Literally right before this pandemic Craft Beer had such a promising future so when I heard that 60% of breweries could go under as a result of this pandemic I was upset and angry. Then I thought no I’m going to let this happen so I quickly got to researching how we can possibly save the craft beer industry.
Get to Go and Delivery from Your Local Breweries
Of course still keep buying beer to go from your local breweries because that is probably the main thing that is keeping their lights on. If you don’t drive like me and your favorite local breweries aren’t within walking distance check if they have delivery they probably do. Last week I was ecstatic to hear that two of my favorite breweries Wren House Brewing and Simple Machine Brewing delivered to me so I got delivery from them. Shout to you guys!
Buy Brewery Merchandise and Gift Cards
While you’re buying your beer get some merch that only helps your local breweries afford to make more of that beer you love. If you are one of those people that doesn’t want to drink until you can sit at the bar again get a gift card to use later on.
Caring Tuesdays
First I want to give another shout out to my sister in beer Sheena or @knowledge.on.tap for starting this on Instagram. I highly recommend people get involved in this. If you choose to this is how it works, you pick a beer that you aren’t going to drink that night and you donate that money that you spent on that beer to a local charity or organization of your choosing. Today I decided to donate to Arizona Craft Brewers Guild but what does the Arizona Craft Brewers Guild do? What are they about? It was established in 1998 as a non-profit organization. The members are Arizona breweries and their mission is to “work in partnership with independent brewers to promote the virtues and raise the profile of Arizona’s locally crafted beers (AZ Craft Brewers Guild).” Their biggest objective is to educate consumers, brewers, and distributors on craft beer in Arizona. The money you donate or that money you pay for a beer festival goes towards the local Arizona breweries so they can keep doing what they love which brings me to my next point.
Donate to Your Local Craft Brewers Guild
I know at least every single state has a craft brewers guild that does the same thing Arizona Craft Brewers Guild does donate to them because that money you donate goes to the local breweries. Now I know a lot of you are going to say well Taylor I don’t have a lot of money to donate even if you donate $5 it helps. You do not have to make a high salary to donate to any charity.
Boycott Big Beer
Too soon? Sorry had to have some fun with the picture. Now I am probably at least one of the biggest boycotters of big beer. Now what do I mean by big beer? I mean companies like Corona, Budweiser, and Coors. What about the breweries that were bought out by big beer companies? I don’t have a problem with them unless their quality of beer goes down which I have found with a big portion of breweries being bought out. If you are one of those people that go back and forth I encourage you to get rid of big beer because first let me blunt their beer sucks and thats because they don’t spend the money on good ingredients like craft breweries do. Most importantly though they have tried to bring down craft breweries since the beginning of the craft beer revolution which I can write a whole article on and do a live stream talking to my beer brothers and sisters. For now I will say why do you think big beers are buying craft breweries?
Protest
Protesting against big beer companies or even just big business in general is a great way to show not only the local breweries that you care but it also captures the attention of policy makers. Now I just want to say I mean protest not riot. Their is a huge difference between those two things riot causes destruction which is not going to help. Now I recently heard that a lot of small businesses didn’t get their stipend that they were promised as a result of big businesses getting loans from the government. That is something that we need to protest because that is simply wrong and those businesses which probably includes craft breweries deserve and need that money.
Contact State Congressmen
I say state congressmen cause they are the ones that are more likely to put more local policies into place. Simply write an email to your congressman addressing your concerns with this. I can’t say that they will respond to one email but if a lot of people contact about this that will grab their attention and they will do something about it.
Ask for Local News Outlets to do a Story
Local news outlets are looking for anything to report on and there are still some people out there that don’t use social media but they still watch the news and even read it. Simply get in contact with them and ask them to do a news story on breweries in your area. It is utilizing another medium to get more people to buy from your local breweries.
I hope you found this article informative, helpful, and maybe somewhat inspiring. If you have any other ideas on how to support craft beer during this time or any other ideas for me please do not hesitate to reach out. Until next time Hoppy Travels!