As someone who has a bit of a distributist streak, it's really nice to see this.
There's a craft brewery near me, and I patronize it not because it's the best beer, but because it's pretty good, and I want to support the local business.
Craft breweries seem to be pretty good candidates for distributing the means of production. I'm speaking a bit out of ignorance, but it's not a lot of ingredients and it's not a huge deal to ship and store those ingredients, correct? There are more pieces to a cheeseburger with lettuce and tomato than a beer - and meat, cheese, and produce can be harder to consistently source and keep. And because craft is a pure luxury good, price isn't as big of an issue here is as it usually is when you talk about these things.
You are correct! It's a relatively small number of ingredients to make beer that can be shipped pretty easily. Grain, hops, yeast, water, an assortment of adjuncts.
The issues come in with the actual means of production, rather than the material ingredients. Brewing is a rather technically complex task. It's not trivial to do reliably - ask any homebrewer about batches they've skunked. It also benefits significantly from economies of scale, as at scale there's a whole world of applicable chemicals production control technologies.
It's a lot like housing. It's relatively easy to ship around wood, wire, pipes, insulation, paint, and so on. Assembling them into a working and usable house is a smidge more complicated.
> It's a relatively small number of ingredients to make beer that can be shipped pretty easily
Contrast that with the finished product. A hoppy IPA is at its best for a limited time, and that is shortened by exposure to light and heat. Other beer styles vary, but none last for ever. This favours local production, not storage and shipping.
I think one of the 2 local craft beer shops has those, for maybe 2 or 3 beers on keg. Compared to hundreds in cans and bottles.
The crowler is basically a can, and the likes of a Stone Enjoy By or a Brewdog Born to Die are not going to be the same forever, even in cold dark storage in a can. The aromatic oils in the hops change over the course of weeks. I have tasted that. They might still be edible, but tasty? Not for ever.
Even a 12% ABV Imperial stout can lose flavour in the bottle after 2 years or more.
There's a craft brewery near me, and I patronize it not because it's the best beer, but because it's pretty good, and I want to support the local business.
Craft breweries seem to be pretty good candidates for distributing the means of production. I'm speaking a bit out of ignorance, but it's not a lot of ingredients and it's not a huge deal to ship and store those ingredients, correct? There are more pieces to a cheeseburger with lettuce and tomato than a beer - and meat, cheese, and produce can be harder to consistently source and keep. And because craft is a pure luxury good, price isn't as big of an issue here is as it usually is when you talk about these things.