Alcoholic beverages have been brewed around the world for millennia, dating as far back as the Mesopotamian peoples and the ancient Egyptians, to medieval monks to the present day’s wine and spirits industry. Many beer brands, vineyards, wine stores, and much more can be found around the world today, and customers are treated to a dazzling variety of wine and spirits, such as craft beer, traditional French or Italian wine brands, or even whiskey. And in the United States in particular, the market for alcoholic drinks is plenty strong, with many millions of Americans choosing their favorite brands of beer or wine in particular, both young and old. What kinds of wine and spirits are Americans interested in, and how can they find the right products for their drinks?
Wine
Wine and spirits overall are vastly popular, and wine is a particular category that is often tracked with statistics to see who likes wine, and how much is bought. In fact, wine is, in current times, proving to be even more popular among younger adults than older ones. Younger wine drinkers consume an average of 3.1 glasses of wine per sitting, compared to 2.4 for Gen Xer drinkers and 1.9 for Baby Boomer drinkers, and these younger drinkers often get fine bottles. 17% of all Millennial wine drinkers bought a wine bottle costing more than $20 within the past month, and this is higher than the 10% average for all drinkers and 5% for Baby Boomer drinkers. Women in particular like wine, and when surveyed, women showed that wine was their number one favorite alcoholic drink. But whether young or old, wine drinkers today have more options than ever before.
A person can visit vineyards or wineries across the United States or abroad, with France, Italy, and the American state of California proving to be the world’s top three wine producers. In fact, 90% of American vineyards are found in California, and while their wines don’t typically match the time-honored brands of France and Italy, they prove very popular all the same, and there are many wineries across the United States where wine lovers can find bottles to buy, not to mention accessories like cork screws or sleeves to keep a wine bottle cold. Or, a customer may visit online catalogs for wine and spirits, and find the wine brand that they like most and order them. Wine is sensitive to heat, however, so it is common for a delivery truck driver to bring the wine to a warehouse near a customer’s residence, then drop it off and leave it in a cooler. The customer is then notified, and they can collect their wine and spirits.
Beer
Beer is another staple drink of the world’s population, and is among the most common drinks today alongside water, tea, and coffee. Beer comes in many different brand names around the world, with the United States, Germany, Luxembourg, and similar nations having some of the most enthusiastic drinkers and many breweries for beer. Beer today can come in cans or bottles, or it may even be consumed from kegs, which are popular for parties. The widespread love of beer means that there’s no shortage of accessories for or about this drink. Beer accessories do not stop with kegs and bottle openers; there are also growlers, or portable beer containers larger than a bottle but smaller than a keg. Growlers date back to the late 1800s, when parents sent their kids to collect beer and bring it back in metal pails with lids. Sloshing beer generated carbon dioxide gas that would rattle the metal lid, making a sort of growling sound (hence the name).
Today’s growlers are not pails, but leak-proof containers like large metal or glass bottles, and they can be customized for a person’s taste to make them more festive. But they are still used for a similar purpose. A growler owner can fill the vessel from a beer keg, then take it home and have a large serving of beer at their convenience. Some people even brew their own beer, which requires its own equipment. This may include label signs to mark which barrel has which brew in it.
