Recent poll shows that men love lagers, while women enjoy more complex ales, leaving retailers with a decision to make.

Next time you are at the bar, take a look around at what the men are drinking. Research suggests that most men will be drinking the same beer: An amber lager.

A recent Harris Poll was conducted – asking men and women to identify what types of beer they prefer from a list of 37 different styles. Among their options, men overwhelmingly chose amber lagers while women chose sour/wild beers, saison/farmhouse beers, or golden ales.

Younger men between the age of 21 – 34 scored amber lager the highest, followed next by men between the age of 44 – 54. While some regions of the country differ in their lager preference, the West preferring pale lagers, this research shows there is a steady trend among men towards mass produced lagers.

Women on the other hand, prefer to be more adventurous, accounting for 55% of sales for herb/spice beers and preferring sour beers over 75% compared to the men surveyed.

A recent Gallup Poll also found that “the percentage of men who say (beer) is their favorite drink has declined significantly, down 11 points since the early 1990s, with roughly equal increases since then in the percentages of men preferring wine and liquor.”

This information should help retailers stock beer that both men and women will buy, allowing owners to rotate seasonally available beers, like pumpkin and spice beers which saw a 375% increase in annual sales, in their coolers while still keeping year-round lagers on the sales floor.

Nielsen summarized the survey saying “the upside for retailers is that the massive variety provides new opportunities to drive sales – an appealing prospect that can bring incremental revenue to some of the more traditional segments of the beer category.”

While men are still the largest segment in beer sales, making up close to two-thirds of overall beer consumption, women last year attributed the only growth in the craft beer segment. This demographic change in the craft beer has retailers looking at their selection and replacing some products.

*NOTE: this piece is a satirical criticism of statistics employed by a local publication that marginalized beer preference by sex. We will not link to said article because frankly we found it to be click bait. We believe that both genders have made tremendous strides in producing, consuming, and forwarding deeper understanding and education within the beer industry. Let us celebrate those successes and not blanket generic statistics or assumptions.*

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