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One hobby that my husband and I share is homebrewing. It's not only fun, you can two can save some money making your own beer.
While we had to take a temporary break since putting the house up for sale (can't believe potential buyers don't want beer brewing stuff around!), I already have plans for my next brews.
Special Homebrews for Friends
Besides enjoying the homebrews for ourselves, we've also made some special brews for our friends.
I love asking the couple what are their favorite beers a few months ahead of the anniversary.
They usually forget about it and are excited to see a six pack (or two) in the style they love.
If they have a particular brand they love, we'll go with a clone brew recipe. If they're more adventurous or like several styles we research and experiment with some new.
Having Some Gift with Giving the Brews
I don't anyone who would be unhappy getting free beer, but I don't like to just stop with the drink.
One of my favorite things about making these gift brews is personalizing them.
For the frugal brewer like me, I fire up Illustrator or Photoshop and create a custom label.
If you haven't done it before, the basic process is:
- Come up with an awesome name for the brew
- Grab a pack of labels (make sure they fit the size of your bottles!)
- Design your label on Photoshop/Illustrator/Gimp (I found a handy beer label tutorial here)
- Print them out
- Label your bottles
It can take quite a bit of brainstorming and time, but I try to come up with somethingI think will get them to laugh.
But that's just me.
You might want to go a less time intensive route and order some customized beer labels.
Either way, I think it's nice to able to make something yourself for your friends.
Thoughts on Homebrew Gifts
I'm really curious to see how many of you homebrew. Have you given them as gifts to friends?
What's been your favorite recipe? Do you personalize the labels?