Published by Leonardo Calcagno
How many members are in the Nevada Craft Brewers Association?
22 Member Breweries; 3 Breweries in Planning
How’s everything? How has the covid-19 affected the Nevada craft beer industry?
Craft beer took a big hit during the shutdown and limited capacity restrictions during COVID. This allowed the opportunity for breweries to pivot and change their business models. Some breweries added curbside pick-up, others added ship direct to consumers, virtual beer tastings and fests became the new normal for a while and most breweries saw a great response to new, creative beers being released. Now, with business opening back up, most breweries can’t make beer fast enough. Nevada breweries have their fans to thank for their businesses weathering the COVID storm. There was a shift in consumers searching out local and community-based businesses. The craft beer drinker wanted to make sure their sale dollars had an impact on their community, and this has always been a strength in the craft beer industry
Homebrewing & Industry 2021: 52 craft beer recipes from brewers
What are the challenges facing the Nevada craft beer industry? Please provide 3 challenges and explain why.
1. The cost of our resources, whether those are raw materials, packaging materials, shipping, fuel, everything that is needed for producing beer is exponentially more expensive due to supply chain challenges from COVID. The lead times on all those materials has also doubled and tripled. Compound this with a national labor shortage and this is the perfect storm for most businesses to fail, but craft brewers are resourceful, determined, and driven by passion, so we figure out a way.
2. Our legislation is antiquated and biased. This means most alcohol laws were written by wholesalers and favor franchise law. Nevada is a three-tier distribution state, meaning that a manufacturer has to sell its products to a wholesaler who then sells them to the retailer. So breweries cannot sell directly to retailers if they want their product to get to market. Also, our state only meets every two years, so swift change is not in our favor. Most laws were written with gaming in mind and the majority of breweries do not offer gaming.
3. Nevada has imported most things into our states such as entertainers, chefs, food, and beverage. We are changing the mindset of Nevadans that award-winning, quality beer can come from our beloved Silver State. Why import something when we can proudly make it for our community? Seeking out Nevada-made products supports our Nevada community by creating jobs, paying taxes (we pay a lot of those being alcohol manufacturers), and gives visitors a taste of something uniquely Nevadan that they could otherwise not get at their home.
Homebrewing & Industry 2021: 52 craft beer recipes from brewers
What’s next for the Nevada Craft Brewers Association?
The Nevada Craft Brewers Association’s goal is to promote and protect Nevada-made beer. This goal is being taken on from many angles. First, we are creating community awareness with unique beer festivals that allow us to engage with our guests. Beer festivals also highlight the fact that we brew exemplary beers. Next, we plan to grow our membership not only to represent all Nevada breweries but to build our enthusiast’s memberships. Craft beer is built on a foundation of community and we are creating a craft beer community of fans statewide. Last, we aim to change the narrative that good beer comes from somewhere else. Nevada breweries are brewing stellar beers and we want our community of what they can call their own.
nvbeer.com | facebook.com/NevadaCraftBrewersAssociation | twitter.com/nevadabrewers | events |