Minnesota breweries drained by pandemic as on-site sales dried up
600 jobs lost, contribution to state economy slips.
April 5, 2021 — 8:10pm
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DULUTH – On the first Monday that Hoops Brewing had been open in many months, owner Dave Hoops was paying bills and watching the Twins game while taking stock of the past year.
The Canal Park beer hall was "one of the first to close and one of the last to reopen" and saw taproom sales drop by more than half in 2020, he said.
"We depend on people coming in here," he said. "In order to survive we increased retail, curbside and gave a lot of beer away."