Supporting The Beer Industry During COVID-19

There’s no easy way to say this, but all of our friends and families in the beer industry are going to have a hard time financially in the next few weeks (months…).  Naturally the required closures and the hunkering down of consumers will put many breweries at financial risk.  While this will affect many businesses beyond breweries, the designation of breweries as “non-essential” in many closure requirements will make it hard for breweries to make ends meet….and of course the smaller the brewery, the higher the risk.

As we move toward a take-out, pick-up/delivery economy, many small breweries with limited resources will have difficulty pivoting toward this new economy.  Thankfully I’m seeing several of our local breweries already setting up an on-line presence that allows consumers to buy and pay on-line (without human interaction) and pickup beer and food at the brewery.  This method maintains social distancing while still keeping an active income stream in place.  Hopefully the breweries with the resource to set this up, will help the breweries that don’t have that ability.

I’m also seeing a number of breweries activating delivery services.  The legality of this varies by state, but it is a great way to keep income coming in and fresh beer moving out.

So how can WE help?  First up, I’m not advocating you do anything that would make you or anyone else uncomfortable relative to social distancing for COVID-19.  Be safe and be smart and only do what you are comfortable doing.

If your local breweries offer gift cards or E-gift cards on-line, buy yourself some gift cards.  This will keep the income flowing and you can use the cards at a later date when things are safer.  If you’re OK venturing out, call or browse to your local brewery’s website and order some beer and food for pickup or delivery. Many offer curb-side service so you don’t even have to leave your car.

I’ve received all sorts of messages asking what breweries are open and what breweries are not, and it’s safe to say that as of the writing of this post, most every brewery has their taproom closed to in-house visitors.  It’s also safe to say that most every beer-related event has also been postponed…so like many of the service industry workers, budgeted income streams will not be available to most breweries.  Check in with your local breweries on-line and see what they have to offer and patronize them remotely if you feel safe doing so.  If your beer distributors and bottle shops are open (and again if you feel safe doing so), buy beer for home consumption.

I’ll continue to update this thread with additional ideas and details.  Like many others, I’m hoping we get a grip on this COVID-19 virus and things go back to whatever the new “normal” will be.  In the mean time, please support your local breweries and beer retail outlets in this difficult time.

This too shall pass…