You misunderstand. They work for/with me at the restaurant. And in their off time they drink mostly craft beer and cider.
These are mostly the children of local cops, fireman, farmers, and construction people. The area they are from is is fairly affluent, but their specific town is not. Like as in drop a zero off the average income compared to the town 10 miles over. Its a beachy farming town in the North East US.
Teenagers tend to not have much money by adult standards. But their expenses are very low. So they have some of the largest disposable incomes demographically, its why they’re such a driver in the culture. Raw buying power combined with lack of good sense. Inbev owned “craft beer” is typically no more expensive than their same import offerings. A few bucks more than a rack of bud lite but hardly expensive. Still cheaper than cheap liquor and far cheaper than sneaking into a bar.
The alcopop style of overly sweet pseudo cider is failing at market. With the exception of a handful of products. Traditional style, complex and tasty, certainly not ‘wine cooler’ cider is booming. And that’s what these kids are drinking. They’re drinking Blue Moon, Blue Point, Founders, ETC. And various brands of respectable ciders, though they usually stick with Angry Orchard which is closer to the alcopop style than most more modern ciders.
One of them makes craft cocktails (or attempts to) at beach parties.
I’ve seen similar things happening in Rural/suburban Jersey and Pennsylvania. The x-factor seems to be a large local concentration of craft breweries rather than actual income level.
[quote=“Ryuthrowsstuff, post:63, topic:99302”]
he alcopop style of overly sweet pseudo cider is failing at market. With the exception of a handful of products
[/quote]Here in Austin we’ve had a few cider breweries open up or expand within the last 2 years or so, i think the biggest one being Austin Eastciders. It’s probably not as nice as a traditional local cider from wherever but i rather like Eastciders’ drinks If i could get my hands on something more traditional i totally would. I occasionally buy some random cider brands to try them out just like i do with craft beers.
I actually tied Austin Eastcider the other day. Its pretty good. Very dry. Its probably more traditional than most traditional style mass market ciders these days in that it has some pretty noticeable tannins. Not my favorite but much better than most of the other ciders I’ve tried in the price bracket. Groovy can too. All traditional cider really means is lack of sweetness. Its very dry, and complexity in the form of taninns that comes from using traditional cider apple varietals. Which are hard to come buy. Also that they’re actually made from juice, no adjuncts.
The one issue to this shift is that most of these places making fairly traditional cider seem to be trying to combat Smirnoff Ice with sweet flavors that are just wrong. Pineapple, heavy spice etc. Every one of those I’ve tried is gross. Traditional dries seem to sell better at market though.
Cider is big here. We’re an apple producing region/state. Apparently one of only 2 sections of the country that really produce apple in volume, and still have tradition cider varieties lingering around some wheres. I’d be surprised if you couldn’t get some pretty good ones, they seem to be everywhere these days. Personally I’m a big fan of ACE, its pricey but both the pear and apple are among the best I’ve had recently.
Another favorite of mine for nationally available ones is Sam Smith’s. One of my favorite breweries. They’re still using open, stone fermentation tanks from the Victorian era. I’ve not had a single thing from them that wasn’t awesome.
for Eastciders i’ve tried all of them but the pineapple. Didn’t sound appealing to me. The Hopped one is vile, and the honey is sweeter but pretty enjoyable without being overtly sweet. My favorite is the dry however. Also recently they released a blood orange cider and it’s actually not all that bad… not my favorite but i do enjoy the orange taste to it.
Also much to my dismay Eastciders seems to be moving away from the large cans. Lately i’ve only been able to find standard sized cans in packs of 6 vs the giant cans in packs of 4.
ACE Pear cider my wife loves but while i do enjoy it a fair bit i find it to be way way too sweet.
Samuel Smiths is really good beer. I tried an imperial stout by them a few years ago and i was impressed. Their pricing on the beer is really damn affordable too.
I’m also pretty fond of a Scottish brewery called Innis & Gunn but alas since i moved away from Las Vegas i have not been able to find them anywhere in Texas.
Yeah I don’t go in for overly weird flavors. There’s a lot of pinapple around lately, vile.
Both hopped and honeyed ciders are actually like medieval old variations. Hops were originally just a preservative. And mead has a problem in that yeast does not want to ferment honey (I’ve got a batch weirding it up in my basement).
Well, with out actually supporting underage drinking, I guess if one is going to do it, doing it for enjoyment vs binging is the way to go.
I still contend the average underage drinker is more concerned with how much $20 can buy them, vs which craft beer is the coolest.
Then again, kids also drink to be more “grown up”, since many adults make craft beer a hobby or status thing, I supposed many will want to emulate this. To be fair, its been 20 years since underage drinking was something I could partake in, so I could very well be out of touch with the times.
Now excuse me, I see a cloud that needs a yelling-at.
I didn’t mean to compare ciders directly with wine coolers other than they are both easier for people to drink and taste like alcoholy.
Ciders and wines are the few alcoholic drinks I actually enjoy. Things like Woodchuck, Strongbow, and one I found in PA a long time ago, One Eyed Jack. Angry Orchard is ok, but a bit too sweet some times.
At a concert I decided to try the other cider and it was like drinking a Sweet Tart. Holy shit.
This article should have a trigger warning for cognitive dissonance. It’s obvious that many of these labels and ads are objectifying and demeaning to women. The association’s message seems to be simply “let’s have a little respect for our customers.” Having women feel comfortable drinking a quality beer rather than some mass produced swill can only be a good thing.
At the same time, and with no less conviction, I resent this as an attack on the sense of playfulness and individuality that seems to be unique to microbreweries in this age of bland corporate homogeneity. Are we destined to live in a world where every thought and action must be filtered lest it offends someone?
My head hurts. I’m going to have a beer and watch some baseball until this thing resolves.
Do you think that there is no way to be playful that doesn’t involve sexual innuendo and objectified women?
As a woman, I have to wonder if I’m destined to live in a world in which every single discussion about objectification and degrading women by corporations and businesses is met with resentment and trepidation.
There are all kinds of ways to be playful without throwing one gender under the bus.
I mentioned above in a previous post that it is not an attack by the Brewers Association to the craft breweries. It is them requesting that if they feel the need to make any beers with sexualized marketing then they need to remove mention of the Association or any awards they have imparted to the brewer. They most likely don’t want to give the consumer the impression that they are indirectly ok with that kind of marketing.
I think it’s a fair thing to do and brands/companies do this sort of thing quite frequently.
I have several brews in my fridge. In fact i have two bottles of westvleteren 12 i will be enjoying for my bday this weekend. Today i’ll probably enjoy an imperial stout i’ve been saving.
If i could get my hands on something more traditional i totally would. I occasionally buy some random cider brands to try them out just like i do with craft beers.
