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One of the benefits of living near Tampa is the abundance of breweries.
Many of them put their stuff in cans for taking home.
Tonight was a run to Cigar City.
A pleasant trip with the roads nearly devoid of traffic, so I set the cruise, cranked the tunes and relaxed!
Happy day!
Excellent beer. Was there around 2005 taking a side visit from Orlando business trip. Lucky you.
ReplyDeleteAustin is similarly blessed with an abundance of local craft breweries. I think we're north of 30 now within a 50 mile radius or so of here. Even out here in the burbs we have several including the excellent Willard's which is within a couple miles of my house. They had our 2nd favorite Texas brewed Oktoberfest in our annual taste off. That's pretty impressive given the competition. They also beat out almost all the domestic offerings and a lot of the imports.
ReplyDeleteI've really noticed in the past few years that even in convenience stores the offerings are much more diverse these days. A few years ago you'd rarely see much besides the big 4 US brewing companies (AB. Miller, Coors and Pabst) and a handful of major imports (Corona and Heineken usually). In the grocery stores those big mega brewery's brands used to control the majority of shelf space. Now a lot of places there are only a few rows of the big brands and the rest is dozens of different craft offerings, many local.
Even before their recent marketing blunders you'd have to think that AB in particular but the mega brewers in general have been losing ground. You have to wonder whether people who have venured to try other beers due to political reasons won't find tha... maybe they might like something esle. And not go back even once the whole kerfluffle dies off.
For me it's largely a non-issue. I'd never have bought Bud Light just because it's boring and flavorless (by intent). So I can't boycott something I wouldn't have bought to begin with... Not that I really care if they want to try to pander to a tiny miniority to begin with. But it just is weird that a company that was built largely on marketing (because it sure wasn't make based on great beer) could so misunderstand their core market which is mostly hicks and hillbillies... who aren't usually big LGBT-whatever supporters.
Anyway... I really do appreciate that people who just reflexively reached for Bud Light might be broadening their horizons... even if it is only to buy Miller/Coors or Modelo products.... But I hope a lot of them give something local and non "light beer" a try...
Damn... looks like I forgot to sign that one... -swj
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