Christmas shopping for the beer lover on your list does not require a trek to a big-box store. Around Mobile and Baldwin County, the local taprooms have made themselves one-stop shops for holiday giving, with seasonal brews, merchandise and gift cards that go over just as well as anything wrapped under the tree.
Local Breweries Lead the List
Downtown Mobile’s Serda Brewing ran a “Cans for Christmas” sale through the holidays: $20 bought a full case of Serda beer, mixed and matched across six-pack styles, available at the taproom only. Growlers from Serda or any of the area’s other breweries make an easy fill-and-gift option, and grocery stores around the region — including Piggly Wiggly and Whole Foods — now pour growler fills as well.
Across the bay, Fairhope Brewing Company poured two holiday-themed beers both on tap and to-go in crowlers: the There’s Something About Merry imperial stout and a gingerbread stout. The brewery also stocked special “Hoppy Holidays” T-shirts in its taproom. Shoppers building a themed basket can round it out with gear from other Lower Alabama favorites including Haint Blue Brewing and Big Beach Brewing, all of which sell T-shirts, hats, pint glasses and gift cards.
Beyond the Six-Pack
National seasonal lineups fill out the cooler nicely. Boston Beer Co.’s winter range includes its White Christmas white ale alongside a holiday porter, chocolate bock, malty winter lager and Old Fezziwig Ale; Sam Adams’ seasonal variety pack also earned a nod when Sam ’76 was named one of Wine Enthusiast’s 25 best beers of 2018. Abita Brewing Co. in Louisiana brought back its dark Christmas Ale, while Texas’ Community Beer Co. offered a Snickerdoodle Ale flavored with cinnamon and vanilla.
For a gift that lasts past New Year’s Day, subscription clubs deliver monthly. The Microbrewed Beer of the Month Club runs five membership levels from $43 to $53 per month, and The Original Craft Beer Club, which focuses on small independent brewers, runs $42 per month. Beer-themed apparel subscriptions such as Shirts on Tap send a different craft brewery shirt each month for $18.
Whether it is a crowler of gingerbread stout or a case of locally canned Christmas ale, the simplest gift on the list may also be the best: beer brewed right down the road.