Here’s a curious piece of data, showing how which big beer brand you prefer may determine how likely you are to vote in the upcoming election and whether you lean more to the Democratic side of the aisle, or the Republican. The poll was conducted by Scarborough Research and the results written up in the National Journal as What Your Beer Says About Your Politics.
But it’s only the big brands that were tallied, the domestics and the most popular imports. The only one close to craft is Samuel Adams, who in most people’s mind, I think, is straddling both worlds right now. Even so, there are a few surprising results, at least to my mind. I would not have thought, for example, Samuel Adams drinkers would skew so heavily Republican. Maybe it’s the naked jingoism, the patriotic perception of the brand, I don’t know.
The other one that surprised me was that Heineken skewed so far on the Democratic side. I tend to think of Heineken as a brand that people who don’t know any better think is a high end, premium brand, in the same way bald, middle-aged men drive Corvettes to recapture their youth, not realizing it’s no longer the hip car it once was. But maybe that’s just my own bias. In any sort of polling, I rarely fall under the “typical” findings.
Take a look at the chart below and see what you think. Does it make sense to you?
The chart is tough to see this small, but you can see it full size, or look at on the original National Journal post.
All that proves is that most folks of any political leaning wouldn’t know a good beer if it bit them in the ass. My beer geek friends & acquaintances tilt 90%+ democrat.