Greencastle, localism, craft beer and distance.

I've no idea whether Chris Weeks already lived in Greencastle before conceiving of a brewery there. Kudos to him either way.

I'm often cold-called by chambers of commerce and economic development entities, all of them interested in someone (anyone) coming to their locales, accepting a negotiable degree of civic largesse, and building a brewery.

Unfortunately, not only am I contrarian, but we're fairly skint at this point in time.

To me, given that brewing becomes ever more localized in proportion with greater distance from bigger population centers, perhaps local insights and origins are the single most critical components. In more isolated places, you simply gotta know your local market. The more local involvement, the better.

Maybe we need more communes.

Donovan Wheeler makes a succession of god point, and his rant is appreciated. Rock on, and good luck in Greencastle.

Go West Young Brewmaster, by Indiana On Tap Senior Editor Donovan Wheeler

(Editors Note: This editorial from Donovan reflects his own personal views and not the views of Indiana On Tap).

Last week, Greencastle’s Chris Weeks of Wasser Beer Company announced that he’d finalized a deal on a downtown location, marking the start of the first significant brewery west of the Greater Indianapolis area. For those of us living more than a 40-minute drive west of the nearest craft beer operation, this is a big deal. And given that I’m writing this on a Sunday…it’s actually a much bigger deal.