Drink Local! No thanks.

I've not been able to check them out yet, very new to this whole craft beer thing but I definitely plan to.

 

I think, you should buy beers you enjoy.

 

They just moved into a new location.
From what I hear, East End is definitely worth a visit.
I will be stopping by on a road trip to Duluth next summer for sure.

 

For the most part trading has ruined me and my mediocre shelf beers have become boring.... But I do drink Good People Brewing Co IPA & Snake Handler regularly... Alabama now has several brewerys popping up..but Good People is the only local I drink..

 

Thankfully I don't have this problem. I live with-in walking distance of Russian River, and I also have Bear Republic and Lagunitas to choose from.

I think drinking local is a good thing, but only if they make good beer. If you drink at a shitty place just because it's local than you're just encouraging bad beer. Drink local, but do it wisely.

 

How does one find out if the brewery is doing this and not making a version of their own?

I've been enjoying the local brews from Nebco--particularly Gandhi Bot and will buy that for sure. The Elm City Pilsner they make was solid but not amazing, so I'll only buy that if I'm hunting an inexpensive six pack. Living in New England now, I consider most NE beers to be local so I am trying a fair number of those. I'll still be buying plenty of Sierra Nevada, Old Raspy, and FBS too though unless I find something local that is better. If I could get Deschutes here, I'd be all over it.

 

Where I live local beer rules the land. This wasn't always the case, however. Before Surly came along I was drinking Sam Adams and Rolling Rock. Thankfully now I have choices, and damn good ones. When I am not drinking Surly, Indeed or Ovalde Farms I will drink beers from my other favorite breweries like Stone, Bell's and New Belgium...etc.

 

I know what you're saying about all the contract stuff but some of it can be pretty good. Here in the Boston area, there are a ton of brands that are coming out of the Mercury facility in Ipswich, MA. CBC (Cambridge Brewing) bottles their beers there and theres a brand called Notch which I have grown pretty fond of --both of these are coming out of this Ipswich facility and I think they are quite tasty. In the past I would've agreed with you but I have seen some nice improvement in this regard.

 

Can someone please define local? It seems to be an arbitrary relative term.

 

Solid summary. There are two reasons to love locals. One, it's great to have the chance to seek the one or two out of the crowd that are superior (Jack's Abbey and Throwback come to mind within the vicinity of the MA North Shore). The second is the chance to say, like all beer nerds love to do whether they admit it or not, that you were there first.

 

Indiana is legit, so I drink local.

 

This is me too. If I'm not hellbent on a specific beer and want to try something new, I'll go for the local. Then again, I live in the northwest so most of the local stuff is good. But again, if I drink something local, and it isn't good, I'll not be buying it again.

 

If local beer equals delicious stuff like Kiwi Rising Tender is ALL IN!!!

 

I've read that farmers define local as the distance they can drive to a market and back in one day to sell their produce which is approximately 250 miles.

 

I live pretty close to you man and I think our local stuff is very good. Is it lagunitas, oskar blues or sierra nevada? No it isn't. They are elite. However it is good stuff though and getting better. That being said I probably drink more new belgium and SN than anything else. I can't hate on the casual beer drinker wanting local product. I really do believe that local beer has the potential to taste better. Less handling, more fresh, and here in central VA some of the best water on the planet. Just my cent and a half. Cheers.

 

Unfortunately I haven't found any beers made locally that were better than mediocre. Over the years I've gone back and re tried the locals many times to see if there has been any improvement, but so far that hasn't been the case. So, until somebody around here comes up consistently good beers my money will go elsewhere.

 

Why Al's? Mr. Beef is WAY Better!!!!

 

Exactly what I was going to ask. How far out can a brewery be and still be local to you? I get the feeling many BA's seem to think only breweries within their city/metro area are local but that seems a little strict, especially for those of us who live in more rural areas. Other industries have started to define what a local product is and I've seen it go as far as 500 miles (green building design in this case). For breweries, 500 miles might be a bit excessive but considering I routinely drink Sierra Nevada from 3000 miles away, I have no problem calling beer from Allagash, Smuttynose, HF, Alchemist, or Pretty Things local, all of which are within 200 miles for me.

As for the whole drink local mantra... I don't buy it. I was at a bar in Burlington, VT a few weeks ago and since it was crowded I just quickly scanned the tap handles and ordered a SNPA. A customer sitting at the bar said I should have ordered a Switchback just because it was local. I responded, admittedly a bit snarky, by saying that just because it was local doesn't mean its better.

 

I have about 5 LOCAL(driving distance) breweries in my area. 2 of them are really great and make really great beer. The other 3 are bland and I would rather buy something else over them. But the 2 that are good are just as good as the big dogs, they just don't have a wide distribution. One is only sold in state and one cans 1 beer and the another is only available in 2-3 states.