It’s amazing how fast some things can develop into “something” in this country – the speed with which certain things can become “the thing” overnight. And something that is now “a thing” will be happening this Friday, and that thing is….Black Friday Beer.
The day after Thanksgiving, Black Friday is, first and foremost, known as the biggest shopping day of the year. And although its status might be changing somewhat as more Americans opt to shop online – it’s still a huge day at the malls everywhere. It’s a day of shopping madness and incentivized consumer mayhem – and it’s the kind of shopping day that could drive anyone to drink.
But to truly understand how craft beer has grown to become a “thing” on Black Friday, you need look no further than Chicago-based Goose Island Beer Company and the beloved brand that they’ve become known for.
The originator of the entire bourbon barrel-aged beer category, the Bourbon County Brand began in 1992 as an Imperial Stout that was brewed in honor of the 1,000th beer batch at Goose Island’s Clybourn brewpub. Since that time, the brand has grown into a family of award-winning Stout variations (and one Barleywine) – highly prized beers that sell out almost immediately upon their release and go on to fetch high prices on craft beer’s black market.
In 2010, the brewery decided to release these popular beers on the day after Thanksgiving – and the Black Friday Beer tradition was born.
Goose Island was acquired by the nation’s biggest brewer, Anheuser-Busch, in 2011. This allowed the brewery wider distribution and the power to promote the Bourbon County franchise and its Black Friday events on a much grander scale – and things have gotten bigger with every year.
This Friday, Goose Island will be sponsoring holiday events in nine cities, including Boston; Chicago; Dallas; Jacksonville, Fla.; Los Angeles; New York; Philadelphia; Phoenix; and San Francisco. The Black Friday Beer release concept they’ve fostered has caught on and become “a thing”….
And now, other craft brewers have embraced the concept and are throwing their own local celebrations this Friday.
In 2012, Milwaukee-based Lakefront Brewery got into the Black Friday game, and they began brewing a special, one-day only Imperial Black IPA – and it was and still is an enormous success.
Last year, people were in lines more than two hours before Lakefront opened; its 1,200-bottle supply of Black Friday beer sold out in 90 minutes.
This year, Lakefront has upped their production in hopes of keeping up with demand – but the crowds are only getting bigger and the mania growing – so who knows how things will play out on Friday.
Portland, Maine’s Allagash Brewing has also hopped on the Black Friday special release train in a big way and they are debuting their Allagash Midnight Brett Ale in bottles at the brewery this Friday. And, in an effort to have a little fun with the shopping mania that’s associated with the day, they’ve made a mock doorbuster-style flyer to spread the word of the release.
Where these Black Friday Beer events go in the future is anyone’s guess – but we’re thinking this holiday phenomenon is only going to get bigger. And we should all drink to that!