Drink Local! No thanks.

Thank you for that! I spoke with a guy from Bells this summer when he was in town and he told me that the state's very old laws basically meant beer couldn't be brewed at all in the state. My friend wanted to get one started in Grand Forks but was basically told by people in the beer business that he couldn't in ND and would have to do it in East Grand Forks, MN. He has had some great homebrews and has been growing his own hops a few miles out of town that have made for some awesome IPAs

 

I've heard this rant from someone else before, somewhere...

 

I buy locals to trade for stuff that doesn't get distro'd here...Does that count?

 

Isn't Fatheads based in Pittsburgh? They brew some pretty good beers.

 

Yep, haven't had a chance to make it there yet though. Definitely need to check them and East End out.

 

An hour away... is local...

Anyway, Im kinda spoiled, since Im completely surrounded (read: within a 2-3 hour drive) by two bros (30 minutes), Haymarket and Revolution (1hr15mins), Lakefront (2 hrs), Three bros (3 hrs) by good breweries. I dont count that one in naperville that makes snaggletooth bandana, that place is Groooooo-dy. I understand what you're saying, though. If a company makes a shitty product, I wouldn't give them any money.

 

I pick and choose when it comes to locals. I'm all about supporting the scene, but with my money being tight and with so many bad local stuff out there, I just go for the ones that have recognition (via a friend telling me it's awesome or it having a great rating on here). Except for Horseheads Brewery, they're less than 40 minutes from my school and I buy the shit out of everything they make.

 

Yes, of course..mostly as extra's for close surrounding's such as peg's/7th sun/st somewhere..dont consider them bigger outstanding breweries though. Never had anything from peg's or st somewhere, although it can be found quite frequently around my area, mainly because i've just never had the interest or something else happens to catch my eye.

Unless for special releases, I rarely even drive the 45 min to CCB.

 

You have to admit that the number of great neighborhood breweries is going through the roof though. It seems even the little guys around here are making some interesting brews (read trve) at the least and top of the game examples of styles and mind blowing beers at best (read Prost and Trinity). Coloradans should be exempt from this thread.

 

There is a brewery in my city (Wolf Creek) that makes pretty good beer. However, I have found that they really don't branch out and make new beers very often. I would prefer a brewery that creates new beers on a consistent basis.

 

The "buy local" movement isn't just about suporting American businesses, it's also rooted in putting less strain on the environment. In other words, if you buy the the beer produced in your home state as opposed to on the other side of the globe, then less energy (oil, gas, electricity, etc.) was necesarry to get it to you.

 

I'm with the OP on this one. I want to support locals and I do purchase their stuff, but nothing I have had is outstanding yet. I do include Three Heads in trades. CB stuff is just meh. Genesee, well I have been supporting them for 25 years. There is a place called Roc Brewing that I have not been to yet, but I'm not sure that they even sell growlers. Rorhbachs is all growlers as is Naked Dove, but it's a trek for me to get there. There is just too many other options out there for me to continually buy mediocre local stuff.

 

Yeah—coming from more or less the same part of NY State, my drinking patterns / habits aren't particularly congruous with driving 45 minutes to ["Local" Brewery X] just for a growler of beer that may not be very good. I'm a student, don't have a ton of money, know what I like, etc.

 

I don't make a concerted effort to buy local and I buy plenty of CA beers over here on the Atlantic. I think the one place it makes a difference is that I'm more likely to buy a local beer I've never heard of than a remotely-brewed beer I've never heard of.

 

The biggest reason I try to drink local is because having a thriving craft beer scene where I live matters to me. Even if a local brewery isn't great, showing support for it increases the strength of the local craft beer community which is likely to lead to more breweries, more bars and stores serving craft, more craft beer events, and all the other things that go with that.

My response would be that if you look at Bend or Boulder there are small cities with not one, but many fantastic breweries. Just because you live in Montana doesn't rule you out from having great local beer. But it's only going to happen if the breweries that are in place are getting enough support for someone else to justify opening a brewery.

I'm not saying anyone should exclusively drink local. It's just one factor of many that guide each purchase I make. But I do think that there are rational, self-interested reasons to drink local.

 

I will gladly try a new local brewery. But I won't buy mediocre (Okoboji) or bad (Madhouse) beers just because they are made near me. Not when I can get Peacetree, Millstream, Toppling Goliath, etc and be drinking good/great local brews.

 

It was more fun to drink local when I lived close to Founders, Bell's, Dark Horse, etc.
Now I'm in southwest VA where, more than any other place I've lived, people blindly think local is better (be it beer, food, wine, etc)
I have given many VA breweries many chances but, with a few exceptions, won't be buying any more. Many are pumping out (sometimes barely) mediocre examples of only the classic styles. The breweries that are branching out and coming up with interesting ideas just don't seem to be pulling off those ideas very well.
These beers are kicking better options off of tap lists and beer shelves all over this area. I believe there are breweries (one in particular) that would have gone out of business or drastically changed/improved their beer had people been able to see the product for what it is through their fog of local devotion.
(let's wrap this up and get to a point)
Mrs. French's cat is missing a toe

 

You should just talk to the Specialty TL/ATL, or beer buyer there in put in your two cents.

 

Give Full Pint and Voodoo a look as well.