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Hey it’s Friday, the beginning of a long holiday weekend, and if you’re ready for some serious fun – we are on it! From the nation’s coolest beer festivals to movies, music, and cutting-edge TV – we’ve got your back big-time. Plus we’ve got some Special Black FridayBeer Picks that you’ll need to chase down. So welcome to this week’s edition of our awesome Weekend Picks.
Black Friday Blackout – No American Craft Beer Festivals This Weekend! (Anywhere, USA) – If you read our Weekend Picks regularly (and we hope that you do), you’ve probably noticed that we always include two or three craft beer festivals. But sometimes, usually around a big holiday, we hit what we call a “craft beer festival abyss” – a weekend where not a single meaningful craft beer festival is taking place anywhere – and this is unfortunately one of those awful occasions.
Hey we get why this happened. It is after all the long Thanksgiving weekend and festival promoters are probably assuming that people are either traveling, with their families, or shopping. Ironically, we think those reasons are exactly why some astute promoter should try a festival this weekend. People are visiting different parts of the country – why not do a local beer festival and showcase beers that would attract out-of-towners to your event? Families are spending this weekend together and they are looking for different things to do. Why not a craft beer event? We guarantee you more families would prefer a craft beer outing to hitting The History Museum for the 23rd time. And anything’s preferable to shopping on a holiday weekend. Even if you’ve no other option, wouldn’t a craft beer festival be the perfect antidote to a “soul-draining” afternoon at the mall?
On The Big Screen – Unlike craft beer event promoters, this is a big weekend for Hollywood and they’ve been rolling out all their big holiday movies over the last couple of weeks. So here are some of the big movies out in theaters this Thanksgiving weekend…
Gravity is Alfonso Cuarón’s return to science fiction after having directed the brilliant Children of Men back in 2006.It also just might be the best movie of 2013.It stars George Clooney (who’s only in it briefly) and Sandra Bullock (who’s in nearly every scene) and tells the story of a cataclysmic accident that leaves a medical engineer and an astronaut adrift in space.
The Hunger Games: Catching Fire opened nationally last week and the reviews have been great. Jennifer Lawrence returns as Katniss Everdeen, the hesitant young warrior who’s forced once again to participate in the deadly Hunger Games. This time around, she’s joined by the great Phillip Seymour Hoffman.
Captain Phillips stars Tom Hanks in heroic non-fiction mode and is the kind of award-nominated drama that causes people to remember just how effective he can be as a leading man. Directed by Paul Greengrass, this political thriller tells the true story of Captain Richard Phillips and the hijacking of his ship by Somali pirates in 2009 – the first American cargo ship to be hijacked in 200 years.
Ender’s Game is a popular science fiction novel with a huge cult following and the much anticipated film version of this classic is out there now. Directed by Gavin Hood (The Wolverine), it stars Harrison Ford and Asa Butterfield as Ender Wiggin – a gifted child recruited and trained to lead his fellow soldiers into a battle that will determine the future of Earth.
2011’s Thor was an unexpected surprise, with a hipness and sense of humor we found refreshing. And while Thor: The Dark World doesn’t quite live up to that debut, this sequel still doesn’t disappoint. All the original film’s players return, including Chris Hemsworth as Thor, Natalie Portman as the spunky Jane Foster, and Tom Hiddleston as Loki, one of the best big-screen villains in popcorn-movie history.
Our Awesome Black Friday Weekend Beer Picks
For the past three years, the Goose Island Beer Company has been releasing their Bourbon County brands on Black Friday. So if you’re in Chicago, New York, San Francisco, or Austin, and you are able to survive the masses and get your hands on any of these very special releases – you’re golden.
This year’s Black Friday releases include:
Bourbon County Brand Stout – one of the most sought-after beers in the craft beer world. It has been recognized by judges at the Great American Beer Festival and the World Beer Cup.
Bourbon County Brand Coffee Stout is brewed using coffee roasted from Intelligentsia Coffee, Goose Island’s next-door neighbor at their Fulton Street brewery.
Bourbon County Brand Barleywine is new for 2013 and aged in the third-use barrels that were once home to Kentucky bourbon and then Bourbon County Brand Stout.
Backyard RyeBourbon County Brand Stout is also new for 2013 and aged in Templeton Rye whiskey barrels with fresh mulberries, marionberries, and boysenberries.
Proprietor’s Bourbon County Brand Stout is a small batch brewed exclusively for Goose Island’s Chicago fans.
