Brewers Association predictions suggest small brewers need your support now more than ever.
Advertisement
调酒师在Microbrewery的啤酒桶排序啤酒keg
Credit: Klaus Vedfelt/Getty Images

For generations, in times of stress, beer has offered an outlet: a chance to relax and a chance to socialize. Unfortunately, in these stressful times of social distancing, quarantines,一个d bar closures, the coronavirus has stripped beer of half its powers: It can still intoxicate, but it shouldn’t socially lubricate. So the question becomes what does that mean for the brewing industry? Clearly, fewer people will be going out to drink, but will more people be储存在家还依赖于诱惑室销售的较小啤酒厂呢?

Yesterday, Bart Watson—chief economist for the craft beer trade group the Brewers Association (BA)—weighed in on “The Coming Economic Challenges Facing Craft Brewers。” Despite the title of his analysis, his assessment was about as upbeat as things can be at a time whenentire industries are at risk of getting decimated。两件事似乎在啤酒的优势工作

Of course, on-premise sales at bars, restaurants, and breweries are in trouble, and Watson didn’t pull any punches, saying sales “are certain to fall.” And yet, for breweries that package their beer, “the short-term effects may be more mixed.” “Some consumers may actually buy more beer as they prepare to self-isolate,” he writes. “That said, beer is a luxury, and so others may buy less as they stock up on other goods.”

For now, though, the numbers would seem to show that beer is a part of people’s prepping plan. For BA-defined craft breweries, sales volumes had actually been down 0.3 percent for the first nine weeks of 2020 compared to last year, but last week, sales jumped up 3.7 percent over the year before. “One week is a small sample that I typically don’t like to show, but these are unusual times,” Watson wrote.

那么长期怎么样?如果股票市场有任何迹象,我们的经济形势前进可能会很麻烦。但是,沃森再次推测啤酒,因为类别可能是没关系。“好消息是,虽然在经济增长期间,啤酒平均啤酒平均略差,但差异并不巨大,”他写道。“关于这个主题的我的反复短语是”啤酒不是衰退证据,但它的衰退是抵抗力的。“

In general, beer has been relatively stable during economic downturns; though Watson also explicitly states, “Comparing a recession brought on by a novel virus pandemic to one brought on by bankers taking huge risky bets on the housing market isn’t taught in Econ 101.”

“这对每个人来说都是一个有挑战性的时刻。我们都在一起导航这些新的情况,随着事情的变化,我们,”波士顿的胡椒啤酒厂的丹克奈,首席执行官和联合创始人通过电子邮件告诉我。"While it’s too early for us to know what the full impact to our business will be, we’re doing what we can to help our employee owners, our customers and our community in the short run. Although our beer halls in Boston and Vermont have closed following local and state mandates, we just launched a new service offering packaged beer, hard cider and hard seltzer to go from Harpoon Brewery in Boston."

"Starting today, beer and other beverages will be available to order online and pick-up from noon [to] 7 p.m. (last order in at 6:30 p.m.)," Kenary explained. "As a show of support to local bars and restaurants that may be closed to the public for dine-in services, Mass. Bay Brewing Company is also including a small surprise for consumers who show a take-out receipt from this week. The Harpoon Brewery and Riverbend Taps are both still open for take-out food orders through normal business hours and our retail store will also be open for merchandise and beer, cider, and hard seltzer to go."

最糟糕的影响可能是为最小的啤酒厂保留的。Watson通过电子邮件告诉我独立的啤酒厂 - 现在超过8,000人,在过去的十年里一直在和明显地增长 - 可能会遇到麻烦。“这将停止,也许在短期内逆转了啤酒厂数量的增长,”他解释说明。“预测今年将有多少酿酒厂是不可能的,但它将是我们近年来看到的最高数字。”

His suggestion: If you have a local brewery you love, do everything you can to support them. “Consider buying beer to go (if available) or purchasing a gift card from [your] favorite local brewery (or favorite five or ten),” he said. “Thousands of breweries around the country are currently seeing cash flow dry up and until the government steps in, they still have rent to pay.”