Drink Local! No thanks.

There's a local place that is approx. 3 blocks from my home. I can walk/crawl/skip there. However, while most here love the snot out of this place, their big 3 are ok with everything else they make in such limited supply that they're only in overpriced bombers or growler.

Fool me once, that's on me. But, fool me over-and-over-and-over again....I'll pass.

 

Most breweries, even the great ones, have some pretty much of the mill stuff. I think VA is coming on really strong these days. I can think of a beer from the top breweries here that I would rank nationally. Alewerks has a couple, Blue Mountain has a couple, Hardywood has the gingerbread stout (which I read they are rationing to 4 bottles per human). I would have to say that we might be a little spoiled. Not northern cali or colorado spoiled, but generally speaking.

 

What have you heard? Obviously you've never had anything other than Gratitude. Try their other beers and you'll be able to answer your own question.

 

It's a little silly to suggest that "drinking local" is just some buzz or phase in the craft beer universe. You have a lot vested in the craft beer scene where you live - the more you support your great local breweries, the more new local breweries will open, the more beer-oriented bars and restaurants will open, etc.

I see this in Seattle and Portland in a huge way. Neither are remotely new to the scene, but the undying support of local breweries in these towns has spawned significant growth in recent years. Also - in a place like Charlotte, which basically had nothing 5 years ago, the city rallied around one or two stores/bars before finally getting enough buzz to support local breweries. Now they are opening up all over the place.

To the OP, I get it - it's tough if you don't really live in a place fertile with local breweries that you like. For me, I love trying new beers and breweries, and there is no question that I'll support something from Washington or Oregon before something similar from elsewhere.

 

I'll definitely try to find reasons to drink local, and it's not always about the beer.

I'll drink mediocre local beer.... if they have good food that I want to eat, if they have good music in the tasting room, If they have a nice patio area where i can enjoy the day, or if if it's just a fun place to have a beer regardless of the fact that they don't brew like Founder's.

When I go out to a local to grab a beer, the beer quality is usually a secondary concern.

 

I drink beers from various states of the Union and places further afield, but I drink lots and lots and lots of locals because I find many locals very appealing (Pretty Things, Jack's Abby, Cambridge, Mayflower, Slumbrew, Ipswich, etc. etc.) and because hey hey hey there are concerns that are more environmental than aesthetic at play as well (but since this thread's mainly treating matters of taste, I won't go on about them).

 

I support good Earth beers. Screw you Andromeda Galaxy, polluting our space with your imports.

 

Hah, well of course I love Kuhnhenn, too. But Dragonmead's Reverend Fred, Final Absolution, and Under the Kilt keep me coming back! (Plus, they are a bit cheaper, and they offer a flight of 5-8oz beers for only 10$).

But yes, Kuhnhenn is certainly good as well

 

A large percent (90%? maybe more?) of my local drinking is at the source, either brewpub or brewery tap room.

So its kind of hard to drink anything else on those occasions.

 

Most of the contracted stuff isnt that great though. A few like Notch and Pretty Things stand out. But the rest isn't really doing much for me. I havent had many CBC bottlings other than Tripel Threat so I cant speak much on their quality. I just go to the pub. The bad is far outweighing the good in this case.

 

I try to favor my own planet's offerings but you're really missing out if you don't try cask ales from other galaxies.

The beer's in-cask development over the course of millions of light years makes a notable difference (though admittedly carbonation does suffer).

 

In Miami there are only a handful of local breweries. They're mostly very average. I live about 5 minutes away from a brewpub, and I go there occasionally just because it's close and has some decent fresh beers. Usually the most local thing I drink is CCB, which is 5 hours away but still THE Florida brewery to me.

 

It depends how "local" you're talking... if you limit it to the city or a short drive away, I have Jolly Pumpkin and a few okay brewpubs, which isn't enough to satisfy me indefinitely (I love Jolly Pumpkin, but I'd want a bit more variety). If you include the entire state of Michigan, or even just breweries within a few hours of me, I could limit myself to local beers and be quite happy.

In general, though, I drink what's good. It just so happens that's usually Michigan beer.

 

I will always give the local guy a chance. If the beer's good, I'll continue to drink it.

 

Agreed, Im from a small town in the central valley of California and while I seem to be abel to get a hold of very good beer from up north the one and only brewery in our town is a great place with decent beer, but its really the atmosphere i go for great live music, great food and people. I am more then happy to support them.

Not to mention Tioga Sequoia Brewing Company is a short drive away and that is amazing beer. Not sure how far it makes it out of Cali but its huge here and is very good. So cant really complain about my locals.

 

This is the truth...

A lot of this comes down to perception as well. Some people have great local and not so well known breweries and think everyone, everywhere, should be supporting their local establishments...not so easy when the local establishment's product is thoroughly outdone by other "foreign" options. Living in Indiana for years gave me access to a great developing beer scene, just a few breweries were Flat12, Bier, Brugge, FFF's up the highway, Upland sours and some great seasonals, etc., and I drank local all the time.

Now living in DC, high quality local (especially in terms of brewery regulars) just does not exist. I'd be crazy to buy a 6pk of Port City Porter when I can get a 6pk of Founders porter for roughly the same $. Port City, not bad at all, I rather enjoy it, but it doesn't live up to many other great porters, so drinking local means I'm sacrificing for a lesser product solely on the basis of putting $ in somebody's pocket that lives down the street rather than 600 miles away. But that person 600 miles away is local to somebody else, could be local to me if I move to Michigan, its all relative, and its all stupid. People should drink the beers they like the most, end of story. There is no moral obligation for me to put $ in one guy's pocket because he's closer to me than the other.

What it all comes down to is breweries will prosper and succeed based on the quality of their product, not local support. That said, "Drink local" perpetuates a culture of bad beer (or at least inferior beer) being acceptable. These "Drink Local" campaigns create no incentive for local breweries to improve. If they are making inferior beer and still making big profits, who cares. I certainly hope this idea, in general, is a passing fad. Drink what you think is awesome, if it's local, great, if not, who gives a s*#!.

 

I drink local to a degree, WI beer I drink a lot of and Midwest beer makes up 90% of the total. A lot of New Glarus, CW and other great WI breweries same with a lot of Michigan and Minnesota Stuff. But I am not gonna stop buying beers like Lagunitas, NB, and SN just because they are big and avaliable everywhere.

 

I'll try a beer if it's local, but I won't buy it again unless I like it.

That being said, Troegs is super local for me, and victory, weyerbacher, and DFH are all fairly local so I have pretty good options. I won't call them out by name, but there are several breweries which I will not buy from again, despite them being local.

 

I'll always support great beer before local beer. Honestly, there isn't a single regular offering brewed in my city that I will pay for. We do have some decent seasonals here, notably Wild Rose's cherry porter, but everything else tends to lean towards the meh.