CINCINNATI – Why fight the crowds on Black Friday when you can enjoy a craft beer instead?
Yes, you heard right. Multiple breweries, restaurants and bottle shops will be serving specialty beers -- some as early as 9 a.m. Friday.
Here are my top nine Black Friday craft beer events to visit.
Bourbon County Black Friday: Noon-1:30 a.m. Friday. Higher Gravity, 4106 Hamilton Ave., Northside. Higher Gravity will release bottles of Goose Island's Bourbon County Brand Stout and tap a keg on Black Friday. For a list of bottles, prices and limits visit the event Facebook page.
Black Friday Brews & Bottle Release: 10 a.m.-midnight Friday. Brink Brewing Co., 5905 Hamilton Ave., College Hill. Brink Brewing will open early and promises dark beer goodness with a series of special releases. For more information visit the event Facebook page.
LBC Black Friday Release: 9 a.m.-11 p.m. Friday. Listermann Brewing Co., 1621 Dana Ave., Evanston. Listermann will open early this year for its annual Black Friday release event. For a list of special releases and other information visit the event Facebook page.
Black Out Stout Day: Noon-midnight Friday. Swine City Brewing, 4614 Industry Drive, Fairfield. Take a break from the Black Friday madness by stopping into Swine City Brewing for its Black Out Stout takeover. The brewery will dedicate several of its taps to stouts by bringing back old favorites and introducing new variants. For more information visit the event Facebook page.
Arnold's Black Friday: 12 Beers of Xmas and Hanukkah Beer, too: 6 p.m.-12:30 a.m. Friday. Arnold's Bar & Grill, 210 E. Eighth St., Downtown. Arnold's will tap the 12 Beers of Christmas and Hanukkah, too, most of which aren't the regular run-of-the-mill Christmas beers. The Tadcasters also will take the stage for some live music starting at 9 p.m. For more information visit the event Facebook page.
Cappy's Annual Black Friday Sale with Toys for Tots: 8 a.m.-10 p.m. Friday. Cappy's Wine and Spirits, 309 W. Loveland Ave., Loveland. Cappy's will be selling rare and limited bottles to add to your collection. There is a catch, though. To buy a beer, you have to donate a toy. The more toys you donate, the more bottles of beer you can buy. Cappy's location at 1919 Cleneay Ave. in Norwood will host the same event as well. For more information visit the event Facebook page.
Fairfield Pint Night: 5-9 p.m. Friday. Jungle Jim's International Market, 5440 Dixie Highway, Fairfield. Join Jungle Jim's for a special-edition Pint Night on Black Friday. The market has teamed up with Goose Island Beer Co. to bring several rare and exclusive variants of its highly sought-after Bourbon County, a bourbon-barrel-aged beer whose release has become a Black Friday tradition, to Greater Cincinnati. For more information visit the event Facebook page.
Beer Release -- Beautiful VUE: Noon-11:30 p.m. Friday. Darkness Brewing, 224 Fairfield Ave., Bellevue. This event sounds delicious. Darkness Brewing will tap its new Beautiful VUE ale. This brew is made with ingredients from Bellevue businesses Avenue Brew, the Pretzel Place, Schneider's Sweet Shop and Mama C's Buttercream & Sprinkles. The beer was even aged in a bourbon barrel supplied by the Party Source. For more information visit the event Facebook page.
Black Friday at Sonder: 9 a.m.-11:55 p.m. Sonder Brewing, 8584 Duke Boulevard, Mason. Greater Cincinnati's newest craft brewery will tap its Frosted Mango Milkshake IPA at 9 a.m. Friday. The brewery also will offer 50 percent off all pints from 9 a.m. to 11 a.m. in the Sonder taproom. And BrewRiver's brunch menu will be available with 10 percent off during the same time, too. For more information visit the event Facebook page.
