We come from a long line of “do-it-yourselfers” — our parents are artists and crafters and blacksmiths; our grandparents were carpenters and teachers and horsemen and business owners. We grew up in an environment of “Homemade is better” and “If you want something done right, do it yourself.” Even through the years working in large companies, giving our skills to another’s vision, we desired to make things. This led us to home brewing. Eventually, the hobby turned into an obsession, which we built into a business shortly after moving from California to Texas.
There’s a phrase among small business owners that begins, “When you buy local, you are not helping a CEO get a third home, you are helping a child get dance lessons,” but it’s more than that. People who open local businesses seldom do so with an eye on extreme profits. Sure, making a living is a part of it, but if someone thinks a small business is an easy get-rich-quick scheme, he or she hasn’t tried to run one. No, a local business is a labor of love. It’s a way to share your passion with your neighbors, a way to connect with your community, and a way to support your extended local family. When you buy from a local business, you support your community monetarily, but you also recognize the skills, the effort, the sacrifices and the passion of your fellow human beings. That support is what gets craftspeople through the day sometimes, and means more than you could ever know.
One of the things we love about Texas in general — and Aggieland in particular — is the independent attitude. Most people we meet have a crafting skill of some sort, and many of you desire to share that skill with others. We are lucky to be welcomed among such talented people, not just because we get to partake in a variety of specialized skills and products, but because of the personal touch an artisan brings to his or her work. When you meet the person who made a product and look that artisan in the eye, the object you own becomes more than a transaction — it becomes a labor of love that another human passed on to your care.
There is a growing movement for small locally-produced alcohol. The Bryan-College Station area is on the cutting edge of this movement, with craft breweries, craft wineries and craft distilleries, all owned and operated by people living here. You have a chance to get to know the people who made that beer you share with friends, or who hand-bottled that whiskey you pour for your in-laws. This is the importance of buying local. That relaxing after-work glass of wine is more than a stress reliever; it’s a community.
Adrienne Brundage is an entomology professor and a co-owner of New Republic Brewery with her husband Dean Brundage.
