Beer sales lag behind wine and spirits

[lperry]

In this morning's Washington Post (you can register for free)

Click

Though beer is still the most-quaffed alcoholic beverage in the country by far, it is slowly losing its grip around the marketplace edges: among new drinkers, among aging baby boomers and among other Americans whose tastes are gradually becoming more sophisticated. More and more, when people kick back with friends and enjoy a drink, they're not choosing beer.

They also blame the boomers.....

"There was a general assumption -- that is proving somewhat erroneous -- that the baby boomers would continue with the consumption patterns that they established in their youth," said Benj Steinman, editor of Beer Marketer's Insights, an industry trade publication. "Instead, they're doing more like what prior generations did as they got older, and switching their drinking habits to wine and spirits."

I'm not much of a beer drinker, but I found this article very interesting. Thoughts?

-Linda

[cdh]

I hope that news like this jolts the beer marketers and brewers into emphasizing the wide variety of beers and the connoisseurship aspect. Beer, as pushed to the mass market, is remarkably homogenous. I'm not at all surprised that folks are getting bored with it.

Maybe we'll see some mass market advertisements trying to shatter the same old beer mold. We've not seen anything of the sort since the 80's when Michelob ran their "Don't be afraid of the dark" campaign featuring classic lines like "Dark beer isn't just for thick-necked men named Gunther." Or something akin to it.

The world is full of interesting beers. The mass market just needs to get clued in to them.

[lperry]

It's interesting for me to see the beers that are for sale where I buy wine. There are huge stacks of large cardboard boxes full of cheap beer, then there are the "boutique" beers. If I remember correctly, the cheap stuff is in the front and the better quality is in the back with the wine. Next time I'm in I'll take a closer look at where they are placed in the store.

Come to think of it, it's the packaging that makes me assume that one beer is cheap and the other is of higher quality. Hmmmm.

[emhahn]

I've often thought that the United States lags way behind European, Asian, Canadian and Australian beers.

With the exception of microbrews, the entire industry is corned by Bud, Miller and Coors.

Before the Prohibition, many small towns in the United States had their own microbews or local brews. They simply never came back to what they once were.

Just my two-cents.

Eric

RestaurantEdge.com

[BrentKulman]

With the exception of microbrews, the entire industry is corned by Bud, Miller and Coors.

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Not sure whether the typo pun was intended, but it is adjuncts (corn and rice) that have ruined mass-produced American beers.