Your Beermonger: Beer Geek Black Friday

Editor’s Note: This sponsored column is written by Nick Anderson, beermonger at Arrowine (4508 Lee Highway).

By now, we’re in various stages of recovery from our food comas — and I hope everyone out there had a Happy Thanksgiving.

That means today is the start of the holiday shopping season, Black Friday. I’m not going to go in on the merits of Black Friday; Arrowine is closed on Black Friday, and I’ll let that be our only official commentary on that. Personally, I don’t go out of my way to wade into the madness but sometimes there’s a deal on something you want/need that’s too good to pass up — I get it. What I am going to do is talk about some Black Friday deals that are of interest to beer fans.

There are a lot of great deals out there for homebrewers. Northern Brewer is offering their $90 Essential Starter Kit for free to those who purchase a five-gallon stainless kettle and an IPA kit (with a product code; check it out here). Brooklyn Brew Shop is having a Cyber Week sale, with all kinds of stuff on deep discounts from gear to kits to books. If you’re out and about right now My Local Home Brew Shop in Falls Church has Black Friday discounts and offers for customers through 6:00 p.m.

Special and rare beer releases are occurring on Black Friday more often — as if the day wasn’t insane enough. Paste Magazine has a good list here of 10 such releases, including a regional shout-out to Ashland’s Center Of The Universe Brewing, who will be holding a release party for it’s Shut Up Imperial Stout from noon to 9:00 p.m. today. Shut Up is aged in barrels that were originally used to make Bourbon, and then were bought by a Virginia winemaker to age its Port-style dessert wine in.

Also, look for retailers around the area to be putting out Goose Island’s Bourbon County Brand Stout. Practically a holiday unto itself among beer geeks, BCBS will be up for sale at various prices and quantities starting tomorrow. Though production on BCBS is higher than ever, supply in our market is actually down dramatically due to distribution now including all 50 states. If you’re looking to try new things or bulk up your cellar, Craft Beer Kings is having a Black Friday Sale featuring limited and rare bottles — worth a look if you don’t mind paying the shipping (which admittedly isn’t all that bad, especially if you stock up in a big way).

No matter what deals you end up taking advantage of this Black Friday (if any), here’s to a healthy, happy holiday season ahead. Until next time.

Nick Anderson maintains a blog at www.beermonger.net and can be found on Twitter at @The_Beermonger. Sign up for Arrowine’s money-saving email offers and free wine and beer tastings. The views and opinions expressed in the column are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of ARLnow.com.

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