Finance

Rather Than Look Down On Light Beer Drinkers, Sit Down For An Ice-Cold Miller, Coors, Or Bud

Go to the Miller Valley in Milwaukee or the flagship Anheuser-Busch brewery in St. Louis, and just try not to feel some good old-fashioned American pride.

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A few weeks ago, my buddy Zach and I were looking to get a cold one after work to celebrate St. Patrick’s Day. We first went to the most authentic Irish pub in town, where I had an imperial pint of Guinness and the obligatory glass of Jameson. However, we’d originally set out intending to, at some point in the evening, tip our hats, and our glasses, to a more Americanized St. Patrick’s Day tradition: consuming a cheap light beer that had been dyed green.

We walked down the street to a place with something like 30 tap handles protruding from behind the bar. “GOT ANYTHING IN ONE OF THOSE KEGS THAT’S BEEN DYED GREEN?” Zach practically shouted as the barman sauntered up.

“No, I’m afraid not,” said our bartender. “They only do that to girlfriend beers.”

Well, I never! I thought as I mentally clutched my pearls, before remembering I had a case of Mich Golden Light in my refrigerator that I’d purchased specifically for the purpose of slaking my girlfriend’s thirst. Hey, just because a stereotype has some truth to it doesn’t make it OK.

Sadly, we never got our green beers that day. The experience did reinforce an important lesson to me though: we ought to stop shaming light beer drinkers.

Modern America was built on light beer. I know it’s trendy these days to get caught up in all of America’s problems, and Molson Coors is kind of a Canadian company now while Anheuser-Busch InBev is technically based in Belgium. But go to the Miller Valley in Milwaukee or the flagship Anheuser-Busch brewery in St. Louis (I have), and just try not to feel some good old-fashioned American pride as you learn about the storied histories of these brands. Maybe also try a few samples while you’re at it.

Truth be told, personally, I do generally prefer craft beer as opposed to something like a Miller Lite. In addition to the big boys, I’ve visited the tap rooms and production floors of dozens of independent breweries across this great nation (a few of my all-time favorites, in case you were wondering, include Beaver Island Brewing Company, Abita Brewing Company, and Pantown Brewing Company). Independent brewers’ share of the $100 billion beer market in the United States continues to grow — independent brewers’ market share has now reached 13.1% by volume according to the latest figures from the Brewers Association — and in my opinion that is a good thing.

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At one of these craft breweries (I have forgotten which one, along with probably a lot of other stuff), a brewer imparted some sage wisdom: there is nothing wrong with light American-style lager. That is a type of beer with a rich history and tradition, and in many cases, a good, flavorful, refreshing taste. But it’s only one type of beer.

There is much to be said for variety and choice. Stability, familiarity, and knowing what you’re getting have their merits as well. Keep in mind too that there is a reason why independent brewers have 13.1% of the beer market by volume but more like 27% by dollar value: craft beers are wicked expensive compared to something like a Bud Light.

We already have plenty of pointless, needless status symbols in America. Let’s put a stop to this creeping beer snobbery that threatens to make beer — beer, one of the beverages America was founded on, classically the drink of the working class, of the immigrant — just another way of displaying your wealth.

Fortunately, if we let it, I’ve found that beer has a way of bringing people together. Maybe rather than yucking someone’s yum next time you see a patron at the tavern drinking something that wouldn’t be your first choice, say, “Hey, I’ll have what he’s having — mind if I join you for one?” Perhaps, a few rounds in, you can offer to share a sip of your bourbon barrel-aged milk stout or whatever you’ve switched to (we all know beer is an acquired taste, spread the joy).

Light beer is just fine indeed, especially on a hot day. It’s not what I always care to drink myself. But I know a lot of people — my friend Zach included — who actually prefer it. So how about we let people drink what they want without trying to make them feel bad for it, especially when what they want turns out to be half the price of the other alternatives? We might even make some new friends along the way.

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Jonathan Wolf is a civil litigator and author of Your Debt-Free JD (affiliate link). He has taught legal writing, written for a wide variety of publications, and made it both his business and his pleasure to be financially and scientifically literate. Any views he expresses are probably pure gold, but are nonetheless solely his own and should not be attributed to any organization with which he is affiliated. He wouldn’t want to share the credit anyway. He can be reached at jon_wolf@hotmail.com.

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