AKRON — A trade group says Ohio is producing more craft beer than all but three other states as its number of craft breweries nears 300.
Six One Pour: The Ohio Craft Beer Fest
Saturday, May 18 from 6-9 p.m.; COSI
Columbus Craft Beer Week: May 17-25
The Akron Beacon Journal reports new statistics from the Colorado-based Brewers Association show Ohio production was estimated at nearly 1.4 million barrels last year, ranking it behind only Pennsylvania, California and Colorado.
Those numbers get a boost from Ohio having three major breweries: Great Lakes in Cleveland, and Rhinegeist and Samuel Adams in Cincinnati.
The Ohio Craft Beer Fest, which features more than 50 independent Ohio breweries, returns to Columbus for the fifth year on May 18 at COSI.
A change in state law in 2013 made it easier for small brewers — those who produce fewer than 31 million gallons a year — to operate and that sparked a surge in growth.
“You have a better climate to operate in from a pure business perspective and we’ve seen that browth just take off,” Justin Hemminger, deputy director of the Ohio Craft Brewers Association, said.
Hear the full interview with Justin Hemminger here.
Ohio was eighth in the number of craft breweries with 298, up from just 47 back in early 2012. Fifty Ohio breweries opened last year.
The chief economist with the Brewers Association, Bart Watson, says the growth is mostly from smaller new breweries focusing on sales at their facilities and local distribution.