Our first thought for this blog post was to gripe about 2020 and give our Top Five list about how 2020 negatively impacted our business. It would be so easy. But on second thought, it felt selfish. With so many businesses closing or closed, how could we utter a single complaint? Instead, we decided to highlight our special moments, spread some love, and express gratitude. So without further ado, here is our “Top Five List of Positive Things That Happened at Old Planters Brewing Company During 2020” (we know, it’s a catchy/concise title that rolls off the tongue.)

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Positive Thing #5

We had music, art, and, exercise in the taproom

Before COVID hit, we had: Iron Village, The Energy Barre, RECK Fitness, Sweat Fixx, and The Moon and The Mat for Sunday exercise classes inside the taproom. These classes were great, we can’t wait to do them again! We also had numerous local artists and bands come through and share their talents, they’ll be back in 2021!

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Positive Thing #4

We had food trucks and pop-ups throughout the whole year

Whether it was pre-COVID or not, we had a bunch of food trucks/pop-ups come to hang with us. During our outdoor seating phase, we LITERALLY could not have operated without the consistent support of our food partners. So it’s with much love and respect that we give thanks to: The Castle, Butter Ur Biscuit, Empanada Dada, Crepe Du Jour, Chicken and Rice Guys, Rusty Can, JaJu Pierogi, Po Boys and Pies, Sacred Cod, La Fronters Sabrosa, Rolling Gyros, Pop-Over Grove, Just Wingin’ It, Bonetown Burgers, and The MELT Food Truck, Cheese Please Mobile, Big Pig BBQ, and Boston Hill BBQ.

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Positive Thing #3

We were deemed essential!

Luckily, when the pandemic hit we were deemed essential by Governor Baker. During the lockdown, this time allowed us to continue operations and work on our shift from on-site drinking to beer to-go. While this wasn’t in the plans, we took it in stride and figured out our process. We will always be grateful that we were able to operate during the lockdown and that the best customers/community came by for some beer!

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Positive Thing #2

Collaborations with our Beverly friends and beyond

Throughout 2020, we were fortunate enough to collaborate with some of our friends on some great beers. Much love to all our co-conspirators including Crave, FRANK, Fat Tuna Charters, Loma Brewing, and Wandering Soul. We also collaborated with some other local businesses on various projects including Crossfit Variance, Inner Cycle, Cape Ann Botanicals, Beantrust Coffee, The Cheese Shop of Salem, and Oceanside Sailbags.

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Positive Thing #1

We were able to give back during tough times

As we all can agree, 2020 was an absolute dumpster fire for so many reasons. And with that dumpster fire came a lot of problems, stress, and pain for so many people throughout the entire country. As a small business standing back and witnessing this landscape, we were honored/proud to do our small part to try and ease some of that pain. Here is a list of the various charitable projects we were involved in during 2020:

1. Pink Boots Society Beer Collaboration   
2. All Together (Worldwide Beer Collaboration started by Other Half brewing)
3. Black Is Beautiful( Worldwide Beer Collaboration started by Weathered Soul Brewing)
4. Pete Frates Beer Collaboration with Loma Brewing & Kevin Youkilis
5. Rhino Running Club Virtual Relay

(Charity recipients included: Behind You Inc., NAACP Legal Defense Fund, Pete Frates Family Foundation, ALS TDI, and Beverly Hospital)