Report Suggests America Is No Longer a Beer-Loving Country

If you’re reading this on Friday, happy International Beer Day! Pour one out; it might not last long.

As reported by the Wall Street Journal, the Beer Institute trade group just published a study suggesting that U.S. imbibers now choose beer just 49.7% of the time when going out for a drink, down from 60.8% in the mid-90s. And for 21- to 27-year-olds, that figure drops to 43% (down from 65% two decades back).

In other words: more than half the time, drinkers are choosing alcohol that isn’t beer.

A few culprits are cited here: taste, a fear of beer bellies and, most importantly, value. Declining sales volume means beer prices have skyrocketed (42% since 2000), while wine and liquor have only seen modest cost increases. And President Trump’s tariffs on aluminum imports is only going to make things worse, at least for canned beer.

But maybe we’re overstating this. A new Gallup poll, for example, shows that Americans prefer beer over wine and liquor by quite a hefty margin, and that beer is actually becoming more popular with “older, more affluent drinkers.”

So call up a young’n and take him out for a beer. America’s brewers need you.