The 10 Best Homebrewing Gifts Under $20 for Father’s Day

Father’s Day is right around the corner, and what better way is there to say, “I love you” and “thank you for raising me” like the gift of new homebrewing gear? Trust me, he doesn’t want a new tie. He really, really doesn’t want a tie. No, what Dad really wants this Father’s Day is the ability to brew his own beer. There are an unlimited number of amazing upgrades you can get for Dear Old Dad, but for the purpose of this article, we’ll be focusing on items you can get for under $20 to help him step up his homebrewing game. Here are the top ten best homebrewing gifts for Father’s Day 2019:

Dual Scale Refractometer with Specific Gravity & Brix

$18.99 on Amazon Prime

Refractometers are a cheap but substantial upgrade that allow brewers to check their gravity quickly with much smaller samples than a hydrometer and with less risk of infecting the beer. The built-in Automatic Temperature Compensation feature makes it possible to get consistently accurate readings without the need to adjust the readings based on the sample temperature. The refractometer comes with dropper, screwdriver, user manual and cleaning cloth, all included in a hard compact case, making it a great gift for Father’s Day!

Auto-Siphon

$15.47 on Amazon Prime

An auto-siphon is one of the best purchases you can make as a new homebrewer. Auto-siphons make transferring wort from kettles and fermenters into fermenters, kegs, and bottles much easier, and with a substantially smaller risk of infecting the wort. Simply insert the auto-siphon into your fermenter, pump the center tube, and the siphon is started. The tip on the racking cane is specially designed to minimize the pick-up of sediment during transfer. After use the siphon disassembles easily for cleaning. Not only is the auto-siphon one of the best purchases you can make as a new homebrewer, but at only $15.47 on Amazon, it’s one of the best gifts you can buy for Father’s Day.

Red Baron Bottle Capper

$20.58 on Amazon Prime

Ok, I admit it, this one isn’t technically under $20, but at $20.58 the Red Baron Bottle Capper is a perfect Father’s Day gift. If your Dad is still using swing-top bottles or an old-style press, a good capper is a great upgrade. I have bottled hundreds of bottles of beer with this exact capper and it is still going strong. Just place one of your bottle caps into the slot of the bottle capper that has a magnet end and then place over your bottle. Simply squeeze the handles together and your bottle is now capped. No one likes bottling, but with this capper it goes much easier.

Pull-Tab Easy Open Crown Caps

11.99 on Amazon Prime

What good would the capper be without caps? Sure, you could order some plain crown caps at a slightly cheaper price, but these cool new pull-tab caps from our friends at Little Shiloh eliminate the need for a bottle opener and are sure to make Dad’s homebrew stand out!

The Original Tubby Glasses (Set of 2)

$19.99 on Amazon Prime

The Tubby is probably the coolest pint glass I own. Tubby pint beer glasses are a state of art glasses created for beer lovers. Each piece is unique being hand blown with precision and has an ultra wide mouth making it a full 16oz glass. These pint glasses are short, stackable with ease and provide a great nose. The drinking rim has been engineered uniquely with a patent pending rolled profile to make sipping more comfortable. Premium packing of this pint glass set delivers an unforgettable unboxing experience. This high quality glassware gift will never disappoint.

Digital Kitchen Scale

$10.99 on Amazon Prime

If your Dad has started to move away from only brewing store-bought kits, one of the first things he will need is an accurate kitchen scale for weighing out hops. At under $10.99, this stainless steel digital kitchen scale will weigh anything accurately between 2 grams and 11 pounds; perfect for homebrewing applications. It’s small footprint makes it easy to store with the rest of his brewing gear, and makes it a great gift.

Digital pH Meter

$12.99 on Amazon Prime

Homebrewers often spend a great deal of time thinking about three of the four ingredients in beer (grain, hops, and yeast), while forgetting how important the fourth ingredient (water) is! Beer is mostly water, and one of the best ways to improve one’s homebrew is to use a pH meter to test the minerals that are making up their brewing water. Coming in at only $12.99, a pH meter makes a great Father’s Day upgrade!

Corny Keg Dry Hopper

$15.99 on Amazon Prime

If Dad is into hoppy beers like IPAs, he’s probably been dry-hopping during fermentation. But now, with this stainless steel dry hopper, he can even dry hop in the keg! With this dry hopper, all of the hops are contained in one place which helps keep his beer clean and clear while still imparting flavor and aroma from the hops. The stainless steel mesh is reusable, easy to clean, and easy to sanitize, making it a far better solution than hop bags or directly dry hopping into the beer.

Weldless Kettle Valve

$17.71 on Amazon Prime

If Dad is still using a kettle without a valve, this is probably the single best upgrade on the list. Adding a valve to your brew kettle saves time and effort on brew day when transferring the wort out of the kettle, which is also when the wort is most vulnerable to infection. Luckily, weldless stainless steel bulkheads and valves are available, which means that any brew kettle can have a valve installed quickly, easily, and without any need for welding tools. All Dad needs is a drill and a few minutes of peace to tinker in the garage and he’ll feel like he has a whole new brew kettle. At only $17.71, this is the best brewing gear upgrade for under $20 for Father’s Day 2019.

Weldless Thermometer

$15.99 on Amazon Prime

If you upgraded Dad’s brew kettle with a weldless valve, or if his kettle already has one, the next best kettle upgrade is a built-in thermometer. Built-in kettle thermometers allow brewers to have easy, accurate, and constant temperature monitoring, and eliminates the need to hold a thermometer in hot or boiling wort. Thermometers are easy to install in a kettle and make a big difference on brew day.

Bonus Items!

There are also several small consumable items that homebrewers always need, including:

StarSan
Airlocks and Carboy Bungs
Powdered Brewery Wash (PBW)
Campden Tablets for Water Treatment

What are the best homebrewing gifts you have ever received? Leave a comment below or post in the forums!

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