Oh no! There’s a liquor shortage in New Jersey

Here’s some sobering news: there’s a liquor shortage in New Jersey (Pennsylvania, too). According to an article on NorthJersey.com, the shortage affects all categories of booze, too; everything from beer to champagne is getting hard to find.

You can blame the pandemic, the labor shortage, even bad weather for the scarcity. For a while, canned beer was in short supply due to a lack of aluminum. The labor shortage has impacted all aspects of the liquor industry, with everything from truck drivers, brewery and distillery workers, and factories finding hard to find help. Some liquor stores have even taken to rationing the hardest to find items.

Bad weather in New Zealand ruined that country’s grape crop, leading to a shortage of certain wines. There is also a lack of temperature controlled containers.

If you’re thinking that you’ll just travel over the river to Pennsylvania to get your booze, think again. According to the Morning Call, our neighbors to the west have started a state wide rationing of 43 types of champagne, bourbon, tequila, cognac, and whiskey. Liquor stores are run by the state and they have instituted a two bottle per day limit on the affected alcohols.

Also contributing to the problem is the increased demand the pandemic brought with liquor, wine, and beer sales all increasing, in some cases dramatically. According to the Morning Call, liquor sales from March 2020 to March 2021 rose 75%, while beer sales increased 42% and wine sales jumped 62%.

Good luck finding booze this holiday season.

The post above reflects the thoughts and observations of New Jersey 101.5 talk show host Bill Doyle. Any opinions expressed are Bill Doyle's own.