By Jim Anderson E ventually, winter will end, and when it ends it will be time to think of the lighter, sunnier flavors the beer world bestows upon her thirsty minions. Woe to the wine drinker whose only real seasonal choice is the lively, fruit-filled May wines of Germany and Pennsylvania.
Beer is much, much more generous.
In ancient agrarian societies, early spring marked the end of the brewing season. High temperatures caused unpredictable fermentation in pre-Fridgidaire Europe and America, so any beer drunk during the summer needed to be brewed by the end of April. The October connection comes from the farmers' ritual celebration during the final two weeks of September, which heralded the beginning of the autumn harvest, during which the final store of Marzenbier would be consumed amid much revelry. But around my house, spring means wheat beer. And on top of it, this year it'll be selling like hotcakes.