Summer Weather Could Put Strain on Locally-Sourced Beer Brewers

NORTH CAROLINA -- Some craft breweries are feeling the side-effects of extreme temperatures this summer.

"We have seen some price increases. So far the price increases haven't been detrimental to us. Hopefully, they don't reach that point,” said Joel McClosky, CEO of Four Saints Brewing Company in Asheboro.

Consistently hot weather and other factors are impacting the size of the harvest of hops and malts, which are used in many beers.

"The growing season where it was a super gray, wet May, followed by 17 consecutive days over 90 degrees here at the farm in June, that was just a recipe for the hops to not produce as well as they have in the past this year,” said Dan Gridley, owner of Farm Boy Farms in Pittsboro. The farm sees steady traffic from in-state brewers looking for ingredients.

"We are a single source location for North Carolina beer,” Gridley explained.

McClosky said Four Saints is not passing on the higher prices to customers, and instead adjusts its budget to cope. The brewery remains committed to supporting local products.

"We're putting our money back into our own community, which means hopefully that money comes back into our community again, and that's how we really see communities growing."