Black Wednesday Is A Huge Day For Beer

Today is Black Wednesday, the day before Thanksgiving that has become a big night for drinking out…and what people are primarily drinking is beer.

Here’s the deal

In the US, Black Wednesday refers to the night before the Thanksgiving holiday. It’s a time when students are on break and most offices are closed for the holidays. And because they are (and the fact that Thanksgiving is for many a stay at home and cook family holiday)  a large swath of pre-turkey day drinkers spend the night out hitting bars and restaurants.

A holiday before ‘The Holiday’ Black Wednesday now ranks as one of their biggest drinking dates of the year…right up there with New Year’s Eve and that saying something.

Behind the Beer writes that it’s MillerCoors’ biggest night of the year and Mike Abbott, the Senior Director of Channel Marketing for MillerCoors agrees…

 “On Thanksgiving, everyone tends to go home to see their families. And the night before is the biggest night of the year for people to connect with family and old friends, have a few beers and kick off the holiday season.”

According to Nielson, Black Wednesday is particularly beloved by millennials, 43 percent of whom say they plan to go to their neighborhood bar that evening. That makes it the second-most popular night of the year for local bars, just behind Halloween but still ahead of New Year’s Eve.

Black Wednesday isn’t just a young-end thing either. According to Nielson data, “1 in 5 Americans say they’ll visit a restaurant, bar or nightclub the day before Thanksgiving.”

And when they do, Nielson data indicates that 43 percent of those out on Black Wednesday are drinking beer, with 33 percent drinking cocktails and 29 percent consuming wine.

But the pre-Thanksgiving holiday also has a dark side… Black Wednesday has also been called “Blackout Wednesday” for a reason. And the Wall Street Journal has reported that “in some cities, it is the top drunk driving night of the year.”