The Summer Of Hard Seltzer Created A White Claw Shortage & America Is Freaking Out

White Claw has spawned many memes and fueled bachelorette parties since May, but sadly, there’s a nationwide shortage of the beloved hard seltzer happening right now. 

The bubbly booze beverage is apparently a victim of its own popularity. 

"We are working around the clock to increase supply given the rapid growth in consumer demand," Sanjiv Gajiwala, White Claw's senior vice president of marketing, told CNN. "White Claw has accelerated faster than anyone could have predicted."

White Claw, if you’re just catching up, is the drink of summer 2019. It's made with “a blend of seltzer water, its gluten-free alcohol base, and a hint of fruit flavor,” a brand representative told VinePair. Fans love its light, sparkling taste — essentially it’s a boozy LaCroix — and lack of gluten.

While it was launched in 2016, Claw, which is owned by the makers Mike’s Hard Lemonade,  really caught on this summer. That year, Anheuser-Busch (Budweiser) bought SpikedSeltzer, which led to Bon & Viv. Boston Beer (Sam Adams) also began manufacturing Truly, another popular hard seltzer. But for its hardcore fans, nothing is better than the Claw. And they’re taking their pain to the ‘gram, with memes.

Americans drank more White Claw in the last six months than in the entirety of 2018. “At $212.1 million in dollar sales through June 23, White Claw has already surpassed its *entire* IRI sales from 2018 ($196.7 million),” beer writer Bryan Roth tweeted on July 2. And, fans have made it clear via memes that they will accept no substitutes.

The company doesn’t know when all will be right in the world of Claw consumption, but Gajiwala said it has been "allocating product to our distributor partners to keep all markets in stock the best we can and will continue to do so until we get back to our normal safety stock position."

In the meantime, raise a can of Truly and hope the nation won’t be de-Clawed for much longer.