Punkin Crisis?

As we continue to make our way out of the blistering heat of summer and inch into fall, those of us that love pumpkin beer around the time that it's actually meant to be consumed have pretty much stocked up on what we needed to get us to this point.

With that said, most of us also know that once Southern Tier's Pumking and Dogfish Head's Punkin Ale hit the market, it means that it's pretty much a wrap on the pumpkin beer releases. At least here in the Pittsburgh area the only one I don't know of on the shelves yet is Weyerbacher Imperial Pumpkin Ale. I've never had a problem getting either in the past. Some odd news might imply that I might not get much of one of these beers this year.

I recall cases of Pumking last year being at the same limit of two cases per-customer, but it is in the neighborhood of $8-$10 cheaper than it was. As for Punkin, I've seen a two case limit at the very worst. I'm not entirely sure if this store on Browns Hill Road is the only one that got 10 percent of what it ordered, but it usually has one of the largest beer inventories that I know of around me.

If the batch of Punkin is small this year it might be a lot tougher to find some. I planned on getting my case this weekend. Now, I'm not totally sure it will last until then. We'll see how it goes. My worst case scenario is that I end up forced dipping into the six or so bottles I still have from last year's case. Not that bad of a fallback.