Millennials Rebelling Against Beer?

According to recent studies, young adults are moving away from beer consumption in favor of wine and liquor. But why?

This is interesting. According to this study:

The percentage of twenty-somethings who prefer beer to other alcohol has fallen drastically over the past two decades, according to a new study published by Goldman Sachs Investment Research. Just twenty years ago, nearly three-quarters of youths aged 18 to 29 said they liked beer best. Today, after years of steady decline, the percentage of young beer lovers is down to just 40 percent.

There are some pretty graphs and statistics in that article, so it's worth taking a look at just to kill time at work.

Now, keep in mind that these studies just measure stated preference and not what's purchased. But, to me, a big part of this (which is glossed over pretty dismissively by the author of this article) has to be the growth of the craft beer movement.

Of course, as someone who loves beer enough to regularly have brewers on his radio show and actually endorses a Beer of the Week at Half Time, I'm probably biased. But the price and ABV of most craft beer tends to be higher than that of the typical macro; perhaps instead of drinking a lot of beer from a major brewer, the occasional bigger-flavored IPA or Imperial Stout has become the preference. When you don't drink sessionable beers, you aren't drinking them as regularly, and they're not as constant a presence in your life.

Oh well, more beer for the rest of us here at WRRV: