To Drink Local beer is to be a part of your community.

#1 — Fresher is Better

Like most things we eat and drink, beer has a shelf life.  The longer it spends in transport or sitting on a shelf, the less likely it is to be at its highest quality.  Don’t get me wrong though.  Beer packaged in cans and bottles can reach you in great condition. However by going straight to the source, you ensure that the brew has taken the shortest trip possible to reach your glass. This shorter journey helps to reduce damage from things like temperature changes, light and oxygen to ensure you get that brew at its very best.  

#2 — Closer to the Source

While it’s always nice to be able to walk to your favorite watering hole, that’s not the kind of closeness I’m talking about.  In this case, being closer to the source means having a more direct relationship with the people who are responsible for your beer.  Whether it’s the brewery owner, bartender or brewer that proximity allows for more direct feedback.  This immediately benefits the brewery employees in helping to improve their craft.  It also helps to shape the product and experience on which you, the customer, has come to spend your hard earned money.  

#3 — Financial Support

Just like all small businesses, craft breweries depend on customers coming out and supporting them.  While this applies to breweries of any size, the impact of each pint you drink is felt so much more at your neighborhood micro-brewery.  Instead of your money being used for things like TV commercials and ads on buses, it goes directly to grow and improve that small business.  Especially early in a breweries life, it is so important for beer fans to come out and show not only their appreciation but their financial support as well.  

#4 — Drink Outside the Box

Too often in life, we find it easy to settle into a routine.  Whether it’s the route to work or the places we eat, sometimes a change of pace can be welcome.  For a variety of reasons, new breweries are often popping up in less frequented parts of town.  However this doesn’t seem to discourage many avid beer fans and often encourages us to explore parts of our own cities that we might not normally visit. And the effect doesn’t stop there. On an even larger scale, craft beer is encouraging people to travel to new cities all of the country and even the world.