Please take note that I did not include the Complete Joy of Homebrewing in this list but that is only because I singled that book out as an earlier gift idea.  It’s the classic “starter” book for any home brewer and I felt it deserved special attention.

Tasting Beer	Tasting Beer by Randy Mosher This is the book I am reading right now and it’s really great.  I don’t think you can be a great home brewer without having an educated palette and a good understanding of what it is you are tasting when you try a beer.  Randy Mosher is a legend in the home brew community and very active in the Home Brewers Association.  This book goes into detail on the history of beer, what goes into beer, different styles of beer, different flavors, how to detect those flavors and what those flavors mean.  This book is available at Amazon.
Brewing Classic Styles	Brewing Classic Styles by Jamil Zainasheff and John Palmer I have been listening to the Brewing Network quite a bit lately, they have some great podcasts and some really impressive people involved with their network. Jamil and John are two of the people involved in the Brewing Network and their knowledge is overwhelming. Jamil is in a few of the shows and has one of his own about brewing clone beers. Brewing Classic Styles is described as a recipe book but it’s more that that, it includes tips and info on each style that the recipe is associated with. It’s a great resource and is available at a discounted price on Amazon.
Brew Like a Monk	Brew Like a Monk by Stan Hieronymus Belgian beers, particularly Trappist style beer, is one of the most popular styles of beer among craft beer enthusiasts. This book goes into great detail on the history and style of Belgian beers. I haven’t purchased this book for myself yet so i can’t give you a detailed overview of it but it’s been recommended to me by a bunch of different people in the hobby. You can check it out at Amazon
Brewing up a Business	Brewing up a Business by Sam Calagione Sam Calagione is the man behind Dogfish Head Brewery, one of the largest craft brewers in the country. He started out as a home brewer and created a growing and successful micro brewery that puts out a consistently great product. This book is the story of how he did it and what he went through. Check it out on Amazon

Please Note: This article is part of our Holiday series highlighting the top 12 gift ideas for beer enthusiasts and homebrewers. Read the original post to get the full list of beer gift ideas.

With the Beer of the Month club, you get 12 beers each month, it’s 4 different beers from 2 different breweries so you get 3 of each beer.    They have several different clubs, the one I am a member of currently is the domestic microbrew beer of the month club.  As the name suggests, all of the beer is from the USA.  They have one that is half  USA and half International, one that is all International and a rare beer of the month club that features very rare and hard to find beer.

The reason I joined the club was because I wanted to try as many styles as I could from as many good breweries as I could.  Microbrews are great but they are microbrews for a reason, they are small and often have very limited distribution.  This club allows me to try a wide selection of beer that I didn’t have access to and I have discovered and tried some really great beers.  What’s really  nice is if you try a beer that you like, you can buy more from them.

The beer club I joined has excellent customer service, I wasn’t thinking when I placed my order and used my home address.  Since they are shipping alcohol, a signature is often required so I called and had it shipped to my work.  I called and had it switched within 5 minutes of placing my order and they were very nice.

The club memberships are very flexible, you can sign someone up for 2 – 12 months and if they like it they can re-subscribe.  I want to try all the different beer of the month clubs that they offer so I signed up for 3 months.  When my 3rd shipment arrives I plan on joining their domestic + international club for 3 months.

If you read this early enough in the shopping season, keep in mind that it’s very easy to call and change the delivery address.  If you want the gift recipient to have something to open for Christmas, have the first shipment shipped to your house and wrap it up.  After you receive your first shipment, give them a call and switch it to the gift recipients address.  That way, they have a case of beer to open at Christmas and they know they have more on the way.  A very cool gift for anyone that loves beer.

To join or order this as a gift for someone, go to Gourmet Microbrewed Beer of the Month Club.

Update:  We were sent some coupons that you may find useful if you decide to get this as a gift for someone.  Check them out at Beer of the Month Coupons.

Please Note: This article is part of our Holiday series highlighting the top 12 gift ideas for beer enthusiasts and homebrewers. Read the original post to get the full list of beer gift ideas.

1. The Complete Joy of Homebrewing
2. Microbrew Beer of the Month Club
3. Home Brew Starter Kits
4. Basic Brewing DVD’s
5. Home Brewing Gift Certificates
6. Home Brew Beer Books
7. Coming Soon

We will continue to add to the list up until the Christmas holiday.  Hopefully we can come up with more than 12.  If you have any suggestions, please post a comment or email me at brian@yearlylesson.com

OKAY, so I didn’t get beyond 6, oh well!  I own an Ecommerce business and we were unbelievably crazy this month.  I had good intentions of coming up with 12 gift ideas but just couldn’t pull it off.  I was blogged almost daily until December hit and only manged to get a few posts in all month.