Do you make an effort to drink local?

I drink good. If it is local, then great. But I do not sacrifice quality for the sake of "local".

 

If I count the entire state of Michigan as local then yes. And if that's the case it's really easy, so many good Michigan breweries. If we're talking within a half an hour drive then not really. There's a couple small brew pubs close to me but I've been less than impressed with their beer so far. We have been getting some nice out of state breweries with distro in Michigan now so the competition is getting better though. Can't wait to be able to pick up Finest Kind locally.

 

Just had one yesterday and I have to agree, phenomenal IPA.

 

My unofficial goal this year is to drink more local beers and I am fortunate enough to live in a location that offers me a wide selection of great options. Might as well take advantage right? For these purposes I am calling local anything from MA though primarily the greater Boston Area.

To this end I've recently been to the brewery/taprooms for Night Shift and Trillium and greatly enjoyed both. I was also gifted a Night Shift Barrel Society membership so I figure I'm all in on their beers for at least the year (though first impressions say this will last much longer). I've been drinking the heck out of Jack's Abby and it's only a matter of time until I wind up with out of town guests at Harpoon again. Also planning on catching up with Slumbrew soon and know it's only a matter of time until the Harpoon and Cambridge Brewing Co trips start up as friends from out of town come to visit.

I refuse to sacrifice quality for locality but again, with so many great options around I don't think it will be of much concern. Not saying I won't be all over my favorites from out of town though. I generally take the local thing with a grain of salt for reasons already pointed out but I do like keeping up with what's going on in my area.

 

I do a lot of traveling for work and make it a point to seek out the good local beers. Many of them I cannot get at home so this is an extra special treat. At home, usually stick with local beers from the StPaul-Minneapolis area. There are lots of good ones.

 

Chicago has a lot of good breweries so drinking local is not a problem.

 

Yes, lots of good stuff going on in NC now.

 

yea, and it's kind of easy as well. some local beer stores usually have a dedicated area for local offerings.

 

Living near the funky buddha makes it easy to drink local. If we include all the surrounding areas, and few hours north in Tampa, drinking local here in south florida is immensely easy!

 

I won't pass up a notoriously good beer with wide distribution in favor of something mediocre because it's 'local.' But if they are a local brewery that puts out good stuff, then I'll drink whatever they sell.

 

IMO Four Peaks is the best brewery in the Phx metro area, and don't get nearly as much recognition outside of AZ as they should. So, I tend to have something from them in my fridge most of the time, and their restaurant is pretty damn good

 

I want to at least try any and every new beer offering by all the small and local breweries around my area that I can find time to do so. If its really good and I can acquire it easily without going out of my way, I will repeat purchase. If its subpar to other similar offerings then no I won't buy again just because they live near my house. If its about on par with easy to acquire competition than I will give them my home court advantage.

 

I'm an hour away from San Diego and all of the breweries there, as well as about 3 hours away from Firestone Walker. It's not difficult to drink local in my neck of the woods. I am so spoiled.

 

Drinking local is easy in VT but I also enjoy ME brews and exotic Belgian imports.

 

Lucky to have surly and town hall within 5 miles of my house so it's pretty easy to pick where I'm drinking most days. At home for regulars summit 12ers cant be beat. Between them and The other newer spots coming up it is easy to drink local... although I have been consuming a hell of a lot of westbrook gose lately, that stuff is magical and its not my damn fault they aren't local!













Dear Westbrook,
If you are listening
Please move to Minneapolis... its only -45 sometimes

 

I usually drink local because that is mostly what's available in my home city of Salt Lake. They do import some decent beers from other states that are sold in the local bottle shops, but overall, Uinta, Wasatch, Squatters, and Moab beers are ubiquitous throughout Utah. Of course there are the smaller breweries that sell some fine brews (Rooster's, Bohemian, and Desert Edge Breweries), and I partake from those brewers as well. And, lastly, I don't really enjoy Epic Brewery very much because, in my opinion, they have not brewed the kind of beers Uinta has yet. Also, they have not been brewing and selling beers in Salt Lake City as long as the other Utah breweries have. As far as I see it, the people who are attracted to drinking beers from Epic Brewery are quite pretentious in my opinion. The name Epic is not original. A New Zealand brewery had that name before the SLC one did. They also sell ridiculously expensive beers.

 

I remember drinking at a Pub in North Hamptonshire & many of the locals wouldn't touch any of the well Kept Fullers because it came all the way from London (70-ish miles), more for me back then!

 

My definition of local is the distance I have to drive for regular season sports games for my kids. Since we live in the middle of fricking nowhere, that equals about 95 miles... That doesn't really work for beer only about 7 breweries within that driving distance. 5 of those have popped up in NW Arkansas in the last few years. For me, it's a range of about 200+ miles, encompassing KC, OKC, Springfield ,MO, Tulsa, Lawrence & Manhattan Kansas & all points in between.

Regionally, I'll throw ST Louis in there, would include TX, but never had a good beer from there that legally sold anywhere near here.

NW Arkansas kind of reminds me of the Asheville area about 20+ years ago. Real Estate Speculators, your move

 

Not really to be honest.

 

The only time I really make an effort to drink local when I travel. For instance, I'm in Los Angeles right now (and I'm glad for it, because the weather in Madison is seriously shitty compared to Los Angeles) and I'm looking more for the good locals- just picked up a Noble Ale Works Citra Showers and a Beachwood BBQ Tovarisch- stuff that's been well received on a local basis but obviously I can't get at home.

But when I'm at home in Madison, most of the locals I've had before- Ale Asylum, Karben4, New Glarus, Central Waters, etc. that there aren't a lot of beers that I would go back after on a regular basis- so I employ the trading method to keep trying all kinds of different beers and to get more of the beers that I find I really enjoy but aren't available in Wisconsin.

 

I'll pour out an HD'nR and nurse it for quite a while. Really a great beer with as many facets as any IPA I've ever tried. I'm going to have to get some more today!

 

I try to drink local and usually do when I am at a restaurant or a bar. Local for me is Westbrook or Coast; there are other locals that I do not care for.

I seldom buy local when I am buying for home. 6ers of Westbrook or Coast are $12, I buy 6ers of Sierra Nevada for $8.50 ($7 if I go the Sam's Club). And frankly the SN is better than either of the 2 locals.

 

Absolutely. Hands on trips to the breweries, great accessibility, and usually you're dealing with great people that make the trip/purchase worth it. However.... What is local. I'm from NE so I consider beer from Maine, Vt, and NH just as local as the MA and RI offerings which are more "local to me". Basically anywhere I can say trip to get a growler or a bottle is local enough for me.

 

I honestly try but don't try very hard. I know what AZ has to offer and I know what gets distro here in AZ. Like many, it's hard when you know so many great brews make it to my area and to only drink beers brewed in AZ wouldn't be fair to my mouth. If I'm at a bar and it's "_____" light or a local brew, I'm sure as hell getting local, even if it's just the run-of-the-mill IPA (fresh keg of Devil's Ale...MMMMM) or something light. We've got many new breweries in AZ like Fate, Dragoon and AZ Wilderness that are beginning to consistently pump out some amazing stuff. Hell, I've driven 30+ miles to get a growler of Dragoon's IPA just to drink out by the pool over the summer. If I had my choice to drink an array of national craft or local, I'm probably not picking local.

 

I'm always trying to drink something different every time I'm out or at home. If I walk into a bar and the board is mostly stuff I've had or dislike, I will drink local if it's there. I'm usually at our local brewery (Three Brothers) once a week though, so I feel that makes up for it. I also try to have a sixer of Three Bros in the fridge as well.

 

Yes very much so. Down here in Ga we have a new brewery called Jekyll Brewing in Alpharetta and their main and first beer came out Hop Dang Diggity and I can't get enough of it. They priced it too high but this beer is a hopped up pine cone soaked in a tub of grapefruit with a high carbonation level. I posted my very first beer review, if you can find it, not sure about distributon but if you can try it what a refreshing golden colored clear bubbly beer.

 

I'm more likely to buy something from a local brewery I've never heard of than a distant brewery I've never heard of. After that, may the best beer win.

 

I always go local when i want some super fresh stuff. Within spitting distance I have Wandering Star, Big Elm, and a couple upstarts. 1-2 hours is TreeHouse, Jack's Abby, Brown's, Schmaltz. 2-4 hours is Alchemist, Hill Farmstead, NEBCo. That being said, I'm always grabbing the nation-wide specialties that come through ie. KBS, Firestone boxes, Bourbon County, etc.

 

Well, The Bruery is around the corner, so yeah. Not sure if you've heard of them.

 

I just got done spending a year in Billings, Montana, and there was an excellent microbrew scene there, which started in the early 90s, before the downtown revival when Billings was even more of a shithole than it is now. I'd like to think the microbreweries (7 out of the 8 are downtown), had a helping hand. All brew on site. The atmosphere at most of them is very congenial towards community gathering. Kids and dogs are the norm, as is live music at one of them, but its never loud enough to drown out a conversation. Theyre only open 4-8pm, which adds to the uniqueness and specialness. Its like, you got this window to drink excellent beer and meet excellent people. And the fact that theyre all in a 10 block by 3 block area, its nice and walkable. Basically, Billings is on the way to being a Bend, Oregon, if it can beautify itself outside of the beer scene.

 

Sounds great. Billings looks like a place on the way to the big mountains and hunting, fishing, really remote beauty. Is it a provision town that people visit on the way and it's being discovered and invented? I have a few friends that dearly love Montana. Cheers.

 

I always try to drink local, wherever I am (and in a lot of cases, it's the main reason I am where I am).

It's always fun to me to learn of a new brewpub or brewery from the DC area (or anywhere in VA), and even though I rarely have high expectations for a new brewery, I do like to try and hope I at least taste "potential", even if I don't find a new go to place.

 

I echo most of the sentiment here. I don't necessarily go out of my way to drink local, but most of the good beer spots around here feature at least some amount of local brews. The good ones get my money, the mediocre ones get passed up. But I drink plenty of stuff from around the country and world as well.

 

They call Montana "The Last Best Place". Thats more true for the western half, but Billings is "The Last Worst Place" to me haha. Billings does live up its slogan "Montana's Trailhead" since like you said, all of the amazing beauty of the Rockies is just west of us. Worth a stop, but living there can get boring, except for all the good beer, but that gets expensive haha. A place like Bend would be more my speed.

 

Everything being equal, I'll drink local.

 

At post number 196, I'm sure to add something fresh to this thread with my unique answer:

I drink what tastes good. If it's local, great, if not, I don't really care. At first I told myself I'd refuse to drink foreign beer, but then I realized I'd be missing out on some preeeetty good stuff.

But, the vast majority of my reviews are from beers brewed in Michigan. Hey, it's not my fault there are so many damn fine beers brewed here.

 

I will second this comment. I prefer local if it is good and fortunately there are great beers and breweries just about everywhere now.

Also, on this Jekyll Brewing in Alpharetta...I picked this up just because I'd never heard about it before and it was on the strong side, which I like. The description above is spot on and I love the beer. It reminds me a little of Bells Two Hearted...with a nice dose of pine. Very nice.

 

I definitely drink Local at the craft bars, not so much with their bottled or canned efforts because I can get them on tap so I stick to buying my bottles/cans from outside areas that I can't get otherwise. Overall, I just drink what tastes great to me.

 

One of my favorite bars in Austin (Craft Pride) only serves local beer - absolutely.

 

100% yes for me too. I'm in the burbs as well. It's a little easier for us to drink local because Revolution, Pipeworks, Spiteful, and others are local. Spending money locally promotes the entire craft beer scene.