diff --git a/docker-compose.yml b/docker-compose.yml
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..02eb405f
--- /dev/null
+++ b/docker-compose.yml
@@ -0,0 +1,60 @@
+# copied from https://github.com/confluentinc/kafka-images/blob/ec53840b3673a039a9eae6623f773399ad50c31c/examples/kafka-cluster/docker-compose.yml
+# major changes:
+# - use getsentry's image mirrors to avoid docker rate limits
+# - avoid network_mode: host due to limitations on macos
+# - trim down on zookeeper nodes (just for simplicity, might want to add it
+#   later to test something more specific)
+---
+version: '3'
+name: arroyo
+
+x-zookeeper-common: &zookeeper-common
+  image: ghcr.io/getsentry/image-mirror-confluentinc-cp-zookeeper:6.2.0
+
+x-zookeeper-common-env: &zookeeper-common-env
+  ZOOKEEPER_CLIENT_PORT: 2181
+  ZOOKEEPER_TICK_TIME: 2000
+  ZOOKEEPER_INIT_LIMIT: 5
+  ZOOKEEPER_SYNC_LIMIT: 2
+
+x-kafka-common: &kafka-common
+  image: "ghcr.io/getsentry/image-mirror-confluentinc-cp-kafka:6.2.0"
+  depends_on:
+    - zookeeper-1
+
+x-kafka-common-env: &kafka-common-env
+  KAFKA_ZOOKEEPER_CONNECT: zookeeper-1:2181
+  KAFKA_LISTENER_SECURITY_PROTOCOL_MAP: "PLAINTEXT:PLAINTEXT,INTERNAL:PLAINTEXT,EXTERNAL:PLAINTEXT"
+  KAFKA_INTER_BROKER_LISTENER_NAME: INTERNAL
+  KAFKA_LISTENERS: INTERNAL://0.0.0.0:9093,EXTERNAL://0.0.0.0:9092
+
+services:
+  zookeeper-1:
+    <<: *zookeeper-common
+    environment:
+      <<: *zookeeper-common-env
+      ZOOKEEPER_SERVER_ID: 1
+
+  kafka-1:
+    <<: *kafka-common
+    ports: ["19092:9092"]
+    environment:
+      <<: *kafka-common-env
+      KAFKA_BROKER_ID: 1
+      KAFKA_ADVERTISED_LISTENERS: EXTERNAL://127.0.0.1:19092,INTERNAL://kafka-1:9093
+
+  kafka-2:
+    <<: *kafka-common
+    ports: ["29092:9092"]
+    environment:
+      <<: *kafka-common-env
+      KAFKA_BROKER_ID: 2
+      KAFKA_ADVERTISED_LISTENERS: EXTERNAL://127.0.0.1:29092,INTERNAL://kafka-2:9093
+
+  kafka-3:
+    <<: *kafka-common
+    ports: ["39092:9092"]
+    environment:
+      <<: *kafka-common-env
+      KAFKA_BROKER_ID: 3
+      KAFKA_ADVERTISED_LISTENERS: EXTERNAL://127.0.0.1:39092,INTERNAL://kafka-3:9093
diff --git a/tests/backends/test_kafka.py b/tests/backends/test_kafka.py
index 296766b6..4c82c1e4 100644
--- a/tests/backends/test_kafka.py
+++ b/tests/backends/test_kafka.py
@@ -2,6 +2,7 @@
 import itertools
 import os
 import pickle
+import subprocess
 import time
 import uuid
 from contextlib import closing
@@ -14,7 +15,10 @@
 
 from arroyo.backends.kafka import KafkaConsumer, KafkaPayload, KafkaProducer
 from arroyo.backends.kafka.commit import CommitCodec
-from arroyo.backends.kafka.configuration import build_kafka_configuration
+from arroyo.backends.kafka.configuration import (
+    KafkaBrokerConfig,
+    build_kafka_configuration,
+)
 from arroyo.backends.kafka.consumer import as_kafka_configuration_bool
 from arroyo.commit import IMMEDIATE, Commit
 from arroyo.errors import ConsumerError, EndOfPartition
@@ -70,10 +74,26 @@ def get_topic(
 
 
 class TestKafkaStreams(StreamsTestMixin[KafkaPayload]):
-
-    configuration = build_kafka_configuration(
-        {"bootstrap.servers": os.environ.get("DEFAULT_BROKERS", "localhost:9092")}
-    )
+    distributed = False
+
+    @property
+    def configuration(self) -> KafkaBrokerConfig:
+        if self.distributed:
+            return build_kafka_configuration(
+                {
+                    "bootstrap.servers": os.environ.get(
+                        "DEFAULT_DISTRIBUTED_BROKERS", "127.0.0.1:19092"
+                    )
+                }
+            )
+        else:
+            return build_kafka_configuration(
+                {
+                    "bootstrap.servers": os.environ.get(
+                        "DEFAULT_BROKERS", "127.0.0.1:9092"
+                    )
+                }
+            )
 
     @contextlib.contextmanager
     def get_topic(self, partitions: int = 1) -> Iterator[Topic]:
@@ -193,6 +213,32 @@ def test_consumer_stream_processor_shutdown(self) -> None:
                 with pytest.raises(RuntimeError):
                     processor.run()
 
+    def test_kafka_broker_died(self) -> None:
+        self.distributed = True
+
+        with self.get_topic(partitions=32) as topic:
+            with closing(self.get_producer()) as producer:
+                payloads = self.get_payloads()
+                for _ in range(100):
+                    producer.produce(topic, next(payloads)).result(5.0)
+
+            with closing(self.get_consumer(auto_offset_reset="earliest")) as consumer:
+                consumer.subscribe([topic])
+
+                value = consumer.poll(10.0)
+                assert isinstance(value, BrokerValue)
+
+                subprocess.check_call(["docker", "kill", "arroyo-kafka-1-1"])
+                subprocess.check_call(["docker", "kill", "arroyo-kafka-2-1"])
+
+                consumer.stage_offsets(value.committable)
+
+                with pytest.raises(Exception):
+                    consumer.commit_offsets()
+
+                with pytest.raises(Exception):
+                    consumer.poll(10.0)
+
 
 def test_commit_codec() -> None:
     commit = Commit(