Personal Long Term Beer Drinking Choices

If the internet didn't make it so easy to look up good beers, I think many of us would not be longing for beers from outside of our area. Many of us would probably be happy with what is currently around us, considering the number of breweries that exist today, unless you live in a rural area or a state that does not produce as much as others.

If the internet was wiped out, not working, and I was "stuck" with only being able to buy beers produced in my area (San Diego), I don't think I'd be upset about it. If I was stuck with only buying beers within 1hr of somewhere in rural Texas or California, I would probably not be happy about it.

To summarize, I would say it depends on where you live.

 

Without a doubt I love beers from other regions than mine, but I could be good with just this area (chicagoland).

 

This internet effect works two ways for me. While I agree that the internet and social media creates a longing to try beers from other areas (hyped, highly rated, sought after, FOMO, or even those that are not) it also has the opposite effect. When I do try these beers, sometimes it makes me realize that the ones in my backyard are awesome, and as a result I appreciate them more.

As for the OP’s question, I’m definitely drinking more local beers than I used to because there are simply more breweries. But over time, I’ve also started drinking more from a smaller number of local breweries that I feel are more worthy of my dollar than many who are not.

 

I've learned over the years that I can pick up pretty much anything local here in Michigan that sounds good from the label info, and that beer will be very good. I might use social media to learn that something new is released that sounds interesting, but that is the only role the media plays.

 

My preferences keep changing, but the last year or so I've gone almost exclusively to BA stouts/porters/quads. That said, if I buy a lot of anything, it eventually sits in my cellar because I will always drink new-to-me beers over cellar favorites. Not a lot of local BA beers, though I make it a point to drink locals.

 

Part of the fun for me is trying new beers all the time and sharing them with friends. I don't drink that much or that often any more, but I still enjoy the hunt once in a while. That said, I could get by just fine on the readily-available local and regional brews if I had to.

 

I agree with your general arc, OP. I had the early "I want something different from macros" phase. That moved to the FOMO/hype train phase. Now I'm in a "drink good beer I know" phase with some hazy IPAs mixed in. I'll try anything new, but I'm also happy drinking a Bell's or Founders standard. M-43 is becoming a bigger "safe choice" beer for me around my area. Add in a few solid locals, and I've got all I need. Well, that plus the way too large cellar from the FOMO phase to drink through.

 

My main issue with local beers is the fact that I prefer European styles. I don't like American hops so vast amounts of American beer doesn't appeal to me. I'm always on the lookout for local breweries that make good renditions of British or German styles, in which case I will drink those over imports. There's a lot of good beer being brewed in and around Michigan these days, just certain styles are extremely difficult to find.

 

It's always been the same approach for me: a healthy mix of old faves and some well-selected new ones. But with the new beers it's with the intent that they'll become a part of the regular rotation; and if it's only going to be "interesting" once or twice I'm not really interested from the get go.

 

“…from places within an hours drive of my house - most of them, I could probably ride my bike to. It is not out of any great love for Minnesota, it is just that the local brewers are doing enough interesting stuff to fill my cart. What do you think?”

I often do the same. I am fortunate that in the Philly area there are many high quality local breweries to select from and I can purchase these beers fresh. I do this with local breweries that are over 20 years old (e.g., Stoudts, Sly Fox, Victory, Iron Hill,,,) and breweries that have opened in the last few years (Tired Hands, Root Down, …).

Fresh, high quality beer is indeed a winner!!

Cheers!

 

I drink a lot of local beer, but it’s also typically too expensive or too difficult to obtain. In addition, when I think about my favorite beers in certain categories, imports are still generally at the top.

 

I'm always looking for new beer to try from all over the place. I've always leaned towards quirky imports, but am always on the lookout for new American beers that are distributed to my area as well. I will say I'm a bit conservative when it comes to styles, I shy away from much of the gimmicky, hazy nonsense that is flooding the shelves of my local bottle shops, but unfortunately, a lot of the breweries I haven't tried are making those kinds of beers....

 

I cut my teeth on California IPAs before I began reviewing, great and enjoyable beers.

Over the last 6 months or so I've been seeking out smaller breweries from N/E, practically Mass. beers; Berkshire Brewing, Bog Iron Brewing, Mayflower, Down the Road, Naukabout, Lamplighter, True North, Opa Opa, Howler and larger breweries such as Wormtown, Tree House, Jack’s Abby, Lord Hobo etc.

I’ve just begun to scratch the surface, and there are R.I. and Conn. breweries within 1-hour drive.

The OP asked, “What do you think?”. I say if you have a good backyard, take advantage, but never limit yourself.

 

So if we are talking about store buying habits in this current day, I've noticed over the last 12 months or so that tons of local/regional smaller up & coming brewers are flooding the store shelves, mixing in with the really good regional and national distro beers (Bells, Founders, SN, Stone etc). My problem is that probably over 50-75% of the new locals/regionals are sticking NEIPAs in stores and almost all are very mediocre with so/so ratings and expensive to boot and questionable freshness most of the time. I'm not willing to buy a 4pack or 6er of these just to try something on a whim. If there was a better mix of styles, I'd be buying more of the new locals on store shelves. I'm still primarily buying the more wider distro and out of state stuff (better quality, better price, better variety of styles). And I still buy quite a bit of Euro imports, just because their quality is so high and price is usually reasonable (English and German...Belgian is usually pricer).

 

One could say I've been seriously into beer for just one year, NA that is. Still trying all beer I can get my hands on, so far "only" 81 different. Did my first rating today btw! I have to get all the different I can get with the limited supply. My supermarket has 20-30 different, of which the domestic are around 10, then it's the internet. I have even planned how to get beers from the US, prepared to take the cost.

Had a porter today, yummy. Have a feeling I will like lagers forever, may well be the case also for most of the other styles, maybe with the exception of some of the fruity ones, we'll see.

 

There’s plenty of great beers here in about any and every style you might want. But still I crave beers from Alchemist/ Lawson’s/Second Fiddle.

 

Yup, my attitude is generally to think along the lines of what type of beer I'm in the mood for, and then assess my best choices available along those lines while I shop. It leads to a healthy mix of local/regional/national/imports.