I'd say less than 25%. Most of the styles I enjoy are more likely to be brewed in different parts of the country or overseas. Also, I'd rather have a run of the mill, year-old German Festbier than the freshest local IPA.
Some of those big local operations of national companies drove a lot of local businesses out of business over the years. I'm sure those outfits employed many more local people than their "efficient" big competitor. Even into the 70s, NYC metro had Rheingold, Schaefer, Ballantine, . Philly had Ortlieb, Schmidt. Eastern Brg. was in central NJ. Eastern PA had Reading, Mt. Carbon, Stegmaier, Horlacher, F&S (owned by Ortlieb) and probably a few more (The Lion and Yuengling survive). A few of the beers from them that I tried and liked included Mt. Carbon Porter, McSorleys Ale, Steg. Porter, and Ballantine Ale.
Pretty standard terminology in the US brewing industry at least since Repeal. Here's just one example (highlighted) from a study over half a century ago. Granted, the coming of the Craft segment, in which it is common for tiny brewers to have distribution well beyond what was then normal for breweries with relatively a small annual barrelage (thanks in large part to the high retail prices they are able to charge) complicates the matter. In the example above from the late 1950s, the authors considered Carling, Theo. Hamm, Blatz and Falstaff in their Semi-National segment (all 4 had distribution in more than half the US states). AB, Schlitz, Pabst and Miller were then the only Nationals.
Yes, but once the “local” guys have been bought out/shutdown what good does it do to boycott their former competitors who also employ workers in your town? With the exception of Fred Meyers (who are still using the same horrible machines that came out 20 years ago) I love the self checkout. I can scan most items rather quickly, plus I’m not stuck waiting on the bag boy to finish up the last guy’s stuff. I’m also down to about 2-3 checkers who still barely remember me so once they retire I’ll go all in on the self checkout. Congratulations! I’ve been to Oregon a half dozen times or so since 2023, but I don’t think I’ve gone to any gas stations. Oh, I didn’t note any attendants when I stoped at a rural truck stop to grab some iced tea. As I recall you could always pump your own diesel, so at the time I didn’t question the absence of attendants. Still, in the context that I’m using the word “local” I’m defining it as something that is being brewed close to a specific consumer. Obviously, my definition is extremely subjective and totally different throughout the country. Using a 1957 example, if I lived next door to a Schlitz brewery and X miles from a “local” brewery (but still within their distribution range) I would consider Schlitz to be a local (to me) brew. It wouldn’t matter that Schlitz sells their beer throughout the country, it would always be a “local” beer for me as long I maintained residency near one of their breweries.
On the beer shelf of the kitchen fridge: 11 Ohio 7 Kentucky (1 within 70 miles of home) 3 Iowa 3 Wisconsin 1 Massachusetts 1 Michigan
I would say, almost exclusively. My at-home budget craft IPA is from Odell*; my slightly splurgier IPAs are Westbound & Down* and Cerebral; my lagers are typically Bierstadt Lagerhaus; my saison is usually Funkwerks*; and my 1x or 2x a week brewery is Comrade. My 1x every two weeks brewery is Denver Beer Co Lowry, because of a) the playground for their kids and b) location about halfway between their homes makes it the choice for my adult kids for multi-generational get-togethers. The above (plus also local Station 26) is probably 95% of my beer consumption. The occasional Russian River product, the occasional Belgian-from Belgium, the occasional German lager make up the other 5%. * admittedly the inclusion of these three *** means I (in Denver) am calling Fort Collins (68 miles away) and Idaho Springs (38 miles away) "local" but I think that's fair.
Out here in the rough and tumble east, I haven't seen a "bag boy" in years (maybe 40 years)!. If you're checking out with a six-pack of beer, you'll need to hail an employee (if one is available). Obviously you don't frequent a grocery that requires you to enter the product ID and then weigh the fruits and vegetables. Also, nudging the product "landing platform" causes a tilt requiring official intervention. I'm OK with it at Costco where essentially everything is correctly labeled and the self check caretaker is pretty close by, but at most places it's more trouble than it's worth.
I absolutely love the self checkout. Reasons- Nobody pays by check (might as well carve a stone IOU) People who don't know what they're doing are afraid of it. Lines move faster there. I usually already have my stuff bagged when I get there.
I have 3 local breweries where all the staff know my name, (regulars too) and the beer is good at all of them. Good company, good beer, good for the community. That being said, I voted 50/50 because, hell, I'm on Beer Advocate. I like to try all the great beers I read about here if I can access them. Also- Beercations, going to Philly next week!
When I lived in Massachusetts the answer would have been a definitive yes. LivIng in Florida now my answer was a 50-50 split.
At first I thought "no" but I went with 50/50 and expanded my definition of local to include about 75% of New England. We are fifteen minutes from the Rhode Island border, so I consider that local. We are up in Maine and parts of New Hampshire frequently - so a two hour drive that happens to stop by Barreled Souls or Portland seems local. If we are saying locally sourced then my self-created definition would definitely put me in the "no" camp. Heavy on Maine for sure. Used to drink a lot of Jack's Abby but have drifted away lately and there's no direct way to get there even they are an hour road trip. Are they or any other Boston area breweries all that local? Not really if you live in the southern area of the state. Even Tree House in Tewksbury is a good ride. It depends on defining the word local and how much we personally restrict it.
Interesting. There are still plenty of bag boys here. Just saw one today when I purchased my latest six packs, though I didn’t use his services as I went through self-checkout. Perhaps Nevada is 60 years behind the rest of the Union? Most of the self checkouts I frequent are very user friendly. For produce you can either scan the tag (if there is one) or type the product name into the computer and select the one you are purchasing. For example if you are buying tomatoes you simply enter the word “tomato” and are then presented with a myriad of options. Heirloom, organic, Beefsteak, etc. Once you’ve selected your product you then weigh the items on the built in self-checkout scale. Incredibly easy. The only self-checkout that I can think that still has the hellaciously outdated “landing platform”is Fred Meyers, though they refer to it as “the baggage area”. Lowes used to have the same system but did away with it years ago. Exactly! I can almost always move through self-checkout faster than I could regular checkout.
I buy things like Bigfoot and Narwhal if I see them, they aren't available locally, but I'm 90% local, I'd call that the Chicago/Milwaukee area.
Hmmmm. Never considered that. I'll have to pay attention to the decor. It's all musical instruments but don't recall if there are specific bands.
