Drink Global, but Think Local

For about three weeks, the cash register pole display at the store had the following message displayed on it:  NO!, We do not sell Fat Tire!"  This was in reference to the countless people who have come into the shop since we have opened and asked for New Belgium's Fat Tire.  For those who are not aware, New Belgium is a brewery located in Fort Collins, CO.  Fat Tire is their flagship beer, a decidedly pedestrian amber ale.  For those who lived on the west coast it is often their "gateway beer".  That one beer that exposes people to the great world of craft beer.  For me personally, that beer was Harpoon IPA from Boston, MA.  It was that beer that made me realize that beer does not have to taste like yellow, watery piss ala Bud, Coors, etc.  After that, I was all about exploring the world of craft beer.  While I still enjoy a nice Harpoon IPA, esp. on tap, it is a beer that I rarely find myself returning to in that to me there are just so many better and more interesting beers out there.

Now, back to Fat Tire.  While there is nothing wrong with someone asking for or returning to their "gateway beer", I often find that when I tell people that we do not carry Fat Tire, they simply turn around and walk out of the store.  Huh?  To start, it is not that we simply choose not to carry anything from New Belgium, it is simply that they are not distributed in NY.  In a nutshell, New Belgium prides itself on being a green and sustainable brewery.  In fact, most of their employees are given special bikes so that they may ride them to work.  Pretty cool.  Anyways, for the most part they do not distribute their beers east of the Mississippi.  They chose to do this to avoid expanding their carbon footprint.  Again, very admirable.  So when I explain this to those folks who ask for Fat Tire I will go on to list numerable comparable beers.  In a nutshell, Fat Tire is a medium bodied, malty affair.  Not too complex, but par for the course for what an amber ale should be.  When listing potential alternatives I will often mention as many LOCAL beers as possible.  This is where my frustration really grows.

At Grand Cru, we stock (and drink) beers from all over the United States, as well as from places such as Germany, Norway, Denmark, Canada, Japan, Belgium, Czech Republic, etc.  While it is a great (and tasty) opportunity to drink beers from all over the world, sometimes it boils down to the fact that one should indeed SUPPORT LOCAL BEER!  Ok, no more cap locks.  Enough yelling.  It is a simple fact that if individual markets/regions do not support their local brewers, then those brewers will cease to exist.  In this case, when I refer to local brewers, I am not necessarily  referring to the town/county level (though that's a great place to start), but the state level.  In NY state we have a tremendous amount of great brewery's, most of whom produces a beer that is more or less in the ballpark of Fat Tire.  So, when I offer up examples such as Ommegang's Rare Vos, Keegan's Hurricaine Kitty, Brooklyn Brown, Ithaca's Cascazilla, etc.  (heck, even less regional example that are almost spot on) and people choose not to try them, I get a little perplexed.  It becomes frustrating when folks do not want to hear any alternatives and simply turn around and walk away (not all of them, mind you).  These people are simply neglecting the many great brewers that are located right here in their state.  It is attitudes such as that that can go a long way to hurting the cause of local brewers.  Sure, maybe someone had Fat Tire years ago when they were living somewhere on the west coast (it is rather ubiquitous out there) and it became their go to beer.  But if said brewery is not available in your area for any given reason, it is time to support the brewery's that are in fact in your area, and it starts at the local level.

Put another way, if New Belgium did not cultivate their own local follwoing, it would have prohibited them from growing and expanding to the the point where the could distribute outside of Colorado.  Brewery growth is a good a thing, but it cannot happen without the support of local beer drinkers.  The ability to enjoy a beer from Chico, California or Oud-Turnhout, Belgium is a great thing.  However, the ability to enjoy a fresh, local beer is always better and vital to the continued growth of craft beer.  A great new brewery called Crossroads just opened about 30 minutes north of here in Athens, NY.  Right now, they are draft only.  As such, for the next few months, you can most likely expect to find one of their great beers on tap here at the store (their Outrage IPA has been a hit).  On the same token, when the Rhinebeck Brewing company finally gets up and running (yep, you heard that right) you can bet that we will be the first to tap one of their beers.  This is exactly how a brewery is able to grow and expand, through local support.  Hopefully ten years from now some small little beer store on the west coast will become annoyed with all of the people coming into their shop asking for Crossroad's Outrage IPA.  It is my hope that they will cheerfully explain that Crossroad's is not distributed there, yet, but will in turn offer some great local alternatives.


So, be open minded and support local beer!