I wrote this piece for the May/June 2011 issue of the Michigan Beer Guide; it is reprinted with permission.
Chicks don’t like beer. Step outside of the craft beer community, and this misconception runs rampant. Only, it’s not exactly a falsehood. Although I know lots of women who absolutely adore microbrews, in general, beer is not the female drink of choice, so what’s going on? To get to the heart of this matter, I interviewed over a dozen female beer drinkers, allowing me to take a highly subjective and unscientific look at women and craft beer.
To begin with, let’s consider women and beer in general. According to last year’s Gallup poll, just 27 percent of women prefer beer over wine or liquor (compared with well over 50 percent of men). In other words, when given a choice of alcoholic beverages, nearly three-fourths of women will not choose a beer. And who could blame them? For those 27 percent of women who prefer beer, and the rest who don’t, “beer” very likely means a mass-produced fizzy yellow beverage. Statistics from the Brewers Association corroborate this notion: the American craft brewing sales share in 2010 was 4.9 percent by volume and 7.6 percent by dollars; either way you slice it, it’s a small share of all beer sales. Clearly, there are whole swathes of people out there who, despite having an affinity for libations, do not have a clue about craft beer.
It’s no surprise, then, that the majority of American women would rather sip a cocktail or a glass of wine than crack open a beer. It all starts with and comes back to the flavor, but that’s not the whole story. There’s also the fact that macrobrew beer is predominantly marketed to men: ponder the legions of commercials featuring “guys being guys” and sharing a few brewskis, commercials in which women are either major buzz-kills or vapid, bikini-clad eye candy. Add to this the stereotypes of beer-bonging frat boys, beer bellies, and guys swilling down yet another cold one while shouting at the TV screen, and the tale becomes more complete. Overall, the beer scene can be less than attractive for women.
But, it doesn’t need to be this way, and in many circles, it isn’t. Gallup also tells us that the percentage of women who prefer beer over wine or liquor rose 6 percent from 2009 to 2010, so the relationship between women and beer is on the mend. And I imagine that craft beer, with its welcoming and vibrant society, wonderful array of offerings, and more sophisticated character, is at least partially to thank for this uptick.
In contrast to “big beer,” female drinkers and craft beer are a natural combination. After all, women were historically the first brewers. And, if women are seeking delicious beverages, the world of craft beer offers an almost unending assortment of widely-varying options.
In an effort to examine on a very small scale the relationship between beer, craft brews and the fairer sex, I interviewed ladies in attendance at the Michigan Brewers Guild Winter Beer Festival. With a sample size of approximately .2 percent, my findings are far from iron-clad, but a few interesting trends and points did emerge.
I started by asking the all-important question of how each woman first “discovered” craft beer. As it turns out, there was a pretty even split between ladies who came to craft beer on their own or with girlfriends, versus those who were introduced to the scene by a male partner. When boyfriends or husbands turned a woman on to craft beer, it was usually because he started brewing himself, and she got sucked in.
What I found most interesting was when ladies learned of craft beer through get-togethers or events; these ranged from a beer club to a homebrew class staged at a library. So yes, reaching out in friendly ways and “beer evangelizing” does work! In one case, it was the Festival itself that brought an adventuresome lass to craft beer: Annie came from Chicago with her girlfriends to experience the Beer Fest. “This is something totally new for me,” she confided. “My girls brought me out for this; they told me it’d be a great time. This is going to be my first one and I can’t wait!” When I spoke with her, she was in line to sample her first sip of craft beer ever! For me, this is exciting stuff.
Next, enthusiastic answers about favorite beer styles easily shattered the illusion that all women prefer lighter beers or those that are sweet and fruity. Yes, some women did prefer Kolsh- or Pilsner-style beers, and others craved brews with strong fruit flavors. But the female palate is far from uniform. For example, Lauren from Ann Arbor is a self-proclaimed bitter beer addict who declared, “I like my beers to hurt!” One pattern that arose is that many women identified their taste in beer styles as seasonal, ranging from strong stouts and porters in the winter months to refreshingly hoppy IPAs in the heat of summer.
Finally, every lady I spoke with confirmed that it was the flavor of corporate domestic beer that had kept her away from the beverage, but once she tried craft beer, she was hooked. For example, Laura from Grand Rapids said that she used to prefer mixed drinks until her then-boyfriend started brewing; now, she explained, “Craft beer is my beverage of choice, but I don’t drink domestics.”
“I eschewed beer for most of my life,” shared Patti from Ann Arbor. “I drank Labatt’s from time to time. But, then I had craft beer, and was like, ‘Oh my God!'” Said Bobbi from Grand Rapids, “Before [my husband started brewing], I’d drink wine or liquor. I didn’t enjoy those mass-produced beers; I didn’t find them tasty, so I didn’t drink them at all.” Once she was introduced to craft beer, however, she never looked back. Craft beer, she said, “has become our hobby and our passion. I always buy craft beer now; Michigan craft beer.”
The message that women actually love beer, specifically craft beer, came across loud and clear. Of course, these ladies were at a craft beer festival, so this is no great revelation, and of course my results are skewed. But the point is that not one woman expressed that she was just there because her husband or boyfriend dragged her along; these ladies were present to experience craft beer on their own terms. Connected with this is the actuality that, once they are exposed to it, women are often extremely receptive to and appreciative of craft beer. This makes it clear to me that the craft brewing community must make a concerted effort to reach out to the female population. This is a huge, virtually untapped segment of the population; I would take careful note of this if I owned or worked for a microbrewery.
Craft beer is flavorful; craft beer has nuance and depth and finesse; craft beer has yet to be dominated by male-centric, perhaps sexist marketing campaigns; for these reasons and more, women and craft beer are a perfect match. All that’s needed is some beer-advocacy and friendly educational efforts to distinguish craft beer as a very different entity from commercial brew, to help overcome the general female rejection of beer as a whole, and to allow ladies to truly appreciate all that craft beer has to offer. The rest will take care of itself. I’m a believer. I can imagine a world where one day, a double IPA or an imperial stout are known as “chick drinks.”
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