Last minute Father’s Day gift beers

By Lee Heidel Published January 6, 2020

The phrase “Dad Beer” has taken on a negative connotation in recent years, culminating in the reference receiving its own Urban Dictionary definition. The short version is that the slang of “Dad Beer” is synonymous with “Legacy Lager,” beers that are light in color, watered down and lacking in flavor. For Father’s Day this year, skip the Old Style and Pabst Blue Ribbon and instead share these more relevant and flavorful craft brews with your dad as a gifted mixed six-pack.

Related Post: Saying cheers with anniversary beers

Intro to Hops: Dogfish Head 60 Minute

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Introduce hops in a safe environment with Dogfish Head’s flagship beer, 60 Minute IPA. This is a standard-bearer IPA, continuously hopped with 60 additions over 60 minutes, drawing from a choice blend of Northwestern varietals. If your dad couldn’t pick out the bittering or citrus hop notes in a beer before, he’ll be ruined forever.

The Belgian Primer: Ommegang Witte

Ommegang Witte is light and effervescent with a nice interplay between sweet wheat malts and the bright spicing. But for someone not used to a more robust yeast characteristic, the full aromatics and slight fruitiness of the house Belgian strain become the star attraction.

Refreshing Fruit: Boulevard Ginger Lemon Radler

Boulevard created Ginger Lemon Radler to be a fresh take on the old-world technique of mixing soda or lemonade with beer to create a thirst quenching drink to support cyclists. While fruit beers can range from the decadently sweet to the mouth-twistingly sour, the lemon here is a refreshing education on how fruit can enhance ale.

Taste those Malts: Founders Porter

For an introduction to dark beers, Founders Porter is a sweet and smooth addition to the six pack that brings in elements of chocolate and caramel to create a robust but easy to drink ale.

The Best Part of Waking Up: Samuel Adams Nitro Coffee Stout

If dad celebrates the dawn of each day with a cup of Joe, then a coffee stout may just the thing to win him over to drinking craft beer. Nitro Coffee Stout is an in-your-face blend of coffee, molasses and roasted malts with the creamy mouthfeel and big fluffy head that only nitrogen carbonation can provide.

When All Else Fails: Evil Twin Hipster Ale

There’s a very good chance if your dad has been sipping High Life for the last thirty years that the other beers in this list may not pique his interest. Let him know that “Dad Beers” are alive and well in the newer generation with this throwback from Evil Twin. Hipster is a cracker-crisp take on the legacy lager with slightly dialed up hops and malt characteristics to be a more flavorful variation of his usual brew.

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Liquor, Beer, Wine & Drinks

Lee Heidel is the managing editor of Brew/Drink/Run, a website and podcast that promotes brewing your own beer, consuming the…

Food & Drink

11 Best Oktoberfest Beers From Märzen to Festbier

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Although the traditional German celebration has passed, we've still got about two more months of prime Oktoberfest beer drinking to indulge in. The seasonal lager with German roots dates back to the early 1800s. Now, practically every brewery jumps at the opportunity to showcase its take on the historical brew made popular by Crown Prince Ludwig of Saxony Bavaria.

We won't get too deep into the brew's Oktoberfest history. Still, for some background and understanding, two traditional German brewing styles fall into the Oktoberfest category; Märzen and Festbier. Märzen is a malty, dark-amber lager that typically has more alcohol content than most lagers. The beer is rich yet has a clean, dry finish.

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The 17 Best Coffee-Infused Beers To Flip All the Switches

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Sometimes a downer is made all the better with an upper. We're not talking about the heart-racing, stay-up-all-night kinda way a round of Red Bull Vodka’s or Four Loko's might inspire. More like a pleasant coffee-infused beer. The two realms play really well together. Coffee, with its nutty, earthy, citrusy, roasted elements, and an excellent craft beer with its infinite alignments of grain and hops. Because the flavor spectrums are so broad for each element, though, matching the two requires a bit of skill.

In the old days of craft, it was hard to find much beyond a porter or stout being given the roasted bean treatment. Today, coffee is playing award-winning cameos in IPAs and golden ales and showing up in other styles in the forms of cold brew, espresso, and more. Brewers and roasters from all over the country are teaming up to show how their very specific recipes and coffee bean types can combine to create something else entirely. Here are a few worthy of some space in your fridge.

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The 5 Best Patriotic Beers for Celebrating the Fourth of July

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The Fourth of July is that time of the year when we can enjoy a hearty picnic with our compatriots as fireworks adorn the sky. We may not have large gatherings this year, but there’s one thing that will unite the American people: Craft beer. Instead of purchasing beers from companies with American-themed branding, you might as well grab these patriotic craft beers that celebrate the heritage of the United States.
Anchor Brewing Company Liberty Ale
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Perhaps the perfect beer to drink on the 4th of July is Anchor Brewing’s Liberty Ale. It was originally brewed for the bicentennial of Paul Revere’s ride way back in 1875. (You know, that whole "the British are coming” jaunt.) Having been introduced in 1975, Liberty Ale has the distinction of being the first modern IPA and perhaps the true spark of the craft beer boom -- so many other beers wouldn’t be here today without it. Honor the American revolution with a revolutionary beer.