Breweries consider dumping their beer as the coronavirus pandemic slows down business
Beers may need to be tossed out as the coronavirus pandemic hits breweries hard.
Many of the businesses are struggling under stay-at-home guidelines, forcing some to consider dumping kegs, multiple news outlets report.
That’s because the beer inside of them won’t be appealing if it gets too old, according to the Akron Beacon Journal and the Green Bay Press Gazette.
About 20,000 gallons of beer has ended up at a wastewater facility in Portland, Oregon, KGW reported.
“I wish we could have just taken it to a park and let everybody have a little fun… but unfortunately it came here for treatment, so we make sure everything is handled safely,” Adam Borgens, vice president of the company PPV Inc, told the TV station.
As of last month, tossing inventory was also on the table for brewers in Ohio and Wisconsin, the Beacon Journal and Press Gazette reported.
More recently, the co-founder of a Texas brewery planned to seek financial relief for beer he couldn’t sell, Community Impact Newspaper reported this week.
Typically, kegs can last up to four months, depending on the storage conditions and type of beer inside, according to a blog post from the KegWorks website.
Struggling to stay afloat
Brewers are facing uncertainty in the age of COVID-19.
About 90% of facilities said the outbreak has impacted in-person sales, according to survey results the Brewers Association posted in March.
“Because so many breweries sell a high percentage of their beer through their taproom or brewpub, and draught sales make up roughly a third of craft production, the rapid shuttering or restriction of breweries, bars, and restaurants has drastically cut short-term cash flow as well as production in the medium-term,” the association wrote on its website.
The reported loss in sales comes as bars, restaurants and other businesses have closed or altered services to help stop the spread of the coronavirus pandemic. To cushion the financial blow, breweries have packaged beer into portable containers and offered it curbside or for delivery, the Chicago Tribune reported.
Still, some breweries have had to lay off staff and take other measures to help make ends meet, according to the Austin American-Statesman.
“I think this is the biggest challenge to the American craft brewing industry since Prohibition,” Caroline Wallace, deputy director of the Texas Craft Brewers Guild, told the newspaper in March. “There will be a devastating economic impact.”
In South Carolina, experts said 80% of breweries wouldn’t be able stay open for more than three months if conditions persisted, The Sun News reported last week.
Recently, some governors have considered lifting coronavirus-related restrictions.
This story was originally published April 23, 2020 at 11:12 AM with the headline "Breweries consider dumping their beer as the coronavirus pandemic slows down business."
