There are a lot of folks in my family that go nuts about Black Friday. They love to shop. We’re talking late night on Thanksgiving, Early on Friday… the whole deal. I’ve never really liked that scene. I’m much more of a “rest on the couch after overeating turkey” kind of guy.
As our local beer scene has kept growing and new traditions have started to spark up around it – that’s changing a little bit for me. I’m not talking about truck chasing and Bourbon County Brand Stout, either. I’m talking about pure, local taproom focused beer-shopping. There are some taprooms around town that kick off the holiday season via beer releases that you can wrap right into your holiday traditions.
I want to ensure you can keep track of all these release events – which is why this post exists.
Also, to note about this post, I’m only adding in actual beer releases. If a taproom is offering up discounts on merch, or live music, or food specials… that’s all awesome – and maybe next year I’ll add those in, but this year it’s just the places you need to go to snag some tasty beers!
Note: If I’m missing one… shoot me a message and let me know!
The Full List Of Cincinnati Taproom Black Friday Beer Releases
Brink Brewing Company – Dark Beer Day. From Scotch Ale to Schwarzbier, Milk Stout to Mild, Brink is celebrating Black Friday with a bunch of beer releases that you aren’t going to want to miss – highlighted with the bottle release of their double-barreled Duncan Clan. They open at 10 am!
Fretboard – The fans of Fretboard’s Drummer Boy are loud and clear that the only thing they want more than this tasty holiday beer is the Barrel-Aged version. Fretboard listens and is releasing a limited amount of cans of it. From what I hear, it’s really, really delicious this year, too!
Narrow Path – Two special bottle releases are coming at you for Black Friday! The first is a Double Barreled Heavy Riff, a wee heavy aged in New Riff Barrels. Second, is their Barrel-Aged Black Bear – a big, tasty imperial stout. Their doors open at 9am, and the beer will both be on tap, along with a bunch of other tasty stuff!
New Ales – I’m pretty excited to see what N.E.W. Ales has done with this Bourbon Barrel-Aged Imperial Stout called ‘Already Tired of Christmas Music’ – they’ll be open from 4-9 pm, and if you’re new to N.E.W. ales… this might make the perfect opportunity for you to check them out!
Nine Giant – Nine Giant doesn’t do a ton of packaged beer releases, but when they do they are always freaking insane. This year’s release starts at noon and you’re gonna want these! Candyfloss is a Bourbon Barrel Aged Imperial Cuvée Stout, with three different variants. Bar Number Five has Salted Caramel, Pretzel, Vanilla Beans, Chocolate, Cocoa Nibs, and Milk Sugar. – Chocolate Covered Strawberry has strawberries, cocoa nibs, vanilla beans and milk sugar.
Sonder – Sonder is doing its yearly ‘Family Tradition’ release again – and this year keeps stepping that game up With five killer variants. They do things a little differently with this one… you preorder your bottles online starting at 8 am and then pick them up in the taproom. You’ll have to log on and be really fast to snag them all: The Base, Barleywine, Double Oaked, Cocoanilla, Hazelnut Cinnamon Script Coffee.
Streetside – Streetside is releasing “Infinite Possibilities”, a big pastry stout with marshmallows. Bottles and also cans of the base version will be available at 9am!
Swine City – Two limited edition pastry stouts are going to light up Swine City this week during their Black Friday Stout Takeover. These are first come, first serve – no early birds, no reserves, and no pre-orders. Get there. “Sweet, Dark, & Lovely” is a hot cocoa & marshmallow stout and a To Be Announced Second Beer. They’ll also have five different top secret stouts on tap and the return of their New Riff Barrel-Aged “Forget The Hearse”.
Third Eye – You won’t want to miss out on this. Dark Aura is Third Eye’s big Chocolate Peanut Butter Stout, and It’s all kinds of fantastic. This yearly release is exactly what you need to take your mind off of the chaotic shopping season that we’re headed right into.