5 Essential Thanksgiving And Black Friday Beers

Lakefront Brewery’s 2020 Black Friday Release (Milwaukee, WI) – Although the tradition of special Black Friday Beer releases has been rightly credited to Goose Island’s annual Bourbon County releases, there’s another brewery just north of Chicago that has also become known for a defining stout and Barleywine series that they’ll debut on November 27^th.

For the past nine years, Lakefront Brewery’s Black Friday beer release has grown its own rabid following that now attracts beer pilgrims from all around the world. And thanks to COVID-19 there will be no Black Friday gathering at the brewery for the first time since 2011, but all three of the 2020 variations are available at area retailers.

“We’re doing our very best to keep COVID at bay, and doing a good job of it,” Lakefront President and founder Russ Klisch said in a statement. “Which is why we decided not to have a party with a couple thousand of our friends. They can find Black Friday at their favorite stores, and we’ll be back to a big brewery release again next year.”

And this year Lakefront Brewery is releasing three limited edition Black Friday beers, every one of them sure to become bottle-share ‘hotties’ and bigtime collectable.

This year’s Lakefront beers include:

2020 Black Friday Imperial Stout, Lakefront’s biggest stout aged in bourbon barrels all year (14.2% ABV)

2020 Black Friday Barleywine, aged in bourbon barrels since February (14.9% ABV)

2020 Black Friday Christmas Ale, a blend of holiday spices, aged in Wollersheim brandy barrels (13% ABV)

‘Tis the Season (Boston, MA) – The winter holidays officially ON and Samuel Adams is celebrating Thanksgiving with a brand new cold-weather offering that’s thankfully widely available this year.

Bold, complex and immensely aromatic, Samuel Adams Holiday White Ale is a pale gold 5.8% ABV unfiltered Witbier that’s delicately spiced with ground cinnamon, nutmeg and orange peel.

Step Into The Abyss This Thanksgiving (Bend, OR) – Family and employee owned since 1988, Deschutes Brewery is returning one of its most widely recognized, award-wining beers which they release every November.

Deschutes The Abyss is a massive 11.7% ABV Imperial Stout with a deep, dark malt character and layers of licorice, cherry bark, and molasses flavors, which was aged this year in a blend of new Oak, bourbon and wine barrels.