Monthly Archives: March 2024

Authenticity, Sense of Place, Small Towns

Yuengling, Rolling Rock and Mare of Easttown

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My wife and I recently finished watching a seven-part crime drama called Mare of Easttown. The show is set in the small community of Easttown, PA. The main character is Marianne “Mare” Sheehan, a police detective, who has to solve a missing persons case and the murder of a young single-mother. Sheehan’s character is played by English actress Kate Winslet. It is a well-made crime drama, with enough twists and turns to keep the viewer engaged and entertained.

The Mare of Easttown is a drama which does a great job of creating what Geographers call a ‘sense of place’ with respect to its setting. According to Geographers Ken Foote and Maoz Azaryahu sense of place is “used to describe the distinctiveness or unique character of particular localities and regions,” Easttown is a gritty, working class, Pennsylvania community which has Rust Belt written all over it. Indeed, in discussing the drama, the show’s creator Brad Inglesby refers to Easttown’s “blue-collar vibe” In making the show, Inglelsby strove to capture the “cultural authenticity of eastern Pennsylvania”.

There are a number of ways in which Inglesby conveys Easttown’s sense of place, one of which is having Winslet’s character talking with an authentic Delco accent. The fictional Easttown is located in Delaware County (aka Delco). The Delco accent is “characterized by its rounded vowels and shortened long-e and long-a sounds” so that the word “water” comes out as as “wooder”. In an interview with the Los Angeles Times, Winslet said that “It is absolutely up there amongst the top two hardest dialects I’ve ever done”.

Promotional poster for Mare of Easttown

In addition to Winslet’s accent, another feature of the show is the fact that the only two beers that the characters seem to drink are Yuengling and Rolling Rock. Both have strong associations with Pennsylvania and both appear frequently throughout the series. Mare’s preference is Rolling Rock. I did find it a little strange that no one in the show drank Budweiser or Coors Light. This surely has to be the result of ‘product placement’, the practice of featuring well-known products in movies and television shows. According to a 2022 article in the New York Times, product placement is a $23 billion industry. It should be noted that in a 2023 survey, a sample of Pennsylvanians identified Yuengling as their favorite beer.

Historically, beers have had a strong connection to place. Numerous examples abound, including Pilsner Urquell (Plzeň, Czech Republic), Newcastle Brown Ale (Newcastle, England) and Guinness (Dublin, Ireland). The surging popularity of craft beer has reignited an interest in sense of place and what it means. Many craft breweries adopt names that they believe connect them with the neighborhood/city/region in which their beer is brewed. Thus, the Edmund Fitzgerald Porter brewed by Great Lakes Brewing Co. in Cleveland, OH makes an explicit connection to the Great Lakes freighter that sank in Lake Superior during a storm on November 10, 1975. The entire crew of 29 men were lost. The use of locally grown hops and other local ingredients are responsible for discussions as to whether beer can have a terroir (a term usually used in reference to wine) which connects it to a specific place. See here and here for contrasting positions on this debate.

Yuengling and Rolling Rock – the only two beers that Easttown’s residents seem to consume

A key concept when connecting a beer with a place (or vice versa) is that of authenticity. Authenticity can be defined as “the quality of being real or true”. Dictionary definitions are useful as they provide formal definitions of terms. Equally important, however, are the terms that the average person uses to express ideas such as authentic/authenticity (and their antonyms inauthentic/inauthenticity). The work of Balázs Kovács and his colleagues, which was published in the journal Organization Science, is useful in this regard. In a study of the restaurant industry, Kovács et al. (2013) asked consumers to identify words that expressed authenticity and inauthenticity. Words that consumers most frequently associate with authenticity include genuine, real, and legitimate, while words they most commonly associate with inauthentic include unreal, deceptive, and phony. So what about Yuengling and Rolling Rock? To what extent are they authentic Pennsylvania beers?

The Yuengling Brewery in the small town of Pottsville, PA (population ~13,000) is the oldest brewery in the United States. Established in 1829 by a German immigrant by the name of David Gottlieb Jüngling (anglicized to Yuengling) the brewery today remains under the ownership of fifth and sixth generation family members. While Yuengling is also brewed in Tampa, FL (in a brewery purchased by the family in 1999) and Fort Worth, TX (under contract with MolsonCoors) it remains loyal to its Pennsylvania roots. It is an authentic Pennsylvania beer.

The same, I would argue, cannot be said for Rolling Rock. First produced in 1939, this American Lager was brewed by Latrobe Brewing Company in the small town of Latrobe, PA (population ~8,000 and the birthplace of golfing legend Arnold Palmer and children’s television presenter Fred Rogers). In 1987, the brewery was purchased by Labbat Brewing Company. Further mergers and acquisitions occurred and, by 2004, Labbat (and Rolling Rock) was owned by InBev. In 2006, Anheuser Busch purchased the Rolling Rock brands from InBev for $82 million. Shortly after the purchase, production of Rolling Rock was shifted from Latrobe to Newark, NY where it was brewed in an Anheuser-Busch facility. Rolling Rock had left Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood.

The brewery in Latrobe where Rolling Rock was brewed before production to Newark
The brewery in Latrobe where Rolling Rock was brewed before production shifted to New Jersey

When it was brewed in Latrobe, part of the branding of Rolling Rock highlighted the fact that the water used to brew it came from nearby mountain springs. Latrobe sits at the foot of the Allegheny Mountains. Writing for The Pennsylvania Center for the Book, Nick Stumpo noted that the taste of the beer changed “ever so slightly . . . from year to year due to the sediments that run off the hills into the mountain streams that feed the main brewing reservoir”. This is effectively an argument for terroir. After the transfer of production was announced, one resident asked, “So will Rolling Rock now taste like the swamps of Jersey (with apologies to the Boss) rather than the mountain springs of Old Latrobe?”. Another stated, “If it ain’t from Latrobe, it ain’t Rolling Rock.” When the shift to Newark was announced, Anheuser-Busch brewmaster Doug Muhleman, stated, “we locate our breweries where we know we have an excellent source of fresh water. And, of course, Newark is no different. We are very confident we are going to produce a beer that is indistinguishable from the beer that is produced in Latrobe.”

Rolling Rock beer comes from the mountain springs to you

When news of Rolling Rocks imminent departure became known, there was significant local backlash. Consumers like Michael J. Pleva vowed “never to drink Rolling Rock again”, while local bar owners reported patrons shifting to other brands. In the State’s House of Representatives, House Resolution 798 was introduced. It read:

“A Resolution urging Pennsylvania residents to boycott Anheuser-Busch Companies, Inc., by discontinuing the purchase of all Anheuser-Busch products if Anheuser-Busch Companies, Inc., proceeds with its plan to close the Rolling Rock Brewery in Latrobe, Pennsylvania.”

These responses are understandable. Nick Stumpo suggests that Latrobe “owes its identity and national recognition” to Rolling Rock, a beer “embraced by mill and steel workers who shared pints after long days on the job”. Local restaurant owner Joyce Stern referred to Rolling Rock as “an icon. It’s the identity of this town.” Dave Taylor of Taylor Brand Group, described Rolling Rock as beer with a “blue collar following and steeped in the appeal of small town authenticity”. It was an identity that Anheuser-Busch tried to leverage after it moved production to New Jersey. They did so by creating and using the slogan “Born Small Town” to brand the beer.

So, to use a soccer analogy, did the creators of Mare of Easttown score an own goal when using Rolling Rock as a symbol of small-town Pennsylvania? If you wanted to make that case, there is certainly enough supporting evidence. However, I am going to give the creators of the show a pass here. Even though I know that Rolling Rock is no longer brewed in Pennsylvania, my subconscious mind immediately jumps to the the Keystone State (and specifically Latrobe) whenever I hear the beer’s name. It may no longer be brewed in Latrobe or Pennsylvania, but it’s identity is still strongly tied to both the town and the state.

Craft Breweries, Neighborhoods, Walkability

Craft Breweries and the 15-Minute City

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Last month, I attended a conference in Monterey, CA where I had the opportunity to hear Carlos Moreno speak. Born in Yunja, Colombia, Moreno is an urbanist and professor at Sorbonne Université in Paris. Among academics and city planners, he is best known for his work on the 15-Minute City, a term he coined at the 2015 Paris Climate Conference.

As an idea, the 15-Minute City is a pretty simple. It is an urban planning concept which advocates that most (if not all) of the amenities that you need for daily living (education, healthcare, work, leisure, entertainment etc.) should be accessible within 15 minutes using active modes of transport, i.e., walking or cycling. This is not necessarily a new concept.. As early as the late19th and early 20th centuries the idea of socially cohesive neighborhoods with a sense of community and amenities such as parks, schools, libraries, and public baths were being discussed.

The 15-Minute City emerged as a response to our excessive use of the automobile. The dominance of the automobile travel in the United States is reflected in data reported by The National Household Travel Survey (NHTS). This survey showed that, in 2022, the average shopping trip was 5.6 miles, the average trip for childcare was 6.5 miles and the average trip to participate in a religious activity was 8.9 miles. In contrast, data presented by the National Bureau of Economic Research shows that “residents of the median US neighborhood only take 12.1% of their trips to basic amenities within a 15-minute walking radius.”

Key planning concepts underlying the 15-Minute city include neighborhoods, accessibility, walkability, and land use mix. In a paper published in 2023 in the journal Sustainable Cities and Society, Efthymis Papadopoulos and his colleagues suggest that the 15-Minute City bringsthe idea of living locally at the forefront of city planning”. The benefits of living locally include a lower carbon footprint, healthier residents, and stronger community bonds.

Strong community bonds exist in the 15-Minute City because neighbors have more face-to-face interaction with each other. These interactions occur as people go about their daily living. And the interactions that people in a neighborhood have with each other do not need to be intense or long lasting in nature. Indeed in a 2014 paper published in the journal Social Psychological and Personality Science, Gillian Sandstom and Elizabeth Dunn showed that a brief exchange with a coffee shop barista (having a short conversation) enhances an individual’s happiness and sense of belonging. People living in amenity rich neighborhoods have a larger number of face-to-face interactions with other residents, exhibit higher levels of interpersonal trust, are less likely to experience social isolation and loneliness, are more willing to help their neighbors, and generally feel better about their community than people living in lower amenity neighborhoods. As noted by the aforementioned Papadopoulos and his colleagues, the15-Minute City begins to “address the problem of alienation and disengagement between the citizens”.

In the 15-Minute City the necessities of everyday life can be accessed within 15 minutes by using active modes of transport (Source: City of Fort Collins, CO)

As I listened to Carlos Moreno speak I thought about craft breweries and the role they might play in the 15-Minute City. As myself and others have argued before, craft breweries function as neighborhood gathering spots (aka Third Places) in cities, large and small, across the United States.

Coined by the urban Sociologist Ray Oldenburg, the term Third Place refers to places outside of home or work, where people congregate and interact. Writing for Brookings Institution, Stuart Butler and Carmen Diaz (2016) note that Third Places are “locations where we exchange ideas, have a good time, and build relationships”. Others have referred to them as the “Living Room of Society” and “Centers of Community” respectively.

Some observers suggest that craft breweries are a new genre of Third Place on the American landscape. These include George Homewood, Norfolk, Virginia’s director of planning and community development, who argues that craft breweries are “gathering places that are in many ways replacing things like libraries and recreation centers within a neighborhood”, while Jim Morrison, writing for The Smithsonian Magazine, describes craft breweries as “the evening analog to the third place of the morning coffeehouse.” Furthermore, many craft breweries are child and dog friendly, offering families a place where they can gather, interact, and relax. As such, they have an important role to play in the 15-Minute City.

One advantage that craft breweries have over many other Third Places (libraries, coffee shops, farmers markets etc.) is that they serve alcohol. As a stimulant, alcohol releases endorphins in our brains, allowing us to relax and be more amenable to interpersonal interactions. Research by the evolutionary psychologist Robin Dunbar has demonstrated that people who have a pub (he did his research in England) they they frequent on a regular basis “tend to be more socially engaged, feel more contented and are more likely to trust other members of their community than those who do not drink at all”. 

The concept of the 15-Minute City got me thinking about breweries in my neighborhood. While 85% of Americans of legal drinking age live within ten miles of a craft brewery, I have no idea how many live within a 15-minute walk or bike ride of a craft brewery. The brewery closest to my house is a 23 minute walk or a seven-minute bike ride. There is a second (newly opened) that is a 13-minute bike ride. I guess I could always invest in a bicycle.

Earnest Brew Works (Westgate location) in Toledo, OH is a 7-minute bike ride (23-minute walk) from my house

Further Reading:

Jeffres, Leo W., Cheryl C. Bracken, Guowei Jian, and Mary F. Casey. 2009. The impact of Third Places on community quality of life. Applied Research Quality Life, Volume 4, Issue 4, pp. 333–345.

Papadopoulod, Efthymis, Alexandros Sdoukopoulos, and Ioannis Politis. 2023. Measuring compliance with the 15-minute city concept: State-of-the-art, major components and further requirements. Sustainable Cities and Society, Volume 99.

Sandstrom, Gillian M. and Elizabeth W. Dunn. 2014. Is efficiency overrated?: Minimal social interactions lead to belonging and positive affect. Social Psychological and Personality Science, Volume 5, Issue 4, pp. 437-442.