where oh where did my octoberfest go?

there are so many things i love about fall and specifically about the month of october. the crisp air, the changing colors, football season, the random unseasonably warm days, etc. i think my sister summed the glory of october up best in one of her recent blogs and i agree fully with every point. in fact, the only thing i found missing was the mention of octoberfest beer. i love octoberfest beer and i love looking forward to its arrival each fall. i know it will begin to surface on the store shelves in late september and be restocked through the month of october, even into the beginning of november if i'm lucky. silly as it sounds, octoberfest beer solidifies for me that fall has indeed arrived.

so, imagine my surprise when i visited my local grocery on saturday, october 20, a full 11 days before the end of the month and found that those wonderful cases of octoberfest beer had been replaced with winter and christmas ales. having planned to eat pizza, drink some octoberfest and watch college football that day, my trip to the grocery should have been quick and easy. when i realized, after stomping around the beer aisle, inspecting every shelf with indignation, that there was no more octoberfest on site, i had to default to a different beer. i left the store disappointed and annoyed.

i've always thought the retail industry was ridiculous in how early seasonal items start showing up on the shelves. there seems to be halloween candy out in august, followed closely by thanksgiving paraphernalia, and by october christmas is in full swing, according to the local cvs or wal mart. same thing with the fashion industry. when i was on the hunt for a swimsuit in late september, i was laughed at and practically escorted out of every department store i visited, as sales ladies looked over the displays of winter coats they were straightening, and shook their heads with pity when i asked about the chances of finding a swimsuit.

i get it - you have to put out the product early so the consumer has the maximum time to buy. fine. i know that if i want a swimsuit, i should buy it in february. i know that i can pick up halloween candy as soon as the back-to-school shelves are cleared and that i could have my place fully decorated for christmas the day after halloween and that wouldn't be considered abnormal. but i expect more from the beer industry. i really do. i expect that for the one glorious month that is october, as octoberfest celebrations are happening around the world throughout those 31 days, i can get my hands on some octoberfest beer. is that too much to ask? please, mr. beer man - bring your spaten, sam adams, haufbrau octoberfest to me. i'll give it a good home, even if everyone else is buying christmas ale to go with their halloween candy.