Get Ready for the Seasonals

Here they come. You have probably already noticed a few pumpkin beers, Oktoberfest and saisons on the beer shelves. They are the annual precursors to the flood of seasonal beers that start showing up in early November. Call them winter warmers, holiday beers or Christmas beers; call them whatever you want. But by the end of this month there will be more of them than you can count and certainly more than you can try before the new year.

It's no wonder that brewers leap into this annual beer bash. Sales of beer are consistently up in November and December with these months often proving to be the best time to be selling beer with seasonals leading the pack. Brewers vie to get noticed among the crowd with eye catching labels, unusual adjuncts, garish tap handles and distinctively shaped bottles.

So clear away a corner in your fridge and start checking in with your favorite beer store. The Christmas beers are coming!