Define Drink Local

"Local" to Cincinnati is defined differently all over the place.

A lot of places put signs on Jackie O's (2.5 hours away by car) and Great Lakes (5 hours away by car) that designate them as local, because they happen to be from the state of Ohio. Ohio isn't exactly tiny, and I'd imagine that logic to be even more eyebrow-raising in Texas or California.

Some places put signs on Flat 12 to indicate it's local. Given that Indianapolis is about 90 minutes away by car, that seems a little more reasonable, but then Three Floyds (approximately as far away as Great Lakes) is not marked as local.

Some places label West Sixth and Against The Grain as local, which fits the same profile as Flat 12 - Louisville and Lexington are closer to us than even Columbus, OH, and definitely closer than Athens and Jackie O's.

Some places go a little more hardcore, and use a "Cincinnati beer" sort of classification, but even they tend to give a pass to breweries like Warped Wing (from about 45 minutes away).

Personally, I give approximately zero weight to where a beer is brewed, I just care if I like it. The majority of my beer drinking involves imports.

 

For me local was anything from North Carolina. Until I discovered Westbrook....

 

Made in the U.S.A. in a 100% American owned brewery.

 

Murica'! Is local !

 

My hometown brewers are my locals and then everything else in the immediate area is regional. So for instance,and don't ask me how many miles, Rochester's Three heads is a regional and so is Ommegang but Brooklyn is not .

 

Evolving.

Ten years ago "local" was Highland in Asheville because, well, few others were around in the entire state and IMO they have maintained that feel and reputation--120 miles away.

In Charlotte we have a lot of options within 20 miles now--many quite good to excellent but still feel Foothills, Olde Hickory, and the Asheville small brewers retain a "local" feel and following.

Grew up 30 miles from the giant Stroh's brewery that has been long closed--that was not local.

When I crack a SN--I really don't feel like I am drinking local and that is no knock on them at all--my opinion. I am the biggest Grossman fanboy and SN has gone the extra mile to be an ambassador in NC and the ultimate example of "doing it right." They started in CA and built the most beautiful brewery in NC and super excited to have them. I feel similar about Oscar Blues and NB (when it gets cranking-- just don't have the same love for their stuff, and well, they don't have Ken and SN Bill.

As has been said--know it when I see/feel/drink it.

 

There's a A/B brewery here in Jacksonville...does that mean if I drink a bud light, I'm drinking local?

 

Some states still have antiquated laws and breweries are forced to distribute.

 

In Texas I count it as regional. Anything in Dallas-Fort Worth is local for me. everything within an hour drive

 

Local- same state.
Hyper-local: at the brewery it was made.
I really enjoy hyper-local beer (and yes that is a thing)

 

Midwest I guess. Although I dont necessiarly "try" for "force" my self to drink local. I just drink what I want.

 

How long is a piece of string?

For me I'd consider local to be anything brewed in NY that's within a 100 miles of NYC. That's just my personal interpretation.

 

since i live in the middle of buttf@ck nowhere and there are only 2 breweries within 10 miles of my house (neither very good) i consider local anything from Colorado

 

I guess I consider local anything within ~100 miles of me... but I care more about freshness. Local brewers SHOULD have an advantage there, but very often I find fresher beer from non-local brewers like Sierra Nevada, Long Trail, Bells, etc...

 

The SNPA that I'm drinking these days is much fresher than that a while back. I do consider it local, even though the pure scale of that brewery is shocking to see for the first time. That place is a museum.

 

Stuff brewed within your state would be my definition.

 

I typically consider "local" to be anything within an hour or two. Somewhere I wouldn't mind visiting without having to spend a night or two in the area. I'm not too keen to drive 3-4 hours one way to visit a brewery, only to come back home after I'm done. So basically anywhere I'd be comfortable visiting without having to stay the night in the area.



More specifically, my county. I'm fairly central in the county, and there are quite a few breweries spread throughout the county. I can think of at least a dozen breweries that I could be drinking at in 30 mins or less.

 

For me local is within a 25 mile radius, then it's semi-local then regional. Regional being New England and New York for me.

 

Living in San Diego County, local for me means from within the county. I lived in Pasadena for several years. I probably would have defined local at that time as being from southern California, meaning San Diego County with a couple options from Orange and LA counties.

 

Easy for me, I have something like 40 Breweries within 50 miles. That would be local for me.