Beer
is not on the top of my shopping list as I prepare to practice social
distancing and brace for a seemingly inevitable quarantine. Canned vegetables,
dry pasta, a galaxy of beans and rice, these are the essentials I’m stocking up
on in the event I’m mandated to spend prolonged time indoors. Like every
level-headed person, I am methodically preparing for the worst.
So too are your local breweries, and
for that reason, a couple of four-packs will certainly make their way into my
cart.
“My inbox is full, breweries are
really worried,” says Paul Leone, executive director of the New York Brewers
Association. “It’s mostly the unknown of what’s going to happen if you have to
close up.”
As of 8 p.m. Monday, Governor Andrew
Cuomo announced all bars and restaurants will be closed, but any product can
still be sold for takeout. Like most small businesses, breweries operate on a
razor thin margin, with most proceeds injected right back into operations. A
weeks-long pause in business could be devastating.
“Worst case scenario, some breweries
might not survive this,” Leone says.
Leone and the Brewers Association
are working with the state Liquor Authority to try and negotiate some temporary
help for breweries, like allowing them to offer at-home deliveries.
“Luckily, the Liquor Authority is
moving pretty quickly on this, but these are very short-term options,” Leone says.
Right now, there is a Baltika Brew
Collection Russian Imperial Stout, straight from Mother Russia, chilling in my
fridge. It is the only non-local beer I’ll be drinking for the foreseeable
future. Now is the time for the people who believe in local beer to put their
money where their mouth is and only buy beers brewed within a reasonable drive
from your home.
It’s a good time for it too.
Rohrbach Brewing recently re-released the beloved Griddle Cakes — unbelievably,
the second blueberry pancake ale I’ve written about this year — and
Spencerport’s Brindle Haus has released an all NYS Pale Ale in collaboration
with Verona Street Animal Society, complete with photos of shelter pups on each
can.
The immediate future is hard to
predict. In times like this, it’s paramount to not only celebrate what makes
your community special, but play your part in ensuring those special pieces
aren’t left behind.
Gino
Fanelli is a CITY staff writer. He can be reached at gfanelli@rochester-citynews.com.
This article appears in Mar 18-24, 2020.
