Sick of beer?
Tonight I came across an advert that struck a chord in me. A spirits provider that shall remain unnamed asked me “sick of beer?” and then proceeded to market to me a premix beverage that I wouldn’t consider drinking… And it made me think.
How many consumers out there are “sick of beer”?
Are they sick of ‘box of beer’ culture? Or are they sick of drinking beer that lacks any of the ‘substance’ that can be attributed to that of a quality beer?
We’ve all had our times… times spent turning up to a social occasion with a box of beers under our arms, be it 14 dollars or 24 dollars a dozen, the modus-operandi was simple – “These bottles (or god forbid cans) contain alcohol, alcohol is great — let’s drink them”. And so the years continued.
But in time I/We reached a crisis point… suddenly, drinking for the effect and drinking for the taste became a debate… one that begins with the internal monologue of “what do I want from my drinking?”
Much like being a student eating scrambled eggs out of necessity and subsequently graduating to a taste-laden frittata once we feel ‘learned’, drinking matures with age.
Yes, there will always be a ‘box of beers’ market – But it’s not aimed at me.
At 32 years of age… and a ‘drinker’, surely I’m representative of a growing core market.
One that is not ‘sick of beer’ — I just need more from my standard 330ml bottle.
I can’t fathom a beer consumer ever becoming “sick of beer” — perhaps sick of tasteless, mass-produced, shandy-esque beer… but not BEER. Surely?
The appreciation of craft beer arrives once we (as mentioned above) mature in our drinking… And we have a wealth of choices with which to choose from. As beer-drinkers, we all live in an exciting and challenging time of consumption.
To clarify that, think back to what we know of the Trappist monks of years gone by and the alehouses of the early medieval periods (and beyond) – each region, each brewer (and for that matter denomination!) had a taste that was individual. Once we delve into the world of craft beer the parables are undeniable. We are now drinking in age of creative, independent individualism and ‘taste’.
Long live drinking for the taste!
No – I’ll never be ‘sick of beer’… I’ll just be sick of your mass produced, TV-marketed beer Mr. large-scale brewer.
(In saying that… I wouldn’t say no to a box of Peroni)
Cheers!
Pete
3 comments to “Sick of beer?”
Chris - 22 Jul, 2011
Hi Pete
You raise a very good point. I remember heading straight to the beer chiller and grabbing a box of beer, ignoring the range of weird beers that didn’t even come in a pack! How the tides have turned now. If I go to an outlet that doesn’t offer the good stuff, I’m not afraid now to ask why. The more of us that do that the better.
Cheers!
Pete - 24 Jul, 2011
Indeed Chris…
I tend to only visit the stores that have a decent ‘single-bottles’ section nowdays… Unless I’m just popping in for a sneaky wine!
But I think i’ll take your lead with requesting a range from the wholesalers who don’t currently offer one — everything helps the cause!
Cheers mate.
billofbeer - 24 Jul, 2011
Yep, good read Pete, I can assure you I’m not sick of beer either and it’s good to see more and more liquor stores are allocating space to craft beer offerings.
We are at the beginning of movement, these are exciting times for beer drinkers.