WILMINGTON — Matt Purkey of the General Denver Hotel recently spoke to the Wilmington Rotary Club which meets at noon at Damon’s Restaurant.
Purkey stated there has been a resurgence in craft beers. He said beer is made from just four ingredients — water, yeast, malt and hops — and there are hundreds of varieties and strains of yeast. In the past, there were two types of beer yeast: ale yeast (the “top-fermenting” type) and lager yeast (the “bottom-fermenting” type).
Purkey said that the 2000s brought changes. Now craft beer is defined as producing less than six million barrels per year. A barrel is 31 gallons or 180 pounds which is very small compared to the annual volume by a large national brewery. All craft breweries in Ohio make 1.3 million barrels per year.
Purkey said beer is one of most common drinks in world. According to an OSU Fisher Business School study, there are 220 craft breweries Ohio and they produce 10 percent of Ohio beer sales. Total Ohio beer sales annually is $2.16 billion.
Craft operations employee 4,200 workers and provide $141 million in salaries. Ohio is fourth largest in craft beers nationally.
