Slippery local slopes

I think the "buy local" movement will aim to support the original, pure local places (as far as consumers go).

Who knows, the distributors and reps might get along. It is possible. There are a lot of strange things in the craft beer world, such as competitors not always truly acting like competitors. However, what I hope to see is them not get along and consumers start trying both local and transplanted local to see which is better, and then choose on taste. Taste, not some quasi-protectionist ideology.

Personally I hope the buy local movement slowly becomes marginalized, or outright dies. Look I just think people should "drink best", regardless of where it is from. I don't like how it alters the market by keeping places in business that ought to otherwise not do so well and possibly go out of business. The better brewers don't get appropriately rewarded with consumer dollars as I think they should. I want a world with better beer on the shelves, not something less than that standard because it happens to be local and a bunch of people are supporting those less than stellar breweries just because they're local.

There is a similar move happening here in AZ wherein Two Brothers from Chicago area is coming here and making a brewpub/brewery to make their own beers here locally, ones for the AZ market that aren't made in Illinois. I don't care that they're not originally local, or if they have parents retired here, etc. If I like their beers better than "pure" local options, then I will drink Two Brothers beers.

 

Drinking local is a great sentiment but on the other hand I think that local brewers take advantage of consumers in some instances. For example at my local brew pub I can look down the bar to through the glass and see the brewery workers actually making my beer which is cool. The problem with this is that they charge $5.00 for a 12-14 oz pour of their Octoberfest. I can go to another bar a few miles away and get a full 20 oz pour of Hoffbrau Oktoberfest from a German themed restaurant for $4.00 bucks and it is simply a better beer. I can't think that the buy local sentiment will overcome logic for very long when the local guy is literally carrying beer from one room to another and charging more for it than a better beer that made the trip from Europe. Buying local is supposed to, among other things, help keep costs reasonable for everyone including the consumer.

 

Good points, especially when the imported stuff is superior to the local options. But you know, if the local beer is as good or better than something imported, then the local place doesn't have much to worry about. There's no need for the "buy local" mantra if the local is kicking the imported beers' butts. So if the local place is making really good beer, and has nothing to worry about, then much of this debate really is focused on intentionally keeping local places in business that can't compete with superior products from somewhere else. In this way, buy local often functions as a mediocrity-promoting movement.

 

Here's an interesting thought; Stone is actually a distributor in Southern California and carries many excellent local brands that would otherwise be under- or not represented in the market.

Do they plan to do the same in Virginia?

 

Gotta agree here. I'm all for buying local breweries' offerings when I think they brew a fantastic example of a particular style I want. I'm also all for trying new local breweries or new offerings, just to give things a shot, maybe uncover a real diamond in the rough. BUT... if I don't feel their quality is up to snuff, I'm going to buy beers from the breweries where I know I'm getting my money's worth and I know I'll be satisfied with the purchase - whether or not it is brewed a mile down the road, or 1,000 miles from the middle of nowhere.

 

I wouldn't consider Stone "local" to Richmond any more than I'd consider them "local" to Berlin. I'll never consider SN and OB to be "Asheville" brewers. Do you consider Toyota and Mercedes "American" companies just because they have factories in the U.S.? I'm sure that Stone will be a great addition to the scene in Richmond, but they'll always be the "visiting" team.

As to the buy local ethos, yes I do buy more local/regional beer than I do the nationally available beers. Why should I send money to San Diego with a sixer of Stone IPA, when I can buy a sixer of Kulshan Bastard Kat IPA, an easily equivalent beer? The folks at Kulshan are my friends, and I rather my beer money help them build their new production facility, than help Stone build theirs. No, I don't shop at the mall (except for Target, dude gotta have socks and underwear), and I buy my Carhartts from a local store as opposed to online or chain stores.

But the local sentiment is exceptionally strong in the PNW, go to the NW forum and read the "Fatheads coming to PDX" thread. The locals there seem to think that, no matter how good FH's beer is, is destined to be a tourist spot.

 

Well, they do employ a good number of Americans at their American plants, and their American-made cars drive around on gas and tires and oil and parts made and sold in America by Americans on American roads built and maintained by Americans, so...

...kinda yeah?

 

Since support for the local economy and opposition to "the Global Industrial Food System" are two goals of the Local Food movement, I don't think support for a mid to large sized craft brewer with National distribution fits well with this movement. The best fit would be small breweries with distribution that is local only, and that largely use locally grown ingredients. Sadly, we still don't have too many of these kinds of craft brewers in the US. Here in MA we finally have a local malthouse, a number of farms that are now (again?) growing grain and hops for beer, and some brewers that will occasionally release a "local" beer made largely with these locally sourced ingredients. But we are a long way from having a brewer that can produce most or even a large portion of their product line from local ingredients only.

 

Reminds me a lot of Epic's situation in Denver. While they have been full accepted into the Denver beer world, I think there's always a a little bit of awkwardness when considering them a Denver brewery. The fact that they didn't distribute here until the brewery showed up probably has something to do with that, too.

 

But that's the crux of the "Buy Local" movement. When you buy a new Camry, where does the profit go? Home to Japan. Not local to me. When I buy socks at Target, the money goes to Minnesota. Not local to me. The more money we keep as local as we can, the more money other locals have to spend at your job, making you more money. Obviously, cars and socks can't be made in every town, but if you can't buy a locally sourced product, at least buy it from a local retailer, put some of that cash in your friends and families wallets.

Do I always buy local beer, of course not, I'm too curious a beer drinker. But the majority of the beer I drink is made within a 4 hour drive of where I sit. Will Stone ever be considered a "German" brewer? By your Toyota logic, yes they will be.

 

I'm fortunate in that the "buy local" scene includes so many fine breweries such as Schell's, Steel Toe, Summit and Surly. Heck, there's even some who don't begin with "S." Stone and Sierra Nevad would find it hard going to shut down the local competition (not that they'd try, anyway.)

 

I'm not in Asheville directly (about an hour east) so don't know how the locals feel, but for the people in the region I'd say that no one feels that Sierra Nevada, Oskar Blues, and New Belgium are local just because they have breweries/tasting rooms here. Is it one more interesting place to go drink on drinking days? Sure. Do they maybe have a little bit of extra sentiment over other larger craft beer brands because they have a brewery in the area? Maybe, but if so it probably isn't much.

I try to be a strong supporter of local beer. Reason being is that every brewery has to start somewhere. Not everyone can be a Wicked Weed (just the example I thought of, I'm sure there are many others) that had the proper resources and capital to knock it out of the park from the very beginning. Most places need time to figure things out, really determine what they're focus is, and start executing. I'll support local places basically long enough to figure out whether I think they're going to do something I like. If so, I'll continue supporting them. If not, I'll move on. There have been a couple places locally that I just don't support anymore. One has gone out of business (so others must have agreed with me), a couple haven't (so enough people must disagree with me, that's cool that they found a market).

Point being, I don't expect new brewers (who are, of course, local to someone...) to be world changing when they first start. But I do expect them to show that they have signs of being awesome in the near future. After that, I'll generally give local beers a try that I might not bother with non-local beers (the Olde Hickory Coffee IPA was a great example of that. Probably wouldn't have tried it if it weren't local. But I did, and its pretty decent). But I'm not going to continue drinking a local beer just because its local if it isn't also good. And I'd say this kind of locals-following I wouldn't consider NBB, OB, and SN for.

 

Agreed. I don't get the sense that Stone or SN or whoever else so far that's building new breweries in different parts of the country are doing it to cut out competition. They seem to be doing it to expand their capacity and at the same time cut down on distribution costs, which is good for almost everyone. These guys don't even remotely need a brewpub or tasting room or whatever in their new location; it appears they do that so they can show they're part of the community and because its the 'right' thing to do.

 

McDonalds has a location near me too but I wouldn't consider that local.

 

Wrong IMHO. The benefits of Local Food are numerous. If you follow that link, you'll see that bullet points are: Sustainability; Food Safety, Health, and Nutrition; Food Security; Support Local Economies and Protect Local Farms and Farmland. Keeping costs "reasonable" is certainly not on the list, and it seems obvious that if it were then all food would be local and the Global Industrial Food System that we have today would never have developed.

 

The bottom line is that good beer is good beer and bad beer is bad beer. While local breweries are riding that heady "buy local" tornado they eventually will have to produce superior beer to what comes from "elsewhere" or they will perish.
We are getting closer and closer to a beer meltdown and the lesser players are going to get slaughtered. While I wish no will on anyone, especially those that invest their passion and finances in a labor of love, I think the sooner people start really looking at their beer and really tasting quality and consistency thereof we will see the shakeout we all know is coming.

I travel and always try to drink local just to see what's out there, beyond that I couldn't care less about where it is brewed if the quality is there.

 

I don't have the slightest clue where this brewery sources their ingredients, since there is no grain malted locally and no hop farms so my guess is they do not use locally sourced ingredients. They use ingredients from the same Global Industrial Food System that macro breweries utilize. The only advantage is the economic advantage of local production that goes into one local pocket, the brewers. That could be easily passed onto consumers and IMHO should be. That being said they make a hell of a Belgian Triple, which I will buy when they have it on tap. You assumed too much bro

 

The other thing to consider here is that the Stones, OB's, and New Belgiums of the world aren't setting up breweries on the east coast in order to cater towards the local populations. Sure, this will happen to some degree, but they are trying to better serve an entire region. I think that is another part of the equation that has thus far been left out of this thread. Companies that typically benefit from (or even require) a buy local movement are those that draw primarily from their local communities. Buy local is a lot less important to Stone than it is to, say, Devil's Backbone.

 

While I respect the "buy local" ethic, I wonder how it will play out if Stone gets into distribution in your area like they have here in Southern California. What would happen if your locally owned bodega/liquor store/farm collective was carrying local beer that was distributed by Stone? Would you have to refuse to buy from the retailers who got their product from Stone since at least some of the profit off the sale would go out of the local area?