If you’re looking for Black Friday plans that don’t involve getting elbowed in the face as someone climbs over their Great Aunt to snag a hairdryer for $5.99 – I’ve got something else that might tickle your fancy.

Arnold’s (read more about Arnold’s here, it’s one of my favorite Cincy bars) is kicking off the holiday season by bringing you their 12 beers of Christmas, and you don’t even have to get up at 4 am to enjoy it!

Starting at 6 pm that evening, they’re firing up the taps in Cincinnati’s oldest bar to pour you exactly what you need… great beer. These aren’t going to be your regular, run of the mill beers, though. They’re going to make sure that it’s special. It is Black Friday, after all!

The bar has gathered up a lineup of some of the finest, rarest and most sought after Holiday beers that they could get their hands on.

I suppose that’s where we should start, right?

The Black Friday Beer Tapping

What exactly does the finest, rarest and most sought after Holiday beer list look like? Try this one on for size:

Great Lakes Christmas Ale – 7.5% ABV – Do not open ’til Christmas? Whoever coined that phrase obviously hasn’t tasted Great Lake’s Christmas Ale’s fresh honey, cinnamon, and ginger flavors. A Yuletide’s worth of holiday spices and sweet honey to keep you a-wassailing all season long!

Three Floyd’s Alpha Claus – 6% ABV – Alpha King’s festive cousin. A big American Christmas porter with English chocolate malt, Mexican sugar, and tons of strange American hops.

Listermann’s Christmas Cocoa – 5% ABV – An extremely rare variant of Listermann’s sweet oatmeal stout infused with everyone’s favorite winter snuggling treat… Marshmallows and Hot Cocoa

Delirium Noel – 10% ABV – Brewed only for the Christmas and New Year, Noël completes the “Delirium” trilogy. Its appearance is a superb warm copper to red color, recalling “Nocturnum” except in its taste. It hides its subtlety by multiple levels of flavor.

Prairie Christmas Bomb! – 13% ABV – The Bomb! We all know and love aged on espresso beans, vanilla beans, chocolate, featuring ancho chile peppers, and additional Christmas spices that bring a blast finish.

Thirsty Dog Bourbon Barrel Aged 12 Dogs of Christmas – 10.4% ABV – Aged in bourbon barrels for almost a year. This beer’s name sums up the idea of bringing the best together to celebrate. It is filled with seasonal flavors from generous amounts of toasted and caramel malts, mixed with equally generous amounts of honey, cinnamon, ginger, and nutmeg. We feel it is the perfect libation, filled with flavors of the season.

West Sixth Christmas Ale – 9% ABV – Christmas Ale is a big and bold Winter Warmer with a dark, sweet, and complex malt character complimented by an array of spices with orange peel, nutmeg, and cinnamon coming to the forefront.

St. Bernardus Christmas Ale – 10% ABV – Consistently rated as the best Christmas beer in the world. This specialty beer is characterized by its deep dark color, with a creamy, thick head and a full, almost velvety taste with a fruity nose. Brewed annually for the holiday season, the long winter nights are perfect moments to savor this ale with or without friends and to enjoy its unique, complex taste.

Rhinegeist Dad – 6% ABV – This Hoppy Red Ale sports a robust malt bill as ample and snug as a well-worn flannel. Throwing on a pair of oversized sneakers that break all known fashion laws, Dad mows acres of dank, piney hops, uphill both ways in the snow. Keep it up—I’ll turn this can around. (you can read more about this beer here)

50 West Christmas Cookie – 6.1% ABV – A warming ale brewed with oats, cinnamon, and sugar – all the ingredients you would put into an oatmeal cookie Santa would love.

Bell’s Christmas Ale – 7.5% ABV – This traditional Scotch Ale is rich and malty with notes of caramel and a warm finish. Certain to make any occasion festive, or at least a bit more bearable. Enjoy with the company of friends and family

Fathead’s Holly Jolly – 7.5% ABV – Once upon a frozen evening way up north, a sweet local honey named Holly inspired our Jolly Fat Man (as only Holly can) to create this festive spiced holiday ale. We think you will enjoy his holiday creation with it’s aromas and flavors of Christmas day. Sweet malt, ginger, honey and cinnamon spice. Sip this by the fire with your significant other. Who knows, maybe it will lead to a little inspiration of your own. From our Jolly Fat Man to yours, Happy Holidays.

Food, And More

You know that Arnold’s wouldn’t’ just leave you with a beer list (even if it is an awesome list) – they’ve also got some other stuff up their sleeve for the night.

Fresh off her Thanksgiving appearance on the Today Show, Executive Chef Kayla Robison will be whipping up a special comfort food menu for the event. We’re talking Short Rib Meatloaf, Mississippi Roast and more. It’s gonna be delicious.

In addition, the first 50 people who order any food or drink starting at 6pm will score a special limited edition Rhinegeist holiday ornament too. Each one of the ornaments is hand signed by Rhinegeist’s head brewer Jim Matt. Now that’s a good Black Friday deal!

You’re gonna wanna get there right at the start of the event if you hope to snag one of these, and I mean… that’s the best way to maximize your drinking time, anyways – right? If you want more information you can hit up the event on Facebook!