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Here are three things to know about the craft beer industry:
Craft beer production in Ohio went from more than 1.33 million barrels in 2019 to about 1.18 million barrels in 2020, a more than 11% decrease, according to recently released statistics from the brewers association.
There was a big shift from kegs to canning and bottling. “Immediately, as soon as we got shut down (at the start of the pandemic), nothing went into kegs, everything went into cans,” said Lisa Wolters, co-owner of Yellow Springs Brewery. “We had to shift our model overnight ... because the outlets for our beer itself just slowed way down.”
Smaller breweries had to add amenities to survive, including a kitchen, production capabilities or canning lines to compensate for lost revenues and even packaging beer directly from the bar for to-go sales.
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