There's still another thing: Sometimes the small local breweries are crap. There's a local brewpub that my wife and I enjoy very much, however their beer is always hit or miss. Usually it's very murky/yeasty.
The next closest brewery has beers that are far over carbed for my taste, plus I think they may have had an infection a while back as well. Also, their "pale ale" is just another mini-IPA that needs to be dailed back to be more sessionable.
Other MD breweries? Heavy Seas beer can give me migraines, and is typically at the drink by date. Duclaw is overpriced, and similarly close to being stale. Flying Dog? Hit or miss, usually close to being stale. Devil's Backbone? Sometimes the Vienna Lager can be found fresh, but it's a lesser beer than Sam BL.
Other major craft breweries? Only Sierra Nevada I've seen that hasn't been past the drink by date have been their seasonals. SNPA? Not worth buying, so sweet and old it's disgusting. Managed to get a fresh bottle in that fall sampler pack they did, I'd forgotten how great a beer it was. Stone beers typically are a week or two out from the drink by date, and that's when they make it down here at all. New Belgium is about the same. I've never seen fresh Firestone beers here.
Sorry for the mini rant, but I don't think I'm alone in my frustrations. While in many parts of the country craft beer is thriving, in others it's still a mess. Where I live, Bud products have such a long local tradition that we get our own special sized cans. (10 ounces) Craft beer is popular enough where I am, but folks don't know good beer from bad, and I'm tired of spending good money on stale beer. So I buy Sam Adams BL, and occasionally Yeungling.