How dry is Dry January

Last week, I stopped in for a quick visit to Fife Street Brewing in Charleston, WV. After sampling one of the latest beers to hit their tap list, I asked Gil Peterson, Fife’s head brewer, about new brews he had coming up.

His answer caught me just a little off guard, but it shouldn’t have. He told me I shouldn’t expect a lot of new brews coming to the tap list during January. Duh. I should have known that the fewer-than-normal number of beers on the tap list was due to the typical January market downturn.

In the last few years, this January downturn has been promoted as Dry January. It’s premise is that people, who normally consume alcohol, should take the month off from it—or at least cut way back—to give their bodies a rest from the wicked spirits.

In my part of the world, it’s popular to suggest that Dry January, combined with a bunch of snow we’ve been getting in West Virginia, is what’s keeping folks at home and out of brewery taprooms. Even for me, I’ve been buying less beer this month than I did in December. But then, don’t I always?

Years ago, when I worked in the liquor business, the November-December time block was by far the best period for sales of distilled spirits and wine. We made lots of money in those months. January sales typically fell off a cliff. Back then, no one talked about Dry January. It wasn’t a thing. January was slower because everyone had loaded up and partied hearty during the November-December holidays, and January was a just a month to recover.

Certainly some part of January’s beer sales decline is nothing new, and is due to normal sales trends and normal consumption patterns and not necessarily to Dry January, per se. I guess the question is, how much of the decline is ? Is the sales downturn getting worse? What is the effect on our small brewers?

Because many of our breweries are so small, a month or two of downturn in business can be financialy harmful to them and their employees — no matter the cause.

I passed around this question of a slow January’s impact on business to several beer-knowledgeable West Virginians, whose opinions I respect. Here’s what they had to say.

Impact of Dry January

Mike Vance, head brewer, Abolitionist Ale Works, Charles Town, WV

“I believe Dry January has been a factor every January, not just the last few years. It’s just one of the factors, with weather being the biggest factor, with most being tapped out financially, mentally, and physically after the holidays.”

Dallas Wolfe, owner, High Ground Brewing, Terra Alta, WV

“The taproom numbers have been pretty strong for us this month. We also provide a solid selection of NA products, which allows folks to get their social fix without drinking alcohol. Another anomaly in the numbers is the fact that we have been battling winter storms for half the month. Our to-go sales have been strong with people adding HGB 4-packs to their Bread and Milk lists.

“I know that the holiday season was slower than usual, which I suspect economic reasons are the primary issue with most. The industry is struggling as a whole because we deal in luxury products and the budgets of most people are restrictive to those luxury items. Also Christmas presents took a big bite out of those budgets.”

Matt Kwasniewski, owner & head brewer, Big Timber Brewing, Elkins, WV

“Yeah, we definitely see a downturn. In the taproom the weekend after the 1st has been our worst weekend of the year the past few years… And it’s not even close. We don’t notice as much with distro as I think a lot of the distributors and retailers are stocking up after the holiday rush. It seems to get better as the month goes on though, and ski season helps mitigate some of that for us as well.”

Jeff McKay, owner, Summit Beer Station, Huntington, WV

“We always see a downturn in January. Hard to pin down this year as being worse due to the snow and ice. All things considered, it’s been terribly slow though. January has historically been our worst month.”

Sam Fonda, brewer & co-owner, Weathered Ground Brewery, Cool Ridge, WV

“There’s definitely a large impact. I think it’s felt by breweries, restaurants and distributors. Fortunately during ski season, we still get a lot of business with skiers. February is just as bad. It’s just sort of the dead season.”

Nathan Herrold, brewer & co-owner, Bridge Brew Works, Fayetteville, WV

“Historically, January is a low barrel month for Bridge Brew Works, coupled with the fact that we slim our Biergarten days and hours back during this time of year. It’s a yes and no answer-mainly for us, and what we do is shift gears. It’s a great time of year to brew our upcoming seasonal spring releases and bonafide lagers, in addition to aging or releasing barrel aged brews. Furthermore, it is a good opportunity for us to get out in the field, visit accounts, talk to distributors and the sales force to inform them about upcoming releases, seasonals, etc., and show appreciation …So… guess I wouldn’t say ‘Dry’ because snow is just a different state of precipitation and the tsunami of spring is just around the corner.”

Support your local brewery

Our takeaway from this is: Support Your Local Brewery. It may not be experiencing a big sales downturn, but then, it might be. Even if you’re a Dry January practitioner, you can still go to a taproom for lunch or dinner. Order Berkeley Springs Brewing’s super good, non-alcoholic Spa Water or try Big Timber’s hop water at their taproom. Enjoy the quite palatable NAs from Sierra Nevada or Athletic. Just have a cola. Whatever. But do spend some money there.

Our breweries and their employees need our support during slow month, even if it’s only the snow storms and the extra cold weather that is keeping business away. Let’s make a special point to show them some love this winter.