If all beer was the same price, do you think craft beer would outsell macros?

Even if you "evolved" on beer matters, we're all in level 0 on something. Like, for me vodka is just vodka. And somewhere around the world, someone is laughing at me.

 

Permanently.

 

most still want "their beer to taste like beer". lol

 

Hopefully forever if it makes getting beers I want easier.

 

I was talking to a coworker about this; he drinks Keystone Light or, if he wants to splurge, Coors Light. I told him that he should try some other types of beers, even suggested a few options that I thought would be good "gateway" beers, but he clearly wasn't interested. He just made a face at me and said, "yeah, I have a friend who likes that kind of crap, I can't stand that bitter stuff." He clearly wasn't interested. I think a lot of people are like that; their ideas about what beer is and should taste like were formed in college (or high school) and that's what they know and like, and they can't understand why anyone would want to put such demands on their palate just to get a buzz when a cold, refreshing Coors Light just goes down so much smoother.

 

I think there are certain types of people who enjoy acquiring tastes. I like bold wine, dark coffee, and dark beer. As a kid I'm sure I would have spit out any of those. But if you're open to bold tastes you can really start to appreciate and crave them after a while.

I know exactly what you mean though. Some people just don't have any desire to try new things, it's frustrating.

 

light beer keeps you slim

 

We JUST got Founders Brewing Co. distributed here in Texas. I was so stoked waiting and waiting for it to hit my market. So today on my faithful flocking to my hop dealer, I find Founders on the shelves. Not the full line up but fresh Double Trouble, Centennial, and All Day IPA. I literally threw my hands up in the air and let out a yell of enthusiasm as I filled my cart. During this glorious experience I observe a lady complaining to an employee that she couldn't find Shock Top... really? I love my beer store for the fact that to get to the Bud Miller Coors section you have to walk through the entire line-up of craft beers. So, I am thinking to my self... Lady, you walked through a respectable display of Imported, American and Rregional craft beers crying for Shock Top...I have never been so happy and sad at the same time. Thus, fellow beer lovers, is our conundrum... how do we get those on the cusp that are trying the "macro - micro look a likes" to truly embracing craft beer?

 

several possible situations:
1) "man that craft shit is expensive!" (then orders another bud)
2) They expect beer to be essentially fizzy flavorless stuff, so craft seems off-putting
3) habit "It ain't broke, so don't fix it!"
4) the craft beer options seem overwhelming, so why bother with the learning curve?

 

I always wonder how many craft beer "geeks" also eat at McDonalds and other fast food places instead of a restaurant that serves made from scratch, with real ingredients dishes.

 

TOO many people care only about quanity. Any beer in mass quantities will do. Don't bother with them. But maybe the casual drinker may be persuaded to drink "less but better". There's hope that they might try and enjoy drinking better beer.

 

I go a couple of times a year I go to my friend's cottage for fishing, poker and beer. There are craft beer people and Coors Light people. The Coors lighters ask me questions, but don't try my beer. They drink about 12 beers in the time I drink 4. More power to them, I don't care what they drink. They are happy and so am I. I think they are afraid of buying a beer they end up hating. That's why 80% of the adult US population's favorite restaurant is either TGI Fridays, Applebees, Olive Garden (where I take my Italian relatives when they come to the US so they feel at home), or Red Lobster. People fear the unknown to the point where they will never experience anything new.

 

I think they'll hold out as long it is available to them. A lot of people genuinely like their Miller High Life or Coors Light or whatever their drink of choice is. It's their preference, be it for taste, price, tradition, availability, being a quantity drinker or all of the above. Some people don't like hoppy beers or BA stouts and actually want what the non-craft breweries are offering.

I know a few non-craft drinkers that have tried a variety of craft and decided it wasn't for them or worth the money. At the end of the day, who am I to tell them what they like?

 

Craft beer will always be a niche market, due to variety and competition. What is the authentic Bud of craft beers?

Many will see (from the east coast) Ipswich, Harpoon and Samuel Adams as craft beer. But let them, there are plenty of good beers now without everyone putting Budweiser money into Goose Island.

 

Insight? These people??
When you go to the grocery and you're there for barbeque sauce, are you annoyed or curious about all the options? Do your eyes glaze over as you grab your regular old KC Masterpiece Original like a zombie? Will you eventually give in and reach a shaking hand out toward the Rufus Teague Touch O' Heat, thinking that this day may actually change your life?

Give it a break. People like what they like. If they are open to change they may give it a shot. Maybe a friend will hand them a Sierra Nevada and they'll choke it down. But beer variety on the shelf doesn't cross their minds any more than different brands of green beans do to you. Most will have what they've always had--that's how most people work. You can consider yourself amongst the 5% if you'd like.
There's nothing wrong with them. Probably nothing wrong with you either.

 

Man why do you keep calling them "these people"?
Ease up mate

 

Sometimes, I feel more like a High Life than I do a Pliny.

 

So you didn't tell him where he could find the one beer that he was looking for, the one that he wanted. You tried to impose on him something that you thought he might like. And you laughed when he walked away in frustration.
Right on Beer Advocate. You're a real huckleberry.

 

good bbq sauce analogy. i'm from kansas city and i have a loyal bbq sauce for sure. here in portland, i'll go to a friend's house to grill and they'll have a few different bottles of sauce, but not anything compared to the taste and quality of what i usually use. yeah i'll try the other sauces, i'll use the kc masterpiece or kraft or whatever, and it gets the job done... but it sure as hell isn't arthur bryant's sweet heat and i'm fully aware with each bite. i don't tell my friends what they're missing out on or tell them they have to go seek out the rufus teague or other fancy sauce since to them, bbq sauce is just sauce - the stuff that goes on meat when you grill it. when they come to my place, they're gonna get the sweet heat, and they always say "damn this stuff is good" but they don't ask where to get it because at the end of the day, they just don't care.

just enjoy your good stuff, and let other people enjoy their mass-produced sauce that gets the job done.