Don and I are preparing for our next podcast, which is all about the “Localvore” movement, eating only stuff that comes from within 100 miles home. I love the idea of going local, but don’t always follow this practice, especially when it comes to beer.

Actually, in preparation for our podcast, I realize that I haven’t tried the beers from the breweries closest to me for over a year. Not very supportive, right?

This is partially because I didn’t fall in love the first time I tried them, and mostly because I live in New Jersey which isn’t exactly a brewer’s paradise. I drink stuff from all over, and lots of stuff from Pennsylvania and New York, but almost nothing from the Garden State.

Anyway, I’m going to rectify the situation when we record tonight by having a quartet of New Jersey beers from Boaks, Ramstein, Flying Fish and the NJ Beer Co, a new brewery that I’ve had good luck with so far. My hope is that I rediscover my local breweries and start drinking their stuff on a regular basis.

So how about you? Do you support your local breweries, or do you find yourself drinking stuff that comes from far away? I know folks seems content to drink local in Washington State, and that Colorado and California make it easy to stay local as well. But I’m not so sure about the rest of the country.

Please let us know below what you do (or don’t so) to support breweries in your neck of the woods. Also, to see what hidden gems might be right under your nose, check out the Beer Mapping Project.