I don't get it.... I don't get it at all...

[mmb]

All I know is that I really dig a winter welcome/spiced beer around the holidays and a pumpkin beer around Thanksgiving but don't care for them other times of year.

There is a time and place for everything else.

 

[Rhoobarb]

Well, flyangler18 pretty much summed it up for me. To me, Oktoberfest = Fall and Kolsch, Pilsner, Dortmunder, Cream Ale & many wheat beers = Summer. Since Fall and Summer are my two favorite seasons, having these beers at those times of year is a feel-good for me.

And I don't care for ice-cold beer, but to each his own.

 

[user 22118]

Who wants Cranberry Wit all year long, seriously?!

Who wants it ever?

I see it like this. When it's hot and I don't have a/c, give me something cold. When it's cold, give me something "warm". To me anything with 6%abv or less is great for the summer to be refreshing (although my IIPA at 9% is pretty tasty). During the winter I like my beers to have a little more "warm" alcohol kick to them to keep me warm and fat.

I love my stout at all times of the year. I drink coffee two to three times a day and it is a flavor that I love. I would toss some brandy in my coffee, but I find that 4.5% stout is easier than 25% spiked coffee.

Also, I know that during the winter time some breweries don't have to produce as much of the regular beers, so one around here starts making their high abv Belgian line from the dubbel up to the trippel. Then they barrel age some stuff as well. It all comes out about spring to summer time and can be happily aged throughout the next long while.

 

[z987k]

That is something i never thought about...
Because of my ignorance of the rules of etiquette regarding the various styles, even when i brew a stout or a pale Ale or a Reddish Lager or whatnot... i always drink any of my beer served very cold, i do not appreciate them otherwise...

So that may be why i never got the drift about seasonal beers... that makes more sense now.

But... i'll keep on drinking ice cold stouts when mowing my lawn....

You need to try a really good stout at around 50F. Not a dry stout, but a full bodies RIS or something along those lines. You'll be amazed how much you can actually taste.

 

[SpanishCastleAle]

I typ like beer cold and my keezer has to be set at a happy medium between serving temp and lagering temp so it's def too cold for Stouts. But everytime I let one sit out for a while and then drink it I am reminded of how much better they are when at cellar temp.

This is in stark contrast to most lighter colored beers and def with BMC (with which many/most US-folk became aquainted with beer). I think because many of us started on BMC we cling to the notion of 'the colder...the better' because those beers benefit greatly from the sense-neutralizing cold temps. But with many styles it's really not the case and in fact...just the opposite. IMO of course but this is coming from a former member of the 'colderer is betterer' camp.

 

[Gremlyn]

I'm originally from England, and grew up with English parents that drink proper beer at proper temps. I can't tell you then number of people that say to me (here in the US)... you guys drink your beer WARM?!!?

No, it's not warm, it's just not 2 degrees above freezing...

 

[JeepDiver]

Hard to beat an Oktoberfest or pumpkin ale when the temps are beginning to fall. The spices just feel like fall. It doesn't seem like those would taste near as good when the temps are climbing from the 60s towards the 90's that you know are right around the corner, but they help ease you into the colder weather that is coming when those 90's start creeping down and fall is in the air.

 

[Stef1966]

You need to try a really good stout at around 50F. Not a dry stout, but a full bodies RIS or something along those lines. You'll be amazed how much you can actually taste.

I will try it again next winter, when snowblowing season comes back around i will try just that.

 

[SnickASaurusRex]

I don't think it maters too much for home brewing, but you may find that some ingredients are cheaper at certain times.

From a breweries perspective I think that they are tied to some beers by their customers and their owners. A brewery often times offers three types of products. A core line up of 4 - 6 brews, then they have a seasonal lineup (4 times a year) that changes every 4 - 6 years, then they also sell bridge products, these are often a rotating beer that does well in their pilot program but that is offered on a limited time only.

Typically:

Core lineup -- Controlled by marketing and shareholders/owner.
Seasonal -- Some input by brew master, but to a limited degree controlled by demographics (focus group) of customer base.
Rotational -- A limited time product controlled by pilot response and brew masters taste.

On a commercial scale one thing to consider is that these seasonal and rotational brews offer the brew master a chance to own his/her product. these are his baby, not the shareholders preferences. They are also a source of change for the growth of a brewery.

 

[thataintchicken]

for me, it's all about air conditioning.
See, I have none.

In winter I can brew anything. Lagers, Ales - what have you.
In summer I am brewing Saisons or badass Nanner Hefeweizens.

In early Fall, I start brewing my Cream Stouts and Meads.

Someday... I shall have temperature control.
Till then I brew with the seasons. Just like I shop for vegetables.

 

[Clayton]

dude you are in canada! come stay with me in oklahoma in august when its 108 out side and 95% humidaty and tell me you want to slugback a dopplebock or porter

 

[DanVader]

Sam Adams seems to have cornered the market on "seasonal" marketing. With BMC you can drink piss all year, With SA you have to wait for summer.

 

[rico567]

Questions like this are rarely as simple as "this" or "that." I'm certain that seasonal beers as they are sold commercially are, to a great extent, simply that. The brewery is able to vary its offerings year-round, create anticipation for the release of a particularly popular style (e.g, the yearly release of Three Floyds' Dark Lord Stout seems to inspire what amounts to mania on the part of its devotees), and all the rest of the black art of marketing.
However, it's also pretty obvious that there is a historical element to "seasonality" in beers, relating to ingredients, or a heavier brew for monks to drink during Lent while fasting, etc. As a contemporary example, it's hard to see how the seasonal practice of wet hopping could practically occur except at the hop harvest.
As a nod to preference, there also is likely some element relating to most people prefering a lighter "saison" or lighter type beeer in Summer, while the big Winter ales, stouts, barleywines, etc. probably go over better in the cold weather.
Personally, if it's good beer, I'm good to go....pretty much any time.