USA, OH: Ohio hits craft beer milestone of 400 breweries

Raise a glass and say cheers, Ohio.

The state has reached a new sudsy milestone, the Akron Beacon Journal reported on May 19.

With the scheduled mid-July opening of the Guernsey Brewhouse in Cambridge, there will be 400 licensed active craft breweries in the state.

There is now at least one brewery in 72 of Ohio's 88 counties. And 40% of these 400 breweries have opened in the last three years.

The Ohio Craft Brewers Association notes the "overwhelming majority" of these sell their beer primarily in on-premises taprooms.

Ohio has averaged 48 new brewery openings a year since 2020 — despite the pandemic — with an average of 11 closings each year.

The association says there are more than 70 new breweries now in the planning stages in the state.

On average, Ohioans of legal drinking age consume about 4.6 gallons of craft beer annually.

This puts Ohio at No. 13 for consumption in the country and 24th for breweries per capita.

Estimates put the financial impact of craft breweries in the state at $880 million in 2020 with about 8,300 jobs.

The association notes Ohio hit the milestone of 300 craft breweries just three years ago.

20 May, 2022