Black Friday is upon us and for craft beer lovers, that means the year-long wait for Goose Island Beer Co.'s Bourbon County Brand Stout is finally over. An unhealthy amount of stores will be doing early morning sales, but you can avoid them all (and the horrible, horrible crowds) by visiting a few Orange County bars and liquor stores that are selling this year's round of the illusive BCBS and its sexy variants.
This year, BCBS comes in regular, as well as coffee, Proprietor's (rye whiskey and coconut), barleywine, and vanilla–a variant they haven't released in four years.
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Not many bars can say they will be pouring all or even one of these fine beers but Santa Ana's Native Son Alehouse has got them all beat. Native Son will be hosting a tap takeover of the Bourbon County beers–with the exception of Proprietor's–plus five other notable Goose Island favorites: Matilda, Honkers, 312 Wheat, Sofie and Ten Hill Pale.
This little lineup should hopefully wash away the day's shopping horrors…assuming you get to the bar before their kegs dry out. Expect big crowds, good beer and merriment as soon as the bar opens at noon.
Slater's 50/50 will have the BCBS on draft throughout all its Southern California locations and in Orange County, that means Huntington Beach, Lake Forest and Anaheim Hills will be pouring the roasted marshmallow-y stout for as long as their supplies hold.
Whole Foods market in Newport Beach, O'Shea's Brewing Company in San Juan Capistrano, and both the Brea and Lake Forest Total Wine & More locations will be selling the four-packs of the BCBS. But don't think you can go and buy up all the bottles you want because you neglected your family and stood in line through Thanksgiving. Most bottle shops will limit each customer to either one four-pack or even one bottle and these bourbon barrel-aged babies go fast. Plan accordingly and try not to get trampled.
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