This year has been one big roller coaster ride. We’ve all endured massive ups and downs while trying to protect ourselves and our loved ones.

Our local breweries have been hit hard by COVID-19 and the shutdowns it has forced. Although alcohol sales may have skyrocketed, the sad reality is that many breweries have seen sales go into a steep decline.

All of Oahu’s small breweries generate a large portion of sales from brewpubs and from taps at bars and restaurants. During the closures, a massive amount of revenue was instantly gone and breweries had to depend on package sales (bottles and cans). It has been a struggle, to say the least, but they are still fighting to stay alive and need our support.

We can’t allow these businesses to close, as they are a vital part of the creative and innovative growth of our city — even for those who are not beer drinkers. Craft breweries not only employ hundreds of hard-working people, they have helped transform areas of our city and breathe life into once lifeless areas.

I asked a handful of brewery owners and brewers how their businesses have been affected and how we can support them during these difficult times.

These are the slightly edited words of Christopher Cook (owner/brewer, Broken Boundary Brewing), Steve Haumschild (owner, Lanikai Brewing Co.), Dave Campbell (owner/brewer, Aloha Beer Co.), Geoff Seideman (owner/brewer, Honolulu Beerworks) and Joe Lorenzen (brewer, Waikiki Brewing Co.).

Lorenzen: Having to lay off all of the pub staff was terrible. Then to have to do it a second time was almost unbearable. Trying to survive on takeout and retail sales only is impossible!

Dining with us or ordering takeout from the pubs is the best way to support us. Of course, purchasing local beer at retail helps as well, but being able to provide the full dine-in experience helps us keep the most people employed and brings in the most revenue.

Cook: We are brewing, but at a reduced pace and capacity. We have been using this time to test a lot of new recipes on our pilot system. We’ve got Czech Pilsener and a Munich hefeweizen on the way, and two hard seltzers on tap now.

Campbell: The shutdowns and restarts have been tough, as it takes a while to start up and get everything humming again. Navigating all of the regulations is tedious and enforcement has the real potential of upsetting our patrons. We are brewing about 25% of pre-COVID volume and just released a new style a week or so ago, Kashmir Red Lager.

Haumschild: We are thankful to be on the shelves of grocery stores, bottle shops and other merchants but it’s been challenging, to say the least, to make ends meet. … We are still brewing. Sooner or later, COVID restrictions will (ease), so we will need to be in the pole position to capture sales. Our batch sizes are smaller and we are focused on increasing variety and testing new concepts.

Ways to support us without spending a dollar would be engaging with our social media with likes/shares/follows/comments; posting positive reviews on the various review sites, or referrals!

Seideman: Our brewpub lost about 90% of sales. Our wholesale was also hit pretty hard, as most of our draft accounts were forced to close as well — restaurants, bars, hotels, etc. We were forced to lay off 32 of 38 of our staff because of these closures.

We love and appreciate our customers returning to the pub to support us. We do understand, however, that people may be hesitant to go out, so they can support us by purchasing our cans in stores or by going online (HonoluluBeerworks.com) where they can purchase beer, food and merchandise.

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We all need to do what we can to help locally owned small businesses. The small choices we make now can have a profound impact on what our city will look like when we get through this pandemic. A thriving craft brewing community is something we should all want to preserve.

Tim Golden, a certified cicerone, shares his obsession with all things craft beer on the third week of each month. He is part owner of Village Bottle Shop in Kakaako.