Among New York State's many industries, beer brewing is actually one of our brighter spots, with more than 60,000 people employed by an industry that brought in $1.13 billion in federal and $1.14 billion in state and local taxes last year. But still, we shouldn't be really that surprised that Senator Chuck Schumer, always happy for a little publicity, wants the industry to be bigger. So he's kicked off his latest PR stunt: A so-called "I Love NY Brew" campaign.

Of course the campaign isn't so much a campaign as a letter to the National Association of Convenience Stores and Fuel Retailing and the NYS Restaurant Association in which Schumer urges both to offer more beers brewed at the 77 breweries in New York State. As the senior Senator notes, on average craft beer drinkers spend approximately $16 more per visit to restaurants and pubs than non-drinkers.

"Getting New York beers on convenience store shelves and in local menus would help pour jobs into New York’s breweries," Schumer writes. "Our local breweries provide good-paying jobs and help draw tourists and visitors to the Empire State—I’m going to do everything I can to help them grow and expand even further."

And it is hard to argue with that because, really, who doesn't like a local beer? Still, the most interesting part of the campaign for us is definitely the region-by-region statistics Schumer provides about the breweries in New York:



In the Capital Region, 6 breweries brewed 4,922 barrels of beer last year, and there are plans to open 2 new breweries

In Central New York, 6 breweries brewed 287,883 barrels of beer last year, and there are plans to open 3 new breweries

In the Rochester-Finger Lakes Region, 4 breweries brewed 511,063 barrels of beer last year, and there are plans to open 3 new breweries

In the Southern Tier, 11 breweries brewed 42,279 barrels of beer last year, and there are plans to open 7 new breweries

In Western New York, 4 breweries brewed 31,349 barrels of beer last year, and there are plans to open 2 new breweries

In the Hudson Valley, 7 breweries brewed 11,895 barrels of beer last year, and there are plans to open 7 new breweries

In the North Country, 5 breweries brewed 8,728 barrels of beer last year, and there are plans to open at least 1 new brewery

In the New York City, 5 breweries brewed 132,073 barrels of beer last year, and there are plans to open 9 new breweries

On Long Island, 10 breweries brewed 54,122 barrels of beer last year, and there are plans to open 5 new breweries

That is a lot of beer we brew here!

