David Flaherty knows beer.
Credit: Provided
Still lost as to what to give dad for Father’s Day? You can’t really go wrong with beer. David Flaherty, the beer and spirits director at Hearth restaurant and Terroir, a wine and spirits bar with five locations throughout the city and Brooklyn, shares his picks on which brews will create the most meaningful memories this Father’s Day.
Get a beer that will age
Flaherty recommends purchasing three bottles of a beer that will age well (most likely those with a high alcohol content as those mature the best). “Drink the first one this year with your dad on Father’s Day,” he suggests. “Then, five years from now, crack open the second bottle. And then, five years after that, do it again.” Flaherty recommends Southampton Imperial Russian Stout made by Southampton Publick House, a brewery in Southampton, N.Y. or Parabola, an Oatmeal Stout made Firestone Walker Brewing Co. in California. “It’s an experience that you can carry for fifteen years — you can track your lives through the aging of this beer,” he says.
Try a brewery tour
“I think meeting up with your dad and going on a tour of local breweries would be awesome,” he notes. Flaherty recommends visiting www.beeradvocate.com, which will pull up all breweries near you. “Sharing a pint at the local brewery is a great way to spend the holiday,” he says.
You can’t go wrong with Belgium Farmhouse style-brews
Flaherty notes that the summer is the perfect time for a Belgium Farmhouse style-brew which are currently “exploding” in the US. “Certain beer styles allow brewers to play around a little bit,” he says, noting that Belgium brews allow the brewer to “put their own personal touch to it.” This makes for a unique, refreshing gift. Flaherty recommends Bam Bière’s Jolly Pumpkin Artisan Ales as well as The Bruery’s Tart Of Darkness.
Go the six pack-route
If you just want to pick up an easy (yet distinctive) six-pack, Flaherty says to just hop into your local high-end beer distributor for suggestions. “If you go into a good beer shop and you tell them what you’re looking for, they’ll give you twenty suggestions,” he says. “Use the beer geeks in the beer shops.”
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