Beerspotter: Great Lakes Oktoberfest Spotted at Modern Liquors, an early—and sweet—sign of fall

Where Spotted: Modern Liquors, 1200 9th St. NW

Price: $10.99 per 6-pack

Seasonal Creepiness: Every year, the creep gets worst: Oktoberfest and pumpkin beers now hit stores before the swimming pools have been drained for the season. It may be incongruous to drink these autumnal beers during a heat wave—unless, of course, you’re a sugar junkie looking for a new fix. Great Lakes Oktoberfest tastes like a candied version of the brewery’s Eliot Ness amber lager. True to its Munich roots, this sticky Oktoberfest is incomplete without a pretzel at your side.

Teutonic Relationship: As I stepped into Modern Liquors, the first thing that greeted me was a shelf of rarefied Jolly Pumpkin beers, a good first sign. The second was owner Siddharth “Sid” Dilawri, who nearly jumped over a queue of customers when he saw me eye-balling his upmarket wares. Dilawri took over Modern in June from previous owner Jeff Harrison, who revamped a place once outfitted with bullet-proof glass. I asked how he described good beers to his Shaw clientele, whose neighborhood options are more Olde English than Oktoberfest. His pitch: “You want to know what Mercedes tastes like? This is what Mercedes tastes like.”