Small Colorado Town Runs Out of Seasonal Cereal

General Mills(FORT COLLINS, Colo.) — A small Colorado town’s grocery mystery was solved when it was discovered that a brewery had bought out boxes of a seasonal favorite to create a Halloween-themed beer.

As a result, there is a shortage of Count Chocula in Fort Collins, Colorado, where Black Bottle Brewery is using it as an ingredient in a small-batch beer.

The brewery’s Cerealiously beer series has previously used cereal including Golden Grahams, Reese’s Puffs and Cinnamon Toast Crunch, for a “milky stout,” the Coloradoan newspaper reports.

Count Chocula was sold out in a local Albertson’s grocery store in Fort Collins in just two days after it received its shipment.

Black Bottle Brewery sympathized with Kristen Clark, 37, a local resident who was distraught by the cereal’s dearth. So the brewery gave her a box of it on Sunday.

Though Clark, an accountant, is a vegetarian, she makes an annual exception to eat her favorite marshmallow-laden cereal, which she said she has loved ever since she was a kid.

“To me, it’s nostalgic,” she told ABC News. “I remember commercials when I was a kid. I always loved Count Chocula.”

Clark, who usually buys three boxes when the cereal is released, said her family is sending a couple more boxes from Oregon.

Albertson’s grocery store in Fort Collins says it won’t be receiving any more pallets of Count Chocula, as it is a seasonal item ordered in the summer. But the other two “Monster” flavors are in stock, they said.

Count Chocula, a vampire who prefers chocolate to blood, was first introduced in 1971 with his famous tag line. Since 2009, General Mills’ monster cereals, including Count Chocula, Boo Berry and Franken Berry, have only appeared in grocery stores for Halloween.

Black Bottle Brewery general manager Steve Marrick said the beer will be available on Oct. 30, and there will be future Cerealiously beers, including Lucky Charms for the next St. Patrick’s Day.

“We put the cereal into a hop back so it doesn’t get into the beer,” Marrick told the Coloradoan. “We did it as a joke at first, but the beer turned out well.”

Marrick did not respond to a request for comment from ABC News.

A spokesman for General Mills, Mike Siemienas, told ABC News: “We enjoy seeing people create new recipes with their favorite cereal products,” and the “Monster” cereals’ highest volume was during the Halloween season.

“We are hopeful that Count Chocula is still widely available at retailers throughout Colorado,” he added.

If not, residents could always trek to a nearby state or even Canada, where for the first time in more than 10 years Count Chocula and Franken Berry are available at select stores.

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