Hop GrailWhen Oktoberfest beers start showing up
The first Oktoberfest label Hop Grail saw this year belongs to Fest Bier from Lawsons Finest Liquids, label approved May 27, 2026. That is the first this year, not necessarily the first ever.
May. For a beer named after a party in the fall. I'm telling you, the Oktoberfest beers 2026 season began long before the leaves did.
Labels are often approved well before a beer is announced, so this is where the season shows up first.
A few to watch
Here are a few labels from the season so far, in no particular order.
- Oktoberfest Märzen, Great Notion Brewing & Barrel House (OR). Oktoberfest, 5.4% ABV. Label approved May 28, 2026.
- Ivy City Festbier, Other Half Brewing Company (NY). Oktoberfest. Label approved Aug 26, 2026.
- Sonnen II, Lolev (PA). Oktoberfest, 5.8% ABV. Label approved Aug 27, 2026.
- Weather Beacon Red, Confluence Brewing Company (IA). Oktoberfest, 8.5% ABV. Label approved Sep 21, 2026.
- Fest, Urban Family Brewing Company (WA). Oktoberfest, 5.4% ABV. Label approved Sep 4, 2026.
- Despite All Odds, Fonta Flora Brewery (NC). Oktoberfest, 5.6% ABV. Label approved Jul 14, 2026.
What a label approval tells you
An approved label means the brewery got the label approved for sale. It doesn't say when or where the beer will be sold.
So read each date above as a sign that a beer is in the pipeline, nothing more.
What we don't know yet
Release dates. Prices. Where any of these beers will be sold. How they taste, since nobody at Hop Grail has tasted them.
The full list is below the article, and it keeps growing as new labels are approved.