Does it matter who makes the beer you buy?

It doesn't really matter to me. I truly enjoy sampling beers whether they were created by me (a homebrewer), a microbrewery, or a "big" brewer, domestic or imported. There is alot to learn from all methods, some good and some not so good, but why "brew in a box"? Relax, Learn, and have a Brew!

As much as possible, I try to balance my desire for sampling beers from around the country and around the world with supporting those companies/brewers doing the best for the community. One of our locals, Great Lakes Brewing, is a truly class act on so many levels (quality, community, environment) it's a pleasure to buy their beers even before opening one. Wish I could say the same for some of the majors. In particular I regret all those former craft beers that were altered when taken over by a larger brewer; that's been too common an outcome. Some pretty tasty beers are made or distributed by the world's biggest brewers. But when I travel, I'm usually interested in what's being make locally. Why else travel? Some folks like eating at Applebees or McDonalds, 'cause the food is always dependably the same. Where's the fun in that?

Decide to write a comment since I don't agree with any of the 3 choices. When I walk into a bar, the first thing I look for is a beer on tap that I've never had before. More often than not, those turn out to be local craft beers. If there is nothing new on tap, then I make my choice based on the style of beer I happen to be in the mood to drink. Once in a while, I want a light, refreshing lager, in which case the mega-breweries are usually the best (and only) choice. So my answer, yes I prefer to patronize local breweries, but no, it does not matter who makes the beer.

I support my local and regional breweries as much as possible and would prefer that they remain independent. It's the smaller breweries (and homebrewers) that push the envelope for creativity and variety. But it really doesn't matter who owns a particular brand as long as they do not do anything to alter the quality of the products or eliminate particular brands for "marketing purposes" (see the music recording industry as an example of what can happen). I would prefer to see more independents and less conglomerates, but there's a lot you can do with economies of scale (in production, materials and marketing).

It does not matter to me where or who brewed the beer, as long as it tastes good. Now, more than likely, your better beers are going to come from smaller craft brewers or home brewers. So what is what I normally buy. I do brew but I would not say mine is good at this point, but maybe drinkable.

It matters quite a bit to me because the only time I buy beer is when I don't have any of mine ready to drink. I live in the Northwest and we have PLENTY of locals to choose from. I'd just rather not contribute to the market share of the mega-corporations.

It doesn't matter who makes the beer I drink--as long as it's better than what I can brew, I'm willing to throw down the shekels. But I don't avoid buying beer from megabreweries--most just don't make beer I enjoy--don't drink Bud or Bud-Light, don't drink Miller lite or Millers, don't drink Coors, don't drink a lot of stuff that's out there, merely because there are other very competitively priced and better choices, even if the Big Three own and stock 2/3 of the space on any grocer's shelf. And I'm even willing and able to drive 30 miles to get a growler of the local brewery's best--and do.

Great survey, one thing i did not see mentioned was the choice of buying from American breweries. Small, medium, or large size breweries make no difference, don't get me wrong craft beer is a primary choice; but if my beer was made in the US that's my selling point.

I started drinking beer in the late '80s when I was "stuck" on vacation in a small town in England waiting a few days for a friend to arrive. I was surprised that the locals only drank beer brewed in town and were fiercley loyal to the local brews. When I returned to Indiana, I found almost no locally brewed beer and the bitter I had become accustomed to was nearly impossible to find. When brewpubs finally did make an appearance, I supported them wholeheartedly wishing for their survival and success. Unfortunately, while their beer was good, most of it was not as good as the imports and microbrews that were rapidly becoming available. Since I have moved to Colorado, supporting locally brewed beer has become easy. Some of the best beer I have had is brewed locally. Great Divide, Bristol, Boulder, Avery, Left Hand, Oskar Blues, Steamworks, Odells, New Belgium are all produce wonderful beers brewed locally. While occasionally, I will sample other beers to see how the rest of the world is doing and to remember the the origins of the styles I am drinking. I have very little need to drink beer brewed outside of Colorado, except when travelling.

I DRINK PBR.

For me the taste is what drives what I buy. As a homebrewer I can make nearly any style I choose, but to find out what that style should taste like I have to buy a beer of that style to compaire it to my homebrew. So I have to buy a Belgian Tripel to see if my homebrewed version is close. Whether the beer is made by monks at one monistary, or made by a Belgian mega-corporation, isn't really the issue. As far as the International Mega-corporations buying up American Breweries...... We can't have Mega-corporations here in America. We term them as a Monoploy, and there are laws against it to allow the consumer to have a greater choice and to eliminate price fixing. To foster compitition. However we, as a country, allow foriegn Mega-corps which have monoploies to by up American businesses. To me this is wrong in that we allow foriegn businesses to operate monopolies in America. It's an unfair playing field. I do not support selling off American businesses to foriegn Mega-corps just to give the shareholders a bigger dividend. It's just excessive greed.

It doesn't matter provided that the beer is enjoyable. It will matter if the largest breweries squash the competition such that there is little variety and that which is available is not enjoyable. I don't particularly enjoy the low flavor industrial lagers, so I neither drink nor buy them. If that is all that is available in the market, then it matters.

To you American beer lovers. You may be proud that AB is part of the Belgian/Brazilian brewery Inbev as Belgium has the best beers in the world. Do come and taste some or drink a Duvel, Leffe or Stella Artois when the deal is ok in your local pub. You'll enjoy it!

Drink locally as much as possible and internationally on occasion. And hold all to a very high standard. Otherwise you help to destroy your community and the world.