“Light beer is ceding ground as cabernet-loving baby boomers and millennials weaned on exotic cocktails seek more complex flavors in their brews.”

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-03-26/light-beer-fights-for-life-as-craft-brews-invade-shelves.html

However, based on my college band days, I do have proof that the lite beer + water + bathroom access + football game = me still sober enough to play my instrument. (I have not actually tested the driving, nor do I plan to.)

Grapefriend, the reason is partly convenience: A bar can satisfy its beer drinkers with a rather limited range of brands; wine drinkers will want much more variety, plus a choice of bottle or by-the-glass, the latter involving more handling. The profit margin per serving is likely higher for beer, and big brewers also give big discounts and freebie (beer mats, napkins, etc.].And I’ll bet it’s easier to sell beer after beer after beer than it is to sell one bottle of wine. Surely there’s a barkeep in the audience who can give us the facts?

And football and soccer seem to go naturally with beer, while I don’t know what sports go with wine. Snooker, maybe? Chess? Oh, I’ve got it–dressage.

The craft beer movement is also seeing the trend to “lite” with the new emphasis on “session beers” (with a goal of appx. 4% ABV, though with some taste).

I love a good West Coast IPA myself, but I know that two of those and a Belgian and I’m done for the evening. Give me Miller and a bathroom (plus some drinking water) and I can drink for hours.

I know its not you or me, or anybody we want to meet, but it is not inconceivable that marketing departments have invented him.

‘Different strokes’?–exactly; just accept it. Those who insist on sneering at others whose tastes differ, are no more and no better than mere (and beer)snobs.

Chris – One of my friends has a party every fall and gets a keg of delicious IPA from a local craft brewery. At the last party, he told me that he also got a 12-pack of Coors Lite because too many people complained about not liking the IPA and wanting a light beer…Their loss, from my perspective, but, hey, different strokes for different folks.

John – Sad but true. But if a beer drinker doesn’t care about taste and just wants a buzz, then why not just stick to “regular” Bud, which is higher alcohol?

I thought you were from Maryland–aren’t you excited about the Ravens?

Jean-Luc – Thanks for stopping by. The 250 x 300 box on the top of the sidebar is run by Google ads. I do not control which ads you see; rather, Google chooses which ads to display there based on content of the page and your recent search history (if you are logged in). So a beer fest is probably what they thought was the most enticing to get readers to click. If you go to a different page on the site, you will probably see a different ad in that space.