Seasonal Beer Rules

Discussion in 'Beer Talk' started by Celtics76, Aug 10, 2012.

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  1. JuicesFlowing

    JuicesFlowing Initiate (0) Jul 5, 2009 Kansas

    I tend to buy the seasonals early because there's only about one store in my town that carries all of them, and they sell out fast. Also, the reason they are on the shelves so early is market share ... money. If you are a brewer and you know that your competition is selling their Oktoberfest before you, then it's only natural that you play the game to get a piece of the pie. So yes, i buy them early, but I sure as hell don't drink them early.
     
  2. alseger83

    alseger83 Aspirant (201) May 13, 2010 Ohio

    The weather is pretty fall like tonight in Ohio, so I'm enjoying some Oktoberfest and a slice of pumpkin pie.
     
  3. GameFreac

    GameFreac Initiate (0) Apr 8, 2011 Georgia

    Who cares? Drink what you want, when you want.
     
    dcook11 likes this.
  4. RonfromJersey

    RonfromJersey Initiate (0) Jan 25, 2002 New Jersey
    In Memoriam

    No Oktoberfests until Labor Day Night.
    No Christmas beers until after midnite on Thanksgiving.
    No spring beers until March 1.
    No summer beers until Friday of Memorial Day weekend.
     
  5. Halcyondays

    Halcyondays Initiate (0) Jun 27, 2007 California

    I drink the seasonal releases when they come out, we don't have much seasonality, October is hotter than July and August anyway. Enjoying some Sam Adams Octoberfest tonight. I would like to be able to try a Winter Warmer when it was actually snowing or at least colder than 45F, that would be pretty cool. Unfortunately, it snows around here about once a century. My dad got to enjoy some snow in Long Beach back in 1949.
     
  6. azorie

    azorie Pooh-Bah (2,471) Mar 18, 2006 Florida
    Pooh-Bah

    First off I drink what I like. The seasons never has any effect of my drinking of beer. I have drank many Oktoberfest beers because I like the malt profile. I drank many of them in May....as for fruit beers yuck and pumpkin double yuck......some can be decent but its a case by case thing....
     
  7. JimDH

    JimDH Crusader (428) Feb 7, 2011 Kentucky

    I'll buy the first fresh six-pack of Celebration Ale I see, because I like it. Given the dry hopping I may do a side-by-side comparison later in the season if I find another fresh batch that was bottled four to six weeks later--to see if I can detect a drop-off.
     
  8. MrKsBeer

    MrKsBeer Initiate (0) Mar 31, 2009 Massachusetts

    I think outside temp has more of an effect on me than actual date... that being said, Pumpkinhead flies off the shelves no matter what it's like outside. Also, tried the first Shipyard Smashed Pumpkin of the year last night... after I swallowed I would have sworn I had just eaten a piece of pumpkin pie. It's amazing what they can do with extracts these days, considering pumpkin growing season is still a ways away!
     
  9. dgs

    dgs Initiate (0) Jul 18, 2005 Pennsylvania

    Not a big fan of seasonal beers marketed/targeted for out of season. I was at a party recently where the hostess bought a Sam Adams summer variety case. It seemed appropriate, being the middle of the summer and a hot & humid day. Yet, most of the beers were well beyond the enjoy-before date notched on bottles. While they may be enjoyable in April, why call them summer beers?
     
  10. Kinsman

    Kinsman Maven (1,457) Aug 26, 2009 Nevada

    Gee, I hope they've started growing already or else there isn't going to be much of a harvest this year!
     
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  11. mudbug

    mudbug Pooh-Bah (1,762) Mar 27, 2009 Oregon
    Pooh-Bah

    Seasons? In the PNW we get two, The cold and rainy one and the one with a little less rain. Therefore I don't care much when a beer is released, if it's good I'll buy it.
     
    libbey likes this.
  12. sunkistxsudafed

    sunkistxsudafed Initiate (0) Apr 30, 2010 New Mexico

    I'm more laisse faire. My only real rules are that i wont drink a seasonal more than one season out (no more Dig for me, i suppose) and that if a seasonal moves into year round I tend to drink a lot less (not really a rule, jsut an observation mostly regarding Noble Pils and a local brown ale) Though i LOVE pumpkin ales, i have a hard time drinking them when it's still 95 degrees out. I wish brewers would wait about a month longer than they do to release, but hey I'm writing all this as i drink an SN Tumbler. :wink:
     
  13. HumphreyLee

    HumphreyLee Initiate (0) Jan 15, 2011 Pennsylvania

    I promised myself I wouldn't have any pumpkin beer until I was watching the first football game of the season. Then today it was chilly, overcast and rainy and I basically just said "eff it, might as well be September already" and had an Ichabod. Basically, I'm a push over...
     
  14. 5thOhio

    5thOhio Pooh-Bah (1,571) May 13, 2007 South Carolina
    Pooh-Bah

    My seasonal beer rules:
    Fall: avoid pumpkin ales. Yech. Ditto Oktoberfests. Too malty.
    Winter: don't drink winter warmers. Spices belong in food, not beer.
    Spring: avoid Bocks & Doppelbocks. Too malty.
    Summer: Let others drink the witbiers and shandys. Fruit doesn't belong in beer, either in liquid form or as a slice on the side of the glass.
     
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  15. BrewUrbanist

    BrewUrbanist Initiate (0) May 11, 2012 Wisconsin

    I used to make myself wait until the first football weekend to enjoy any Oktoberfest or Pumpkin beers. then I find myself scrambling to drink as much as I can before they disappear. So, this year, I've decided to be more welcoming - had my first fall seasonal last night (a SA Oktoberfest at a restaurant w/ limited options). It certainly doesn't feel like fall here in DC, but I guess I can fake it.

    Fall is the only season that bothers me w/ seasonals - the transition is just too abrupt. I have no problem starting to drink winter beers in October.
     
  16. Skoallrebel

    Skoallrebel Initiate (0) Sep 6, 2012

    most of the seasonals are gone by the time the actual season arrives
     
  17. UCLABrewN84

    UCLABrewN84 Initiate (0) Mar 18, 2010 California

    One rule for me: drink them.
     
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  18. Steeeve

    Steeeve Initiate (0) Nov 16, 2010 Pennsylvania

    After Halloween would probably be an appropriate time for Christmas decorations. I went to Big Lots last week and they already had them out. I think Target was setting up some Christmas displays, too, to replace their "back to school" stuff.
     
  19. bryanole27

    bryanole27 Initiate (0) Jun 24, 2011 North Carolina

    I'm a sucker for fall beers, especially pumpkin beers, so I start grabbing them when I start seeing them. If that will eventually be June, so be it.
     
  20. airforbes1

    airforbes1 Initiate (0) Oct 27, 2010 California

    Oktoberfest beers are something I'd drink year-round if I could, so I usually buy some as early as see it available. I do wait a little while to drink any pumpkin beers, and then I usually stock up on them and drink them in December and January.
     
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