Cayuga County's breweries entered 2020 with momentum. COVID-19 slowed that momentum â but didn't stop it.
Like many businesses, local breweries have been punched in the gut by the pandemic. The first blow landed in March, when the virus itself did in the U.S., and New York state limited craft beverage producers to off-premises sales to help slow its spread. Sure, social distancing led to a global rise in alcohol consumption, so Cayuga County's breweries had little difficulty getting rid of their product. But that benefit was erased, and then some, by all the empty chairs in their taprooms. A glass of beer, after all, generates up to twice as much revenue as a bottle or can of it.