Ideal Bite Green Tip Of The Week: Drink Locally!

The Bite:
The best cure's right outside your door: drinking locally produced beer is an eco-friendlier way to get your malted hops fix. Next time you don your beer goggles, make sure you don't, um, hop into bed with just anyone.

Benefits:
* Support for your local economy. Keep some of your money circulating in your hometown.
* Better taste. Crafted in smaller batches, microbrews offer more varied flavors than the average 6-pack from 7-Eleven.
* Energy savings. Most of our sustenance travels between 1,500 and 2,500 miles before going down our gullets. Lower mileage means lower energy use.
* Drinking what's on-tap saves aluminum and glass bottles.

Personally Speaking
The favorite Friday group activity of the Ideal Bite team in Bozeman, Montana is going to the "tasting center" to sample great Bozone microbrews, then leaving with a growler.

Wanna Try?
* BrewPubZone - lists brewpubs and microbreweries in all 50 states.
* Fermenting Revolution - this book explains the sustainable roots of beer and what brewers are doing today to go green ($15). Check out the author's blog here.
* Seven Bridges Cooperative - info on home brewing with organic ingredients.