USA, OH: Craft brewers facing dire consequences if shutdown lingers into summer

How long the restaurant-shutdown order continues in Ohio will potentially determine the number of breweries that close their doors within three months, state’s leaders heard on April 17, Cleveland.com reported.

Collin Castore, president of the Ohio Craft Brewers Association and co-founder of Seventh Son Brewing Co. in Columbus, addressed the bipartisan Ohio House coronavirus economic-recovery task force, forecasting dire straits.

"I was trying to get across we want this to be safe, but there's got to be a certain amount of urgency here," he said. "People have to know there's a light at the end of the tunnel."

Right now, the end of that tunnel looks dark for 46 percent of the nation’s craft breweries. That’s the number of breweries surveyed who said they could close in three months when asked how long they can sustain their business if social-distancing measures remain in place to stem the spread of the virus. The national Brewers Association issued the survey.

"This is still a relatively young industry," Castore said. "We're not built for this. Nobody saw this coming."

While Castore said those national numbers probably mirror Ohio's, OCBA communications manager Justin Hemminger sees a potential bright spot because of Ohio's "institutional advantages."

"We’ve been able to do home delivery and direct shipping that other states still can't do," he said.

Castore also said he has heard anecdotally from fellow Ohio brewers that crowlers might be in short supply. Crowlers are usually 32-ounce to-go aluminum cans that are filled at breweries.

The shelter-in-place order does not restrict manufacturing of beer, so breweries can sell beer for takeout or delivery, with crowlers and the larger, glass growlers allowed. Those that have distribution with stores, through cans or bottles, have a slight advantage in that their product is still being offered in retail markets. But even though Seventh Son has cans in distribution, the current sales climate cannot go on without resulting in closures, Castore said.

"People who don’t have that chain distribution are just really, really hurting," he said. "In terms of draft, I think we have sold maybe two kegs since all this began."

"If you look at what we’re bringing in and what we're putting out, we’re losing money right now," he said. "It's not a sustainable path. We can keep losing money for a little while before we fully go under, but we can't sustain this for any extended period of time."

Time also affects breweries' production. There's a reason why best-by and brewed-on dates are popular with craft breweries. An organic product, beer cannot sit around and remain fresh. In particular, India Pale Ale - arguably the most popular style on the market with its multiple offshoots like New England Hazy IPAs, West Coast-style and others - shows a marked difference between fresh and old. Some stores hold back Christmas Ale to seek a sales boost in the spring, but that's frowned on by many brewers.

Recently, rather than dump the gallons sitting in fermenters that had been brewed for St. Patrick's Day and Major League Baseball's Opening Day that never happened, Hofbrauhaus donated beer to Cleveland Whiskey to help in the production of hand sanitizer.

The other effect on the craft-brewing industry regards beer-tasting festivals.

Akron Art & Ale, scheduled for March 28, is on hiatus. Six One Pour and Columbus Craft Beer Week also are on hold. Six One Pour has been rescheduled for May 15, 2021, while Columbus Craft Beer Week is slated to return May 14-23, 2021. The Pro Football Hall of Fame Craft Beer Fest, originally set for May, is rescheduled to Sept. 12. And Thursday, organizers of Crafted Cleveland announced their fest also will be postponed until 2021, with a June target date being considered. Crafted takes place in Lincoln Park in Cleveland's Tremont neighborhood.

Craft beer in Ohio has evolved from its hobby roots to a full-fledged industry in recent years. Ohio is the fourth largest beer-producing state, Castore said.

The state's first craft brewery, Great Lakes Brewing Co. in Cleveland, opened its doors in 1988. Today, about 335 operate in the state. Fifty opened last year alone, according to the OCBA.

The not-for-profit Ohio Craft Brewers Association represents the state's craft breweries, which are located in every nook from urban areas to small towns to rural outposts. The organization's annual Winter Warmer Fest, a highly regarded fundraiser, was held March 7 - eight days before Gov. Mike DeWine's restaurant-shutdown order was announced.

The OCBA's 11-member board includes three members based in Northeast Ohio - Sara Cleary of Fat Head’s Brewery in Middleburg Heights, Ali Hovan of HiHO Brewing Co. in Cuyahoga Falls, and Mark Hunger of Great Lakes Brewing.

The United States has about 8,150 breweries, according to the Brewers Association.

19 April, 2020