Seasonals Grinding My Gears

Homebrew Talk - Beer, Wine, Mead, & Cider Brewing Discussion Forum

Help Support Homebrew Talk - Beer, Wine, Mead, & Cider Brewing Discussion Forum:

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.

Grinnan5150

Well-Known Member
Joined
Dec 11, 2011
Messages
375
Reaction score
24
Location
St. Louis Area
Maybe I'm just a jerk but it really frosts my hinder when breweries release their seasonals a couple months before they are actually in season. What is with all the pumpkin beers and Octoberfest beers being out in mid-August? That means they would have been brewed in July. Where are people getting pumpkins in July?? I thought the point of seasonals was to use the ingredients when they were available or at their freshest.

Part of why I like seasonals is the anticipation that goes with waiting for them to be released "in season". Releasing your fall seasonal in August or your summer seasonal in March is like the beer equivalent of stores putting their Christmas stuff out October 1st.

For shame I say. Lousy corporations (and breweries for that matter)!
 
I wondered the same thing seeing pumpkin beer popping up a few weeks ago... They should hit late september/ early october the earliest. I drink my RIS all year round though! :D
 
DisturbdChemist said:
Well in July I saw Christmas stuff at Hobby Lobbby already... Talk about early

Saw that as well. Apparently they do a Christmas in July event...however the local one hasn't taken it down yet.
 
Thats about like magazine subscriptions. They come out about 2 months early.
 
I read an article about this a few months ago. The big breweries are making a push to have their seasonal beer be the first to hit the shelves. Sadly, when people are walking down the aisle and see Octoberfest on the shelf in August their instinct is to buy it because it's a style they like and they have not had in a while. But what's happening is they are killing the seasonal beer by cornering the market. The maltsters do what the big breweries want, so when the smaller brewers go to the maltster to buy their Octoberfest ingredients they are being told it's too late. They've moved on to the stout and winter warmer malts now because that's what the big breweries want. So the small brewer has to decide if he wants to go along with the big brewers and brew his beer three months before it's really in season. Most smaller brewers who are passionate about their beer don't want to do that.

Here is the article.

http://www.notchbrewing.com/2012/02/24/the-death-of-seasonal-beers/
 
HERE HERE!!!

I am with you on this. It's still hot in Chicago, I'm not ready for crisp fall browns or thick pumpkin beers yet. I still want my Kolsch and summer lagers.

Phyrst - Good article. Hits it right on I think. And I agree with him on not buying seasonals too early. Except Pumking...if I see it, I'm gonna buy it. Even if it's March.
 
The pumpkin beers I have tried have been utterly disgusting. Why anyone would want, let alone pay for, overwhelming pumpkin pie spices in their beer is beyond me. I do love Octoberfests though but real Octoberfest is still a few weeks away....
 
I normally don't like it, but we had a cool spell last week and due to the drought most of my trees have lost their leaves, so it was kind of nice to have a pumpkin spiced ale and an octoberfest when the weather and scenery matched.
 
sam adams octoberfest already on tap... its still 90+ in new york, and AUGUST!
no thank you...
captain lawrence was doing a tasting at my local distributor and demanded to have a skid of pumpkin on the floor....sold mayb 3 6 packs

i can say i understand the buisness side of it, having your product on the shelf first increases sales in the long run but atleast the people in my area are not giving in so much early on...we have to show them that sales WONT increase with early releases. POWER TO THE PEOPLE!!! :mug:
 
I noticed it the other day and was extremely annoyed that Bevmo was packed with pumpkin and Octoberfest beers. I just picked up the Sam Adams summer pack a few weeks ago and they've already got the fall pack in stores.
 
HERE HERE!!!

I am totally with you on this. Drives me NUTS. It's still hot in Chicago, I'm not ready for crisp fall browns or thick pumpkin beers yet. I still want my Kolsch and summer lagers.

Phyrst - Good article. Hits it right on I think. And I agree with him on not buying seasonals too early. Except Pumking...if I see it, I'm gonna buy it. Even if it's March.

Binny's in St. Charles has Pumpking now. I just saw it there today. If you're in Wheaton I'm sure the Naperville Binny's has it also.
 
i agree, however i've bought two New Glarus Staghorn 6ers already.

i hated myself for buying an oktoberfest in august, but, what can you do.
 
I have also been passing on the fall seasonals. I'm still trying to track down some summer seasonals. It's been great weather this week but I know the oppressive heat is right around the corner. I shall not be tempted to buy a pumpkin beer or oktoberfest mid-August.
 
The earlier I see pumpkin beer on shelves, the happier I am. I don't care about how fresh the pumpkin was as long as it produced good results. Sorry, but I'm not with you on this one at all. If I could get Anderson Valley Winter Solstice in July, I'd be buying it. A lot of it.
 
The amount of butthurt on this forum is too damn high!

Yep. Usually if I want to witness this amount of butthurt, I go to BA!

Of course, I go the opposite route. I'm going to brew an Oktoberfestbier for our O'fest party. I know O'fest actually occurs at the very end of Sept to the first week in October, but I don't think the weather here in SoCal is very representative of fall in Germany at that time, so I'll probably do our O'fest party the last or second-to-last weekend in October. I'll be late for the "season" :)
 
Here in Seattle we already had our one week of summer and sunshine and now we're back in the 60s-70s and cloudy. Since fall has pretty much already started, I'm more than happy to buy a locally brewed pumpkin or other fall seasonal.
 
How in the world does this grind anyone's gears?

Most of the beers will still be for sale in October. Buy it then or buy it now and hold it for a whopping 40 days.
 
I was at Fenway 8 days ago and they had just changed the Sam seasonal to Oktoberfest that afternoon. That's Aug 14 for Pete's sake! Over a month till the first day of fall. I'm an avid Fall beer fan, but I'm not ready yet.

I can understand the race to the shelves, but at least keep the summer brews there too! Now it's 90+ and we don't have access to our favorite summer seasonals for the last few cookouts of the summer. Drove around buying up all the Elder Betty in the area, which was 3 bottles in a sampler...

Worst part is all the fall beers will be off the shelves by the time Halloween rolls around!

*enjoys a Pumpkinhead*
 
I saw something else explaining it. The reason has more to do with the inability of consumers to deplete the supply within the short span of that season.

Ie, Boston Beer Company dedicates a few fermenters to the season. The amount produced, if released in season, would sit on the shelves once the season is done, since people have moved onto the next season. Then you have loads of product sitting there, and effectively wasted equipment space because of the seasonal.

They probably just need to have smaller equipment to do seasonals instead. /shrug
 
Ehh, the season is ahead of schedule here early,I wont complain.Im glad Im not miserably hot at work all day now.
 
How in the world does this grind anyone's gears?

Most of the beers will still be for sale in October. Buy it then or buy it now and hold it for a whopping 40 days.

That's how I feel. I bought some fall seasonals today and last sunday. I drink a few now and put the rest in a closet for a couple months...
 
I agree, it's ridiculous. I just saw a 12 pack of summer ales on a shelf that expired on 8/15!!! Fall beers are my favorite seasonals but its way too hot right now. You can always find the bigger breweries fall beers later in the season but some of the better brews are harder to come by after mid Oct. DFH punkin ale always seems to be gone before Halloween.
 
The amount of butthurt on this forum is too damn high!

Quite.

I may raise an eyebrow when I see a pumpkin spice ale in Vons in July or an Oktoberfest in August, but it does't 'grind my gears,' 'frost my hinder,' or 'drive me nuts.'

The idea of seasonal beers is almost* silly in an era where we have 24/7 climate control in our homes, places of business, restaurants, and cars. Of course I live in San Diego where we abolished seasons with prohibition, but I drink what I feel like drinking no matter where my particular slice of the earth is in relation to the sun, or how close we are to the birthday of a magical sky wizard's kid.



*Almost.
 
this' thread.... my friend, is silly!!!!! JUST DONT DRINK IT IF YOU FEEL THAT WAY......!? One can have many problems....but too wide of a beer selection?.......c'mon!!!?
 
I agree with the brewer in that article. It sucks for them. There are a couple of beers I like to get as soon as I can. But I'll drink most beer when I'm ready to drink it. I don't want fall and winter beers in the summer. When it gets cooler out I'll start the shift.

I don't go with the first of the season though. Do people actually just grab the first 6-pack of Oktoberfest they see and then stick with that same beer all season?? That seems lame. I generally try a bunch of different brands as they are available when I feel like having an oktoberfest.
 
Here in the midwest, we actually have seasons. My pumpkins are ripening, the air gets cripser, the leaves change, days get darker, etc. The whole mood of the place changes. THAT'S when I want to be drinking Pumking. That's when I want to see fall seasonals on the shelves. It just feels premature when it's still 95 degrees and I see the fall lineup come out. Sure, lots will be on the shelves through the season, but all the best stuff goes in a week. Yes, I can buy them now and hold them, but part of the fun for me is running out on a whim to the beer shop and picking out something fitting for the weekend's activities. Call me old fashioned.

And I guess I'm of the opinion that having an opinion on something is not butthurt. I'm not angry about it, I'm not looking to petition to overhaul the system, just expressing some (obviously shared) feelings. That's not butthurt. Maybe the naysayers are butthurt that they don't have seasons? Or they're butthurt that we have an opinion on something? Haha, I'm posting this lightheartedly, with a chuckle and some sarcasm; it's not an angry post. Mostly too-much-coffee driven (java java).

I don't take life too seriously to get butthurt over beer releases, nor should people get butthurt over people expressing opnions on beer releases.
 
Back
Top