Who drinks in America

Yeah "gate way" beer the zealots would say. Not aligned with Jesus's path. Is a sin. But even the most religious people iv seen like alcohol.

 

budsNpils Zealot (543)

 

And let’s not forget the Mormons!

 

I doubt he would see any difference. He’s a good guy, just believes alcohol is evil. I’m not out to convert anyone.

 

I am a zealot of sorts.

 

How has the craft beer variety and complexity has exploded over the past 30 years, yet beer has failed and popularity has dropped since 1992? My hope is that this will correct itself eventually. Or maybe the significance of difference between beer and craft beer isn't appreciated in this report. I would expect a rise in popularity of craft beer over the last 30 years, but that may come at the sacrifice of beer drinking as a whole in general. Anyways, I'm actually optimistic about the future of craft beer. I think we're on to something very valuable here, yet to be fully appreciated.

 

I'm all for craft, but isn't 90% of the beer consumed macro? When I was into whisky, single malt was the thing with its 10% (or was it 5%) of the market. And now with NA, and the bright future, it's 1% of the beer sold. It's niche after niche, but so be it. The niches are big enough as they are, but we could hope for further improvement.

 

Woohoo! Go New Hampshire!

 

The New Hampshire State Liquor Stores sell liquor and wine, but not beer.

There is no state tax on wine in NH and, since all liquor sales are controlled by the state, there’s no state tax on the hard stuff either. There is a $0.30 per gallon state tax on beer which is paid by the vender.

I live in the extreme SW corner of the state and am just as likely to shop for beer in Vermont or Massachusetts. There’s no particular price difference that I’ve ever noticed. When I was a kid growing up in Massachusetts, we had to drive to New Hampshire on Sundays because of the blue laws. But we’re all heathens together now.

Liquor, on the other hand… restaurant owners apparently stock their businesses from the NH state-owned stores to avoid paying the tax in their home states. It’s a big deal in New York and, I think Connecticut.

First you try to take our First in the Nation primary away from us (and welcome to it). Now you try to tell us we’re not the greatest beer drinkers in the country. Is there no end to the perfidy?

Life in New Hampshire is bleak, sirs. A mild buzz at all times takes the edge off.

 

American religious share by denomination for religions which have many members who might not drink because of, or in part, due to religious reasons and or their religious social circles.

Source: https://www.pewresearch.org/religion/religious-landscape-study/

• Evangelical Protestant 23.9% *
• Mainline Protestant 12.6% *
• Historically Black Protestant 6.5%
• Mormon 1.6%
• Muslim 0.9%
• Buddhist 0.7%
• Hindu 0.7%

Total 46.9% * (Lutherans removed)

Share of religious and non-religious for those with "modernist" views on alcohol:

• Unaffiliated / "Don't Know" 23.3%
• Catholic 20.8%
• Lutheran 3.6%
• Jewish 1.9%
• Other Religions & Faiths 1.8%
• Jehovah's Witness 0.8%
• Orthodox Christian 0.5%
• Other Christian 0.4%

Total 53.1%

Cues Johnny Cash

Gil Levine with the call at Sportsman's

 

In Sweden (and I would suspect in much of northern Europe as well) ideas about prohibition and teetotalism was heavily influenced by US Evangelical, Protestant Christianity (organized into what is called "free churches" in Sweden as opposed to the state church) starting in the 1800s. In the US, with its long held separation of church and state, such Evangelical groups came to dominate among the Protestant denominations, making teetotalism and (mainly previously?) prohibition into the dominant viewpoint among them. Views not shared by American Catholics as was noted elsewhere in the thread.

Of course by the 1800s in Sweden alcohol consumption was mainly made up of spirits, with the associated societal problems that this caused. Selling teetotalism to people was probably easier under those circumstances than it would have been, had beer been the dominant alcoholic beverage. There is probably a connection to be found between the emergence of the northern European "vodka belt" on the one hand (over the course of the 1600s-1800s), its expansion over to the New World in the form of American whiskey and a drinking culture similar to that found in northern Europe, and later ideas of teetotalism among the new Evangelical groups on the other, which were then brought over to the Old World.

 

I checked Wiki, looks prohibition in Finland wasn't mainly a religious project, more like worker's party and women's rights. You are right in that the free churches have been small here, and they may differ in how alcohol is viewed. But the Lutheran and the smaller Orthodox "state churches" have not profiled themselves as being especially critical to alcohol. And people apparently don't see a reason to abstain totally. Abstaining is viewed as a private project, with varying reasons.

 

Yes, that is the NH state excise tax on beer. All states levy an excise tax on beer (paid by the wholesaler and/or brewery, depending on state rules) as shown on this pdf from the State Tax Administrators organization:
STATE TAX RATES ON BEER
Note, too, that under the column "General Sales Tax Applies" NH is listed as "n.a. (not applicable)" along with 4 other states with no sales tax.

For me for example, NJ's excise tax of 12¢/gallon added 6¢ to the shelf sticker price of a 4 pack of 16 oz. cans. But the sales tax of 6.625% on that $12 4pk adds another 80¢ at the register.

Within the industry, NH's per capita beer consumption's high rate has long been viewed as having that "asterisk" aspect of reflecting sales to out-of-staters. Here's another example from The Beer Institute (aka the "Big Brewers" trade group, formerly the United States Brewers Association):

And, from the same 10 year old article, quotes from a NH brewery owner (White Birch Brewing):

I didn't imply otherwise and, yeah, it is likely that some beer sales to non-NH residents are based on the belief that beer is going to be cheaper, too, even if that is not the case. But, hey, sales are sales.

 

Next you'll be claiming that Franklin Pierce wasn't one of the greatest presidents in U.S. history. You would leave us with nothing.

All I can say is, I'm doing my part.

 

I grew up a German Catholic in WI; everyone drank: beer (obviously), brandy (real big in WI), whisky, you name it. Even wine. As you state, the non-drinking German is more a PA Dutch thing. From talking with friends who grew up in rural PA I got the impression that the dry counties and townships, all the cultural prohibitions on drinking, etc., only made alcohol more attractive, and actually encouraged drunkenness. Booze was sinful, ie, cool, and getting soused was seen as the whole point of drinking (after all, that's what the teetotaling parents said too). Drinking then was less a pleasant social ritual than a desperate effort to get wasted...

 

can you back up that chart with more charts?
Jess…. Kidden!

 

Has Gallup gotten their shit together since "Dewey Defeats Truman!"? Curious.

 

Even if that decline coincides with my Dr. making me cut down to one beer a month 3 1/2 years ago, I refuse to believe this had a significant impact on overall beer sales

 

I'm a Lutheran and I'd never touch the stuff.