Brewtiful Gifts: A Local Beer
Lover’s Guide to Hoppy Holidays

Raise a glass to the holiday season and celebrate craft beer’s rich tapestry with this seasonal gift-buying guide.

Recognizing the challenges faced by small businesses nationwide, we want to inspire you to embrace the spirit of shopping local this holiday season. This guide will help you find the perfect gifts and stocking stuffers for all the beer lovers on your list, all while supporting your favourite breweries.

 

As the holiday season unfolds, let’s make a spirited toast to community and craft by choosing to support our local breweries. Beyond the twinkling lights and festive cheer, there’s a wealth of unique flavours and gift options at your neighbourhood breweries. Whether it’s a seasonal brew, curated gift pack, or brewery merch, there is something for everyone on your list. So, this holiday season, let’s raise a glass to our community, celebrating the flavour of BC brews that add a touch of local magic to the festivities.

Sip and Shop

What could be better than sipping on your favourite holiday brew while perusing a market full of locally crafted goods? Many breweries have started hosting pop-up markets featuring local makers and artisans, and while quite a few have already wrapped up, there are still some chances to shop.

 

Here are just a few markets being held at breweries:

Be sure to keep an eye on our events page as markets are still being added.

Gift Cards

Choosing between all of the great brews and merch can be the hardest part of shopping. So why not keep it simple and go for a gift card? They’re truly one-size-fits-all and make fantastic stocking stuffers.

Plus, some breweries and craft community partners are offering bonus deals during the holiday season:

And many more. Look for the online shopping link on each brewery’s page or if you have our mobile app, we’ve organized them all for you in a new menu option.

Gift Sets and Advent Calendars

Dive into something new with a seasonal gift pack, or an advent calendar-style curated box. From hoppy ales to rich stouts, barrel-aged special releases and cellarable beers, these packs are like a liquid tour of BC’s craft goodness. Perfect for seasoned beer lovers or anyone up for a taste adventure.

Check out the unique gift packs from Smithers Brewing and Bulkley Valley Hive & Honey. There are a variety of gift pack options available, each including beer and/or merch from Smithers Brewing, and honey and/or soaps from Bulkley Valley Hive & Honey. The packs are designed to showcase the long-standing collaboration between the two local businesses: BVHH has been providing the honey used in several Smithers Brewing beers since the beginning.

Another unique offering this year are the beer judge training kits from Tin Whistle Brewing in Penticton. Each kit includes a locally made flight board, four taster glasses and four tall cans of Tin Whistle beer. They have included some handy tasting tips and tricks, great for those just beginning their beer-sipping journey, as well as more experienced palates.

Want to customize your own beer advent calendar? Check out The Exploration Place in Prince George for everything you need: a wooden tree designed to hold 12 or 24 cans of beer, plus a great selection of brews from around Northern BC! Grab a pre-made pack, or join in the final workshop on December 7 to craft your own.

And be sure to check your local liquor stores and tasting rooms for these great giftable packs:

  • Phillips Brewing & Malting have released their fifth annual Space Case, filled with 12 mystery beers specially crafted for the occasion, and only available in the pack
  • Mayne Island Brewing has put together their Greatest Hits gift box again this year as well, featuring 12 x 500ml bottles featuring familiar favourites to savour
  • Beacon Brewing is celebrating the season with the Velvet Elvis gift pack, featuring a branded 12oz glass and 500ml bottle of Velvet Elvis: a peanut butter, banana, french toast chocolate porter fit for a King
  • Get ready for the Motherlode – Barkverville Brewing’s annual release. This year, the advent calendar features 24 unique tall cans, including 10 specialty brews you won’t find anywhere else
  • Howl Brewing’s Holiday Boxes are back, including 12 different 650ml bottles of Howl’s unique brews
  • Dageraad Brewing’s Holiday gift packs include rare and cellared beers, paired with commemorative gold-leaf glasses. Featuring Anno 2023 and 2022, Entropy 30 – Cara Cara, and Entropy 22 – Vast Indifference of Cacao Nibs

Brew gear

Merch, swag, beer gear, no matter what you call it, wearing your heart on your sleeve  – or your favourite brewery logo on your clothes – is a great way to support your local brewery year-round.

This year, Île Sauvage Brewing Company is offering a great deal for anyone wanting to stock up on stocking stuffers (or shop for themselves): buy a branded tote bag, and get 15% off the additional merch items you fill it with. And Lillooet Brewing Company is making it even easier to create your own custom gift pack by offering gift-wrapping for your purchases at the tasting room.

Vancouver Island Brewing is making shopping easier too, with curated merch bundles available at the brewery, or online. If you aren’t in Victoria, no worries! They offer shipping as well. There are several bundles available this season: The Essentials, the Camping Bundle, Northern Sweel Bundle, and the BBQ Bundle.

Hornby Island Brewing is taking shopping local to a whole new level: Not only do they ship Canada-wide, they are also proud to offer all Canadian-made or small business-made branded merchandise including renowned Stanfields, from Nova Scotia – and if you’ve spent any time outdoors, you know how warm and cozy those wool henleys will keep you! The waxed canvas & Pendleton wool beer koozies and cotton/poly branded toques are made in Seattle by a small woman-owned business, and t-shirts and hoodies are all screen printed in Vancouver.

Keep an eye on the retail section of your local brewery for other goodies like:

  • beer koozies
  • beer soaps
  • bottle openers & bottle opener keychains
  • camp mugs
  • cooler bags
  • growlers and glassware
  • hats of all styles
  • scarves & toques
  • t-shirts and hoodies
  • tote bags
    And so much more!

Gifting an Experience

Gifts don’t have to be limited to specific dates – give the gift of quality time spent with loved ones throughout the holiday season with a special event or activity.

This year, A-FRAME Brewing is hosting its sixth-annual gingerbread cabin-building event from December 1 to 21. The kits, made locally at Sunflower Bakery in Squamish, are only $25 and of course pair well with the beers on tap – and the other bevy options, including non-alcoholic ones.

There are a couple of breweries around the province with built-in entertainment, like BNA Brewing Co in Kelowna with their six-lane bowling alley, plus vintage arcade games and pinball. You can buy a gift certificate specifically for a game or two of ten-pin bowling on their website, and give the gift of family game night.

Instead of a pre-holiday get-together, why not think ahead to next year’s ale-ventures and give the gift of multiple brews to sip with tickets to a festival? Here are just a few that are on sale now:

  • Williams Lake Craft Beer Festival: one of the first festivals of 2024, taking place February 24th. This festival sells out every year, so grab your tickets while you can! And don’t forget that this is good beer for a good cause: all proceeds from this event are donated to the Cariboo Chilcotin Child Development Centre.
  • Brewhalla Festivals’ Golden Ticket: a digital gift card which can be used for entry to ANY Brewhalla Craft Beverage and Music Festival during the 2024 season.
  • Squamish Beer Festival 2024: Early bird ticket pricing is on now until December 31st, and includes 15 beverage tokens
  • Okanagan Fest of Ale 2024: Early bird tickets are also available for this April fest, and you can choose between one- and two-day pass options. Even better, you can feel good about doing good: since its inception, over $800,000 in net proceeds has been gifted back to qualifying registered charities in the community!

Giving Back

This holiday season will be difficult for many people in our communities – as it is every year. It’s easy to get blinded by the twinkling Christmas lights and forget those less fortunate, but when you look for them, opportunities to give back to the community are shining just as brightly. Main St. Brewing is doing just that with its fourth annual Miracle on Main Street toy drive benefitting the Downtown Eastside Women’s Centre. Kicking off December 1, and running until December 12, the brewery is accepting donations of unwrapped toys, games, sporting goods, and gift cards which will be delivered to the DEWC for the annual children’s Christmas Party on December 16. PLUS – when you make your donation, you’ll receive a complimentary flight of flagship beers at the brewery, and be entered into a series of prize draws.

And last, but never least, the beer!

It goes without saying, but you can never go wrong with the gift of craft beer! With the incredible variety of beers in the region, choosing might be the only challenge. Not sure where to start? Just chat with the friendly folks at your local brewery—they’ll point you to the bestsellers or the latest releases. Elevate your holiday gifting game with the perfect taste of BC’s craft beer scene.

 

Holiday shopping pro tip: Check out the latest update to the BC Ale Trail App, where you can now find a list of breweries offering online shopping for gift cards and merch. From the main screen, click ‘Explore’ and then ‘Gift Cards + Online Shopping’.

 

For more holiday beer inspiration, check out Joe Wiebe’s annual holiday beer guide:
Jingle Brews: Unwrapping the Festive Flavours of BC’s Holiday Beers

Happy sipping and shopping!

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