# Why does this "beer drinking is way down" graph seem so counter-intuitive? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [August 6, 2013, 1:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-this-beer-drinking-is-way-down-graph-seem-so-counter-intuitive/665462 "2013-08-06T01:47:17Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 12\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Buffalo\_Bilious](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e99b99/32.png) [@Buffalo\_Bilious](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Buffalo_Bilious)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2013, 6:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-this-beer-drinking-is-way-down-graph-seem-so-counter-intuitive/665462/21 "2013-08-06T18:35:28Z")
The decline for beer in the graphs seems to correlate (datewise) with the initial introduction and then fast-rising popularity of “alco-pops” (Mike’s Hard Lemonade, various wine coolers, 4 Loko and others). My limited observations of the drinking habits of 20-somethings tends to support this: They go for the high % alcohol sweet stuff that gets them bombed with minimal effort. That said, alco-pops are classified by the govt. as “malt liquor”, which technically is not beer, but it’s also not wine or liquor either. I may have missed it, but there doesn’t appear to be any mention of these types of malt liquor drinks in the study. ---
**Author:** ![VinylTurnip](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/b2d939/32.png) [@VinylTurnip](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/VinylTurnip)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2013, 7:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-this-beer-drinking-is-way-down-graph-seem-so-counter-intuitive/665462/22 "2013-08-06T19:26:32Z")
> [@Buffalo\_Bilious](#): > > The decline for beer in the graphs seems to correlate (datewise) with the initial introduction and then fast-rising popularity of “alco-pops” (Mike’s Hard Lemonade, various wine coolers, 4 Loko and others). > > My limited observations of the drinking habits of 20-somethings tends to support this: They go for the high % alcohol sweet stuff that gets them bombed with minimal effort. This thought occurred to me, but I couldn’t think of a gentle way to say it without implying that the new generation of drinkers are a bunch of lightweight pansies. Which of course they are not, I’m sure. ---
**Author:** ![shiftless](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e9c0ed/32.png) [@shiftless](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/shiftless)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2013, 7:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-this-beer-drinking-is-way-down-graph-seem-so-counter-intuitive/665462/23 "2013-08-06T19:51:25Z")
> [@Buffalo\_Bilious](#): > > My limited observations of the drinking habits of 20-somethings tends to support this: They go for the high % alcohol sweet stuff that gets them bombed with minimal effort. Yeah, kids these days, they’re spoiled I tell ya. We used to have to work at getting bombed. Why when I was a lad we had to suck the alcohol out of rotting fruit we found on the gound. ---
**Author:** ![MandaJo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ac91a4/32.png) [@MandaJo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MandaJo)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2013, 7:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-this-beer-drinking-is-way-down-graph-seem-so-counter-intuitive/665462/24 "2013-08-06T19:57:17Z")
> [@Buffalo\_Bilious](#): > > The decline for beer in the graphs seems to correlate (datewise) with the initial introduction and then fast-rising popularity of “alco-pops” (Mike’s Hard Lemonade, various wine coolers, 4 Loko and others). > > My limited observations of the drinking habits of 20-somethings tends to support this: They go for the high % alcohol sweet stuff that gets them bombed with minimal effort. > > That said, alco-pops are classified by the govt. as “malt liquor”, which technically is not beer, but it’s also not wine or liquor either. > > I may have missed it, but there doesn’t appear to be any mention of these types of malt liquor drinks in the study. I thought of that, but assumed they’d be lumped in with beer. ---
**Author:** ![Buffalo\_Bilious](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e99b99/32.png) [@Buffalo\_Bilious](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Buffalo_Bilious)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2013, 11:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-this-beer-drinking-is-way-down-graph-seem-so-counter-intuitive/665462/25 "2013-08-06T23:58:27Z")
> [@MandaJo](#): > > I thought of that, but assumed they’d be lumped in with beer. I dunno… If I was going to associate them with one of the three, it’d be wine, simply because many of them have long been known as “wine coolers”. Flawed research without this variable being addressed. I’ll add a posit that craft beer might be DECREASING overall consumption. Lets face it, you can’t power-drink with craft beer. You can sit down in a bar and walk though six or eight macro-beers, depending on the reason for your being there. Maybe a couple shooters as well. Conversely, three pints of some trendy potion called “Rabid Rhinocerous Roaring Anus Triple-Hopped IPA” makes you bloated, woozy and generally sick of drinking pretty quickly. Plus, it ain’t usually cheap either. This level of overhype in the craft beer segment may chase people away, resulting in lower consumption and/or a swearing off of beer and a turn towards a more palatable wine or mixed drink. Just WAGing here, but there’s plenty of personal experience involved as well. ---
**Author:** ![DSeid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dseid/32/20194_2.png) [@DSeid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DSeid)\ **Post date:** [August 7, 2013, 3:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-this-beer-drinking-is-way-down-graph-seem-so-counter-intuitive/665462/26 "2013-08-07T03:16:52Z")
I’d posit that craft beer’s popularity is possible secondary to decreased consumption, not the cause of it. The consumers who used to go into a bar and down six to eight beers are on hard times. They, and other slightly more well heeled consumers, are also more conscious of how fat they are from drinking that much with any regularity. So the macro-brew drinkers drink less (and newer consumers even drinking those malternatives) and the others drink less but more likely higher end, be it craft, import, affordable wine, or spirits. Interestingly binge drinking among youth has been steadily [decreasing](http://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/PDF/ss/ss6104.pdf). > [@](#): > > Among students nationwide, the prevalence of binge > drinking did not change significantly during 1991–1997 > (31.3%–33.4%) and then decreased during 1997–2011 > (33.4%–21.9%). The prevalence of binge drinking also > decreased from 2009 (24.2%) to 2011 (21.9%). These kids who less often drink to excess seem likely (my WAG) to be growing into young adults who drink less but better. ---
**Author:** ![MandaJo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ac91a4/32.png) [@MandaJo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MandaJo)\ **Post date:** [August 7, 2013, 9:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-this-beer-drinking-is-way-down-graph-seem-so-counter-intuitive/665462/27 "2013-08-07T09:57:46Z")
> [@Buffalo\_Bilious](#): > > I dunno… If I was going to associate them with one of the three, it’d be wine, simply because many of them have long been known as “wine coolers”. Chemically, though, flavored malt liquor is closer to beer. ---
**Author:** ![dracoi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/90db22/32.png) [@dracoi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dracoi)\ **Post date:** [August 7, 2013, 5:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-this-beer-drinking-is-way-down-graph-seem-so-counter-intuitive/665462/28 "2013-08-07T17:04:13Z")
> [@TokyoBayer](#): > > The percentage of women drinking is increasing. I quick google found a few articles, including this one from WSJ That’s interesting. If women are increasing their alcohol consumption that quickly, but Gallup says there is no change in the total number of drinkers, perhaps there’s a shift in demographics? If men were dropping out as women were entering, it would certainly explain the shift in preferences. ---
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [August 7, 2013, 5:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-this-beer-drinking-is-way-down-graph-seem-so-counter-intuitive/665462/29 "2013-08-07T17:06:57Z")
Women now make up a significant majority of college students. That’s where most Americans form their drinking habits. ---
**Author:** ![Tastes\_of\_Chocolate](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tastes_of_chocolate/32/3232_2.png) [@Tastes\_of\_Chocolate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tastes_of_Chocolate)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2013, 11:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-this-beer-drinking-is-way-down-graph-seem-so-counter-intuitive/665462/30 "2013-08-08T23:41:57Z")
I wonder if this is at all related to the rise in drinking age from 19 to 21. In my area, that happened in the late 80s. Before that, we all drank beer because we were young and broke, and beer was cheap. For the last 25 years, it’s been at least harder to get alcohol at the truly young and broke stage. So either you wait until you are older, legal, and probably have more money, or you break the law, and might as well go for hard alcohol because it’s faster to get drunk on. As for the wine cooler theory - wine coolers/alco-pop aren’t new. Bartles and Jaymes started putting out wine coolers in 1981. ---
**Author:** ![MandaJo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ac91a4/32.png) [@MandaJo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MandaJo)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2013, 1:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-this-beer-drinking-is-way-down-graph-seem-so-counter-intuitive/665462/31 "2013-08-09T01:31:19Z")
> [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](#): > > Women now make up a significant majority of college students. That’s where most Americans form their drinking habits. Only about half of Americans even go to college, and only about a quarter are there long enough to [finish](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Higher_education_in_the_United_States#Statistical_patterns): > [@](#): > > In 2006, 19.5 percent of the adult population had attended college but had no degree, 7.4 percent held an associate’s degree, 17.1 percent held a bachelor’s degree, and 9.9 percent held a graduate or professional degree. ---
**Author:** ![bump](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7c8e57/32.png) [@bump](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bump)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2013, 6:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-this-beer-drinking-is-way-down-graph-seem-so-counter-intuitive/665462/32 "2013-08-09T18:43:28Z")
I re-read the graph and accompanying charts, and noticed something- there’s a significant time component to it. I think there are really 3 things that have gone on in between the 1992-1994 era and the modern era contrasted in the report. 1. The wine “revolution” hadn’t really happened yet. When I was in college, wine was still predominantly, if not completely dominated by junky domestic wines. The big flowering of wine as a major player didn’t kick in until the late 1990s from what I recall. I’m pretty sure I couldn’t find Australian or Chilean wine back in 1992-1994, nor could I get much wine at the grocery that was more than about $10. 2. Cocktails weren’t really a thing either; sure people had highballs like rum & coke, or gin & tonic, but had I gone to a bar in my college town and asked for a sidecar or manhattan, I’d have been looked at like I had a tentacle growing from my forehead. Since 2008 or so, the cocktail renaissance has really gained steam, with mixology-oriented places springing up all over, and real innovations in drinks and ingredients. 3. Liquor ads on TV didn’t become prevalent until after 1996 or so- it was a BIG deal when it happened. Prior to that, it was beer and wine only. Combine those things, and it makes sense why more people moved to wine and liquor and left beer behind; hell, I reflect it, and I’m a pretty hardcore beer lover. But I drink more spirits and wine now than I ever did in the 1992-1994 time period, which was probably 90% beer, 10% spirits. There’s also a perception on the part of a lot of people my age that young men these days are kind of effete and probably aren’t as beer-drinking macho as we were back in the day, but I don’t know if that’s true, or just middle-aged bullshit. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-this-beer-drinking-is-way-down-graph-seem-so-counter-intuitive/665462.md?page=1)