Pumpkin has shown up on every imaginable food product, including down at the pub. But if you hanker for a pumpkin brew, you may want to drink up early this year.
Draft Magazine reports that some brewers this year are struggling to find a source for the pumpkin puree they use to make their fall beers.
You can blame the pumpkin shortage that took place in 2015. Spooked (no pun intended) by the prospect of Halloween without pumpkin ales and stouts, some brewers got their puree orders in early.
That's left suppliers short of puree for those who are trying to find it now. For instance, Nebraska Brewing Co., whose motto is "world class in every glass," thought it had a handle on enough pumpkin puree to make Wick For Brains pumpkin beer, which is its biggest seasonal beer of the year.
But, according to Draft, the brewer's supplier told the company it wouldn't be able to provide then 5,000 pounds of puree that Nebraska Brewing needs to make Wick for Brains. It eventually tracked down replacement puree, "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.
Meanwhile, the folks at Richmond, Virginia’s Hardywood Park Craft Brewery. looked for local pumpkin puree about a month ago, and came up short because of difficult weather conditions. After scouring the country for puree, they found some in Florida, Draft reported.
Many pumpkin products are already on the shelf, but brewers often make their beer in small batches rather than create a big inventory. The puree issues could make it more difficult for stores to re-stock their supplies later on in the year when pumpkin will be front of mind among many imbibers.
According to the Agricultural Marketing Center, pumpkin's biggest sales come in the final third of the year. It says Libby’s (owned by the Nestlé Company) has almost 90 percent of the North American market for canned pumpkin, with 90 percent of it sold from October to January.
The ideal growing temperature for pumpkins is between 65F and 95F degrees; anything above or below that can damage pumpkin fruit and vines, says the Penn State University extension service.
Pumpkins are normally planted during the first week of July, so if there is demand for pumpkin puree that the existing supplies can't fill, it may be too late for farmers to plant many varieties.
With consumers' interest growing in all things pumpkin, from Starbucks Pumpkin Spice Lattes to Kellogg's Pop-Tarts to Yankee Candles, the vegetable has been experiencing some boom years. Production has grown from 1.21 billion pounds in 2012 to 1.31 billion pounds in 2014, according to the United States Department of Agriculture.
The five top pumpkin-producing states? Illinois, California, Ohio, Pennsylvania, and Michigan. And the typical American consumes 5.39 pounds of pumpkin each year, a third of a pound more than they ate in 2012.
So whether you like it brewed, enjoyed in pie or drunk at a bar, keep your eye on the pumpkin supply. And pounce if your friendly barista or bartender says they're running low.
