Utee and I have talked about this before (probably the beer thread). The beer has to get on the trucks, in one run and the time is September (sometimes it is even August). We've all seen Octoberfest six packs hanging on the shelf collecting dust in December. Stuff has to move. And yes, Octoberfest really starts in mid late Sept, runs into first weekend of Oct.
Its like champagne and sparking wine or sparkling n/a sales, an obscene % happen b/t late Nov and 12/31.