More expensive, but also just all around bad for the body. Just really not worth it.
I just literally can no longer afford alcohol. It’s partly a relief to just no longer have to think about it or spend time on it, though I do miss the treat and the relaxation that it can bring. But like many others facing poverty, I sometimes feel a little angry at my fellow consumers who kept right on buying beer and everything else as food and beverage prices rose about 30 percent in five years. I wish everyone had been like “sorry, no, you’re not seriously charging that much, forget it.” Then again, as a child in the 70s I thought for sure consumers were going to reject the move to plastic food packaging. D’ohh.
Yeah, depending on what you drink and how much, it’s almost $10 for a six-pack of beer now, maybe $100 month on average, so that’s about $1200 a year, just on something you’re literally going to be pissing away.
To be fair though, the last few years probably caused people to start drinking more than they normally would. My consumption definitely ticked up during the worst parts of the pandemic to where I was plowing through multiple six-packs a week. I’ve come down quite a bit since then, though it was kind of scary deciding to quit altogether because I was afraid, “What if I can’t do it? What if do have some kind of dependency?” But it actually ended up being easier than I thought since it’s mostly for health reasons (cholesterol and reducing risks for dementia). I just decided to stop and I stopped and that was it, it’s been relatively easy. I probably just have other habits that I started compensating with.
I feel like a lot of people don’t know that alcohol is a carcinogen. Totally not worth it
Just about everything useful or fun is a carcinogen. Just practice moderation and you’ll probably be okay.
Here is the key sentence in the article.
…an acceleration in the long-term decline of so-called domestic-premium brands, which include Bud Light and rivals Miller Light and Coors Light…
So, are people drinking less beer or are they drinking less piss beer? Could it be that people are having two Hazy Imperial IPA’s with 8+ ABV instead of a six pack of Coors Light? I am taking this headline with a grain of salt.
EDIT: I found my glasses.
A Four Noses or Cerebrus Hazy is so much better than the domestic swill it’s not funny. We have so many more options these days that I’m glad it’s hurting the big guys. They’ve been making crap pilsners for decades.
Who the hell thinks those three are premium?
Cletus
If that’s premium what isn’t premium? Steel reserve? That’s just malt Coors with different marketing. Micky’s? That’s just malt Miller with different marketing. 10 barrel? That bud light wearing 2010’s hipster clothes.
I think we’re giving these brand too much credit with the word premium.
Hey, hey, hey! Don’t disrespect Mickey’s.
Mickey’s is good… I like steel reserve too… I also enjoy imperial IPAs.
M 👁️ L
👋 😊 ♣️
Below those are brands like keystone and Natty Bo.
They gave it the title of premium, not the consumer. If they labeled it as waste runoff it wouldn’t sell as well.
People who drink keystone, busch, and natty
Hey now, those Clydesdale horses worked hard to convert water into
pissBudweiser.You ever had Milwaukees Best?
I don’t even like alcohol. I still know that those are piss beers.
Article has a vague accusation that soda-based drinks are to blame without covering any of the other possibilities here
I thought soda consumption is also down? And the fizzy alcohols had leveled off or declining as well? I am curious myself.
Probably talking about LaCroix and that other stuff
I’m more of a once a week Porter, Ale and Hard Cider drinker, but it’s still a Microbrew.
Grain a salt is right: People just don’t like the taste of that crap anymore, not with so many options on the market now.
Coors/Bud/MGD/Corona? I haven’t had one in years.
It might have something to do with weed being easier to get. Where I live it’s easier and faster to get weed than it is to get beer, especially on sunday.
This is part of why alcohol companies spend insane amounts of cash towards anti legalization efforts
The DEA, or Distiller’s Enforcement Apparatus, is an army of masked thugs licensed to rob, defame, kidnap, or kill those suspected of preferring other drugs over alcohol.
Alcohol is expensive and makes you feel like shit. Who does that to themselves by choice when there’s alternatives?
Because beer tastes great
After you’ve acquired the taste. It was social pressure that got me to acquire it, but if that social pressure is dropping, it doesn’t surprise me that fewer pick it up because beer tastes kinda awful at first.
Acquired taste, or gaslighting your taste buds?
I don’t really care about the social pressure anymore but I do like a beer on occasion. Though it is more about the overall experience of drinking a beer rather than the taste itself, which I’d personally say is at best not bad and generally tolerable.
I enjoy the buzz from alcohol and I rarely drink enough to make me feel like shit. While I’m generally a social person, I also enjoy that it is a social lubricant, while I find other highs to not be nearly as social, and often even anti social.
I respond poorly to weed and well to alcohol. Bodies are different.
It only makes you feel like shit if you want to get wasted irresponsibly. I like beer and outside of some college benders I’ve never felt like shit after. Stay hydrated folks.
Where do you live?
Yup. I’m smoking on new years. Not drinking.
Is this trend only the US? Would be interesting to see how it is in other countries and how it correlates to economic and social indcators
ليس هناك مصير إلا ما نصنعه لأنفسنا
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I swear to fucking God if gen Z fucks up the local brewery thing I will burn down the building.
Millennials and Gen X worked so hard to make a plethora of local brews by killing so many industries and not having kids, it would be such a shame to lose all of that due to people with a 7 second attention span.
No joke, it’s all the seltzer marketing that gets people to spend way more on way less alcohol.
It was successful as fuck. Just look at all the streamers shilling it.
How is it spending way more on way less alcohol? In my area a 12 pack of Trulys is comparable to a 12 pack of Corona and they have roughly the same alcohol content
A 8 pack of seltzer here is $20 and 12 pack of beer $15.
8 pack of seltzer… $20
Christ. 12 packs of seltzer here are like $16, beer not much cheaper maybe $14
I should clarify. That’s the vodka seltzer not the malt stuff.
Correct me if I’m wrong, but I think hard Seltzer is technically classified as beer?
It says “BEER” on the back of White Claw cans.
Can you clarify your point?
If I was making hard seltzer at scale, I’d consider two options:
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Cut some Everclear 97% and some flavorant into water, and throw 30psi of CO2 on for it a few days (expensive)
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Ferment some dextrose, rack it off the yeast cake, add some flavorant, and throw 30psi of CO2 on it for a few days (cheap)
My hombrew club hated me.
What you are doing probally does not sound as romantic as what they are doing. 🤣
The way they’re produced en masse is that high alcohol “beer” is brewed for maximum sugar content and minimal flavors, and then it’s aged, filtered, and in some cases concentrated for shipment.
Usually this neutral malt alcohol base is used on site at around 14% but if it is to be shipped it’s usually concentrated to liquor levels for economy of scale.
When it’s time to make a seltzer it’s not “brewed” as such, but simply blended with industrial scale batching equipment. Basically a big tank of water with a pipe loop that runs the contents of the tank in circulation, and has ports for adding flavoring and the alcohol base.
Once the batch is at the right flavor and ABV it can be held in storage or sent to canning/bottling, with compressed CO2 injected into the liquid line just before the point where it goes into the can or bottle.
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Because it’s expensive, calorie intensive and takes longer to drink than something like whiskey or vodka.
If I’m thirsty, I’ll drink water. If I want to get drunk, I’ll drink whiskey. Beer is the middle ground that just isn’t worth it anymore.
Best I can understand, beer is more of a social drink than anything. Slow enough to get most people wasted that they can easily drink for the 2-4 hours they’re at a party or event for without getting too badly drunk
There are some that taste good. But it’s only every once in awhile for me.
There was a while when everything was watery beer, Bud Light, Coors etc. Then there was a sort of golden era, with lots of variety and lots of companies. There was certainly a good bit of crap, but the huge variety meant that there was always something good to drink. Now we’ve gone back to consolidation, with only two companies in the entire world, and only one kind of beer: poorly done IPAs. Monopolies are bad for consumers. No one wants to buy this piss.
Now we’ve gone back to consolidation, with only two companies in the entire world, and only one kind of beer
Wat? We did? When did this happen?
Where I live there are microbreweries all over the place. As far as I can see we are still in the golden era and it’s only getting better.
I’m in the PNW and it’s just shitty IPA’s everywhere. I also seem to get judged every time I ask if there’s a stout, or really any dark beer, on tap.
Even going to visit other areas with more microbreweries around, there are more options… still wading through IPA’s though.
Edit: while I’m at it, sour beers suck.
I usually say “Yeah, i used to like IPA but i got bored of it. Do you have anything else than hoppy beers?” Then, they come up with the sours…
I went somewhere last week that I’m not even sure if they knew what a porter was.
Thankfully they had a decent lager
Yeah, IPAs are way too popular. The issue is the people who “like IPAs” aren’t willing to try anything else. They’ll try a hazy or double IPA, even though those are very different from a west coast IPA, but they won’t try the saison, barleywine, or anything else. It forces breweries to cater to them because more adventurous beer drinkers will still drink an IPA.
It’s better where I am (VA), but IPAs still rule. There’s one brewery in particular that has somewhere around 20 taps, but there’s only at most 10 non-IPAs, usually fewer. I don’t go there very often.
Same here and everywhere I visit in the US. One brewery will have 5 different IPAs. And the people in the comments here - “There’s variety! The stores are full of different IPAs!”
I’ve written off IPAs entirely at this point, give me literally anything but lol. It just ends up always being tart/sour/fruity with almost a grittiness to them. I’ve never been the biggest fan of ciders which is what IPAs reminded me of when they first started getting popular in my area around 2015-2016. Never liked them then but I’d try one every once in a while cause people are always raving about one.
Your area sucks then. Still not sure what any of this has to do with consolidation and monopoly.
Where I live there are microbreweries every where. While every single one sells an IPA they are also making different styles as well. Sours are taking off in my area.
Are you shopping at the Dollar General?
Last time I was at a Walmart/Target/Publix/Ingles/etc all that shit watery beer is still there plus the largest selection of ales lagers and IPAs that there has ever been. Not to mention the ciders and seltzer that are huge now too.
Just wanted to chime in that I wholly disagree with this “beer was better back then” bullshit.
I’ve been all over the US and my impression is there are more local and regional craft breweries than ever. Sure some of them get gobbled up by the InBev monster but not all. Personally I’m only looking for a bottle or two per week during football season or maybe an occasional tap pint. In those small quantities you barely feel the price difference between Bud/Coors and better beers. Might as well drink the better stuff that isn’t owned by an evil multinational conglomerate.
No beer for me, just drugs please.
You son of a bitch, I’m in.
I just want weed. I didn’t even think of buying alcohol for new years, but I did purchase a screen for my pipe.
Beer drinkers have diversified
Lets make America great again - have a beer!
US beer is shit anyway 🤷 Took them a good while to notice!
Craft isn’t bad but still not good for most of america.
I’ve noticed that the people who say this aren’t beer drinkers and have zero experience with beer beyond what they see on TV.
I’ve been drinking beer for thirty years, am well versed in the beers of different countries, and I don’t own a TV, so pull another one.
Doubt. Head back to slamming your Budweisers
LOL, all you have is what you “notice” and “doubt”? Enjoy your piss poor beer Murricano.
The US has some great craft beer. Some of (if not the) best in the world. Our beer that sells well is shit though, I agree. Out of the “popular” (which mostly just means cheap) beer, the imported ones are generally better.
Same happened in Japan.
