get a case or a few bottles.

There is also the Bissell Brothers and Foundation Brewing Co located in Portland, ME. Bissell makes an awesome DIPA called Swish that he would probably like and Foundation makes an IPA called Epiphany which would be a great choice!

Good luck!