Fall Beer Sightings? (2021)

Is it really though?

Bottled in July for consumption in August.

People will buy them starting in August, and many stop buying them in October, especially if winter beers start coming out. I'd rather have sales August-October, rather than just September-October...especially if October is a slow month for sales for Oktoberfest beers.

 

Depends on how much is brewed -- hate to have a favorite run out before September.

 

The breweries will tell you they need to get these beers out now in order to 'claim' space on the retailers shelves.

Last year (or maybe the year before?) Workhorse Brewing didn't can/release their Oktoberfest until the second week of September. They canned the beer on a Friday and I bought that beer the following Saturday at the brewery. I personally appreciated that they brewed for the season vs. getting on the retailers shelves in the beginning of August.

Cheers!

 

I guess I was looking at it differently because I agree with what you said.

I was looking from the perspective that imported seasonal beers that take a long time to get here are not really much older than domestic ones this time of the year, in some cases.

Just as an example, going off last year bottling dates, but Hofbraus I think was mid June and Weihenstephan was around then too. The domestic ones coming out now had to be late to mid July packaging I would assume. Thats a impressive close packaging gap when comparing some imports to the domestic ones we are seeing right now.

This is one reason why it can be a problem for me too. Sometimes I find myself having to buy up way more beer than I like to at once because I know it will be gone if I don't buy it when it arrives. But I guess then we are back to the whole seasonal creep debate.

Just saw your post @JackHorzempa Workhorse is distroing in NJ now, I haven't seen any yet but I look forward to trying theirs if I come across it.

 

In a perfect world I’d do two batches. One bottled in late July/early August, and another in early September.

I know not every brewery has the capacity to do this though. But if I can only pick one, I’m picking the earlier dates. I can’t imagine Oktoberfest sales are better in October than September.

 

There was a time because, well -- October, right? I can remember friends would only hit the local Oktoberfest or buy Oktoberfest beers in October.

No, they didn't get it.

I always remember bringing Sam Octo to Thanksgiving dinner because you could still find it. Probably not so much these days.

 

@invertalon I agree on your take on Warsteiner. My bottle shows best by date of 20 May. 22

 

Sighted....

 

Well it certainly looks delicious!

Is that a Jever mug?

 

It is indeed. I never drink Jever out of it, ironically. Though I have some 500ml cans coming so I will have to.

 

I will admit to becoming a total sucker for all things Fall over the last few years. Between my wife decorating the house up real nice and the generally cooler weather, it feels impossible not to get caught up in the stereotypes of the season. I also love Halloween, football and beer which has made it my favorite time of the year.

In the past, I would drink all the Oktoberfest/Marzens/Festbiers/Pumpkins I could get as soon as they dropped in July or August. These days I just stock up in those months and will save my first Oktoberfest-style beer for September 1. The last couple of years I've given up drinking entirely in August so that first beer back tastes extra special.

Does anybody else wait until September?

 

So we had it last night and it was better than I recall last year, but it also wasn't exceptional by any means. The three of us preferred the other examples we split/enjoyed (Paulaner Marzen and Fest, Fat Heads and Thirsty Dog). I think Yuengling makes some clean, approachable beer and this was no exception. Flavors were pretty subtle. It was a good beer, but nothing I'd go buy more of.

We also cracked into the Whole Hog and Ellicottville Pumpkin Latte bottles we picked up... Sadly, the Whole Hog didn't live up to our high expectations. It's still very good, don't get me wrong, but last year it was vivid pumpkin pie, to the point you could almost taste the 'meat' of the pumpkin/custard. This year, it seemed perhaps a little thinner/more attenuated and a bit more forward on spices. Maybe with some age, it will mellow out and balance a bit more.

The Ellicottville was stunning, though! Love the coffee added here. The sweetness rounds out the flavor profile, spices are forward but not overpowering. A more intense pumpkin beer flavor wise, but I like that for the style as long as sweetness, spices and the base beer come together proper. Out of the few so far we have purchased and tried (Dogfish, Whole Hog, Ellicottville, New Holland) it is top pick right now. Still waiting on the nitro variant to come along of that one and ST Pumpking/Warlock, of course. The nitro Pumpking was insane last year, so we can't wait for that to hit so we can stock up on a few cans. That one reminds us more of pumpkin ice cream, vs. pie. It has a creamier, more dairy forward type aroma. It almost smells in the glass like that cold, delicious smell of walking into an ice cream shop. It's glorious. Hope it's just as good this year!

 

New seasonal brews coming in locally the past few days;
ST Pumking + Warlock
Stevens Point/ Whole Hog Pumpkin
Shipyard Pumpkinhead
DFH Punk'n
Ellicotville Pumkinville Latte and new BBA Iron Smoke version
Masthead Haunted Hayride
Sam Adams Jacko and Okto-fest
Hoppin' Frog Frog's Hollow and BA version Pumpkin
New Holland Ichabod Pumpkin

3 Floyds Munsterfest
Bell's Okto-fest
BrewKettle Okto-fest
Warsteiner Okto-fest
Market Garden Old Zahm Okto-fest

Seems the first week of August is "the week"!
Hoping to see some German brews like Paulaner etc later today - Friday
Prost!

 

Nah, the imports aren't as fresh and those are my favorite. So I drink those as soon as I see them.

I'll even tend to grab some locals in August too. The focus is the imports though.

 

Can you *really* tell the difference in a few months with a Pasteurized beer?

Many years ago I used to buy up cases of Spaten Okto at the season's end (good sales) and drink them down until the next season (well, almost).

I never really noticed any significant changes for quite a few months -- probably late Spring of the following year, when it started to taste oxidized.

I even tried a couple different ones from last season earlier this Summer and they were still pretty good.

 

I too do not think that the Yuengling Oktoberfest is "exceptional" but I do very much enjoy drinking it.

As I posted previously in this thread:

"Now the Oktoberfest beer I think is underrated is Yuengling Oktoberfest. I do not highly value this beer per the Oktoberfest beer style but I find it to be a very enjoyable beer to drink. When I drink it I just try to dismiss the beer style aspect and simply enjoy drinking it on its own terms."

The 'bonus' is that I can buy this beer for 7 bucks a six-pack.

Cheers!

 

@AlcahueteJ .....

I almost never use that Jever mug for 12 oz beers (or 11.2oz Jever) because it's ,5L and I hate how a single bottle looks half empty in in. The pic is actually about 1.5 SN cans.

As for the Jever cans, a buddy of mine in NY picked them up for me.

 

Maybe? Side by side would be best, but that would be difficult to set up for obvious reasons.

I have had Oktoberfest imports on tap (from a reputable place that has good tap lines, at least in my experience) at a local pub in late October that absolutely tasted past their prime.

But maybe keg is different than bottled?

Ah, yeah mine's a 0.4L mug, so it fits perfectly.

 

I think kegs are flash pasteurized, but I'm not sure that's more or less effective.

Then add in that third factor of the tap-line. Reputable location, or not, I've seen import beers suffer on tap.

Gotta rely on your memory. Aside from the oxidation, I start to notice the flavor complexity going flat, but the beer is still tasty -- especially if Okto-Marzen is your favorite style.

 

Well, I should have stated I go to this place all September because they have every Oktoberfest import known to man there September - October. And they're DELICIOUS in September.

True, I'm sure for the most part they're fine. But I rip through 30+ different Oktoberfests each season. I figure they're not going to get fresher with time. In terms of scheduling my drinking it's easy enough to start drinking imports in August, and then make my way to locals to spread things out.

And you don't have to twist my arm to get me to drink an Oktoberfest any time of the year