Popularity of pint dwindling among men

Only 12% of British men would choose a beer as their first choice alcoholic beverage, according to a study that claims to have predicted the death of the pint.

A total of 2,949 men aged 30 and over were surveyed by VoucherCodesPro.co.uk, with just 12% listing beer as their first choice beverage with low calorie tipples more common.

Spirits (24%) and red wine (19%) emerged as the most popular drinks for men when out, with bottled cider (15%) completing the top three.

Asked why they prefer to drink other alcoholic beverages over a pint of beer, the most common response was that beer was “too calorific” (22%) and that it “makes me feel too bloated” (16%). Positively, only 9% said they actually disliked the taste of beer, with only 6% citing its cost as the reason for not ordering a pint of beer.

Interesting, the respondents were then asked to select which drink they would have opted for 10 years ago, with 31% choosing a pint of beer, topping the list, indicating the decreasing popularity of the beverage in the past decade.

This ties in with reports of alcohol consumption in the UK, which is at a 16-year low having dropped by nearly 20% in the past decade.

Despite this survey’s indication declining popularity of beer, the category bucked its own 20-year decline this year, increasing its market share by 1% in 2014. 

Ten years ago, those polled listed alcopops as their second preferred beverage (19%) and red wine in third (16%), offering an insight into changing tastes of men over the past decade.

“It seems that the classic pint of beer is on a downer, with many more Brits opting for spirit based drinks”, said George Charles of VoucherCodesPro.co.uk. “I have to say I have noticed this when out and about, with many of my friends opting for vodka mixers and shots rather than a pint of beer. There are, however, a lot of artisan, local brewers popping up around the UK, which could definitely see a resurgence in the British pint. It would be a shame to see the death of the pint, but I think Britons will start to get behind their local brewers in a bid to revive it.”

Craft beer has gone from strength to strength in recent years and is showing no signs of slowing down. Most recently Mintel released a report indicating that the global craft beer boom had boosted tastes for high abv beer. In 2014 almost a quarter of beers launched globally had an abv of 6.5% or higher, up from just 15% in 2012, a rise said to be driven by the rise in craft beer.