Does anyone buy mediocre beer just because it's local?

I will always try new local beer. Once I decide that its not great then I mark it on my "no buy list". There are so many local beers now that you shouldn't have to settle for meh beer

 

My friends and I go to a small microbrewery once in a while because of its location that is pretty new. The beer is mediocre and the prices are high. For the most part, we normally just stay in and get Troeg's since it is local and awesome.

 

I personally am no longer going out of my way to try any local breweries in Colorado unless I hear some buzz or trusted sources tell me to go find them or seek stuff out. There are way too many bland or downright bad beers/breweries out there now to waste the time and money on, and far too many good ones elsewhere to worry about new stuff too.

That being said, I will also go to a new brewery with friends if it is a destination to hang out, whether or not we know the beer is good or not. This is more for the social aspect not the beer.

 

Seeing you're from Arizona, I feel your situation there @alucard6679

 

Agreed... Also terms like "mediocre," "quality," "good," etc. are very squishy and mean different things to different people. The poll is irrelevant, but it did create some lively discussion.

 

Approaching this from the "do I buy beer I enjoy less because it's brewed closer to where I live" spirit...

The main reason I buy beer is to enjoy it, so enjoyment (per dollar) is the primary factor in my beer purchases. If there's a local beer I somewhat enjoy sitting on the shelf next to a non-local beer that I know I love, I'm going with the non-local option, barring some mitigating circumstance like the fantastic non-local priced way higher than the okay local. (In practice, I tend to see the opposite of that example, where the okay local beer is noticeably more expensive than the non-local option I'd prefer anyway. Ah, economies of scale.)

I know of plenty of people who disagree with me on the enjoyability of particular local beers and breweries, some of whom are even forum posters here, and I wouldn't necessarily lump them into the category of intentionally spending their money for a lesser experience just because it's local. Conversely, I also know of plenty of people who do exactly that, odd as I may find it - but they tend not to be the sort who post on beer advocacy forums.

 

That is the definition of a beer locavore. I personally do not know any of those people but I have zero doubt that they exist.

If I shopped at local farmers markets vs. the supermarket I might run into more beer locavores.

Cheers!

 

You can certainly disagree with them. I'm not sure how citing examples of other people spending money on supposedly inferior products has anything to do with that dude choosing not to support mediocre local breweries. In any event, I'm just busting your balls man, it's not a big deal either way.

IMO, it all depends on the perceived attitude of the local brewer... if they come out with aggressive marketing and high prices for mediocre (or worse) beer, well, I'm not supporting that. Like if the place has been open for less than a year, doesn't even have a solid flagship lager/pale and starts putting out shitty BA beers for $16/bottle, I'm not giving them money so they can improve. It looks like they're trying to cash in and not that worried about the product. If the place puts out fairly priced beers and works on their core lineup and/or you get to the brewery/tap room and they seem like good dudes who are just starting out , then by all means support them and help them grow with your dollars.

I tend to drink good most of the time and try locals from time to time. If the locals are good, I add them to the consistent-purchase rotation. 5+ years ago, I would have tried all the locals ever and probably supported them a lot more. Since then, I've had too many subpar local (and out-of-region) beers and would rather spend money on something I know I'll like more often than not. If something local gets good reviews or a recommendation, I'll try it.

It's cool if you or anyone else feels differently, but you may as well try to use something directly involving beer and local markets to change my mind. Burger King ain't gonna cut it.

 

I intentionally buy beer I've never had. If it's made locally cool, I'd like to see what smaller local breweries are putting out. Not saying I'll buy it again but if i see something I haven't had I'm gonna give it a try.

 

I always support my local breweries, but if I try something that is not good, or below average, I will not buy again, just aren't gonna drink sub-par beer just because it is local, sorry !

 

I do my best not to subsidize mediocrity (although I do have to pay taxes by law).

 

I've come to the realization that the only thing as bad as a crap local brewery is an inconsistent local brewery.

For the sake of argument, I consider any beer brewed in Maryland that I can easily access from a short distance to be local. I realized this drinking DuClaw's Hop Continuum #3 - the beer itself is pretty damn good. Yet so many other beers I've had from the same brewery have been...shall we say, lacking. And yet every once in a while, they brew something really tasty, like Brimstone or Devil's Milk.

This is the game of Russian roulette that makes following a local brewery tough: you're still not averse to giving them money because you know they can make tasty beer, but more often than not they don't. And it gets frustrating buying a six pack with the hope it will be good, only to find out it isn't. You're supporting them because you want them to be more consistent, but you don't really because you know they won't.

Maybe I should just stop being such a terminal ticker and just buy more classics like Old Rasputin or Rochefort 10. Problem solved...?

 

Thankfully most of us have a good amount of great local beer that is easily accessible ... three years later and I bet the comments would still be the same though.

 

Look at one of the founders resurrecting a zombie thread . I might suffer thru a taproom that had mediocre beer if I was the only one who thought that or there was a good time being had, but I wouldn't buy it and bring it home to drink. Too much really good beer out there to drink so so beer. Now mediocre beer is in the eyes of the beholder, so....

 

'Mediocre' is a bit of a strong term, but I wouldn't call my favorite local IPA a 'world class' beer. It's a solid IPA, particularly when fresh, but nothing more. Fortunately, we do have lots of good options on shelves among the crud. Most of the beer that reaches a to-go format is worth taking home, for the most part.

EDIT: Woah. The last post in the thread pre-revival was 3 days after I joined.

 

Never!!! I buy it because it is on sale!

 

Not twice

 

I saw an add for a local bottle shop this morning. Bell's Oracle was on sale for $7.99 / six pack. No thanks.

 

This thread has been revived? Or has it just been dragging along?

OK, I'll play. I will buy mediocre beer to support a local brewery if it happens that I'm going to be there for some reason - I obviously won't make a trip to do so - and in those cases I'll chalk that up to enjoying the experience and atmosphere. But I won't buy their beer to go, nor will I buy their beer off of the shelf at a beer distributor.

 

I'm not buying something local beer just because it's local. That said, I'll definitely try the local stuff at least once to make my own opinion about the quality. The other problem where I live is that even local unknown beers are relatively pricey so it's really hard to justify the purchase of an objectively inferior product that costs the same as better distributed stuff.