Local breweries vs Nationally Distributed Breweries

Locals Only!

 

Victory and Troegs are both within an hour of my home, and they're among my favorites. Spring House is even closer, and I really love their beers as well.

That said, I also enjoy plenty of beer brewed much farther away.

 

A BIG +1 to what @LMT stated:

"So count me among those who just drinks good beer. I really don't care where it comes from."

Cheers!

 

If it's American, it's local dammit!!

 

I buy and drink whatever's available to me and love to try things I can't normally get at home when I travel. However... I love my locals (Kane and Carton in particular) and almost exclusively fill my growlers with their beer since most of it isn't canned or bottled.

 

I'd say I drink about half and half, maybe a little extra weight given to non-local breweries because of special releases. But there's no shortage of solid brews where I live. My local favorites are Clown Shoes, Jack's Abby and Pretty Things. I'll try pretty much anything brewed by those guys. Night Shift and CBC are not far behind.

 

When I go out, I usually visit spots with locals on tap or hit a local brewery's taproom. Containers are usually outside of the region, as I find my favorites for most styles come from outside of my region.

 

Jack's Abby is my favorite local brewery. Pretty much everything I've tried from them is good.

But being 'Local' to me is only a tiebreaker if I can't decide between two beers. I drink beer that tastes good, being local is a bonus.

 

I buy what I like whether it's local or national. But if it's a toss-up between a local and national beer, I pick local.

 

I suspect most of us in Mass would be similar (good locals, good distro). I like JA, Wormtown, Clown Shoes, Pretty Things and Harpoon too, plus I count most RI, NH and VT beers as "local". But I am also a fan of everything Lagunitas makes, and like Southern Tier a lot as well. Lagunitas stands out for quality and price point. Ballast Point, Stone, Green Flash, Bear Republic, Dogfish and others make good beers, but don't match local price points as Lagunitas does.

 

My favorite brewery is Firestone Walker, and they are not exactly local to me at over 200 miles away.

 

Surly, Fulton, Bauhaus, Indeed, 612, Dangerous Man, Harriet, Summit, Schell's. Of course I start local, but I also don't limit myself.

 

I buy mostly local, living in boston makes it pretty easy. (Jacks Abby)

I like local beers because theyre fresh, priced well, and I enjoy stimulating local economy.

I wouldnt mind getting more Cali/Vermont brews on the reg/fresh. Really sick of all the old Union Jack/Racer 5/Sculpin ect I see on the shelves

What I buy arent necessarily my "favorite" beers, If I only drank my favorite brews Id spend way too much money. Id rather travel the world and stuff than drink Barrel Aged Stouts and DIPAs on the reg.

 

I enjoy local and I enjoy nationally distributed. Although being in Toledo, I'm fairly close to Fat Heads, GLBC, The Brew Kettle, Jackie O's, Maumee Bay Brewing, among others that all produce great beer. I'm also fairly close to some fantastic Michigan breweries as well. I'm really in an awesome spot for beer.

 

Nationally distributed and fresh. Same for regional.

Local, no.



For those who live in good beer cities/states, I can understand the local.

 

Going by volume, I guess I'm probably mostly regional, unless local means within a 3 to 4 hour drive in any direction. Whatever it is that includes eastern PA, Hudson Valley, NY, and parts of New England, to be more precise. I really enjoy those beers, and they are close by, so it's win-win.

Then it's mostly International after that (Schlenkerla, Ayinger, Weihenstephaner, Hofbrau...), with occasional excursions into Stone/Sierra Nevada/Lagunitas territory.

About 10 years ago it was mostly National brewers, so locally things have really picked up in that time frame.

 

That's what I wanted to say!

 

I'm more of a regional guy. I drink a lot of Three Floyd's, Sun King, Bell's, Goose Island and Founder's.

 

Easy go to is fresh Sculpin, which for some reason we've been getting pretty regularly. Otherwise its pretty local usually. Just went to Tree House this evening. A mix I guess. Try for local.

 

You're welcome.