Beer drinkers rejoice: This is the time of year that brewers start to get jiggy with it. From October until spring, the beers popping up at your favorite local bottle shop should trend towards the weird side of things. We’re talking salted chocolate and cedar planks. We’ve rounded up a handful of new releases that we should all be particularly psyched to get our mitts on this month.
Go forth and drink the weird.
Dark Arts 
Wicked Weed
Asheville, N.C.
The brothers behind Wicked Weed are swinging for the fences with this limited release, brewing a 15% ABV wild imperial stout that’s aged in bourbon barrels for a year. An imperial sour stout? That’s different. It should also be noted that 15% is the ABV limit for North Carolina. You’ve been warned.
Wyld Ryce Lager 
Sudwerk Brewing Company
Davis, Calif.
This beer makes use of locally grown wild rice as well as local barley and hops. It’s a beer made to honor and raise funds for Yolo Basin Foundation’s annual Bucks for Ducks fundraiser. Apparently, wild rice is a grass, not a rice, so you’re not drinking sake. You’re drinking grass. I mean beer.
Salted Belgian Chocolate Stout
New Belgium and Perennial Artisan Ales
Fort Collins, Colo.
Chocolate is good. Salt is good. Beer is good. Why not put all three together? Keep an eye out for a full review from us down the road. In the meantime, anticipate a beer that’s full of caramel, coffee and mild salt. Word on the street is it’s pretty sweet.
Sticky Fat 
Half Acre
Chicago, Ill.
Sticky Fat. I can’t think of a beer name that’s both repulsive and appealing at the same time. This is Half Acre’s perennial hop bomb, brewed with 300 pounds of Chinook hops to create a Black IPA that practically hums with hops. Find it starting October 3 in big 22-ounce bombers and on draft wherever lucky beer drinkers gather.
Abominable 
Hopworks Urban Brewery
Portland, Ore.
Hopworks wins for most kickass can in this line up. Abominable is a winter ale (naturally) that’s loaded with hop backbone for a gender-bending twist on the winter ale style. Sure, you get your caramel, but instead of the typical “holiday spices” that adorn many winter ales, you get a throat full of floral and citrus notes. Find it out now in tall boy cans and 22-ounce bombers.
Woodcut No. 8 
Odell Brewing Co.
Fort Collins, Colo.
I love me some barleywine, so naturally, I’m looking forward to Odell’s annual Woodcut release—a barleywine ale aged in virgin oak barrels. Woodcut No. 8 promises to be malty, with all kinds of sugary goodness (dried fruit! Vanilla! Coconut!). According to the press materials, there’s a whole crème brulee thing going on with this beer. Word.
Coffee Stout
Sierra Nevada
Chico, Calif.
Okay, so there’s nothing overtly strange about this new coffee stout from one of America’s craft brewing powerhouses. But that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t get excited. It’s a coffee stout, for Pete’s sake. With all kinds of roasted, chocolate notes. From Sierra Nevada. And it comes in a variety 12 pack along with a new IPA. What’s not to love?
Cedar Plank
Green Flash
San Diego, Calif.
This is a pale ale that’s aged with Spanish Cedar. The result, according to the brewery, is a beer that has the intense aroma of a cigar box. No kidding. Also expect peppercorn spiciness to compliment the hop flavors. This limited release is part of Green Flash’s Hop Odyssey Series, which so far, has not failed to delight beer drinkers. Grab it in 22-ounce bombers during October and November.