Some Brewers Struggling To Find Enough Pumpkins For This Year’s Pumpkin Beer Season

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If you’ve had enough of the steamy summer months and are just dreaming of the fall day when you can crack open a crisp, cool pumpkin ale, you better get your game plan organized now: due to a pumpkin shortage, the season for drinking these brews could be a bit shorter than you’re used to.

While last year’s pumpkin shortage didn’t end up to be that serious, it might affect this season’s brewing, Draft Mag reports. If brewers haven’t placed their orders yet, they may find there are no more pumpkins available.

One brewer says his regular supplier told him that his pumpkin puree order would be filled, but then later said they wouldn’t be able to deliver the 5,000 pounds of puree he’d ordered.

“We did end up finding a supplier, but not until after a few years were dropped from my lifespan trying to figure things out,” Nebraska president and co-founder Paul Kavulak told Draft. “We bought enough for maybe the first two batches and then went back to buy more—being good disciples of Just in Time Inventory—and were told they were out. We had to brew [Wick For Brains] five times this year, so you can see the panic that set in. My guess is that this is going to be an issue across the board.”

While not all breweries will face shortages, others have reported trouble finding pumpkin products. Pumpkageddon, however, it won’t be: Draft surmises that there should still be plenty of pumpkin beer on the shelves this season nationwide, simply because it’s such a popular season for the stuff, though some local favorites might be in short supply. But with another shortage on the East Coast this season, we could be facing a less pumpkin-y 2017 pumpkin beer season.

Brewers struggle to find pumpkin for this year’s fall brews [Draft Mag]

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