Fans of the Michigan craft brewery, Bell's, are celebrating the return of the much-loved seasonal beer Oberon this week.
The iconic wheat ale is released each year to much fanfare in spring. The return roughly coincides with baseball's opening day and -- though it might be hard to fathom now with the snow still falling -- its considered to be a summer brew.
This year's batch was released on Monday, Mar. 25, a date known, by those who know these things, as Oberon Day.
The return of the iconic ale is being celebrated with release parties across Michigan
and the internet is also buzzing with excitement.
Oberon aficianado Roger A. Baylor tweeted:
Although many agree with his sentiments, Oberon's opening day also brings out the skeptics:
What's the secret behind the intense Oberon fandom? Nicole Rupersburg of Eat it Detroit believes the accessible ale is the first craft beer tasting experience for many introductory college-age drinkers.
"Oberon is the ultimate gateway beer," she wrote in a 2012 post.
"Light, refreshing, summery, happy not hoppy. … From Oberon, it is only a matter of time before a person discovers Blue Moon. And once there, it is a slippery slope to other wheat beers."
Though it's still unknown how many new craft beer recruits Oberon will bring in this year, Bell's will no doubt make a lot of beer drinkers happy this season.
They expect to ship out 250,000 barrels of the iconic brew this year, according to WXYZ.
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