BAOS x LiquidxHappiness 2020 Craft Beer & Wine Holiday Gift Guide
December has arrived which means we’ve almost reached the end of this bonkers year. The holidays might look a bit different this year for most of us, but that doesn’t mean you can’t impress the craft liquid enthusiast in your life. BAOS, in collaboration with LiquidxHappiness, has got you covered with a rundown of the best beer and wine gear for whoever’s on your list. Treat yourself while you’re at it! It’s been a year, you deserve it!
Pretty Pennie Jewellery
Photo by NathanDoesBeer.
Photo by Hops & Bros.
Photo by LiquidxHappiness.
At the very top of our list for good reason, as always, is Pretty Pennie Jewellery. If you’ve been following along with BAOS for a while, you know we’re always rocking our Pretty Pennie craft beer-themed pieces. Cee is almost never seen without his growler and hop pendant combo, while Notion and I rock the hop and mash paddle pendant combo, and Tiff is always wearing her solo hop pendant. Hilary’s also got rings, earrings, cufflinks and more in her shop! If you’ve got a coffee lover in your life, she’s got you covered there, too, with her coffee inspired lineup. Hilary is an Ontario-based jeweller, metalsmith, and long-time friend of the podcast. Her jewellery is the beer gear that is truly like no other. - Nate
BAOS Podcast Gear
Photo by LiquidxHappiness.
Photo by LiquidxHappiness.
Our BAOS Merch shop went live last year due to popular demand, launching with a fun bunch of designs and logo merch thanks to Phil Hinson (of the, sadly, now defunct BrewHeads). In 2020, we introduced our two new favourite products - silky and comfortable BAOS-branded face masks (available in multiple colours), and sleek BAOS coffee mugs with either the classic blue logo or white logo on a ceramic base (in multiple colour options). With everything from t-shirts to hoodies, crewneck sweaters to pillows, we have everything you need for the craft beer (and podcast) obsessed legend in your life. - Cee
Hops & Bros Merch
Photo by Hops & Bros.
Photo by Hops & Bros.
Photo by Cee.
By now you all know our good friends, frequent collaborators, and favourite beer YouTubers, Chris and Max of Hops & Bros. They’ve got a sexy lineup of shirts including tees, tanks and crewnecks featuring their big hop logo on the front, and cartoonized versions of themselves on the back by Ontario’s premier craft beer cartoonist David Buist - and they also wrote a book this year! A spinoff of their classic Craft Beer 101 video series, All About Hops is a fun guide to the background, tasting notes, and trivia about all your favourite hops. Guess what? It too features the artwork of the great David Buist. Support local talent, and help the beer lover in your life learn about hops and look sharp while doing it! - Nate
Beer Kulture Merch + Donations
Photo by Beer Kulture.
The team at Beer Kulture have been doing some amazing things with diversity and inclusion in the craft beer space over the past few years, and with their official move to non-profit status in early 2020, they’ve taken the brand to the next level. They were always known for their unique merch, and right now they’re doing pre-orders for their signature hoodies, the perfect holiday gift, but if you want to go that extra mile this year, you can donate to the cause, maybe in the name of a loved one, to help them continue to change lives and truly diversify the craft beer space. - Cee
High Gravity Supply Co
Photo by High Gravity Supply Co.
Formerly Pint Sized Shop, High Gravity Supply Co was started by Chris Lee, who you may know on Instagram as @ataleineverypint. The whole thing started with a shirt that he designed and printed for himself to show off his love for Ontario Craft Beer. That one shirt set wheels in motion leading to what is now High Gravity Supply Co, a “small batch craft beer apparel” shop. From Instagram to beer festivals and beyond, you’ve probably seen people sporting Chris’s designs including his top-selling classic Citra tee, the regional beer gear including the Ontario Craft Beer design that started it all, his recent Indiginous Brew collaboration or the lineup featuring the artwork of Mary Bailey. Rest assured, High Gravity Supply Co can outfit any beer lover on your list. - Nate
Crowns & Hops Merch
Photo by Cudjo Collins.
Formerly known as lifestyle brand Dope & Dank who were renowned for their exciting events introducing ignored demographics to craft beer, LA-based Crowns & Hops have always been lauded for their iconic Black/Brown People Love Beer gear. As of late, their merch game has gotten even stronger. From BPLB glassware to caps, t-shirts to pins, 8 Trill Pils gear and stickers, there’s something fire for the craft beer lover in your life. Pick something up from their shop, and while you’re there, read up on their mission and get behind the movement. - Cee
Vox & Hops Merch
Photo by Cee.
We’re super fortunate in that we’ve been able to really build a strong community of fellow craft beer media mates, and one of the coolest people we know is Matt McGachy of Vox & Hops. Besides being the host of the podcast, Matt is also the lead vocalist for the renowned Montreal-based band, Cryptopsy. If you have a craft beer loving metalhead on your gift list, then the Vox & Hops merch is perfect. With beanies and glassware available year-round and regular drops of shirts and more, there’s no better way to represent the liquid and the brutal sounds you love than with these bad boys. - Cee
Black Girls Wine
Photo Black Girls Wine.
Founded in 2016 by Shayla Varnardo to serve a criminally underrepresented demo, Black Girls Wine was “created to celebrate the Black woman and her love for wine, decadence, and rich experiences at once.” From events to social groups, educational content to wine gear, Black Girls Wine truly is a unique platform helping give Black women a voice and a home in the wine industry. Their fantastic line of apparel and accessories range from phone cases to bags, leggings to masks, perfect for the chic, Black, wine lover in your life. - Cee
The Wino Shop
Photo by The Wino Shop.
Finding a one-stop shop for classy and attractive wine glasses and accessories isn't always the easiest task, but one of Tiffany’s fave stores is the Black-owned The Wino Shop. This place has everything - gorgeous wine racks, cheese boards, wine stoppers, wine openers, apparel, aerators, and every type of wine glass you can think of. If you’re looking to shop for your fave wino for the holidays while supporting a fantastic, Black-owned business, you really won’t need to look anywhere else. - Cee
Laylow Merch
Photo by LiquidxHappiness.
Toronto’s Laylow Brewery are such a huge fave of ours here at BAOS, as they’re a very rare combination of our two loves - Hip Hop and craft beer. They’ve always had strong merch, but during the pandemic, they stepped it up a notch with regular drops which were mostly twists on classic rap album fonts or artwork (my fave was Mobb Deep’s “The Infamous” flip for Northern Touch). If, say, you’re buying for a guy like, I don’t know, me, who loves rap and beer, their stuff is perfect - while their drops tend to go fast, there’s always something fire on their online store to cop, and you may as well grab some beer while you’re at it. - Cee
AllSauced
Photo by Julia Busato.
We connected with Lori from AllSauced this year after she collaborated with Nickel Brook for their Black Is Beautiful brew, and while we’ve yet to taste her delicious food, word around town is it’s poppin’. Not only can you order her catering services online, but her merch is fire. She has a hoodie and a t-shirt available via her online store, and she also recently dropped a collab with Smiles Apparel, a #Forkuality shirt to support food drives (soon available via the Nickel Brook website). She’s been busy doing collaborative (socially distanced) events in the lead up to the holidays so keep an eye out for Lori at a brewery near you! - Cee
That’s a wrap! BAOS and LiquidxHappiness have got your holiday gift list covered for the craft enthusiast in your life, whatever their liquid of choice is! Don’t forget that you can always buy beer, wine, coffee and spirits for the people on your list direct from your favourite brewery, winery, roaster, and distillery. If you don’t live nearby, almost every brewery in Ontario (along with many wineries and coffee roasters) offer province-wide delivery. If you’re note sure what to get, buy gift cards or merch! So go ahead and buy online, support local, now more than ever, wear a mask and stay safe! We love y’all. Happy holidays.
A collaborative article by Cee, Nathan Does Beer, and LiquidxHappiness.
Nathan
Nathan is a craft beer enthusiast from Ottawa, ON. He is the Co-Founder of @TeamLactose, he’s passionate about travelling for beer and he loves talking about beer from Ontario, Quebec and beyond.