Batch Brewing Company owner concerned with growing number of craft brewery closures in Michigan
More breweries are closing their doors as Southeast Michigan says goodbye to both Wolverine State Brewing Company in Ann Arbor and Loaded Dice Brewery in Troy.
Batch Brewing Company owner Stephen Roginson raised the issue several times on social media starting in January. While he's been able to keep his doors open, the same can't be said for many of his friends in the industry.
"We're all trying to navigate a looming recession, tariffs and escalated trade war threats, rising aluminum and steel prices, layoffs and job cuts," Roginson said in a video.
Roginson says many breweries are still catching up on debt they took on to stay in business during the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020.
"Breweries and restaurants took on a significant amount of new debt to survive the pandemic, to keep our teams employed, and we're still dealing with the repercussions of that. I mean, I have over $1 million of new debt I took on just to keep this business open," he told CBS News Detroit.
Roginson believes consumers lost touch with what makes local brews so unique as big beer brands started to appeal to craft beer trends.
"What we ended up with was consumers who couldn't tell the difference between local beer and not local beer. People ended up having their first craft beer experience and it not being fresh and not being local. What ended up happening to most of those brands is that big beer has killed them," he said.
The 25% tariffs on aluminum and steel only forecast more economic challenges Roginson admits will likely be passed onto the consumer.
"Every can that I purchase is becoming more expensive. We will see an increase in price for our to-go product, all of our packaged product, and probably some increases on our draft as well," he said. "There's no millions being made right now. We're just trying to stay open."
Roginson urges folks to stop by their local craft brewery once again, not just because Michigan is home to some of the best local brews in the country but also to keep that tradition from fading into history.
