September 24th marked the official beginning of Autumn- a season notorious for it’s falling leaves, earth-toned fashion, and spiced gourd flavors. The traditional pumpkin pie, apple cinnamon, butternut squash, and grandma’s not-so-secret recipes begin to line the shelves. This comes at no surprise, and while it arrives as a comfort to some, it’s a redundant annoyance to others. In fact, one of the best-selling seasonal drinks, the dreaded p-word- "pumpkin"- has sales sinking to an all time low in the beer world this year.
According to The Daily Meal, fall beer sales picked up in 2005, peaked in 2013, and have all together shrank and plateaued since. This isn’t the only web source who has picked up on the change in the palate; the Charlotte Observer mentions a possible replacement of the pumpkin trend with a different fad flavor- sweet potato brew. From another angle from Forbes magazines, it shows just how long this has been arising. In an article from just last month, they discussed just how climate change and the over production of beer are causing difficulties.
It’s as if consumers are bored, and maybe even a little irritated at seeing little orange fruits on every label. This wasn’t anticipated, however, and the theory is that while sales declined, production increased, leaving a significant gap in the gross profit margin. This leaves supermarkets returning their Boo Brews and spiked PSLs, and bars assessing whether or not to include a cliche pumpkin flavor to their taps.
Several breweries are cutting their fall flavors. For instance, Samuel Adams retailed only one vs it’s two last season while Shock Top and Ithaca Brewing have cut them entirely. On a local platform, Intuition has no pumpkin beers in its tap room, and Aardwolf only selling one gourd flavored draft.
EU Jacksonville only mentions one pumpkin flavor on their “Beers to drink this season,” even itself calling the flavor “obligatory” and commenting on how most pumpkin flavors are not really pumpkin at all- just various spices. But where there is demand, there is supply. So despite all of this, there will continue to be p-word flavored options, and people who complain or muse about them.
