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SAVOR falls to COVID-19 this year. Photo © Brewers Association’
August 7 is International Beer Day, one of and endless parade of official “Beer Days” that we hype (because that’s what we do) every year.
But with the coronavirus pandemic continuing to wreak economic havoc on so many businesses, including the brewing industry, dates like this ring more hollow than ever before.
We continue to get International Beer Day press releases inviting us to tie in to whatever they are marketing, and in past years we’d probably obliged.
But this year is different and their appeals strike us as incredibly tone-deaf …especially with so many restaurants, bars and breweries now struggling to survive.
The craft beer industry, which had been growing by double digits for almost a decade, was slowing even before the pandemic.
(Not much to celebrate this year)
Bigger craft breweries, those more dependent on wide distribution and off-premise sales were seeing their sales slowing, while uber-small brewing operations built on the taproom models were experiencing boom times.
What a difference a few months makes.
The on-premise industry is currently “dead man walking” in the shadow of a pandemic that refuses to go away.
Brewery taprooms that once powered so many breweries have become deadweight with many breweries now rapidly expanding their packaged goods presence and distribution footprint in an effort to better survive.
Many taprooms remain closed and even those that have cautiously opened are struggling and not doing the kind of business they did prior to the shutdown…
Things don’t seem healthy, because they aren’t. And much of the joy associated with the experience of drinking out has, for many, all but disappeared.
All of the nation’s major beer festivals have been cancelled in 2020 or become virtual experiences.
And these virtual beer gatherings are unfortunately a sorry substitute for the electricity you feel at the Great American Beer Festival, the ecstatic buzz of exploring new beers with friends at a crowded taproom, or the excitement that comes with being in the heart of the brewing industry at events like the Craft Brewers Conference.
The truth is there’s not much to celebrate on International Beer Day 2020 …
Nothing feels the same about the craft beer biz right now and we wonder if it ever will.
