Every year it happens. People leave the warm confines of their safe homes in search of the best bargains that they can find. The push, shove, elbow each other and shop like there’s no tomorrow. Black Friday is no joke.
I’m not going to tell you it’s wrong to shop on Black Friday, despite what I tell my wife. I would just rather that if you’re going to head out and shop, you do it somewhere that fits in with my passions a little bit. Forget the waffle maker and the coffee pots, for Black Friday this year head to a brewery, bar or bottle shop and do it right!
There are a ton of great events happening around town – and I’m here to help you sort through the noise and figure out where you should spend your hard-earned dollars (and have a drink or three). If I’ve missed anything that you think needs added – send me an email, or comment below and I’ll get it on the list if I agree!
Arnold’s
I won’t go into a ton of details on Arnold’s 12 beers of Christmas that they’re doing starting at 6pm – because I wrote an entire post about it, but it’s safe to say that they’re going to be tapping a bunch of really amazing Christmas beers to help kick off the season in the right way.
Braxton
Braxton is opening early for you to get a head start on things. In the Covington taproom, they’re going to be previewing their new Barrel-Aged Starter coffee that was roasted up at Coffee Emplorium, hosting a really fun pop-up waffle bar from Taste of Belgium, and even partnering up with Holtman’s donuts at the same time. All this should make your shopping a little easier, especially when you couple it up with 10% off all their merch and some great premade grab bags to help make the deciding easier.
Over at the Braxton Barrel House, they’re releasing two new bottles. Barrel-Aged Claus and Barrel-Aged Vanilla Claus will be the perfect gift for any beer lover that is on your list that you just can’t figure out. This peppermint stout spent 8 months in Bourbon barrels and is the perfect winter beer as that temperature starts to drop.
Not that I’m a fan of “big beer” but if you like the Goose Island Bourbon County “thing” – you might want to know that Braxton Labs is doing a tap takeover that will probably satisfy your craving.
Brink
Like dark beer? Like special limited releases? Like barrel-aged gold medal-winning beers? You’ll wanna add brink to your calendar. Not only are there going to be a bunch of small-batch and special releases, but the brewery is going to be releasing bottles of their Barrel-Aged Double-Oaked Imperial Moozie aged in Knob Creek Rye Whiskey barrels.
As for the draft list? Here you go: BA Imperial Moozie, BA Imperial Moozie with Deeper Roots Cascara Cherry Skin Coffee, BA Imperial Moozie with Blueberry, BA Imperial Moozie with White Chocolate and Peppermint, BA Duncan Clan 2018, Tiramisu Stout, Pillowcase Candy Pastry Stout, Damocles Black Milkshake IPA, Moozie Milk Stout, Hold The Reins English Mild, Father G’s Bees Honey Brown, Kelly’s Candy Barleywine, Duncan Clan Scottish Ale.
Cappy’s Loveland
I’m always more than happy to give this annual event a proper shoutout – not just because they’re tapping a ton of great beer and selling off some incredible bottles, but they’re doing it for a great cause, too, Toys For Tots.
Here’s how it all works. The bottle shop is pulling out all the stops to bring you a stunning list of vintage bottles, rare releases, and even some exclusive SW Ohio debut beer. All you have to do is donate a new toy to Toys for Tots and you earn the right to purchase a bottle. Donate two toys, earn the right to purchase two bottles – get it?
In addition, for every pint of beer sold, every glass of wine and every growler that they fill, Cappy’s will also donate $1.
The list is insane – but to keep this post manageable, I’ll just tell you to head over to their website to take a peek at it. Just go!
Christian Moerlein
Black Friday? Christian Moerlein is throwing an event that they’re calling “Don’t Be Afraid of the Dark” where from 4-9 pm they’ll be offering up all their dark beers for only $4 a pint. It’s their way of showing drinkers that all dark beers aren’t the same and that there really isn’t anything to be afraid of. They’ll be pouring Barbarossa – Dunkel lager, Jet CVG – black lager, Power Stoutage – Milk Stout, Emancipator – Doppelbock, Cherry Cordial Barbarossa, Raspberry Baltic Porter and a French Toast Porter.
You can get an entire flight for $4 if you want to sample what they’ve got, and growler refills will also be only $8 all day.
Down at the lager house they’re going to be offering up a 35% discount on all their retail. Shirts, barware, books and “moer” will all be on sale!
Grainworks
Looking for a beer that will fill you up, and warm you up at the same time? Grainworks has you covered. The brewery is dropping 16oz cans of their Brewer’s Breakfast Stout. The beer is a big one – an Imperial Oatmeal Stout with Chocolate and Coffee added to it.
If you couple up this big beer release with 30% off all their merch, you might think that things couldn’t get better. That’s until you realize that they’re also tapping their ‘What’s In The Middle’ a layered oreo concoction… an oreo infused milk stout with a golden oreo cream ale. Half and half in a glass… it’s brilliant.
Higher Gravity
Goose Island’s Bourbon County Brand Stout is going to be making an appearance at Higher Gravity starting at 11am. They’ll be releasing bottles, as well as having some on tap too.
Jungle Jim’s Fairfield
Again… not a big fan of what we might call “big beer” but I recognize that the hunt and enjoyment of Goose Island’s Bourbon County Brand Stout is a big thing for some of you. Jungle Jim’s is hosting a BCBS release party and pint night at the Fairfield tasting bar if that sounds like something you’d enjoy!
Listermann
Friday at 9 am, Listermann is going to kick off their bottle release – and in typical Listermann fashion, they’ve got some really fun rare, special releases that you’ll wanna pay attention to. They’re still slowly letting the full list trickle out on their social media (make sure you follow them on Facebook), but for now, we know that we’re gonna see bottles of Vanilla Discrepancies, Imperial Chickow – Peach Brandy, Coconut Graham Cracker Vanilla Discrepancies and Imperial Chickow – Double Vanilla.
Little Miami Brewing Company
I think this one is pretty brilliant. Yes, Little Miami Brewing Company has some fun beers releasing to help ease the shopping pain. Their Prancer and Blitzen Christmas beers are back on tap… but I’m way more excited about the new tradition, the lighting of the Silo. If you’ve ever seen the brewery, you’ve seen their big grain silo on the front of the building, they’ve got it all wired up like a Christmas tree, and are using the event to light it up for all to enjoy.
Awesome.
Milford is also doing their “hometown for the holiday’s” event downtown that weekend…so Old Milford should be hoppin’!
MadTree
MadTree is throwing a bottle release that is one of the biggest that I think they’ve ever done. They’re diving into their cellar to release at my latest count, more than 20 bottles. They’ve got verticals, new releases, tart bottles, barrel-aged stouts. It’s gonna be epic.
Sonder
Not satisfied with just one beer release, Sonder is kicking things off at 9 am with two different beers. This is hot on the heels of their big anniversary party where they released around 1700 different beers on the same day. (That might be an exaggeration, but they definitely aren’t messing around lately).
They’ll be releasing their Duck Donuts collaboration called Sunrise Lemon Icing. This lemon raspberry Berliner Weisse is pretty amazing. I might have got a little sneak peek as I was recording a recent episode of Sonder Stories with them (stay tuned for that).
In addition, they’re dropping the next beer in their line of barrel-aged sours. This one is something pretty special. The beer is called Taken for Pome-Granted, and it’s a Pomegranate Liqueur Barrel-Aged Sour.
If that’s not enough for you – make sure you stick around because they’re also going to be tapping four new beers that day… so get your driver ready. It’s gonna be a good one! You can see more details on their event page here.
Streetside
Streetside is bringing out their big guns if you’re a fan of NE IPAs for Black Friday. Not only is their delicious crowd-pleaser, #Blessed making a return into 16oz cans, but John Lemon, their Milkshake IPA is going to be right alongside it.
I think that they’re also planning some fun new merch to be hitting the shelf too alongside the beer releases, and if I know these guys, there will be plenty on tap for you to quench your thirst while you’re there!
Swine City
Swine is throwing Black Friday out the window and renaming the day Blackout Stout day. It only makes sense when you’re planning on dedicating 10 taps to these big, bold, brews. Look for one-off goodies, variants, and some returning favorites.