Who else is glad Oktoberfests are seasonal?

By October Your Sick of Them? Around Here all the Good Ones are gone by mid-September. Pumpkin Beers, on the other hand, hang around until early December. By then, all the Excellent Holiday Beers are Quickly Disappearing/Selling Out.

 

You know, if they were released year-round, you still have the ability to NOT purchase them, and only buy them when you feel like it. So no, I don't feel the same way as you OP. I don't feel this way about any style actually.

 

I used to get excited about them but now not so much. It's a style that doesn't have much flavor variation. Meaning that if I blind tasted 10 of them I'd probably guess wrong on all 10.

 

I am glad in the fact that they are "seasonal" because Oktoberfest Beers are kind of a treat for me. On the other hand, I see them like their Late Winter/Spring counterparts Kolsch, that they are both "sessionable" beers and should be sold year round. No difference drinking an Oktoberfest in April vs drinking one in September!

 

I'm glad they're seasonal because, aside from the idea that you could just not buy them other months, breweries can do other stuff the rest of the year. If you want it later, you can just throw some in the cellar. Otherwise, yeah, I can recognize that it's a slightly artificial thing to drum up interest, like Beaujolais nouveau -- the difference being that it's good.

 

They'll only be around a few months a year if you only buy them a few months a year...

But as far as Oktoberfests go...I often associate things with first impressions. And my introduction to that style was sipping them outdoors in cooler weather as the leaves started to change, so whenever that weather rolls around, I get a craving for an Oktoberfest. And when I drink it, it just feels right for the time and place.

 

I agree 100% with @pitweasel. When the weather changes, or maybe a better indicator for me is when football starts, I reach for an octoberfest. I grabbed a sixer of GL Octoberfest which is available in my area for the first time this year and I'll crack a few for the ND game this afternoon. Can't wait!

 

I've purchased Paulaner Oktoberfest at random times throughout the year, it's always available. I love Oktoberfest/marzens.

 

Ah, but if they're truly seasonal then you know you're getting fresh beer brewed with care for that release time-frame. With year round beers, especially styles that aren't coveted, they end up sitting on many shelves making it difficult to find fresh bottles. I'm sure this would happen with Oktoberfests.

 

I'm sure it would happen to some of them. But you're saying that every year-round brew is made carelessly and never available fresh, which is just silly. I can walk into my local grocery store any day and find fresh beer that, if you were to accuse the brewer of not really giving it much attention during the production, would happily spit in your pint before you drank it.

 

I'm also glad that summer ales and winter ales are seasonal because otherwise those would be "named" incorrectly too!

 

Throughout the history of mankind, cultures have upheld seasonal rituals. Germany is very devoted to maintaining such rituals when it comes to beer, and tends to "drink to schedule." I, for one, loved participating in this aspect of beer culture over there, and would look forward to (Oktober)Fest season, followed by Winter Bock season, followed by Starkbier season, followed by Biergarten season. As Michael Jackson said of Germany, "There's a place for every beer, and every beer in its place." I personally find that something is lost when, as we tend to do in America, everything is available everywhere all the time. But I realize I am in the minority here and most U.S. beer geeks prefer "variety uber alles."

 

When Oktoberfests weren't ubiquitous, they were a real treat to add to the Lowenbraus, Heinekens, etc that were available and amongst the best to be had. Now, Oktos are everywhere and a different beast to navigate. I'll simply say that I still prefer the Munich offerings, because they are quite good and an annual nostalgic choice. Ayinger, Hacker-Pschorr, and Spaten are my favorites.

 

My bad- I definitely mis-spoke about beer being brewed with care. What I should have said was many year-round beers are brewed with care but distributed carelessly on a routine basis, at least in my neck of the woods. And even if a distributor is careful, plenty of shops don't move product fast enough and don't take the time to rotate out their old stock.

 

Oktoberfests/Marzens are actually meant to be consumed fresh, and in my experience lose a ton of flavor after 2-3 months. Many imported varieties are already a bit stale by the time they reach our shelves. That's why I love to see beers like Staghorn, CW Octoberfest, Lazy Monk Marzen, brewed fresh and distributed locally every year.

 

Yes, I feel the same way. I like the idea of seasonals. For example, I love hefeweizens, but it's a rare purchase for me at the liquor store. If hefeweizens were exclusively a summer seasonal I would certainly purchase more of them when the season rolls around (whenever that would be given the whacky schedules for seasonal releases).

I love Oktoberfests, but due to the fact they're seasonal, it "forces" me to sample multiple offerings in a couple month span.

Great season, prost!

I think you could taste the difference between an American version and an imported one. And you definitely could tell the difference between Weihenstephan's Festbier and say, Spaten's Oktoberfest.

Marzens should never be cellared.

 

Märzens were my favorite style when I first started drinking craft beer and didn't have the hop palate that I have now. I used to wish they were available year-round, but now I like the tradition of drinking them from Labor Day weekend until the end of Oktoberfest. My Dad's side immigrated into the US from Bavaria about 120 years ago and it's great to celebrate my heritage by drinking them seasonally like my distant cousins who stayed in Germany.

 

You really hate living here in the US, don't you? Not sure i've read a post of yours that didn't praise all things "bier" in Germany, and critize anything and everything that is of the beer culture in the States.

 

I bemoan the lack of a viable beer culture here in the U.S., yes.

EDIT: But, as @rgordon points out below, there are many, many things I love about U.S. beer...and living in the U.S. I just wish that the current beer "culture" weren't so hyperfocused on ever-expanding variety and newness for the sake of newness.