Craft brewers and the breweries they represent have a reputation for creativity. As craft beer drinkers we see this manifest in the creation of new beer styles (or derivatives of existing styles) such as New England IPAs, West Coast IPAs, and Pastry Stouts. When it comes to creativity, craft breweries are facing a new challenge – that of selling their beer while the world is in the grips of the Covid19 (Coronavirus) pandemic. In attempts to mitigate the impact of the Covid19 (the so called “flattening the curve”) many Governors have ordered the closing of bars and restaurants for an indefinite period. This includes my own state of Ohio. In most cases, the restrictions do allow bars and restaurants to deliver food and drink to customers, as well as for curbside pick-up.
In some states home delivery and curbside pick-up of beer was, until Covid-19, illegal. Recognizing that craft breweries (and restaurants) need every bit of help they can get, many of these states have relaxed, albeit temporarily, these restrictions. In Tennessee, for example, craft breweries who have on-premise beer permits can request a temporary “on- and off-premise” permit that allows them to deliver beer to customers’ homes. The $250 permit application fee has been waived.
In Cincinnati, OH MadTree Brewing started sending what they called “adult ice cream trucks” into city neighborhoods. Instead of ice cream, however the trucks were selling Mad Tree beer and Catch-a-Fire pizza. After a couple days, however, MadTree suspended this initiative, as the trucks were attracting crowds that were “uncomfortably big”. In other words, social distancing, was being compromised. In Syracuse, NY, Now and Later Bottle Shop and Taproom had a similar idea, and are taking their delivery truck from neighborhood to neighborhood. Like MadTree in Cincinnati, Now and Later’s owner, Jason Purdy likens his beer delivery truck to an old fashioned ice cream truck. Other breweries, such as Stone Brewing in Escondido, CA and Karl Strauss Brewing Company in San Diego, CA are using couriers such as DoorDash to get beer to customers. In Memphis, TN, Matt Wilson, owner of three Swanky’s Taco Shops in metropolitan Memphis is going the extra mile to help craft breweries. Although his restaurants sell beers such as Budweiser, only locally brewed canned beer will be available for curbside pick-up.
In Ohio, the Ohio Craft Brewers Association (OCBA) maintain a list of breweries that are offer carry-out and delivery of beer. The list, available on the OCBA website, includes the hours the breweries are open for carry-out, whether they accept online orders, offer food for sale, and accept gift cards. At the time of writing 173 of OCBA’s operating brewery members are offering curbside pick-up. One Ohio brewery in particular is pulling out all the stops to encourage beer drinkers to utilize their curbside pick-up service. With store shelves empty of toilet paper, Black Frog Brewery of Holland, OH were offering a free roll of toilet paper with the purchase of a Howler or Growler of their beer.
States are also helping craft breweries by postponing sales tax collection. This will facilitate cash flow during this difficult period. Some private sector companies are also stepping in to help. Codi Manufacturing of Golden, CO are a mobile canning company. Realizing that some Colorado breweries have never canned their beer before, Codi offered their canning services for free. Breweries still have to pay for the cans, but not having to pay for use of the mobile canning system is a significant help. With taprooms closed, being able to offer their customers canned beer is critical to craft breweries. Closed taprooms, bars, and restaurants means that kegs have become almost obsolete (the exception is customers stopping by a brewery to get their growler refilled). As a result many breweries are scrambling to transfer kegged beers to cans. That can be a time-consuming process. For example, it took staff at Chicago’s Dovetail Brewery 13 hours to transfer (by hand) 50 kegs of beer into 5,000 sixteen ounce cans.
Despite all of these efforts, the slow down in business resulting from Covid-19, will have have an economic impact that is negative and significant. A survey by the Brewers Association paints a sobering picture. Ninety-five percent of craft brewers who responded to the survey expect year-over-year sales, for the first month of the closure period, to be down. On average, breweries expect a 59.5% drop in sales.
In the midst of these economic challenges, however, craft breweries have neither forgotten or abandoned their commitment to their local communities. As hand sanitizer is hoarded, and becomes a near-impossible product to find on the shelves of local retailers, many breweries (and distilleries) have stepped up and utilized their production capacity to produce this increasingly hard-to-get product. Craft breweries from New Orleans to Tampa Bay are producing hand sanitizer. And, in many cases, they are giving it away for free. Maumee Bay Brewing Company in my home city, Toledo, OH is one such brewery. Anyone can drop by the brewery and pick some up, for free. Last Thursday, I dropped by the brewery to pick-up some dinner and get a growler refill. While there, one of the brewery’s staff members offered a bottle of hand sanitizer to everyone in line. In addition to the general public, their ‘customers’ also include health care workers, many of whom are working with the disabled and elderly members of the northwest Ohio community. In Boulder, CO, Avery Brewing Company is giving away 4,000 cases of beer (96,000 beers) to workers at the frontline of fighting Covid-19 – healthcare, police, fire, grocery store workers etc. That craft breweries would step up and support their community at a time when they themselves are hurting may surprise some people; but to those of us who understand the industry realize that supporting their community is quite simply part of the industry’s DNA.
