I’ve scouted out the best gifts for craft beer fans in a few affordable price ranges (and all under $50). This list has it all, whether you’re looking for that perfect gift for your Secret Santa or some fun stocking stuffers.

Gifts for $20 or Less

Tom’s Tidbits & Keith’s Knickknacks | Allagash Brewing | $2, $5 or both for $10

Why go to the trouble of choosing beer gifts with intent when you could just have Tom and Keith from Allagash Brewing do it? Allagash gets a lot of requests for stickers, pins, stickers, coasters, beer labels, stickers, hugs, turtles, and maybe even a sticker. So with just one single low, low payment of $2, $5, $10 or $100, you can order your very own mystery pack!

Get this for that person who questions your spontaneity.

(MORE: 10 Stuffing and Beer Pairings for the Holidays)

OMF Wine Key | Our Mutual Friend | $8

To be honest, the wine key isn’t even the coolest or most interesting thing on Our Mutual Friend’s online store. What you really want to get your hands on is one of their limited-edition beer glasses, but since they’re so limited, you’ll just have to go to their page to see which uniquely crafted design is available. Plus, shouldn’t it be called a beer key?

Get this for “that friend” who likes IPAs.

Calusa Brewing 16 oz. Silipint | Calusa Brewing | $11

For thirsty Calusa Brewing fans across the land, 16-ounce silicone pints are more than a rugged alternative to the beer glass. From the patio to the campground, beach vacation or daily commute, these colorful, versatile drinking glasses are as flexible in shape as they are in utility. These true American pint-sized silicone cups have thick, sturdy, yet squeezable walls that are not too squishy, and a grippy outer surface for extra safety.

Get this for the “butterfingers” in your life.

(READ: 12 Beers of Christmas)

“The Guide to Craft Beer” | Brewers Publications | $12.95

“The Guide to Craft Beer” explains what craft beer is and how breweries are building community in their local areas. Dive into the 80+ style summaries and determine what beer you might like or find new styles to seek out. Develop your own tasting adventure with beer pairing tips for different styles and types of foods that marry well with them. Record your personal journey using the tasting log included in each book. It’s a great resource for new or seasoned beer drinkers and perfect for gift-giving!

Get this for beer beginners.

“Complete Joy of Homebrewing” by Charlie Papazian | $17.99

Get this for any craft-beer lover that’s ready to take the plunge into homebrewing. Simple and easy to understand, Charlie Papazian is known for his mantra: “Relax, don’t worry, have a homebrew.” “Complete Joy of Homebrewing” takes some of the stress of guessing out of homebrewing and helps readers master the basics.

Get this for anyone who truly loves craft beer.

Lager Love Socks | Wibby Brewing  | $15

These rad socks are the perfect stocking-stuffer—what’s better than a stocking inside a stocking?! Make sure you get these puppies on your puppies before the next ugly sweater party so they can show off their feet in style!

Get this for yourself.

“Against All Hops” | Butch Heilshorn | $18.99

Join brewer Butch Heilshorn and discover gruits: incredible botanical beers that were brewed throughout the world for most of human history. In his book, Butch provides techniques and approaches for the intermediate to advanced brewer to create these unique out-of-the-box brews. “Against All Hops” features stories and recipes for botanical beers that are brewed without hops for distinct, unusual and invigorating flavors. Butch presents these techniques with an experienced voice; he’s been brewing these ancient styled ales weekly at Earth Eagle Brewings in Portsmouth, New Hampshire, which he co-founded in 2012.

Get this for the advanced homebrewer in your life.

Great Gifts for $25 or Less

Woodpecker T-Shirt | The Portsmouth Brewery | $23 – $25

Birds and beers just look good on shirts. This woodpecker is thirsty for some of that delicious pilsner (you probably are too), so show your love for beer and wildlife and pick one up today!

Get this for your friend who wants to go on their “big year.”

Yeti Tumbler | Wander Brewing Co. | $25

Do you fear change, particularly in regards to the warming or cooling of your favorite to-go beverage? Us too. Top-notch liquid temperature stabilization from YETI and Wander Brewing will help keep your drink the temperature you want it, all year long.

Get this for the metathesiophobic.

Great Beer Gifts Under $50

Mix & Mash | Madtree Brewing | $50

Cincinnati’s MadTree Brewing teamed up with the area’s most talented chefs to create a gorgeous, hardbound cookbook: “Mix & Mash: Recipes for the Table and the Glass.” The beer cookbook includes more than 25 recipes from the brewery’s favorite chefs.

Get this for the home cook or cookbook collector.

American Homebrewers Association Membership | American Homebrewers Association | $43

Sometimes giving the gift of beer can be a challenge if you aren’t sure what styles your beer-loving pal will want. But a membership to the American Homebrewers Association comes with a ton of perks from an automatic subscription to Zymurgy Magazine, member deals at pubs and homebrew stores and invites to exclusive events across the U.S. It’s the gift that keeps giving.

Get this for anyone who truly loves craft beer

Editor’s Note: This article has been updated to reflect price changes and add new gifts in stock as of October 2019.

The post Awesomely Affordable Christmas Gifts for Craft Beer Fans appeared first on CraftBeer.com.

Although I eat a lot less candy now than when I was that boy in a pirate costume, my Halloween treat has become seasonal craft beer that fits thematically with the spooky holiday.

Whether you’re looking for the right craft beer to match your costume, or a unique beer to enjoy with your fellow beer nerds, check out this list of 12 monstrously delicious beers.

12 Perfect Beers to Enjoy on Halloween

Blood of the Unicorn | Pipeworks Brewing Co. | Chicago, IL

An imperial red ale, Blood of the Unicorn has a complex grain bill and four varieties of hops. It’s a blood-red hoppy beer that’s fresh this season. The label, which shows a unicorn skull with a sword to its neck, is the creepiest on the list.

Camp Braggot Ghost Stories | Cigar City Brewing & B. Nektar Meadery | Tampa, FL & Ferndale, MI

This collaboration lager/mead hybrid might be harder to find than an actual ghost! But you’ll be pleased as a pumpkin if you manage to locate this rare brew. Tampa-based Cigar City teamed up with B. Nektar to make this truly unique lager brewed with honey, coconut and cacao and then aged with tea and oak chips.

Dawn of the Red | Ninkasi Brewing | Eugene, OR

This India red ale from the Pacific Northwest is as good as they get. Featuring hops like El Dorado and Mosaic, adding up to 75 IBUs, this beer is a friendly hop monster. The malty backbone behind the hops accentuates the fruity nose. Part of Ninkasi’s “Special Release Series.”

Dark Penance | Founders Brewing Co. | Grand Rapids, MI

This beer pretty much speaks for itself. It’s an imperial black IPA coming in at around nine percent ABV and 100 IBUs. The hop flavors and aromas range from citrus to floral to pine due to the mix of Chinook and Centennial hops. Dark Penance is a huge beer that will be a huge hit at your party.

Howling Wolf Weisse Beer | Grand Teton Brewing | Victor, ID

Howling Wolf is a year-round Hefeweizen from Grand Teton. With a light sweetness and very low hop character, this wheat ale is a crowd-pleaser for sure. Yeast and fermentation drive most of the flavor and aroma in this beer, with notes of fruit and spice. Bring enough to share, or your friends will be howling like a wolf at the moon.

Ichabod | New Holland Brewing Co. | Holland, MI

No Halloween party would be complete without a pumpkin beer. This 5.2 percent ABV beer has a simple grain and hop bill that is accentuated by real pumpkin, cinnamon and nutmeg. This beer goes great with brownies. Try baking with Ichabod for nice, spicy flavors.

Krieky Bones | Firestone Walker Brewing Co. | Paso Robles, CA 

This is the most sophisticated beer on the list, so bring it—if you can find it—to a party with the nerdiest of beer nerds. This American wild ale is aged with Brettanomyces and sour bacteria in a 2,200-gallon French oak foeder (a kind of giant barrel). Then sour cherries are added and the beer fermented again. Sharp, acidic and pretty to look at, Krieky Bones is sure to be a hit at any party!

 Pirate Bomb | Prairie Artisan Ales | Tulsa, OK

My favorite Halloween costume has always been–and will always be–a pirate. The perfect beer for the pirate at the party is Pirate Bomb. This is an imperial stout aged in a rum barrel with coffee, cacao nibs, vanilla beans and chiles. It’s both a trick and a treat in one delicious bottle!

Scareball | Solemn Oath Brewery | Naperville, IL

Scareball is a strong, hoppy-as-hell imperial pilsner, making it a great party beer. It’s a light honey-gold pour with notes of fruity and floral hops. The label has a pretty scary skull on it and will be a conversation starter at any Halloween party. This one pairs well with Halloween candy.

Wytchmaker | Jester King Brewery | Austin, TX

This is goodness in a bottle. Wytchmaker farmhouse rye India pale ale is a truly unique offering. It’s brewed with Citra, Simcoe and Goldings hops, but the real star of this beer is its fermentation. Jester King employs farmhouse yeast, Brettanomyces and wild yeast from Texas Hill Country, as well as souring bacteria, to make this scary brew.

XS Dead Guy Ale | Rogue Ales | Newport, OR

Over the last 26 years, Rogue Ales has been helping lead the craft beer revolution. The brewery is known for its Dead Guy Ale, a delicious maibock, but on Halloween you can try and freak out your friends with this stronger, lesser-known version: XS Dead Guy Ale. Sold in a black opaque swing-top bottle, this American strong ale clocks in at 9 percent ABV. Great for a cold fall night–try pairing this one with a spicy chilli.

Zombie Dust | 3 Floyds Brewing Co. | Munster, IN

Consistently one of the highest-rated American pale ales out there, 3 Floyd’s Zombie Dust is one of those special beers that craft beer nerds almost universally enjoy. Bring a six-pack of this to a Halloween party and ghouls will leave their graves just to ask for a sip. Refreshingly hoppy and lower alcohol than some of the other spooky beers (6.4 percent ABV), you’ll be able to enjoy a few of these. Unless, of course, the zombies get them first.

The post 12 Frighteningly Delicious Beers for Halloween appeared first on CraftBeer.com.

Over the course of history, beer lovers have done their best to segment beers into styles, applying a collection of descriptors to each. We often describe stouts as dark and malty, our IPAs as bitter. However, out of all the beer styles, I find defining farmhouse-style beers to be the most difficult.

What is a Farmhouse Beer?

Due to history, our discussion of American craft beer styles hinges on the evolution of their European predecessors. We compare American farmhouse-style beers to Belgian saisons and French bieres de garde—both of which have roots in the historical European regions of Flanders and Wallonia—and were brewed in actual farmhouses.

Generally, both were low gravity ales brewed to hydrate and nourish farm workers in areas that well water was not always safe to drink. The recipes varied greatly from farm to farm as each farmer had access to different water, ingredients, local spices and equipment. Over the course of time, borders changed and the regional style became saison in Belgium and biere de garde in France, although both styles lacked consistent and absolute recipe construction, color and flavor profile.

Note: Farmhouse breweries do not always produce farmhouse-style beers, and farmhouse style beers are not brewed exclusively in farmhouse breweries.

Oxbow Brewing Co.

Situated on an 18-acre farm in Newcastle, Maine, 50 miles outside of Portland, Oxbow Brewing Co. fires up its seven-barrel brew house to create uniquely American beers. Its flagship, Farmhouse Pale Ale, is described by Oxbow Co-Owner and Head Brewer Tim Adams as an American saison. It is brewed with Belgian malts, saison yeast, water pulled from their own well and American Centennial hops.

M”We consider ourselves an American farmhouse brewery,” Adams said. “I think you could make a farmhouse-style beer anywhere, but a farmhouse beer is brewed in a farmhouse setting. If you’re pulling water from your own well, you’re probably close.”

Farmhouse brewing is certainly not without its unique set of challenges.”This week in Maine the temperature hasn’t gotten into the double digits,” Adams said. “Our water lines froze in the middle of a brew the other day. Winter here is pretty brutal.” Other challenges include waste water treatment, logistical complications of shipping from a farm with a narrow muddy driveway and unique power requirements—all of which necessitate creative problem solving. Farmhouse brewing is “not the easy way to go about it,” Adams said.

However, brewing on a farm does have its advantages. Adams said that Oxbow has been able to plant a sizable orchard which will grow cherries, raspberries and strawberries. Although their trees have not started fruiting yet, the orchard will provide Oxbow with the ability to produce unique sour fruit beers, including lambics in the future.

Oxbow’s farm in rural Maine, is just minutes inland from the bays of the Atlantic Ocean. “Our location is inspiring,” Adams said. “Despite the challenges, I’m very glad to be in the country.”

Oxbow only produces 600-700 barrels per year, with two main flagships, five seasonal releases and a wide array of limited-release specialty beers.

Jester King Craft Brewery

More than 2,000 miles southwest of Oxbow Brewing Company lies Jester King Craft Brewery in the outskirts of Austin, Texas in the farmhouse of a 200-acre ranch. Jester King, which just celebrated its two-year anniversary, produces farmhouse beers with flavors driven from the unique terroir of Texas Hill Country.

Co-owner and brewer at Jester King, Ron Extract, said from the beginning he and his colleagues were focused on brewing authentic farmhouse-style beer. “We just fell in love with that style of beer,” he said. “We love the yeast-driven flavors, and felt it was something absent that needed a presence here.”

“For us, it really involves embracing nature—embracing the land and letting the product drive the process,” Extract said. Crafting authentic farmhouse-style beers takes considerably more time and involves different risks than a typical craft brewery. Extract said that Jester King beers take at least five times (and as much as 20 times) as long to produce than a typical craft beer.

“We use primary-grown yeast and incorporate wild yeast from the Texas Hill Country,” he said. “The notion of it being yeast-driven is essential; but when bigger brewers want to take on the farmhouse styles, they don’t want to spend months making beer, they want to make it quickly. They generally do a quicker fermentation, resulting in sweeter, more highly spiced beers.”

At Jester King, it’s about creating authentic farmhouse-style beers rooted in Franco-Belgian tradition, more than putting an American spin on it. However, because their brewery is in the U.S., their end product is unique to their region. Extract says that he considers Jester King to be a farmhouse brewery that happens to be in the U.S., rather than an American farmhouse brewery.

Currently, Jester King’s farm is not growing ingredients for their beer, but using locally-sourced ingredients when possible is important to their mission. “We feel that to ultimately be a farmhouse brewery we need to use local herbs, fruit and native ingredients,” Extract said. “The land we’re on is not an active farm—it’s farm land. We’re working on changing that.”

While Jester King’s entire lineup is comprised of farmhouse-style beers, perhaps the best example is its flagship, Le Petit Prince. An organic ale brewed with well water and European noble hops, this 2.9 percent ABV beer is one of the best American commercial examples of a beer that would have been brewed by Belgian and French farmers for their workers. Remember, farmhouse beers were originally intended to hydrate the workers when water may have been unsafe to drink.

Brewery Vivant

Nestled in the East Hills neighborhood of Grand Rapids, Michigan sits Brewery Vivant, the first brewery to receive Silver LEED certification in the country. Housed in a 1900s funeral home and chapel on brick-paved Cherry Street about a mile and a half from downtown, Brewery Vivant produces exclusively Belgian and French style beers, mostly in the farmhouse style.

“We’ve chosen to pretty much only brew those styles of beer, but we practice a lot of interpretation,” said Jason Spaulding, owner of Brewery Vivant. “We consider ourselves to be a farmhouse brewery. Any brewery can do a saison, but we’ve taken on the approach and the constraints of using farmhouse yeast.” Brewery Vivant also uses a second strain of Belgian yeast for cleaner, abbey-style ales.

Spaulding said the biggest challenge of brewing farmhouse-style beers was that he had to un-learn what he had learned brewing German and English-style beers. Fermentation temperatures aren’t controlled, which is a big adjustment to the brewer’s mind. “We have to let the yeast dictate how the beer turns out,” he said. “In farmhouse-style beers, the predictability is kind of off—we have everything penciled in instead of penned.” Brewery Vivant has installed horizontal storage tanks in case a beer gets stuck and requires more time to finish fermentation.

Brewery Vivant is committed to sustainable practices and that is partly why Spaulding chose to be in a neighborhood rather than an industrial area. Fifty percent of his employees are within walking distance to the brewery and 75 percent are within biking distance. Also, the chapel that houses the taproom may remind patrons of a Belgian monastery, furthering the appeal of the location.

Trying to Define Farmhouse Style

Tim Adams, Ron Extract and Jason Spaulding, like all beer lovers, have a hard time defining exactly what a farmhouse-style beer is. All three agree that it is a slightly funky, yeast-forward beer. It is a style that varies greatly from region to region, even within breweries in the same region (as can be verified by the vast difference in flavors in Belgian and French farmhouse beers). It can be, but isn’t necessarily, brewed in an actual farmhouse, and is an elusive, hard to define style. So, what’s the best way to figure out farmhouse-style beers? Drink some of course!

Photos © Brewers Association, Oxbow Brewing Company, Brewery Vivant, Roger W. Shaw and TastyTouring via Flickr CC.

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