First Canada, now the United States.  In a landslide poll Americans have voted for their favorite beverage, and guess what?  That’s right, beer was voted number one amongst Americans.  Posted today on the Gallop Poll website, beer was voted king of the beverage hill. The poll shows that of the 41% of Americans that consume alcohol regularly, their most common alcoholic beverage choice is beer.  Furthermore, beer represents 60% of alcoholic beverages sold.

The results of the poll are huge for beer brewers.  Although the results mirror that of years past, they show a strong increase in the adult consumption of beer.  Beer has been, for years, the beverage of choice amongst legal age consumers.  This year’s poll, however, shows not only that beer is the country’s favorite drink but that beer sales are up from the same results posted in July of 2005.

Beer consumption is up 5% from last year, big news for not only big brewers like Anheuser-Busch, Miller Brewing Co. and Molson Coors Brewing Co., but also for smaller craft beer breweries.  Last week the Micro Matic Beer Blog reported that the beer industry has benefited from the popularity of organic beer as small organic breweries have slowly but significantly entered the beer market.  The addition of smaller niche breweries and craft beer into the mainstream beer market is a major factor in the growth of beer consumption over the last year.

The poll also shows a decrease in wine consumption.  Over the last few years the wine industry has benefited from the “wine fad”.  Popularized in films like Sideways, wine sales skyrocketed over the last two fiscal years.  According to the Gallop Poll, that popularity has began to wane as craft beer consumption has trumped the sudden wine spike.

I’m glad to see that beer has once again been crowned the number one beverage in the United States.  Truth be told, I don’t see what the big fuss is about.  I mean, I’ve been celebrating the good times and washing down the bad times with beer for years.  Not only because it’s my favorite beverage in the world, but because drinking beer is what Americans do best.  I’m proud of you my fellow Americans; once again you’ve proved why we live in such a great country.  America!