Comments on: Here’s To Beer: The Tom Shipley Interview http://www.beerscribe.com/2007/08/02/heres-to-beer-the-tom-shipley-interview/ Dedicated to the art, complexity, and business of beer... Thu, 09 Feb 2012 05:23:56 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.0 By: Andy http://www.beerscribe.com/2007/08/02/heres-to-beer-the-tom-shipley-interview/comment-page-1/#comment-202 Andy Thu, 02 Aug 2007 19:04:07 +0000 http://www.beerscribe.com/notebook/2007/08/02/heres-to-beer-the-tom-shipley-interview/#comment-202 Welcome to BeerScribe and congrats on the book, Bob. I think you may have glossed over what I wrote. I was talking specifically about the results of the 2005 Gallup Consumption Habits poll in which 39% of Americans reported that they drink wine more often than any other alcoholic drink. The figure for beer was 36%, and for spirits, 21%. Neither I or the poll said that people actually buy more wine by volume than they do beer. And while brewers tried to make the very argument you made in your comment, it fell flat, regardless of its truth. It was the perception issue (people thought the right answer was wine and they lied accordingly) that rightfully scared brewers. Beer had a self-inflicted black eye and the HTB campaign was designed to counteract this. Welcome to BeerScribe and congrats on the book, Bob. I think you may have glossed over what I wrote. I was talking specifically about the results of the 2005 Gallup Consumption Habits poll in which 39% of Americans reported that they drink wine more often than any other alcoholic drink. The figure for beer was 36%, and for spirits, 21%.

Neither I or the poll said that people actually buy more wine by volume than they do beer. And while brewers tried to make the very argument you made in your comment, it fell flat, regardless of its truth. It was the perception issue (people thought the right answer was wine and they lied accordingly) that rightfully scared brewers. Beer had a self-inflicted black eye and the HTB campaign was designed to counteract this.

]]> By: Bob Skilnik http://www.beerscribe.com/2007/08/02/heres-to-beer-the-tom-shipley-interview/comment-page-1/#comment-201 Bob Skilnik Thu, 02 Aug 2007 18:49:46 +0000 http://www.beerscribe.com/notebook/2007/08/02/heres-to-beer-the-tom-shipley-interview/#comment-201 "For the first time in the poll’s history, wine edged out beer as the selected drink of choice." C'mon Andy. That's not true. As an increase by percentage, wine certainly surpassed beer's decrease in sales, but by total volume, wine has never been near the amount of beer that's consumed yearly. If the brewing industry had total sales of 100 gallons in a year and vintners had total sales of 10 gallons, what happens if beer sales would fall to 95 gallons and if wine increased to 11 gallons? Go by percentages and the headlines would read that beer sales had fallen 5 percent while wine sales had risen 10 percent. But in total gallons, brewers would still be pushing out 95 gallons vs. the vintners' 11 gallons. “For the first time in the poll’s history, wine edged out beer as the selected drink of choice.”

C’mon Andy. That’s not true. As an increase by percentage, wine certainly surpassed beer’s decrease in sales, but by total volume, wine has never been near the amount of beer that’s consumed yearly.

If the brewing industry had total sales of 100 gallons in a year and vintners had total sales of 10 gallons, what happens if beer sales would fall to 95 gallons and if wine increased to 11 gallons?

Go by percentages and the headlines would read that beer sales had fallen 5 percent while wine sales had risen 10 percent. But in total gallons, brewers would still be pushing out 95 gallons vs. the vintners’ 11 gallons.

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