On beer placemaking and Placemaking Lager.

“All travel is circular. I had been jerked through Asia, making a parabola on one of the planet’s hemispheres. After all, the grand tour is just the inspired man’s way of heading home.” 
--Paul Theroux

There's an adage about going great distances in order to understand one's starting point, and at some elemental level, that's probably where my own head is going to be for a long time to come. To greater or lesser extent, I've been in the better beer business for 30 years, and these days, coming full circle is an apt description. What it means for the future is anyone's guess.

I've learned quite a lot in recent years, and much of it has no direct connection to beer and brewing. Except that it does, which is my recurring point, as with matters like placemaking. To reiterate:

Another contemporary societal trend to consider is the notion of placemaking, generally described as “a multi-faceted approach to the planning, design and management of public spaces.” Placemaking is a grassroots, community-based phenomenon, in which those ordinary people using a public space help to determine how that space is used. Placemaking may help in part to explain my re-emerging interest in community-based beer consumption -- keeping the beer drinking venues local, listening to the local beer drinkers, and knowing who supplies the beer.

As such, it is unthinkable that I'd be the only one contemplating the theory and practice of placemaking. Meet Tony Allegretti, who is attaching the name to a (contract) brew.

Jacksonville downtown advocate Tony Allegretti brews new craft beer for One Spark, by Carolyn Komperda (Jacksonville.com)

One way to bring together a city as diverse as Jacksonville is with a nice, cold beer. One Spark creator Tony Allegretti has been brewing up a new brand of craft beer that he hopes will be enjoyed by everyone old enough in the Jacksonville community.

Allegretti’s brand, Placemaking Lager, which was brewed in a small amount at Intuition Ale Works, a brewery in Riverside. Placemaking Lager is an independent lager and is not part of Intuition Ale Works’ production, Allegretti said.