Of the myriad drinks in the world, everyone has their own personal preferences. From wine to beer, to the massive variety of liquors, everyone has their own opinion and taste. Most stick with just one, some like to switch things up. A lot of people even have a very specific brand that they
are incredibly loyal to. On a more grand scale though, ignoring brands and sub-categories, what do people actually prefer the most?
Starting in 1992, the Gallup Organization began conducting an annual poll about which types of alcohol Americans preferred. Back then, the gap was rather large. That first year, beer beat out wine by a significant twenty percent gap, at forty seven and twenty seven percent respectively. That doesn’t seem that surprising, it’s hard to beat the numbers for a drink that’s seen everywhere from college parties to sporting events, to summer barbecues.
Over the years however, wine has started to pull much more even with beer. From 1992 through 2004, Beer began to slowly lose popularity as Wine started to become far more prevalent! Perhaps people started to discover the health benefits of the occasional glass. Perhaps its the result of a younger generation looking to change things up and discover something new.
Regardless of reasons, in 2005, for the first time since the poll began, wine was suddenly more popular than beer! Wine had risen to a record high of thirty nine percent, with beer dipping just below it at around thirty seven to thirty eight percent.
Since then, beer has regrettably reclaimed its title. But the numbers are far more even than ever before, with often just a couple percentage points between the two. Hopefully we will never see another year like that first one, and we can see plenty more like 2005. As more people, young and old, begin to realize what a versatile and refreshing beverage wine can be.