Hi, My sister and I need to get a nice thank you gift for a gentleman whom we don't know very well at all. He helped my niece out in a pinch. We know he's in his late 50's or early 60's, we know loves beer and likes to try new local micro-brews, we know he is originally from Germany, and we know he is a landscaper who works primarily in big formats, like airports and industrial parks, but that's it. Does anyone here have any good beer-related gift suggestions? One thought I had was to get him a book on German beer history. The only one I could find was Prost!: The Story of German Beer by Horst D. Dornbusch. It looks OK, but it's from 1998, and I think all sorts of interesting things must have happened in German beer since then. Are there better, more recent books? Any suggestions would be most appreciated. Thank you.
Horst Dornbusch is notorious for writing poorly researched nonsense. I'd avoid anything he'd written, recent or not. Do you know how long the gentleman in question has lived in the US? If he came to the US as a child or youth he might not have any particular connection to German beer or to Germany. There have been a few new books published in German recently. This one is a rather scholarly work on the role of beer in Munich, published in association with an exhibition: https://www.amazon.de/Bier-Macht-Mü...&ie=UTF8&qid=1483746745&sr=1-46&keywords=bier
OP, where are you/he located? And just to be clear, is the title meant as "German Beer" lover or "German" beer lover? Seems the latter but not certain.
Hmmm, it's tough to make an accurate recommendation without more information. I don't know how severe the situation was that he helped your niece out of either. Couple of suggestions: 1. Take him out for a flight of beers at one of the local micro breweries. If he accepts, you can chat with him, get to know him, build a relationship, and also take notes on which beer(s) he seems to like (i.e. the dark stout, something with coffee, the light and fruity saison, etc.) 2. Buy him gift cards to local breweries, or get a growler fill for him. 3. Build him a gift basket of beers. It doesn't have to be anything crazy. I would put two or three bombers in it (depending on what he helped me out of), taking care to select a dark beer, a light beer, and perhaps a Lambic or something. Then I'd load up the rest with various cans and bottles. This is probably the toughest option to be honest. I know several people here don't like getting beer for Christmas because it's generally something they've had or don't like. Hence my recommending options 1 or 2 the most. 4. Buy him a 3 month subscription to a beer of the month club. They are not always fantastic, but it is a fun and novel way to try anywhere from 3 to 24 different beers every month. I know next to nothing about beer books. I just come here to read about beer
I'll repeat the request to know your state and (nearby) major city location. It's possible that a brewery close to you might specialize in German beers and we can point you in that direction to buy some of their beers (or a growler to go) or a gift certificate for him to go there.
"...we know loves beer and likes to try new local micro-brews, we know he is originally from Germany,.." If it was me I would buy him beer from a "local" brewery. The fact that he is from Germany does not 100% correlate that he now prefers German style beers (but maybe he does?). What you do know for a certainty is that he likes locally produced craft beers ("micro-brews" as you term it). Cheers!
Yeah, this is along my initial thinking too. A gift card from a local brewery would be cool too. And something I'm sure he'd really enjoy. As would we all! Knowing where OP is located could help a recommendation.
Depends on how much you were looking to spend. I'd get him a six pack of something local and safe in style (since you don't know what he likes...like a Pilsner, blonde ale or a brown ale) and maybe a bottle or two of some tasty German beers he might remember from back home (Ayinger, Weihenstephan, etc.) Buying a beer lover some beer is always a safe bet
Thanks for your questions and suggestions. I was trying to keep my question brief, but maybe this extra information would help: We are in Albuquerque, New Mexico. There's a growing micro-brewery culture here, but I don't know if any of the beer is really good. We don't know this man at all. My niece dated this guy's son for a short time. I met the Dad once very briefly, and my sister (niece's mother) never did, but he and his wife live close to us. Here's what he did to help us: My niece was on the phone with the boyfriend when her car broke down on a barren stretch of highway in the middle of the night as she was moving to another state to start a new job. This guy (the Dad), talked her through a makeshift repair that helped her get to a service station and get the car fixed, and he stayed on the phone with her until 1am or so when she was in a safe place. My niece has since broken up with the son, but we'd still like to thank the Dad somehow. The son is not much help in finding a gift. He just keeps saying his Dad hates everything except beer and staring into the fireplace. Any little tidbits I've got from this kid were like pulling teeth (but he's still a little bitter about getting dumped). It would be a bit weird to ask the Dad out for a beer. I think he's pretty shy and quite the homebody. And, from what I've heard, he's quite proud and a bit old-fashioned too, so I'd feel funny giving him a gift certificate, since it's almost like giving him money. (Maybe I'm being stupid about this though and people don't really look at gift certificates that way.) He was born in Germany and moved here some 40 years ago. I don't know if he especially likes German beer, but his son has said he only eats in his comfort zone of blandish German-American-style food and that he does seem to keep up with German culture, current events and so on, so I thought a German beer history book might be good. WhatANicePub, it's very helpful to know that "Horst Dornbusch is notorious for writing poorly researched nonsense." I thought the cover looked pretty lame, but it does have good Amazon reviews, so I thought it might be OK. Are there any really great books on beer in general, if not German beer, that might be a good gift? My father was a scotch lover and really enjoyed the Michael Jackson books on scotch and Scotland's scotch-producing regions. I feel like something like that would be nice for this man. And if that's going down the wrong track, is there a beer-of-the-month club anyone can recommend? Thank you again. This seems to be a great board.
I've heard great things about La Cumbre there in Albuquerque. How about this beer? A Slice of Hefen from La Cumbre. A Hefeweizen, which is a German style beer. Seems like a good one to me. Maybe others more familiar with beers from the state can chime in.
Thanks for the extra info. ABQ was my first stop during my cross country road trip from Tucson. Wish we got to stay longer. Didn't have time to stop st La cumbre but I got a few 4 packs of Elevated IPA from Sprout's Farmers Market on the far west side of town (right off I-40). They had a really good selection of La Cumbre products. I wish I got a few of the other styles they make. I stand by my original suggestion but I'll be more specific and say the "A Slice of Hefn" by La Cumbre or perhaps, (because it's winter and stouts are great for the colder weather) Malpais Stout by La Cumbre (I was really tempted to buy that one when I saw it considering we drove right through the gorgeous lava flats and rock formations of El Malpais National Monument mere hours earlier on the way up north from Tucson). As excellent as Elevated is, I wouldn't buy it unless you are absolutely sure he likes hoppy beer styles like IPAs. Also Marble Pilsner is a really good version of the style. Can't go wrong there. If you're gonna get a Pilsner or a Hefeweizen though I'd get him a good doppplebock (Weihenstephan Korbinian) or a nice dunkel lager (Ayinger Altbairisch) just so he'll have a good variety. A 4 pack of La Cumbre and a couple bottles of German imports will set you back about $25 or so (I figure $13 for the La Cumbre, $4 for each import) I'm sure he won't be disappointed by anything you'll get him. Very nice gesture. Cheers
My sister bought me this German made beer glass. http://www.crateandbarrel.com/spiegelau-ipa-glass/s688663
I have a friend in Germany who hates kolsch and who lives close to where they make bittburger and yet she prefers leffe blonde. So I would go with the gift cards or a nice lunch and a flight at a brewpub.
Great suggestions. Brewday, I love the idea of the glasses. I think we'll go with the La Cumbre gift card and call it a day. Thanks for all the help.
