Hey, a little good beer news for a change. Beer trumps wine and spirits for most US alcohol consumers according to a leading polling and analytics firm.
Here’s the deal…
Beer remains the most popular drink in the United States according to recent Gallup poll, as wine and spirits continue their battle for second place.
According to the latest survey data from Gallup’s Consumption Habits poll, Americans our drinking more alcohol than many analysts have projected. Gallup found that higher alcohol consumption was more prevalent among certain American demographic groups: middle-aged adults, those with higher incomes, college-educated adults and those who attend church less frequently than once a week.
Beer was found to be significantly more popular than either spirits or wine with 37% saying they drink beer most often, 31% choosing spirits and 29% going for wine. Beer, however was less dominant than it was twenty years ago, where almost half chose it as their preferred drink.
“Between 2011 and 2013, wine held a steady second place and was almost tied with beer, but it has now fallen below 30%, for the first time since 1996, acceding to the Drinks Business. “The 31% who said they would choose spirits is the highest recorded level for the beverage so far”.
The survey found that men are more than twice as likely as women to report that they drink beer most often. Women, on the other hand, are about three times as likely as men to say wine is their most common beverage.
Confirming other national studies Younger drinkers were found to prefer less beer and more spirits, while older drinkers favored beer and wine. Lower- and middle-income groups largely choose beer as their most preferred drink. Upper-income drinkers were more evenly divided in their preferences.
According to Gallup just under two-thirds of people in the US drink alcohol (62%) which is in keeping with past polls going all the way back to 1939. Approximately one in five adults (19%) polled reported having sometimes consumed more alcohol than they should, which is below the average trend of 23% since 1978.
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