Posted on 09/24/2021 2:37:15 AM PDT by nickcarraway
A fair warning for your next trip to the liquor store: Several states across the U.S. are still experiencing booze shortages related to COVID-19, and it's unclear when supply will be able to meet demand.
Early in the pandemic, it was common to find libations low in stock after some liquor stores briefly closed amid statewide lockdowns and skyrocketing consumer demand for alcohol.
But continued reports of shortages from Vermont to New Jersey to Ohio persist more than a year later, and some states are rationing their liquor supply amid ongoing supply chain issues.
The Pennsylvania state board in charge of consumer liquor sales announced last week that it was limiting customers to two bottles of certain alcoholic beverages per day. The Pennsylvania Liquor Control Board said the purchase limit on select items — including Hennessy Cognac, Buffalo Trace bourbon and Patrón tequila — will be in place for the "foreseeable future."
Liquor store customers in North Carolina are encountering "out of stock" signs instead of their favorite spirits, local TV station WTVD reported, amid an ongoing supply shortage there, too.
"I don't think anybody saw the kind of demand that we're seeing right now — particularly in those high-end and super-premium products — coming," said David Ozgo, chief economist of the Distilled Spirits Council of the United States.
Why liquor is running low in many states According to Ozgo and others, there are problems at nearly every step of the alcohol beverage supply chain.
Some producers are struggling to source glass bottles. The cost to import liquor from overseas has shot up because of price increases in international shipping. And actually delivering booze to bars, restaurants and other vendors has been hampered by a shortage of truck drivers.
"So all along the line, you almost have a compounding effect," Ozgo said, adding that some of these problems existed before the pandemic but grew worse over the past year.
Shawn Kelly, the spokesperson for the Pennsylvania liquor board, said some businesses are also having staffing issues.
But there is another big problem, one that occurs before any alcohol even touches the bottle.
Pandemic Stress, Boredom, Isolation Add Up To Sharp Rise In Drinking Many liquors simply take a long time to make. Producers have to grow or buy the ingredients, distill the spirit, then let it age. That means producers must anticipate demand years in advance. They can't simply turn on the spigot when demand rises.
"You can't go back five years and retroactively plant more agave," Ozgo said of the plant used to make tequila. "It doesn't work that way."
The distiller Buffalo Trace, whose bourbon is currently limited to two bottles per day for customers in Pennsylvania, is undertaking a $1.2 billion expansion but says it will still be "a few years" before it can fully meet consumer demand.
"Buffalo Trace recognizes this is not the news its fans want to hear for the next few years but making great whiskey does take time and the Distillery is not prepared to cut quality corners to increase short term supply," the company said in a press release.
What it means for drinkers The statewide policy change in Pennsylvania, which stems from the fact that its government controls the sale of spirits and operates all of the commonwealth's retail stores, affects millions of residents.
"[W]e believe the shortages are out of their control," Chuck Moran, executive director of the Pennsylvania Licensed Beverage and Tavern Association, said of the state board's decision.
The association represents small-business taverns and licensed restaurants. Moran says that while he understands there are supply chain issues, it's small businesses and customers who pay the price.
"Unfortunately, since taverns and licensed restaurants — as well as the general consumer who walks into a state liquor store — are at the tail end of the chain, it does have a negative impact."
In Virginia, another state where the government is in charge of alcohol sales, customers are only allowed to buy one bottle of certain liquors per day. Part of that is to make special edition booze available to more people, but state officials say it is also the result of skyrocketing demand during the pandemic.
Ozgo, with the Distilled Spirits Council, said that outside of so-called "control states," it would be up to individual liquor stores to determine whether to limit the sale of certain products.
Now, this is a crisis.
Can’t we go back to old-fashioned American wooden casks, and just sell it in the 40-gallon situation?
Did you read carefully? The two states mentioned, Pennsylvania and Virginia, are noted as state-controlled liquor sales.
Could the answer be Free Market / Capitalism?
Free market distributors are more willing to innovate solutions to transportation and supply issues than state bureaucrats.
Speaking of casks, might we find a ‘masonry cubbyhole’ that we might entice ‘intended someones’ to visit, with the promise of almontillado?
I'm waiting for some driver Patriots to chime in.
It may or may not be significant, but it IS a communications barrier ....
Many companies now do not allow CB radios in their company trucks (owner/operators can have anything they damned well please), and the CB IS after all ;
CITIZEN'S BAND
Part of the Communist Manifesto is to control communication(s)
I call bullshit on this story from NPR. I bought a case of Jack Daniels and Jim Beam when I was in California and it was on sale for about $10/bottle less than I can buy it here in Alabama or Tennessee. I didn’t see any empty liquor store shelves.
So does that mean that after Buffalo Trace finishes its expansion, you will be able to buy E,H. Taylor and Weller at retail in the stores, instead of searching on the secondary market, “and saying 250 for a Taylor Rye, oh hell no.”
Add North Carolina to the list.
Checked with a Friend in Texas where Liquor Stores are Privately Owned. He said all is fine there.
Might be time for some home brew...
A thread dedicated to shortages popping up around us might be enlightening. I don’t know how widespread it is but in my industry we’re just weeks away from being totally idled by shortages of the template material and glue we use. A big company like 3M can’t get raw material ( their words) to make the stuff. When we run out that’s it. 3M said maybe by April etc…
…jingle jingle…
This sounds like the chicken wing shortage BS from months ago.
Heading over to Lowe's today to buy some lead-based solder to repair my granddad's still. Gotta keep it original.
Liquor shortage? CW II is right around the corner.
Baloney. “limited to two bottles a day” is not booze shortage, unless you’re a raging alcoholic with expensive tastes.
Total Wine here in AZ is bursting at the seams with wine, beer and distilled spirits.
In fact I saw a new blended scotch option I hadn’t seen before with ridiculously low prices (<$20/bottle) for “mild & smooth”, “smooth” and “smoky” (lowland, highland, speyside).
I meant to look at the Pinot Gris offerings but per usual got distracted — Nikasi Tricerahops Double IPA — Awesome!
No shortages here. It’s a government induced problem, as usual.
WOW !!! Nice piece of History passed down to You. Thank You for sharing it.
Don’t forget the Flux Paste.
The battle cry can be adapted from President Polk’s famous battle cry of 1844: “Fifty-four/forty or fight!” Just need to drop “fifty-four” and add “ouncer” after “forty”.
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