How to choose the right beer for a connoisseur?

You're standing in front of a shelf, or on a website, with a beer in your basket and your finger hovering over the button. You want to please someone who "knows a bit about it," and two voices are battling in your head: should you pick the most original one to impress them, or the safest one to avoid a mistake?

The real fear isn't choosing the wrong bottle. It's choosing without a method, blindly, relying on the most impressive label or the highest alcohol percentage. Good news: you don't need to know their tastes by heart to hit the mark.

What type of drinker are you buying this beer for?

Before asking yourself about the style or the bottle, identify the person. Three simple profiles are enough, and it's this profile that should dictate your choice, never the other way around.

The curious beginner is starting to get interested in craft beer but doesn't yet have style benchmarks. For them, aim for a well-rounded and accessible beer rather than a technical shock. A Pale Ale like Stirling, with its grapefruit and lychee notes, opens the door gently.

The occasional drinker enjoys beer without a collection logic or methodical tasting. They seek freshness and simplicity. A craft lager like Zepp does exactly that: refreshing, straightforward, made to be shared without overthinking.

The seasoned palate already has their reflexes. They enjoy recognizing a well-executed style or a recipe that stands out. Here, you can dare to go for an assertive IPA like Embuscade, a bronze medalist at the European Beer Star competition, with its 65 IBU of blood orange and pine resin. That, they'll appreciate.

The benchmark not to follow blindly

A common reflex: "the higher the IBU, the harder it is to drink, so avoid it for a beginner." This is a false lead. IBU measures a beer's bitterness, not the overall taste perceived in the glass.

A stout can have an IBU similar to a pale ale while seeming much less bitter, because its malty profile rounds everything out. Two beers with the same number can offer completely different experiences, as bitterness guidelines remind us.

Just remember the scale: beer ranges from 6 to over 100 IBU, and the majority fall between 15 and 50. Useful as a starting point to locate a mild or strong beer, never as a verdict.

The style and the recipient's profile matter much more than a single technical number. If you want to dig deeper, our guide to tasting beer like a connoisseur helps you recognize a style beyond the bitterness figure.

What format to offer based on what you know (or don't know)

The less you know about the person, the more open your format should remain. This is the simple principle that helps you avoid missteps.

When you don't know their favorite styles precisely, a discovery pack is your safest bet. It circulates several taste profiles in a single order and lets the recipient find their preference themselves.

The Discovery Pack plays exactly this role: you offer a field of exploration, not a gamble on a single bottle. Ideal for a curious beginner as well as an occasional drinker who wants to taste beyond their usual habits.

When the occasion itself calls for a gift, a themed or seasonal box set takes over. A Christmas Pack with its glass transforms the beer into an object, a marked moment. The craft beer gift idea then becomes more than a batch of bottles: it tells a story.

And if you're really unsure, between several options or even several containers, a gift card is the zero-risk choice. You won't make a mistake on style, format, or keg versus can versus bottle: the recipient decides. Far from being an admission of laziness, it's often the most elegant decision when you want to give without imposing.

Not knowing the recipient's exact habits is no obstacle, provided you know what to turn to in the range.

The alcohol-free Diversion range is available in IPA, Wheat, and Gose. It's far from a discount beer: each recipe is brewed to maintain the aromatic profile of its style, with massive dry hopping that compensates for the absence of alcohol. You offer a true tasting experience, not a consolation prize. The Diversion IPA with its Polaris and Mosaic hops is proof of that in the glass.

For intolerance, the gluten-free Stirling is a solid choice. It's our historic Pale Ale, the very first recipe from the house, made gluten-free in 2023 through an enzymatic process, with each batch tested below 5 ppm. A celiac enthusiast will find a real beer here, not a truncated version.

The important point: these options are not fallback solutions. They are choices in their own right. Present them as such in your gift, without apologizing for offering "only" alcohol-free or gluten-free. A good brew remains a good brew.

Giving the right beer to an enthusiast involves three steps. First, identify the recipient's profile, even before thinking about the style. Then choose a format that compensates for what you don't know: a discovery pack when you're in doubt, a gift card when you're really in doubt.

And never dismiss alcohol-free or gluten-free out of excessive caution; only do so by true choice. The rest is freshness, and we don't compromise on that: everything is brewed and shipped from Renens.

If you want us to help you put together the pack or gift card for the person you're giving it to, contact us directly. We can also prepare everything for pickup at the brewery, so your gift arrives fresh until the last moment.

Cheers! 🍻