Craft breweries, however, are still opening at a healthy clip.
Since the pandemic reached the Buckeye State, nine breweries have opened in central Ohio and five have closed. Statewide, 47 opened and 15 closed.
The trend doesn’t necessarily mean that small breweries are thriving although few would argue the coronavirus robbed Ohio of its appetite for craft beer. Most openings were in the works prior to the pandemic, as a craft brewery typically takes months or years to go from the drawing board to the grand opening.
10 breweries opened in and around Franklin County amid COVID-19
An official tally from the Ohio Craft Brewers Association lists 10 openings in Franklin County and the surrounding counties during the pandemic, against six closures. However, the 1487 Brewery is on both lists because it closed its Alexandria taproom and moved to Plain City.
An ongoing shortage of aluminum cans is forcing some central Ohio breweries to get creative, find different suppliers or sell less beer.
The shortage has been on the horizon for months, but brewers say it is now impacting the way they package and sell beer.
The use of aluminum cans by craft breweries was on the rise before the coronavirus pandemic, but demand skyrocketed as the virus proliferated and consumers shifted from draft beers purchased in bars and restaurants, to packaged beers sold in stores. Brewers responded by filling fewer kegs and putting more beer in cans.
When Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine temporarily shuttered most nonessential businesses in mid-March “all draft beer sales basically halted overnight,” said Chris Davison, head brewer for Wolf’s Ridge Brewing, which has a taproom Downtown. “In order to stay afloat, we were shifting draft volume into cans.”
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