Lakefront Announces Details For Popular Black Friday Beers

2023 Black Friday Beers. Photo courtesy of Lakefront Brewery.

Shoppers across the country are accustomed to around-the-block lines on Black Friday — the door-busting, post-turkey holiday known for its mega discounts. In Milwaukee, we do things differently, with queues leading not to Best Buy or Target, but to the local breweries.

One in particular, Lakefront Brewery, has distinguished itself as a yearly destination for beer aficionados, offering limited quantities of its highly sought after barrel-aged brews.

This year marks the 12th Black Friday event for the brewery, 1872 N. Commerce St., which will open its doors at 8 a.m. on Nov. 24.

Four Black Friday brews, billed as “colorful, dynamic, and rare,” will be available for purchase. That includes a 2023 Black Friday Imperial Stout, 2023 Black Friday Triple Black IPA, 2023 Black Friday Double Barrel-Aged Christmas Cookie Barleywine and 2023 Black Friday 5-Year-Old.

The Imperial Stout — a yearly favorite — is a roasty, caramelly beer with strong notes of vanilla and oak. Less than 3,000 19.2-ounce cans of the stout will be available, each priced at $20 plus tax.

Bold flavors will star in the Triple Black IPA. Described as “big, bold and hoppy,” the beer is deeply-colored with a foamy tan head. The meeting of hops and malts yields a balanced flavor with aromas of chocolate, orange zest and rose water, along with notes of tropical fruit and caramel. Less than 1,000 19.2-ounce cans will be available, each priced at $20.

Double Barrel-Aged Christmas Cookie Barleywine is equally flavorful, but leans sweet. Honey, vanilla, nutmeg and cinnamon form a warm, holiday-flavored foundation, while a two-year aging process — one in rum barrels, another in bourbon barrels — imparts flavors of oak plank, toasted almond and molasses. Less than 1,000 19.2-ounce cans will be available, each priced at $30 plus tax.

The final Black Friday beer is five years in the making, and has been sleeping peacefully in bourbon barrels since 2018. The roasty, chocolatey imperial stout carries flavors of vanilla, pecan, praline, marzipan and a touch of pipe tobacco. Less than 1,000 19.2-ounce cans will be available, each priced at $30.

Following Lakefront’s switch to all canned beers earlier this year, the Black Friday beers will be sold in 19.2-ounce cans, each individually printed and boxed. The size, for reference, is somewhere between a tall boy and a silo.

There will be no limit to the number of cans individuals can purchase, and beers can be bought in any combination. Those who purchase a minimum of four Black Friday cans will receive a collectible, souvenir-dated Black Friday glass while supplies last.

Lines are guaranteed to be long, Lakefront warned.

“Fans usually begin lining up on Thanksgiving night, with a line of over a thousand folks by the time doors open at [8 a.m.]. Prepare,” the brewery said in a news release.

So bundle up, and bring a new or gently-used coat along, too — Lakefront will be collecting winter coats as an extension of its Warm Hearts Community Coat Drive for the students of Dr. George Washington Carver Academy. For every coat donated, customers will be rewarded with a 2022 Black Friday bottle (for a maximum of two bottles per person).

The 2022 Black Friday bottles will also be available for sale at $20 each.

Lakefront Brewery’s merchandise tent and The CurdWagon will open bright and early at 4:30 a.m. for the big day, serving up breakfast burritos, cheese curds, hash browns, breakfast croissants and coffee.

Starting at 8 a.m., for the first time since 2019, Lakefront plans to open its main bar for service on Black Friday, as well as the Beer Hut on its newly renovated riverwalk patio. Black Friday will be available on tap.

The brewery will also be running tours starting at 2 p.m. The fish fry will proceed as usual.