Slippery local slopes

Many areas have start up maltings and hop farms. But some areas produced a lot of hops and malt in the olden days.

Hops were grown in New England, until the molds and mildews hit.
http://www.uvm.edu/~pass/perry/hopsne.html

Google Valley Malt.

Today NY and Vermont have some acreage of hops. Not much compared to WA.
http://www.usahops.org/userfiles/image/1403128582_2014 June US Hop Acreage HGA.pdf

 

I'm another one who buys local beer only based on when it tastes good and cost is comparable to national/regional offerings. I'll visit local brew pubs for the atmosphere and scene and perhaps pay a tad more for slightly subpar beer. If a local brewer makes something outstanding/world class IMO...I'll get behind it and try to promote the heck out of it to anyone/everyone possible I meet. That's how I support local.

 

SN has gone out of it's way (to no one's surprise) to "do it right" with a phenomenal brewery that blends into the local environment and promotes an eco friendly approach. It is their way and certainly an element that makes them also fit into that scene. They can afford to do it. In addition, I think they "elevate" the game, so to speak. I, for one, was proud they came to NC.

When the proverbial #$%$ hits the fan and the "unbridled enthusiasm" of brewery construction tops out, I would anticipate a bit more "dog eat dog" mentality. I still think the SNs of the world can sustain benevolence but am curious if the goodwill will persist. Again, I think Ken Grossman's philosophy will continue to promote craft beer first and foremost but it would not shock me for those failing to take shots.

As to the PNW analogies--I don't see Asheville as having as much of a proprietary look on its product. Most of the stuff isn't grown locally. They are proud of the beer and the culture but very inclusive. A little hippie enclave. Just from here, Fat Heads makes no sense in Oregon but SN in NC seems natural. Just not quite sure about the Stone fit....yet. Richmond is a town of unique contrasts.

My two cents.

 

When Stone is up and running in Richmond they will be local in Richmond.

 

The executives at GM you refer to are all gone. Resigned (fired) or retired early.

Mr. Toyoda is still in charge last I heard. We get a lot of automotive news around the D.

 

let your taste buds decide where your dollars go. Drink what you like and support the people that make it. It doesn't hurt to support the locals but I don't think that a lot of competition will come up simply because Stone moved in. They have markets in multiple states to worry about and they probably have better things to do with their time than try to take the little guys under.

 

Only because I am also something of an aviation geek: Would you have rather the execs had taken the Greyhound to DC? If one accepts the premise that the time of corporate big-wigs is valuable, then having your CFO standing in the TSA line at DTW for 1-2 hours, waiting to fly coach, is a bigger waste of his time (AKA, the company's money) than paying for that Bizjet. Did that make the wrong appearance? Absolutely, but, that's all it is, style over substance.

There's been a lot of responses on this thread, and it's an interesting topic. I mentioned buying socks at Target. Those socks come from sweatshop labor overseas. Before that, those socks were made at a Hanes, or FotL, mill in the Carolinas. The Carolinas got those mills by paying less than the companies were paying union workers in New England. Such is life, the bosses get more, the workers get less. Those Toyotas (or Fords, GMs, whatevs) these days are mostly just assembled on U.S. soil, lots of the parts come from other places. I know my examples were simplistic, intentionally so.

Will Stone be a good neighbor in Virginia? I don't know, but I suspect so. Haven't heard any stories about them being bad neighbors in Cali, why would they start now? But, to the folks in Virginia (or NC for SN, OB, NB) if a local brewery makes an IPA that is the equal to the large breweries IPA, which are you gonna buy? As I mentioned above, a local brewery to me, makes an IPA that is very similar to Stone IPA. If I'm in an IPA mood, and their both on tap, I'm buying local. When I go to one of my regular bars that carries Stone IPA, a local Pils, and a local Scotch ale, if I'm in an IPA mood, which beer do you think I'm buying?

In this modern world, there are damn few things that are truly "local". The fact that my neighbor may spend some of his Toyota dividends at my workplace only helps me. And, maybe, his kid is a mechanic at the Toyota dealer, who spends some of coin at my place. But, when my car needs work, I'm taking it the local guy on the corner, I'm putting foreign profits back into my community. This whole line of thinking is a bit over my head, I'm ready for a (in this specific case) local beer.

 

I'll probably get flamed for this but I'll say it anyway. I have one big pet peeve about the local beer movement, which overall I am ok with. I live in an area with few but a growing number of craft beer bars. 5 or 10 years ago if I went to one I could get a great selection of national and regional crafts and imports, most of which were truly very good beers. Today the same places have zero imports, a couple national/regional crafts, but 80% plus of the selection is from the newer local breweries. And some of these local beers are very good, but more than half range from mediocre to bad.

 

I'll just come out and say it - I don't care if my beer is local or from Beirut or Beijing. I will drink it if it tastes good and if they are upholding reasonable ethical standards. I get that people want to support their local economy, but that doesn't do much for me and seems to be a selfish cycle. The only two real factors for me are taste and ethics when purchasing a beer.

To be fair I am the type of guy that sees loyalty based upon geographical relevance as something of a modern tribalism and as somewhat of a determent to the evolution of a greater human empathy and moral scope overall.......so I am probably coming at this from a way different perspective.

Sorry if I went too far in depth here (and I am expecting some backlash), but at the end of the day I just am not a fan of the local support movement UNLESS there is another factor contributing to the decision.

Also, as a VA resident I am pumped that Stone is moving in.

 

Welcome to my little world. It's the bars and restaurants where I experience this, not the retail stores where I truly have a choice. I would gladly rather have some of the regional crafts or imports that used to populate the taps at some of my restaurants, but are now increasingly replaced with the same not so stellar local options. Look, if this was San Diego or Denver or some other good beer metro then local would be great. But it isn't. And I think you and others with the "mediocre to bad" locals, as you said, are tired of this consequence of the buy local movement. The sad part is that now that craft is going more mainstream, the typical consumer isn't an avid enthusiast but just an ordinary person with not so much experience or knowledge in the craft beer, so arguably they're less likely to know any better. So they, too, support the local, even though the beer itself may not be in the same league as a dozen or so other options available in that market from the distributor. The promotion of mediocrity is often underappreciated in this conversation in general, whenever it comes up.

 

I think you have a good perspective that is sorely missing sometimes.

Think, too, of how the individual choice to buy local is somewhat impotent for just one individual person... exactly how much money are they spending on beer? are they just full of themselves, or do they really spend enormous amounts of cash to actually make a difference? and the profits are only a sliver of that amount initially spent. So given the reality of how much each person spends, it seems like really the buy local advocates are largely about telling other people how to spend their dollars, and that is what is necessary for the movement to any decent measure of success. Just like food activism, it often comes across as a proselytizing movement, akin to proselytizing religions, in contrast to ones that just involve personal beliefs and then people shut up and keep to themselves. Some are more in your face than others of course, but my god I miss the day when people would just post what they're drinking, rather than having to drop a little remark like "yeah, keepin' it local".

 

I agree 100%. A prime example of this is at my local movie theater that also happens to specialize in beer - Alamo Drafthouse in Loudon for those wondering. When they first opened their tap seletion was great with rotating options from The Bruery, Founders, Langunitas, Stone, and just a plethora of top notch breweries. Now their tap list is about 75% local as is their "company policy", and the overall quality of that list has dropped quite steeply. Yemenmocha really hit a great point here because as their customers walk through the door they perceive this place and similar institutions as being a beer authority and showcasing what should be prime brews, when unbeknownst to them quality is secondary to another factor. It puts local beers at an advantage that they may not deserve and can really detract from a system that rewards quality.

 

And I agree 100% with you again. There is an underlying objective of convincing people that somehow buying local = moral action or virtuousness, however the explanation required to substantiate that claim is never given and rarely requested.

 

As an Ashevillian, I would be lying if I didn't say I am torn up about the up coming large breweries. Let me explain. I have only so much beer I can consume in a week. And I already have my favorites among the 17-19 local breweries in our area. S/N coming to town is great and all, but it is not open to the public yet. S/N just put out a call for an additional 100+ jobs in anticipation of the opening of their pub and events place. So we really haven't felt the impact of S/N. However, they're not the brewery that is worrying me. New Belgium is. I REALLY like what N/B produces, which means, when they open it will take $ out of my regular stops.

Let me be clear, it is my opinion that S/N and N/B are local breweries. They brew locally, they hire locally, they will have a huge impact on Asheville area tax base, employment and ancillaries. But, as a consumer we get a choice.

Now from an Asheville factor, one thing that sets Asheville apart from Richmond is that Asheville is already a major tourist stop. We have the most visited National Park in the nation. Gatlinburg/Pigeon Forge is less than an hour away, Cherokee Casino is less than an hour away, Biltmore House and Gardens, etc... I think there is a place for folks to make these big breweries part of their tour of town, where lesser known smaller breweries, well, you have to find out about them from locals or at beer forums. And how many of your friends frequent beer forums?

I talk to folks all the time when I'm at Wicked Weed about Lazoom Tours, or how to find some of Asheville's lesser known gem's like Burial Brewing (which is hard to find even if you know WHERE to look), etc. I guess I call it beer forward or being a Beer Advocate, But, you really can't go wrong with Stone coming to town. Heck, I might have to put that on my itinerary when I head up to DC next to lobby.

 

Personally I agree with sentiment many are stating in that buying local is okay of course, but I prefer to buy better beer wherever is comes from and just because something is local does not mean it should get my business.

I think there are too many new breweries popping up that are just making average beer and not always at good price so naturally I think some will struggle and eventually shut down. Even if small brewery is making really good beer with so many choices on shelf and at brewpubs it will be hard to get enough business to grow in some places.

I would rather have easier of access to great beer then more and more choices of breweries. So I would rather see the best breweries expand distro so that I can purchase locally and less options in breweries so that beer that I want to drink moves faster so is fresh on shelves

 

How does one define "local," anyway. Let's use Minnesota as an example. I live in St. Paul which has several very good breweries in Summit, Flat Earth and Great Waters. Finnegan's is located in Minneapolis, across the river. Are they local? How about Lift Bridge, 45 minutes away in Stillwater, or Schell's, two hours away in New Ulm? Grain Belt used to be a Minneapolis brand before G. Heilmann took it over in the '70s and brewed it in Wisconsin. Now it's brewed by Schell's in New Ulm. Is THAT still local? If I were in Duluth, would a Minneapolis based brewery be considered more local, at three hours away, than something brewed in Superior, Wisconsin, just across the Lake Superior bridge?

And that's just one facet of defining "local" for purposes of discussion, never mind sourcing ingredients.

 

I exclusively support local nano-breweries..if it's not brewed in someone's garage/basement on my block it's part of the problem!!

 

If they didn't have exit packages, I would be surprised. You could web search for what they got and did not get. You do know that employees retirements do not go away if the employee is terminated or quits.

You can buy what you want, that is one of the great thing about the USA.

As for imported beer, not all of it is quality as it is often stale, I have given up on most German and British beers unless I am at a bar and can get a taste sample.

As for cars ,do your research. Some American cars have improved greatly in quality. Some imported cars are not of top quality. Just read that the lowest rated car in Consumers Reports was the Fiat 500.