Whilst I understand the marketing behind trying to capture market share with your pumpkin beer being the first available… PUMPKINS SHOULD NOT BE SOLD IN JULY! This is a ridiculous trend, absolutely absurd.

As consumers we need to take a step back and think about what is going on with these “spiced” beers.

I encourage you to do just a couple of things,

Firstly, think about the brewing process. Brewday, fermentation, possible bottle conditioning, etc. Now, if you’re drinking a pumpkin beer… when were those squash’ harvested and put into the boil? Hmm? Yay for extracts! Yay for flavoring additions.

Let it sit. Let these breweries who push their seasonal offerings a full season before appropriately sit their beer on the shelf for months and go out of date.

I’m looking at you Southern Tier. Whilst I enjoyed your offering last year, July in Texas is NOT a good time for pumpkin beers. In fact, We still have plenty of last years still on the shelf.

These shenanigans make my grateful for breweries like Saint Arnolds who at least wait until October / November to release their pumpkin offerings.

/soapbox