Sonder Family Tradition 2025 – Release Details!

Written By: The Gnarly Gnome

11/18/25

It’s almost here… and you need to know about it. Family Tradition 2025 requires a little explanation first, though. Black Friday has become a beer holiday, prying the holiday away from the shopping malls and Walmart stores that once held it so dearly, and one of the big ways to celebrate here in Cincinnati is with a Trip over to Sonder for the release of their annual Imperial Stout and it’s variants.

While in their taprooms on the holiday, you can work your way through a flight of the big Imperial Stout (yes… there’s been barleywines, too… but we’ll get to that) if you want to snag a set of these bottles, you’ll need to get on their website ahead of time and preorder them, and some of the variants go fast.

They lean into this release as a way to gather with your friends, with your family. It should be evident by the name, but the release is about the tradition itself as much as it is about the beer, and I LOVE that.

This Year’s Variants

We’ve got six different beers this year, including a few that I’m really, really itching to get a taste of!

Family Tradition – Base

This is the beer that everything else is built off of. It’s aged for two years in a curated blend of “unique and Rare ten-year bourbon barrels” to give it notes of oak, vanilla, and caramel. It doesn’t have a fancy name, or some big adjucts, but I wouldn’t ignore this one!

Family Tradition – English Barleywine

Evidence that Family Tradition doesn’t have to be an Imperial Stout. This English Barleywine starts with Maris Otter and other English Malts and gets kettle additions of blackstrap molasses and maple syrup. It’s of course fermented with an English yeast strain, and then aged for 21 months in a blend of blackstrap and spiced rum barrels. They say it’s got aromas of oak and raisins and a sweet fruity flavor of fig jam, vanilla, cherry and honey.

Family Tradition – Script Columbian Coffee & Vanilla

Aged for two years in bourbon barrels, this one then is finished on freshly roasted Columbian coffee beans from Script Coffee and “mounds” of Tahitian vanilla beans which bring out the notes of cherry and caramel… this one might be the one I’m anticipating the most. I’m a sucker for a coffee stout, and this one is going to be great!

Family Tradition – Peanut Butter, Tahitian Banana & Marshmallow

The base family tradition leaves the safe confines of it’s barrels and then gets rested atop Tahitian bananas, banana puree, peanut butter and marshmallow for this variant. Sonder says that this beer has a sweet and nutty richness that finishes with what they call “oaky goodness” – how great does that one sound?

Family Tradition – Orange, Toffee, And Cashew Fudge

Again, this one starts out with the base version of Family Tradition, which then gets an addition of Orange, toffee, fudge and cashews which they roasted freshly in-house. I like their description for this one too… they call it a “rich dessert adventure” – which pretty much sums up what you’re in for with it!

Family Tradition – Dubai Chocolate

Are you a chocolate fan? This is YOUR beer. They take the base family tradition and then rest it atop cocoa nibs, in-house roasted pistachios with a hint of tahini. A “velvety chocolate, luxury experience” is the descriptor on it… yeah. I need it.

Get Your Bottles!

Bottle sales begin on 11/25 at noon on Sonder’s website. You really need to preorder these bottles starting then if you’re wanting to snag something specific, while some bottles might survive for the big release on Black Friday, there is defintiely no guarantee and there is always something (usually several) that sells out pretty fast.

When you show up on Black Friday to pick up your order, plan on hanging out for a bit with your friends and family where you’ll likely be upset about that bottle that you weren’t able to get, because it will likely be delicous!