Wooly Pig is part of craft brewery surge in Ohio

FRESNO – Craft breweries have become big business in Ohio, that includes in Coshocton County where Wooly Pig Farm Brewery opened in 2017.

The Ohio Craft Brewers Association’s biennial economic impact report shows Ohio’s craft brewing industry resumed its expected growth in 2022 after an 8.9% downtown in 2020 related to the COVID-19 pandemic.

The report stated 44 new craft breweries opened in 2022, bringing the state total to 420. Ohio’s craft beer production volume ranks sixth among U.S. states at approximately 1.29 million barrels, up 18.7% from 2020.

The impact report also shows the regional and statewide contributions craft breweries make to the state economy:

• $1.27 billion economic output (up from $880.7 million in 2020)• $141.5 million state and local taxes ($99.8 million in 2020)• $85.8 million federal taxes ($58 million in 2020)• 12,040 jobs (8,295 in 2020)• 8,095 households supported (5,577 in 2020)• $389.0 million labor income ($253.1 million in 2020)

Local impact

Kevin Ely, owner of Wooly Pig, said they're producing about 600 barrels a year, or approximately 28,000 gallon annually. The maximum capacity is around 900 barrels a year. They brew from 30 to 40 different beers, with some seasonal, and have 14 employees.

Currently, Wooly Pig is expanding parking options and improving beer garden facilities. Ely said their improvement focus is on facilities for customers and operations. This is important as out-of-county visitors are a big part of the business. It's not lost on Ely that such visitors contribute to the local economy by not only buying beer, but food, gas, hotel rooms and more.

"The craft brewing culture in Ohio is truly amazing. We are very proud to be part of it. Craft brewing has definitely improved economic opportunities in hundreds of communities across the state through employment and product sales," Ely said about the report. "We see beer tourists at the Wooly Pig every weekend from Cleveland, Columbus, Pittsburgh, Akron and beyond. These folks are looking for good beer, but also a new experience and breweries are very flexible and creative when it comes to beer and tasting room environments. In this respect, it is hard to quantify the economic impact of having a brewery in your community, but I think it is probably greater than we estimate."

Along with economic benefits, Ely said craft breweries have become important "third places" in their communities. These are locations outside of work or home people congregate to relax, communicate and support each other.

"They tend to be welcoming and accommodating for broad demographics and family groups. They are places folks feel a sense of belonging and pride of place," Ely said. "We are very proud of the third place feeling at the Wooly Pig and we love that we can contribute to Coshocton county in this way."

Community involvement

The 179 brewers that responded to the impact survey donated approximately $2.4 million to charitable causes and gave an additional 22,000 volunteer hours to community groups.

For the past four years in the spirit of Christmas gift giving, Wooly Pig has donated the proceeds from its holiday lager sales to local nonprofit organizations that help those in need. In 2022, the brewery decided to donate all of the income, with no exclusions for supply costs, from those sales. Funding went to forgive medical debt of patients at Coshocton Regional Medical Center.

After much family discussion, medical debt forgiveness rose to the top of their local needs list. Jael Malenke, co-owner of Wooly Pig, contacted CRMC and an agreement was struck. Approximately $500 in medical debt was forgiven for 101 patients each in Coshocton County.

Wooly Pig donated $5,878.40 with the hospital multiplying the proceeds by 10 for a total amount of $58,784 going to medical debt relief. About 10% of the brewery's donation came from patrons without a holiday lager purchase.

Franchise laws

Much of the industry’s economic impact growth is attributable to consumer spending in brewery taprooms around the state, the report stated. However, small and independent breweries still face significant obstacles to growth via distribution, attributable to an increase in competition over the past 10 years as well as artificial barriers to market access caused by Ohio’s nearly 50-year-old franchise law, which traps small breweries in contracts with large distributors.

Ely said he recently went to Columbus and spoke with Rep. Darrell Kick and Sen. Andrew Brenner on the need to update the law.

Wooly Pig only sells on site because of the franchise law, Ely added. It was something they heavily considered when first creating a business plan.

Ely said Wooly Pig has thrived thanks to strong local and regional support. He also don't want to make distributors the villains, as he said most are great businesses and good community partners, it's just the state laws are out of balance.

"Hopefully we will see updates to these laws resulting in future economic gains for Ohio," Ely said. "If the Ohio franchise law is updated and improved in the coming years we will reevaluate the possibility of distributing beer."

Leonard Hayhurst is a community content coordinator and general news reporter for the Coshocton Tribune with more than 15 years of local journalism experience and multiple awards from the Ohio Associated Press. He can be reached at 740-295-3417 or llhayhur@coshoctontribune.com. Follow him on Twitter at @llhayhurst.

This article originally appeared on Coshocton Tribune: Wooly Pig is part of craft brewery surge in Ohio