BEVERAGE GROUP VICE PRESIDENT JEREMY NEDELKA Tel : 763-383-4413 jnedelka @ epgacceleration . com

OFF-PREMISE EDITOR KYLE SWARTZ Tel : 763-383-4447 kswartz @ epgacceleration . com

ASSOCIATE MANAGING ART DIRECTOR NICOLE SIEWERT

THE END OF SUMMER always arrives suddenly . After months of warm weather , beach weekends , vacation travels , porch and patio parties , summer camps and camping out , the final weeks of August come with an abrupt message . Fall is imminent .

Our days shorten , the climate cools . Here in New England , the leaves lose their green and gain an array of colors . Wearing fresh looks themselves , and weighed down with new school supplies , the kids pack into buses and return to classrooms . Everything turns over in autumn , which can feel more like the beginning of a new year than New Year ’ s itself .

Fall makes me think of beer . We have brews for all seasons , of course . But there is something about a classic European Oktoberfest or märzen , with smooth but noticeably malty profiles , that so perfectly captures this time of year . A temperate but noticeable transition between summer and winter .

That transition seems to shrink , now . Fall can flash by . I always want more of it . Perhaps that ’ s why I enjoy this season ’ s beers so much . I have all summer for pilsners and all winter for stouts . But with maybe a month and a half of fall , it ’ s a fleeting , fun phase before the cold and dark settle in for real . An abbreviated period of prost .

Breweries have certainly caught on . Consider how comically early fall seasonals arrive each year now on retail shelves . If you wait until September to launch your pumpkin hard seltzer , it may already be too late . Better get that out in early August , when some drinkers have already begrudgingly accepted what comes next .

Which is not to overly mourn the loss of summer . This year in particular , historically hot , had terrible fires across globe — especially the tragic devastation in Hawaii . Smoke wafting down from Canadian forest fires stained the sky an ominous yellow in northern parts of America . Particulates in the air made for uneasy breathing . At the very least , we all sweated abundantly and ran up our AC bills . Lots of recent rain in New England also gifted us one last giant wave of mosquitos .

Hopefully fall will bring better weather . Finding fault with mild temperatures is difficult , even if the sun ducks down hours earlier . Whether we are ready for autumn or not , it inevitably appears with full trappings . A reminder of the predictability of turnover , of endings and beginnings , sometimes more for the better than we may realize . Something to ponder over a pint of porter .

CONTRIBUTING EDITORS MELISSA DOWLING , ANDREW KAPLAN , MELISSA SHERWIN , KRYSTINA SKIBO

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4 StateWays | www . stateways . com | Fall 2023