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Is
beer passé?
Are beer’s
decades of dominance as America’s favorite alcoholic beverage soon
to end? Recent indications are that it’s falling out of fashion –
that it may be last season’s, or the last generation’s, drink
of choice.
Beer still rules the alcoholic beverage market, with just over 53 percent
of all sales in 2004. But five years before that, it commanded a 56% share.
Its loss in sales have been matched by an increased share in the distilled
spirits market. With their air of luxury and sophistication enhanced by
crafty marketing, new – and often costly – brands of liquor
are winning over younger drinkers.
Some observers see sociological shifts as the answer. In the new millennium,
such blue-collar hangouts as neighborhood taverns, fraternal organizations
and union halls, where the quaffing of beer was a traditional male-bonding
ritual, are institutions of the past.
Others see a regular generational switch. Martinis and Manhattans were
the preferred cocktails of the men and women who came of age in the 1940s.
The baby boom generation showed its independence in choosing beer. Now,
perhaps the pendulum has begun its swing back, with Cosmopolitans and
boutique Bourbons the de rigueur emblems of the hip, urban lifestyle.
New, potent
'boutique' wines cause concern
Fine table
wines have long been considered a beverage of moderation. Their expense,
their function as an accompaniment to meals, and their often bewildering
nomenclature make them a poor choice for a quick buzz.
No longer. The reliable sunshine of California is the envy of the rest
of the wine-growing world, and now vintners are capitalizing on it, resulting
in robust wines that regularly reach 15, 16 and even 17 percent alcohol.
French Burgundies, for instance, average about 12 percent alcohol, and
rarely pass 14 percent. California Pinots noirs, made from the same grape,
often outstrip them by several points (as do some other batches of small-winery
product, such as Zinfandels).
The vintners achieve this, apart from the blazing sun, through a variety
of means. They let the grapes – particularly the skins and seeds
– ripen and sweeten longer before harvesting. Then they introduce
powerful strains of yeast – called “Schwarzenegger” yeasts
– that devour every molecule of sugar, converting it into ethanol.
The result: massive and intoxicating wines, often rivaling fortified wines
such as port or sherry in their kick.
A few more degrees of alcohol may not seem like much, but a wine containing
15 percent alcohol is 25 percent stronger than one at 12 percent, turning
four glasses of wine into the equivalent of five. As one connoisseur remarked:
“Two people sharing a bottle of wine over a meal used to be a good
idea. No more.”
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College
students tend to overestimate alcohol content of standard drinks
College
students overestimate how many ounces constitute standard servings of
wine and liquor, according to a study of undergraduate students at a private
university in the southern United States.
When asked how many ounces they thought constituted a single serving of
beer, wine, or liquor in a shot or mixed drink, students defined wine
and liquor more liberally than standard definitions commonly used by researchers
and government agencies.
For example, the students’ average definition of the amount of liquor
in a mixed drink was more than twice the standard definitions (see figure
below). Furthermore, students asked to free-pour an average drink consistently
poured drinks larger than the standard definitions (data not shown). According
to the authors, these findings suggest that students who ignore the definition
of a standard drink provided on alcohol surveys may be underreporting
their drinking habits.
In addition, students’ liberal definitions of drinks puts them at
risk for hazardous drinking. For example, a male college student who is
taught that binge drinking is five drinks will go well beyond the five-drink
threshold by using his definition of a standard drink. The authors suggest
that “alcohol education initiatives should include a component that
addresses the issue of standard drink sizes.”
[Story and graph courtesy of CESAR FAX, a publication of the Center
for Substance Abuse Research at the University of Maryland, College Park]
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