Except in this case, the starter is from a message in a bottle, lost at sea for 200 years.
Maybe something similar to it. Commercial breweries were selective in reusing batches of yeast even back then. House strains were refined over time to reuse batches that had fermented the most reliably, produced the fewest off flavors, etc. The yeast they used might also not have been local in origin.
But the wild ancestor might still be around, somewhere. (It's also possible the yeast they have is a wild yeast contaminate, as noted in one of my other comments in here)
There is also a hobbyist network of people that trade their local sourdough starter to people in distant lands, as dried-up blobs on index cards, through the mail. People also trade kefir, kombucha, yogurt, sauerkraut, kimchee, and vinegar starters. They wouldn't go to the trouble if it didn't make a difference.
The local ambient microbiome certainly contributes to the texture and flavor of fermented and aged foods, and it can be transplanted successfully for a few months, but then the locals usually overwhelm the foreigners. When you find a commercially significant one, you have to take great care to preserve it and keep it pure.