Opinion piece written by Chadd Balbi, co-owner of Breweries In PA

If you read our site you’re probably plenty familiar with Dry January. For those who aren’t, we’ll just link it right here for a more detailed explanation. But essentially it is taking the month off from consuming alcoholic beverages.

There are many reasons to participate in the month. And if you are doing this for some sort of health reasons, this piece is not for you. We respect anyone trying to better themselves, more power to you.

This is for those who are deciding to follow some sort of fad of the month. Look, you are more than welcome to follow the crowd. Who are we to judge? But let’s be honest….we’re in a global pandemic. Hell, breweries throughout the state just spent the last three weeks not allowed to have guests dine indoors. Times are tough in the industry.

Now is not the time to slow down our support.

You may be thinking “what do they care if I take a month off from craft beer, what does it matter?” Don’t take our word for it, the industry takes a beating in January, and that is the last thing they need when so many restrictions are in place to begin with.

This doesn’t mean every night has to be a binge-fest. Moderate January can be a thing too. Maybe save your beer consumption for the weekend. Stock up on brewery purchases during the week and enjoy a few pints once the weekend hits. Or, if you are still reading this and saying to yourself you’re going completely dry, you still have options to support the industry. Just look at some of the meals you can buy from breweries……you still gotta eat, right?

But, for us, we just don’t see Dry January happening this year. Not while a pandemic ravages small businesses. So join us, let’s get inside a brewery and support local.