Comstock's magazine 0620 - June June 2020 | Page 26

TASTE
More Out the Door
Small breweries that once thrived on beer sales from
on-site consumption pivot their business model
BY Alastair Bland PHOTOS BY Debbie Cunningham
Owner Andrew Mohsenzadegan says
Flatland Brewing Company’s beer
production has scaled back from its
projected 1,000 barrels in 2020.
With its popularity and beer sales
on the rise, Flatland Brewing
Company was poised to
grow in 2020. The owners of the Elk
Grove brewpub, launched in 2016 as
a one-barrel brewing business, had
recently ordered new equipment and
bigger beer tanks and were expecting
to brew at least 1,000 barrels this year.
“We were getting ready for a really
good year,” says co-owner and brewer
Andrew Mohsenzadegan. “Then this hit.”
In March, California Gov. Gavin
Newsom, seeking to slow transmission
of the coronavirus, ordered residents
throughout the state to stay home except
when engaging in essential business
and activity. Activities such as exercising
outside and shopping for groceries
were allowed; eating and drinking out
were not, and restaurants and breweries
were abruptly limited to takeout
service and delivery. As of press time
in mid-May, the state began to allow a
phased reopening of some businesses.
While the shelter-in-place measures
have helped slow the spread of COVID-19,
they have taken a huge economic toll
and have been devastating for breweries,
especially small breweries that
once relied on sales for consumption in
their taprooms. Many are scrambling
to sell enough beer just to survive.
Mohsenzadegan says his business is
“still revenue-positive” but just barely.
Before the World Health Organization
declared the coronavirus a pandemic
in March, Flatland sold 97 percent of
its production volume across the bar,
mainly for on-site drinking but also in
26 comstocksmag.com | June 2020