Black Friday Is For Beer Lovers

Written By: The Gnarly Gnome

11/25/2025

I’ll forgive you if you think that Black Friday is for lining up to buy blenders and cheap televisions, because that’s exactly what the big box stores have wanted us to think that we’re supposed to do. The truth of the matter is that Black Friday is for getting out of your house and celebrating the start of the Christmas season at your favorite brewery taproom.

That’s right, it’s for beer releases. Big beers. Barrel-aged beers. Special releases. They’re all around town, and YOU need to know about them.

I’m pretty good at making notes about all this stuff as I see it, but with that being said – if you noticed that I missed a big LOCAL release on Black Friday – shoot me a message, and I’ll get it added!

BC’s Brewing Company

BC’s is hosting an ‘Adopt A Mug’ event. Over the years, there have been a whole bunch of orphaned mug club mugs that are desperate for a new home. Swing by the taproom and adopt one! You can buy it and take it home with you, or use it as a chance to kick off your new mug club membership!

Brink

Brink celebrates Black Friday every year with a big event. They open the taps at 10 am, featuring specialty variants of some of their most popular beers. This year, they’re also releasing two different versions of their big ‘700 Imperial Stout’ in bottles.

Depot Brewing

Depot might still be a little too new (and small) to have a massive line-up of 47 Imperial Stouts in wax-dipped bottles for you to line up out the door to buy, but that doesn’t mean that they aren’t trying to get in on the festive spirit. They’ll be tapping their new Christmas Ale that day, so if you’re out and about and looking to take a little break from the chaos, they’ve got you covered!

Fabeld Brew Works

Fabeld is tapping their latest collaboration beer, a gluten-free sour that’s inspired by one of my favorite vacation drinks, the painkiller. For those who are looking to sip on something a little more traditional, they’re also celebrating the return of their dark Czech-style lager. With a cooler stocked with plenty of other beers and mead, I think you can knock out some shopping while you’re at it!

Narrow Path

Narrow Path is not sitting this one out! (Although, admittedly, they slipped by me at first…) They are releasing their ‘Black Bear’ Imperial Stout on draft, with bottles of a Double Barrel Black Bear and cans of their ‘Peanut Butter Black Bear too. They also made a version they’re calling “Teddy Bear” which uses cinnamon, graham, maple and vanilla to taste like a certain bear-shaped snack.. In addition, you can get a little festive with Elf Magic, their Christmas Cookie Ale on draft and cans, and Reindeer Fuel, their Christmas Cookie stout on draft and cans, too. Still not enough? They’ll also have bottles of their big BA Wee Heavier Scottish Ale. Don’t miss this one!!!

Sonder

It says it in its name. Family Tradition has become a Black Friday tradition at Sonder’s two taprooms. All the variants will be on tap, and you can go pick up your bottles that you hopefully preordered! This year’s release is a good one, too! (Read more about this year’s variants here.)

Streetside

Streetside is being joined by their friends at Augusta Distillery, who will be on hand flipping flapjacks and serving up a bourbon tasting that you won’t wanna miss. Pancakes & Bourbon sounds like a great way to spend a Friday morning if I’ve ever heard of one! If that’s not enough for you, the brewery is also releasing two variants of their ‘Fata Morgana’ Belgian Quad – an Apple Brandy barrel-aged version, and a fruitcake variant, too!

Swine City

Over in Fairfield, Swine City is letting loose on a few different beers that are in perfect weird, wild, Swine City fashion. ‘Gobbler? I Hardly Know Her!’ is a blonde ale with – yeah… Sweet Potato, Stuffing, Turkey and Gravy flavors. It’s Thanksgiving in a can. They’re also bringing back their ‘Nuke Ohio: Extreme Cheese Version” – this barrel-aged brown ale has Cincinnati Chili spices and a dose of habanero peppers for good measure. Rounding things out for dessert, they have two versions of their ‘Sweet, Dark + Lovely’ – ‘Brownie Edges’ and ‘Mexican Hot Chocolate’.

Third Eye

Third Eye’s ‘Barrel Noir’ event starts at noon, and the brewery will be releasing four packs (as long as single bottles) of their Barrel-Aged Double Astral and three variants of it. Double Astral is a big chocoately stout… it’s sweet, boozy, complex… It’s a perfect winter beer! The variants that will be alongside it are Coconut, Coffee, and “Paradise Lost” (Jamaican rum casks? Oh, yeah).

Wandering Monsters

Wandering Monsters is letting loose a trio of collaboration beers and some really fun mystery merch packs (that will make perfect Christmas gifts) – the beers are: a Port Barrel-Aged Porter with Fremont Brewing, an Imperial Stout with Magnanimous, and an Imperial Stout with Lua.

West Side

West siders won’t have to travel far to get in on the Black Friday action, with West Side Brewing releasing both their Barrel-Aged Imperial Stout and their Mexican Hot Chocolate Stout out of the taproom. Their “standard” Imperial Stout just hit the taps this week, too… which sounds like a good beer to sip on while you’re hanging out in the taproom if you ask me.