CRAFT BREWERS: PLEASE HELP US
State guild members estimate 100 of their businesses could close in two weeks if they can’t reopen or don’t receive aid
The Florida Brewers Guild says their industry is in serious trouble, and this week shared their plight in an open letter to Gov. Ron DeSantis and the Florida Department of Business and Professional Regulation (DPBR). Orlando craft breweries were among those pleading for the opportunity to reopen for on-premises consumption — or receive aid — in the face of executive orders that the Guild says leave many at a disadvantage. “We would have liked to do this behind closed doors,” says Glenn Closson, founder of Ivanhoe Park Brewing in Orlando and board treasurer for the Florida Brewers Guild, “but we are now past the point of being closed more days than open in 2020. Our members are crying out for help.”
On June 26, prompted by a spike in coronavirus numbers, Emergency Order 2020-09 required bars to shut down while restaurants and businesses with food licenses were permitted to continue selling alcohol to guests on premises. Unfair, says Closson, who notes that until the new order, breweries that partnered with food trucks were also allowed to serve guests on site.
“We asked why they took that away from us and they had no real answer,” Closson told the Orlando Sentinel, listing a litany of compromises guild members offered in the hope of keeping doors open — from stringent monitoring of patrons to early closing times. They were told to sit tight; the administration would re-evaluate on July 16.
“Three more weeks of being shut down again was horrifying,” Closson says, “but we pumped the brakes.”
July 16 came and went without a word.
“Then, at 5:01 p.m. on Friday, July 17 [DBPR Secretary] Halsey Beshears tweeted that there would be no changes to the emergency shut-down order.”
Guild members, who Closson says tried to compromise and negotiate, were stunned.
“There has been a very clear attempt by the governor to distance himself from this decision,” says State Rep. Anna Eskamani D-Orlando, whose district is home to numerous craft breweries. “He is taking no leadership role in alleviating the concerns of the small business owner.”
Eskamani says the application of COVID-19-related guidelines “seems quite arbitrary...
“Theme parks remain open, gyms remain open, restaurants that serve alcohol are still open. It’s frustrating for the brewery
owners when their next-door neighbor who sells food can serve drinks at their bar ... If these businesses are to remain closed, where is the relief for them?”
The Paycheck Protection Program loans helped, says Closson, ”but that was back in March. Our members are making 10% of their normal revenues. We’re still paying rent. We’re still paying utilities. We’re still paying excise and sales tax.”
And coming up in August, he notes, another large bill.
“It’s a CMB (Cereal Malt Beverage) license fee — $3,000 annually. Whether you produce one barrel at your microbrewery or you’re Yeungling out of Tampa, you’re paying $3,000.”
The guild’s letter is dire.
“The vast majority of over 320 small businesses, representing over 10,000 jobs, are existing solely on a ‘to-go’ model, for our products...” it reads. “As of the writing of this letter, our internal polling has revealed that we are likely to lose more than 100 breweries permanently if this goes on for more than two weeks.”
Brent Hernandez, founder and brewer of Redlight, Redlight, is among the Orlando-based guild members making the plea. The longtime favorite haunt for craft beer enthusiasts — and arguably ground zero for the city’s beer renaissance — began its life solely as a beer parlor, adding brewing to the mix in 2015.
It remains, however, a gathering place in its soul.
“We’ve never really closed down fully,” says Hernandez, “but operating as a takeaway is not what our business is designed for.” He says rent at this location is more than $5,000 a month. “$500 weekends and being open three or four days a week? That’s not going to make it.”
Redlight Redlight has long partnered with food trucks and held family events — as do many area breweries — and is frustrated by the food-sales requirement. “I already have a license to sell onpremises. Now, they’re telling me I can’t use that license unless I have a food license.”
Closson just spent more than $2,000 on equipment, renovations and a license to try and keep Ivanhoe Park in the game. Patrons can now pop in and enjoy a Flippers pizza alongside a flight or a pint.
“We’re fortunate, and we’ve been getting some traffic,” he says. “But a lot of the other breweries don’t have the resources or the capital.”
Closson says that’s why the guild is fighting back.
“This is unfair,” he says of the order. “And ours is a tight-knit community. We know one another’s families. We know each other as people. Any one of us shutting down... ” he trails off. “It’s just a great loss.”
The Florida Department of Business and Professional Regulation did not respond to the Orlando Sentinel’s requests for comment.