Drink Local! No thanks.

Problem: There are too many local breweries now, and 50% of them make a run of the mill mediocre product.
I buy from the ones i don't want to go out of business, and hope the rest do go out of business.

I really hate all the contract brewed beers that are nothing more then a brand with someone else's pre-made recipe inside. No inspiration, no creativity, go to business hell.

 

I try to buy local as much as possible, but have found that it can definitely be a hit or miss proposition.

Austin has a really nice burgeoning craft beer scene, and it seems like a new brewery is opening up every other month. Some of them have been great (Hops & Grain and Austin Beerworks, for example) and some of them have been REALLY awful and too quickly brought to market. So I've definitely been burned on buying $12 bottles that have been drain pours, just to try to support local business.

In the end, those that are only mediocre will get weeded out, and word of mouth is strong around here. I still avidly trade for out-of-area stuff, and probably always will, but will try to support local as much as possible.

 

I am an equal opportunity beer drinker, if you brew it and it comes to MI, I will more then likely buy it.

 

All things being equal....local is the choice. But quality does and should trump. I will always drive to downtown Chicago for an Al's Beef Sandwich ( http://www.alsbeef.com/ ) vs settling for a watered down, packaged gravy version served by the guy in the strip-center down the street.

 

The closest brewery to me is Rust Belt. I've tried a couple of their beers, and have not revisited any of them.

 

I drink what I like. I don't care where it is made. If I have the option of drinking something decent from a local brewer or something great from an out of state one - I don't even think twice. I'm spending my money on what I will get the most enjoyment out of.

 

We have about five or six with more opening here in Connecticut. They all make good beer, but nothing to step over your mother about.

 

in theory local should make sense - would you rather buy bread from your local bakery or from walmart? - that is to say, fresher beer should be better. but in reality, not always the case.

if you are a craft beer enthusiast, i think you owe it to your community to at least try a beer / beers from your local brewery. if youre going to try something new anyway, why not try something made in your backyard? but, if its not good,you shouldnt have to support it continually. in the end, consumers have the final say about which products are best, regardless of where theyre made.

 

With the long awaited release of Sockeye's Dagger Falls in cans, I now have 2-3 local (like, within my city) breweries and another 2-3 breweries within the state of Idaho that I don't feel bad about sending as extras in trades. So, now the Drink Local thing has some charm for me, though for awhile it was pretty painful (like you).

Still, there isn't anything really special being made right around me, just solid everyday drinkers...

 

Being in Orlando FL, there isnt shit for locak Breweries. We have Orlando Brewing (puke!!), A small brewery/pub in Mount Dora and a new one in Longwood, Hourglass They seem to be the most promising. Too bad their tasting room only seats 6. We have a number of decent Brew Pubs or gastro pubs. Cask and Larder with Brewer Ron Raike comes to mind. But all in all Orlando sucks for local. But we do have CCB about an hour away so that helps.

 

I certainly aim to support local whenever possible but it can be a challenge sometimes. I agree that "local" can often equate to "sub par".I hunt for the bars, growler shops and bottle shops that actually DO carry the good stuff in the hopes that supporting those will encourage the brewers to keep making them.
Despite my intentions to support local, at the end of the day my money goes to the beers that I love. Sweetwater IPA, Jailhouse Breakout Stout, O'Dempsey's Your Black Heart and Terrapin's "Monster Beer Tour" offerings are all great but sometimes a man has just gotta get some Expedition Stout, DORIS, Maharaja or Hop Stoopid...

 

Drinking local isn't always a hippie/save the earth proposition. As a practical matter, it's nice to have quality brews that you're never going to have a problem finding. I live near Boston in Somerville, where both Pretty Things and Slumbrew are located. I'm not gonna kill anybody to get to their beers, but it's nice to always have them around.

Especially nice when limited beers like BCBS and Parabola seem to arrive months later in the Northeast than other places...

 

Yeah, we're getting there. Think about where the industry was just 10 years ago. We're getting there. Less and less terrible beer out there, and more and more world class beer and breweries. Pretty happy to be in ABQ.

 

If you're a small local brewery, (there are 2 in my small city) I will support you if you make things that are fun/interesting/new even if they are not "world class." What I won't do is come into your tap room and buy an average to below average IPA, Brown Ale, Porter, Scotch Ale or the like just to "drink local" when I could get a far better beer at many local bars or restaurants.

I understand it's hard for small, local breweries to make really impressive beer due to limitations on ingredients, processes, and experience; however, if that's the case you need to take some risks in what you're making to keep me interested, otherwise I will get my beer somewhere else.

 

it depends.. if the company is sourcing their ingredients local i'm more enticed to try their stuff, just b/c the company is in my area though doesn't mean i'm going to support them hardcore b/c they are near me.

I live right by an iron hill and drink their stuff fairly often, but i'm always sure to checkout any of their specialty beers that they use local ingredients, recently they did a blueberry beer, or one with local honey, etc... etc... those i'll check out

 

There are a few breweries within 20 minutes of my house, mostly middle-of-the-road stuff, though. I am willing to make the 45 minute drive to Dragonmead in Warren, MI - they make some delicious stuff.

 

Quality trumps proximity.

If I'm having trouble deciding between 2 beers of equal quality, Perhaps I'll play the local card as a tiebreaker. But outside of trying all my local beers once, I will not routinely buy them if I think they're inferior to a beer made outside of my state.

 

I have two breweries where I live but I also have access to a large variety of Bells, Founders, and FFF beers so I only drink local when that's the best option.

 

I hear there is another nice place in Warren...