* Mark Blackman <m...@blackmans.org> [2009-09-29T11:39:39] > On 29 Sep 2009, at 16:26, Ricardo Signes wrote: > >> fairly choose between them. There is a large culture of beer >> appreciation >> here. >> >> ...but there's also a large culture of beer ignorance. > > Would you care to speculate on the ratio of those populations in > the US? (and/or outside).
(Please CC me on replies; I am not a subscriber and the last thing I need is more mailing lists!) I can speculate, but it's really hard to say. I divide the adult world into three groups: people who do not drink beer, people who drink beer but don't strive to get the best, and people who take beer seriously. I'd guess that about half the adults I know do not drink beer; that's including people who will drink a beer at a party if it is offered, but would never buy one or ask for one. So, among everyone else? Frankly, I have no evidence worth anything for doing science. (My previous "half" claim was also totally thin-aired.) I'd probably divide the populace in half, again, but say that there is a fuzzy area that eats into the "beer lovers" camp of people who drink beer, notice that some beer is better than other beer, but do not do much to learn what beer they like most or why they differ. These are people who will gladly fall in love with a new beer you show them, but will not go looking for new beer. So, 50/25/25 in the crap/complacent/connoisseur camps? Like I said, though, this is total bull. I bet there are interviews with craft brewers about their actual research out there, though. -- rjbs