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I've been hearing buzz that the whole alcohol industry is in trouble, from a perfect storm of cultural changes that culminate in young people drinking less, and
by mikkupikku 8mo ago
I've been hearing buzz that the whole alcohol industry is in trouble, from a perfect storm of cultural changes that culminate in young people drinking less, and particularly drinking less in bars.
With that context, it seems notable that the booze company in question here was purchased by a "beverage and medical cannabis" corp.
- badgersnake 8mo agoThey just stated slowly appparently: https://www.ft.com/content/1ae55e45-64a6-463a-b04b-198ee324115e https://www.ft.com/content/1ae55e45-64a6-463a-b04b-198ee3241...
- mikkupikku 8mo agoMaybe so. But it's not just the price of booze which is the problem; other problems include online dating (meeting people is now less of a reason to go to bars), cultural apprehensions about hooking up while drunk, and cannabis providing a superior experience (at least in the US, maybe less of a factor in the UK?)
- medwards666 8mo agoCannabis in the UK is still illegal, so unless you're picking up weed from your local dealer, it's not a big thing outside the home. But price of booze is killing pubs here. Getting close to £8 a pint now in London. £10 for a pint of Guinness in many bars.
- ducktastic 8mo agoA few years ago there was a group formed in the UK to designate cask ale/pub culture to be recognized as intangible cultural heritage through UNESCO-- following Belgium's successful foray into its brewing/beer culture being designated this way. There are a few documentaries on youtube
- cyberpunk 8mo agoThere is CAMRA, but tbh it seems to mostly be retired people with enormous beer bellies in their 60's who are happy enough to drink bishops finger or doom bar.
- a_f 8mo ago> doom bar Maybe not for much longer: https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cjendwk7979o https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cjendwk7979o
- badgersnake 8mo agoThey’re not stupid, they’ll keep the brand. It’ll just be brewed somewhere else and taste like metallic piss. MBAs don’t seem to understand that where and how a beer is made is important.
- charcircuit 8mo agoIt's still illegal in the US too.
- mikkupikku 8mo agoFederally but the feds don't enforce it. And it being legal in so many states has made it broadly available to anybody that wants it, one road trip to another state is very easy and almost seems normal compared to needing to know a "dealer."
- charcircuit 8mo agoIt is not legal in any states. The laws that make it "legal" are unconstitutional (Supremacy Clause).
- mikkupikku 8mo agoThe map is not the terrain.
- pixl97 8mo agoIt also seems like GLP-1 drugs may reduce drinking too.
- grubbs 8mo agoStarted ozempic over a year ago. I can do like one beer per social outing these days.
- QuercusMax 8mo agoIs that because ozempic has reduced your tolerance, or because your tolerance has reduced due to less consumption in general?
- deleted 8mo ago[deleted]
- lbreakjai 8mo agoNot the original commenter, but for me, I just .. don't feel like it anymore. I used to be a rum enthusiast, now I've got two very nice bottles I bought myself just as I started ozempic, that are still unopened one year after. It has the same appeal as room temperature water when you're not necessarily thirsty.
- jotux 8mo agoTariffs, and retaliatory tariffs, have really messed up the US export market for alcohol too.
- nunez 8mo agoBig time. Canning and component prices are insanely high because of it. Pricing was always a problem for craft. It's even worse now.
- dangus 8mo agoThe craft brewing industry became over-saturated. I also think product has suffered. I seem to remember more interesting and very good beers available. Like, where did all the fabulous Gose varieties go? It seems like everything available today is a hazy IPA or a basic lager. There used to be such a breadth of flavors. The other child comments about GLP-1 is also correct. That also seems to be a source of the protein craze going on right now. The average person is pretty clueless about diet and their doctor told them to get XX grams of protein per meal, and fast food cafes and establishments adapted to those dietary instructions. Also, the brewpub culture is becoming TGI Fridays-ified. TGI Friday’s was a trendy singles bar for boomers at the time, now it’s a watered down boring family restaurant, just like many craft breweries which are stroller-fests. I don’t even know what Gen Alpha/younger Gen Z is up to. Staying inside online? Maybe going more out to party oriented clubs rather than mellow brewpubs? Finally, anyone into indie beers knows that brewdog has been corporate suckage for years.
- jpalawaga 8mo agodrinking out sucks now. it's too expensive. landlords are killing drinking out. I love drinking craft beer. but when a single craft beer reaches up to $15 a beer, there's only so much I will partake, especially if I can have a $1 coors at home (which imo is still an expertly made product). similarly, canned vodka sodas or malt bevages (like whiteclaw) easily hit the $10-$15/can mark at establishments. it's no wonder people don't want to drink out.
- dangus 8mo agoI don’t think this is a solid hypothesis. I really don’t see these $15 a beer prices and I live in a major expensive city. Unless your idea of drinking out is at a theme park.
- mikkupikku 8mo agoI'm convinced the "craft beer" industry settled on IPAs not due to genuine consumer demand, but rather manufactured demand for IPAs because IPAs are more tolerant of faults in the brewing process and therefore have lower production costs (less wastage.) This is because when an IPA turns out particularly poorly, it can be bottled anyway and if anybody points out that it tastes like silty skunk ass (all my homebrews, BTW) some nearby IPA enthusiast will be sure to scoff that the complainant just can't handle the hops.