by Tom Acitelli
What drink best complements a recession?
"The prevailing view is that beer isn't affected that much by economic ups and downs," said Paul Gatza, director of the Brewers Association, in a Friday email.
The trade group measured taxable beer barrels produced by domestic brewers from 1985 through 2005. In 2001, during the tail end of the last national recession, breweries produced more beer barrels than they had annually in any of the seven years before--over 180 million or a watering 5.58 billion gallons. To find a year when breweries last cleared that mark, you'd have to go to the early 1990s, in and around another recession.
In a time of timorous spending habits and inflated costs amid shrinking job security, beer remains virtually recession-proof.
Peacenik found some good news! Peacenik found some good news!
