All Aboard For Black Friday Beer Specials
Three shuttles offer easy access to so many breweries and specialty brews on annual beer release day.
Riverwest Brewery Syndicate Shuttle at Black Husky Brewing. Photo taken Oct. 29, 2022 by Graham Kilmer.
To the wider world, the day after Thanksgiving is a time for rest, leftovers or, in some cases, frenzied holiday shopping. For Milwaukee-based brewers, Black Friday is the highly-anticipated release day for a slew of specialty beers.
Some breweries require pre-ordering while others (like Lakefront Brewery, known for its hours-long line) require only patience.
Bring snacks, share a smile, and please, drink responsibly.
Black Friday Brewery Shuttle (Route 1)
This free shuttle run by City Tours MKE will make its rounds throughout Milwaukee’s East Side neighborhoods with stops at Good City Brewing, Eagle Park Brewing Company, Hacienda Taproom & Kitchen, Dead Bird Brewing, Pilot Project Brewing and Explorium Brewpub.
The shuttle will run from noon to 5 p.m. on a hop-on, hop-off system. Vehicles will leave from Dead Bird and Good City at noon, with the goal of arriving to a new location every 15 to 30 minutes.
Each brewery will be offering a Black Friday special release. Additionally, Explorium will offer live music from noon until 4 p.m.
Black Friday Brewery Shuttle (Route 2)
The City Tours Shuttle will also run a second route through Milwaukee’s Historic Third Ward, Walker’s Point and Bay View neighborhoods. Vehicles will make stops at Wizard Works Brewing, Broken Bat Brewing, Indeed Brewing Company, Explorium Brewpub, Torzala Brewing Co., Component Brewing Company, New Barons Brewing Cooperative and 1840 Brewing Company.
Shuttle routes overlap at Explorium, where riders can make the jump between routes if they wish.
Vehicles will set off from Component/New Barons and Broken Bat at noon, rotating every 15 to 30 minutes.
Feeling peckish? Grab a bite from Trouble Makers’ Cocina, which will be serving food at 1840 Brewing from noon until 4 p.m.
Five-Three-Brew-One-Two Shuttle
Riverwest Brewery Syndicate’s popular Five-Three-Brew-One-Two shuttle will run on both Black Friday, Nov. 25 and Small Business Saturday, Nov. 26, due to popular demand.
Gathering Place’s ice cream cocktail-inspired brew and Amorphic Beer’s Black Friday release are available for pre-order on the companies’ websites.
Lakefront’s limited edition, barrel-aged brews are not available for pre-order. But for those who wish to brave the lines, Lakefront’s Curdwagon food truck will be on hand and open for breakfast starting at 4:30 a.m.
Black Husky will release its “Ahead of the Pack” gin barrel-aged beer, Sparkly Eyes, on Wednesday at 4 p.m. During the Friday festivities, the brewery will run a raffle for one bottle of its 2015 Bourbon barrel-aged Headbutter Barleywine, which was aged for 30 months. A winning ticket will be pulled on Sunday, Nov. 27.
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