Do you still drink beer?

[Dick Whitman]

I'm posting this on Sports & News, rather than Anything Goes, because it is tied to a recent news story - the decline of beer sales in the United States.

Apparently, according to an article in my print edition of Business Week, this is largely due to the increased sale of hard liquor. I'm, frankly, surprised.

This is going to sound like the New Yorker critic who didn't know anyone who voted for Nixon, but nobody I know drinks hard liquor. I do, a little bit, but that's mostly because I like to play around with bartending, mostly so that I can serve people cool drinks when I entertain. And then, when I do entertain, guess what everyone wants?

Beer.

Some of the stories about the decline of beer note that flavored vodkas and whiskeys have had a lot to do with beer's demise. My wife doesn't drink at all, so I'm probably just missing the boat on this trend, which I suspect is largely female-driven.

Anyway, here is a recent related story on nine beers that have seen a huge decline in sales:

http://www.usatoday.com/story/money/business/2013/12/09/beers-we-no-longer-drink/3915505/

 

[Mizzougrad96]

We've had the same 12-pack in our pantry for five years. My wife has an aunt who comes over once a year or so and she always says, "You guys always have my favorite beer for me. We've never told her that it's been the same 12-pack all along.

 

[nmmetsfan]

I have a friend in the industry and he says the sales of brown spirits has taken off the past few years. Whiskeys are huge right now. They're having trouble keeping up with demand on the production side.

 

[amraeder]

Not nearly as much as I used to. Mostly because the fiancee doesn't drink it, so it makes more sense to keep things we'll both drink around the house, which is mostly wine and occasionally the hard stuff.

 

[Dick Whitman]

I have a friend in the industry and he says the sales of brown spirits has taken off the past few years. Whiskeys are huge right now. They're having trouble keeping up with demand on the production side.

I like whiskey quite a bit. I feel like it's so stigmatized, though, among people of a certain age. When I make a drink with whiskey in it, I can just see my wife's eyes looking at the bottle. I tell her, "There's as much liquor in this drink as there is in a bottle of beer." If I had a beer, she wouldn't even notice.

 

[LongTimeListener]

Sales of those nine beers are down because those nine beers are **** water. We had a Super Bowl party, the adults drank an appropriate amount of beer, and at the end of it we poured the Bud Light down the drain. Somebody bought it, nobody drank it, and it was just going to sit in my fridge for the next 12 months.

This story makes me happy.

 

[Dick Whitman]

Sales of those nine beers are down because those nine beers are **** water. We had a Super Bowl party, the adults drank an appropriate amount of beer, and at the end of it we poured the Bud Light down the drain. Somebody bought it, nobody drank it, and it was just going to sit in my fridge for the next 12 months.

This story makes me happy.

I have a friend who drinks Miller 64. We had our party at our house, and he drank probably 10 of them. His wife complains about "how much" he drinks. I had to explain to her, "Those 10 are equivalent to my two."

 

[nmmetsfan]

I have a friend in the industry and he says the sales of brown spirits has taken off the past few years. Whiskeys are huge right now. They're having trouble keeping up with demand on the production side.

I like whiskey quite a bit. I feel like it's so stigmatized, though, among people of a certain age. When I make a drink with whiskey in it, I can just see my wife's eyes looking at the bottle. I tell her, "There's as much liquor in this drink as there is in a bottle of beer." If I had a beer, she wouldn't even notice.

Purely anecdotal, but I don't know anyone in my circle (which is a pretty decent size) that stigmatizes whiskey. Although we could all just be alcoholics.

 

[I Should Coco]

That's interesting ... as I drift into Middle Age, beer and wine are all I ever drink anymore. And usually it's just a beer or two with dinner, on the weekend.

It's been a while since I've had a mixed drink ... especially at home. There's not a bottle of liquor in this house. And my Long Island iced tea days are long gone.

But among younger people I know who go out regularly, they do go for the martinis or whiskey.

The nine declining beers in DW's link probably are only popular at "dive" or townie bars anymore.

 

[MTM]

I think it's generational. I'm 53, and grew up on beer and wine coolers. My father, who was 34 years older, drank hard liquor.

Things have seemed to swing back toward liquor. I wonder if that has anything to do with it being advertised on television, which it wasn't in my younger days.

 

[Dick Whitman]

I have a friend in the industry and he says the sales of brown spirits has taken off the past few years. Whiskeys are huge right now. They're having trouble keeping up with demand on the production side.

I like whiskey quite a bit. I feel like it's so stigmatized, though, among people of a certain age. When I make a drink with whiskey in it, I can just see my wife's eyes looking at the bottle. I tell her, "There's as much liquor in this drink as there is in a bottle of beer." If I had a beer, she wouldn't even notice.

Purely anecdotal, but I don't know anyone in my circle (which is a pretty decent size) that stigmatizes whiskey. Although we could all just be alcoholics.

She thinks I'm going to get drunk off of it. In fairness, I have given her reasons over the years to think this.

 

[LongTimeListener]

If I were at a bar or party and those were the nine beers offered, I'd order hard liquor too.

 

[nmmetsfan]

My wife has noticed that my personality is different when I've been drinking whiskey than when I've been drinking beer (or not drinking at all).

 

[MisterCreosote]

She thinks I'm going to get drunk off of it.

And, her point is?

 

[Dick Whitman]

If I were at a bar or party and those were the nine beers offered, I'd order hard liquor too.

But people were buying them at some point.

We've simply become a nation of foodies. Especially young people. I thought it was an urban, hipster thing, but it's not. I think the Food Network has driven a lot of it. I think shows like "Mad Men" and "Boardwalk Empire" have driven some of it.

 

[Dick Whitman]

She thinks I'm going to get drunk off of it.

And, her point is?

That I won't be able to help out with the kids and the cleaning and all the other joys of post-dusk domestic life.

 

[dreunc1542]

For my friends in their late 20s, I'd say it's a pretty even split among beer, liquor, and wine. For me it depends on what I'm doing and what time of year it is. For liquors, I mainly drink whiskey and gin and switch between them depending on the weather.

 

[X-Hack]

Exactly. I still drink beer as does everyone. I know. But we typically drink craft beers, Belgian ales and the like as opposed to cheap mass-produced pale lagers like Bud, Miller and Coors. I think the statistic about those beers losing market share is as much attributable to regional and local craft beers - as well as larger nationally-distributed microbrewers like Sam Adams and Sierra Nevada - cutting into their sales. For example, plenty of beer was consumed at the Super Bowl party i attended this weekend - it was all New England beer like Mayflower, Harpoon, Shipyard and Wachusett. I drink whiskey as well - it's not an either-or. It depends on what I'm in the mood for.

 

[MisterCreosote]

She thinks I'm going to get drunk off of it.

And, her point is?

That I won't be able to help out with the kids and the cleaning and all the other joys of post-dusk domestic life.

I'm glad to do all that alone if my wife wants to get ****faced every now and then. And vice versa (for my non****face activities).

 

[Bob Cook]

Craft beer sales are growing 20-30 percent by volume annually. Given it's starting from a low base, it's not a huge part of the market, but I have noticed more shot-and-a-beer liquor stores around me beefing up their craft selections.

http://www.bizjournals.com/sanfrancisco/blog/2014/02/craft-beer-boom-seen-as-wine-threat.html

It's also why big brewers are buying crafts. Anheuser-Busch just bought Blue Point on Long Island, and it's bought other crafts such as Goose Island in Chicago.

http://www.latimes.com/business/money/la-fi-mo-anheuser-busch-inbev-blue-point-brewing-co-20140205,0,4948012.story#axzz2sOKThH9N