NYT Well: "Young Drinkers Prefer Beer" (and Bud Light is the favorite)

Boooooooooooooooo

A perfect example of youth, bad taste!

Oh the ignorance of youth. Give 'em time.

IT'S TENNESSEE WHISKEY, DAMMIT.

Youth is wasted on the young.

It makes sense. They don't know what real beer tastes like, so they want to drink something that they're familiar with.. like water. Hence their choice of those brands.

I'm 21. On a college budget it's hard to enjoy craft beer frequently, however I try to try as many new ones as possible (usually 2 4 packs a week). I know bud light, budweiser, and beers of the like lack taste but they do get you drunk, which is the goal on most weekends here. Craft beer is a passion, but it's too expensive to drink in high quantities. The lack of flavor in the aforementioned beers makes them drinkable and that's about it.

I am also a college student and 21. I can honestly say that I never really drink BMC, as even that is more expensive than most things at a bar in a college town. I love craft beer, enjoy trying new styles, but as my counterpart mentioned above....it's just too expensive. I try to avoid going out to the bars too much, because I know I'll end up splurging on great beer, but it'll hurt me financially.

Not all youths have bad taste, I was hunting my first whales by 18.

Yeah I just turned 21 a few months ago. I don't think it's a matter of age. Just people haven't ever been told what else is out there. It's crazy when I think about how much I thought I knew about beer in HS. I hate when I remember my friends getting excited about a Shiner, Dos Equis, or even Ziegenbock keg or something like that and being soooo bummed when the keg got to the party and it was miller lite, coors or something like that. I knew that they all weren't good beers and it didn't make a difference to me what was in the keg so I guess I've always had better taste. As arrogant as that sounds. (also Shiner is never bad but I've never really liked it.)

One of my good friends still thinks Guinness is the best beer in the world. Pity the ignorant.

I believe that good beer (and good food, wine, whiskey, bread, cheese, meats, etc) is something that anyone can "figure out" if they like it at any stage of their lives. All it takes is that one "a-ha" moment and maybe understanding and accepting the fact that you will need to spend more money for something that you truly enjoy.

Ahh, yes, Keystone light was the preferred beer of my youth. That is, it's what we always had at our high school parties. Occasionally, we were able to get a hold of some Sierra Nevada...and it was bliss.

I didn't really care for Keystone, but after downing a few they tasted less offensive.

College was pretty much all craft, or at least imports. I moved past swill partly due to my father as he was a big scotch drinker and got into craft beers around the time I was a senior in HS.

Yeah, I'm pretty sure their "favorite" is dictated by the fact that they have no money. It's amazing to me that college kids drink good beer. We had no cell phones, gas was less then $1 a gallon and smokes were $1 a pack, worked part time jobs and we still had no damn money for anything other then garbage. It was a good night if we had Icehouse.

How do you guys afford all this stuff?

First beer I ever tasted? Leinie's Sunset Wheat (My Dad's). First beer I ever actually drank? Guinness. First time I had someone buy alcohol for me? Sam Adams.

I didn't honestly have most of what we consider on this site to be BMC until I was almost 21. So don't lump us all together just because your mad and your getting old.

I remember being able to buy two 40s of OE and and pack of Marlboros for less than $5. Then Mike Vick had to make VA Tech a big deal, OE jumped to $1.40 each and smokes went to over $3 a pack. My world ended.

Why would you pity someone for thinking a delicious Guinness is the best beer in the world?

You can't exactly search out quality whales, when your not old enough or rich enough to do so. The easier the beer is to obtain, the higher likelihood it will be tried/consumed. I knew absolutely nothing about alcohol when i was a teenager.

"Excuse me, mr. homeless man who lives behind the liquor store, here's a twenty, could you grab me and my buddies a Parabola and you can keep the change?"

That just doesn't sound right.

Well, yeah. They're kids. It makes sense they go for the brands that A) can be found anywhere, even the shadiest convenience store and B) are cheap. They can't afford the good stuff like Heineken yet.

Let them drink that crap, at least they aren't hogging all the good stuff.

If you think about it, this makes even more sense, because most under-21s aren't going to even be able to go into a liquor store and browse to see how much variety there really is when it comes to craft beer. Sure, there are sites like BA, but it's probably a bit too expansive for a complete greenhorn.

When I turned of age, the best way I started getting into craft beer was going to the local liquor store and browsing through their selection, then also being able to build your own (before pretty much EVERY liquor store had that feature).

Before that, I got what I heard about on TV or what my friends told me I should drink.

Bud Light, the sure sign of a good time felony

I have a teen aged son. Most teens want to conform so they all wear Hollister and Nikes, play the same games on Xbox and listen to the same crap music. Everything they like is because of marketing. Of course they're going to drink the crap that is heavily promoted on TV.

Uh, all you craft beer advocates trying to make excuses why those are the top 3 beers for underage beer drinkers realize those are also the top 3 US beers for legal beer drinkers, as well, right? Bud Light, Coors Light and Bud account for nearly 4 out of every 10 beers consumed- add Miller Lite, Natural Light and Corona, and there's half the US market being only 6 (not very) different beers.

I think it comes down to what's easiest to come by, expense, and capacity for under aged drinkers. BMC products are everywhere, they're cheap, and youngsters can hold more of it. I can't believe that "experts" were never certain what the under aged were drinking. Oh, and don't forget marketing!

This is a silly article. If you are a kid in college, or even younger getting your older brother to grab you beer are you going to ask for a $13 four pack of some RIS or a $13 24 pack of Natty Ice? At a certain point in my youth the goal was to get drunk and taste was secondary, I am pretty sure I am not alone in that.

Things have changed. Back in the late 60's underage kids were drinking cheap fortified wine. Thunderbird and Night Train were 18% abv and 60 cents a quart.

Among all the other comments here, underage kids generally have little say in what they drink. Typically, someone of age chooses the beverage for them.

Me and one of my roommates usually pre-gamed with a few 750's, usually 10% or more before walking to parties down the road with a 30 in tow. The best was getting 40oz of Colt .45 or Milwaukee's Best for $1.

Hissssss...But, in their defense, I started on garbage like that too. So there is hope for them yet.

Look at the age group that was surveyed. Did anyone honestly think the outcome would be any different?

"Underage kids generally have little say in what they drink. Typically, someone of age chooses the beverage for them". I think the lesson to be learned here is that when a youngster stops you outside a bar and asks you to buy him beer, use your BA knowledge and get him the best brew offered by that establishment. The future is in our hands.

When I was 18 working construction, the beer we drank at the end of work depended on what day it was. Friday and Saturday we drank better beer (not that there were a lot of options in '79-'80 in Florida). The more the week progressed, the cheaper the beer. By Thursdays, we pooled whatever change we could scrounge up to buy Black Label. Growing older has its advantages, not to mention there has never been a better time for beer than now!

A long time ago, early 1970s, a wild Friday night might involve a half pint ( pre- metric) of cherry vodka. Sometimes followed by one or more bottles of Boones Farm Strawberry Hill ( or similar " wine".)
Some of the other misguided youth favored Sloe Gin or Southern Comfort.
The small bottles had the advantage of being easy to conceal at games, movies, dances.... Beer, Busch, Strohs, Hamms, Old Style, Olympia and the like came with house parties and camping. As an undergrad I tried Anchor Steam and Samuel Smith.
Flavored vodka has became very popular. Something about old being new again.

Young drinkers prefer beer and of the beer they prefer, it's macro. This is news?

No, your thinking of Icehouse, Steel Reserve, Natural Ice, etc...

I'm in my early twenties and I've never had a bud just miller and a coors and the both sucked.

terrible