95 thoughts on “Wait… aren’t the men on the right supposed to be the manly men?”

    1. Stella is friggin’ awful. Sam Adams is a decent beer, and often your only acceptable beer choice at a more mainstream bar.

      Why is Shiner Bock such an outlier? That’s a good beer. Overpriced, now, but still.Report

        1. There are conclaves of German immigrants in Texas that came over to ranch and farm. These towns have German street names, everything. Shiner Bock is basically a German beer, brewed in Texas.Report

          1. Texas was definitely where I first had it, and for the reasons you describe (it was hella cheap at the time, and I was completely surprised at what a good beer it was for the price). It’s now possible to get it where I live, but way overpriced (but it is still a good beer and I will often pick some up).Report

        1. It’s not what Molson signals, but what a person signals by being a Molson Man (or woman). It starts with one person signalling something, and grows from there, creating a self-reinforcing, self-perpetuating and potentially self-expanding loop of “signals” that can account for all behavior by everyone at all times.

          If you don’t understand this, Mark – and I have to admit, I don’t – ask the signalistas about it.Report

    2. I imagine that regional effects explain a lot of this chart. A beer may be roughly equally popular with Republicans and Democrats in any given locale, but if it markets primarily to a Republican state or region, then it will have more Republican drinkers.Report

    3. Well, ignoring aquisitions and all, in the past the Labatt family were hearty Conservative supporters and the Molson family supported the Liberals (or so I was told).

      Or, perhaps, it about sympathies for Quebec separatism. Molson was from Montreal and Labatt from Toronto (if memory serves).Report

  3. Lone Star is without doubt the best of the “cheap” beers. Folks who drink it have exceptional taste but can’t afford to get to the polls. Shiner Bock is the best mid-range beer, but costs more. So … higher voter turnout for them. Both from Texas, acourse.

    What’s the problem here?Report

  4. Strikes me as very likely a class issue first and foremost and an accessibility issue after that.

    Wealthy urbanites can afford and have access to a great deal of “hair on your chest” brews.
    Poor rural folks of course are going to drink differently.

    I’d be interested in seeing the same survey done with spirits.Report

  5. I don’t think I’m getting the joke.

    Is it about the “light beer” thing? I suspect that’s a function of age.

    Stillwater gets the Texas beers right. I’d only add that because of its price, Lone Star has a lot of younger drinkers who probably aren’t in to the whole voting thing yet. I’m not surprised Shiner is Republican, but I’m surprised it’s so far off to the right.Report

  6. I’m apparently in the right position for someone who prefers Guinness. (I think Yeungling is misplaced – maybe the lager tilts GOP, but Black&Tan is for liberal drinkers).

    btw, I guess this means a mother of two is more ‘manly’ than those right wing manly men. 😉Report

    1. Some of this is probably also climate. I live in a hot one and so I generally only drink Guinness in fall & winter. Nothing better than Guiness, then.

      But August? No freakin’ way. Give me a pilsner, or lager, preferably a kolsch.Report

      1. This reminds me of living in Oregon. Love those heavy microbrews, but on a hot summer day, sitting in a canoe on the McKenzie River? Give me a Hamms or an Oly; they’re the only real choice.Report

        1. Microbrews are a mixed lot (as they should be). My most common complaint about a lot of them is that they are an overreaction to how tasteless mass-market American beers were, so many of them overdo the hops, instead of seeking more balance between hops and malts – I am hoping the pendulum swings backs a bit.

          Hot Sauces can have this problem too, sacrificing flavor for punch.Report

          1. You are so speaking my language, both as to beers and hot sauces. Taco Bell’s “fire” sauce is the worst culprit of all, devoid of any actual taste (yes, towhomever’s smirking, I sometimes eat at Taco Bell, and if you have three children in six school activities, you do, too!).

            I don’t know where to find it in the U.S., but there’s a great Belizean brand hot sauce, Marie Sharps, that gets the hot and the taste in just the perfect combination. (Belize also has a halfway decent domestically produced lager, Belikin.)Report

          2. Ding, ding, ding! A number of hot sauces try to be the hottest possible, completely ignoring taste and the whole point of sauce.

            The same can be said for a lot of IPAs. They go for setting records for hoppiness, ignoring the impact on taste.

            James, I’ll have to look for that sauce. I’ve got a collection, which Zazzy can begrudgingly attest to. Yesterday, I reminded her I’d need her grab me one from the fridge for my tacos.
            “Which one?” she asked.
            “Tabasco for this application.”
            “Why do you have so many?” she asks, referring to an entire shelf on the door dedicated to hot sauces.
            “Because they all have their unique applications. Duh.”
            “Okay, but which one?”
            “Tabasco I said!”
            “Which tabasco?”
            “What do you mean?”
            “The big bottle or the small bottle?”
            “Oh. The small one, of course.”
            “Of course?”
            “The big one is for the Bloody Mary bar.”
            “I’m leaving you.”Report

              2. I love a good pale ale, just the right amount of hoppiness, but the IPAs take that good thing and push it over the line (like bathroom humor in a Mike Myers flick).

                Kazzy, I’m in awe. Let me know if you find Marie’s. And do you ever use sambal (SE Asian chili paste)? It’s awesome in a meatball soup, among other dishes.Report

            2. My wife would have a big one for the Bloody Mary bar, too. She like a LOT of Tabasco in hers. (She likes a LOT of Tabasco on almost everything!)Report

              1. Personally, my heat of choice in a Bloody Mary is horseradish. I certainly use Tabasco but if I go “extra” on anything, it’s the horseradish. I also like to use a jalapeno infused vodka, which adds a real depth of heat in a way I can otherwise replicate.

                I use the large bottle for the BM bar because that is usually a social event. Also, it is a bit of showmanship to whip out the liter-sized bottle.Report

              3. Heh, one of my favorite running jokes with my friends right now. It really is a great double entendre, primarily because…
                A) One BM usually causes the other
                B) A great variety of adjectives can apply to both

                We’ll start email threads, with our fiances/wives on it where we’ll never really clarify which BM we are talking about. Usually, it’s both…

                “Oh man, I can’t wait to get together next weekend. BMs all around!”Report

              11. We’ve been toying with the idea of making a flavored vodka (it’s not that hard) — jalepeno would be a way to go.

                The wife isn’t much on horseradish. She doesn’t like gefilte fish because the idea of something being a neutral platform for horseradish is foreign to her.Report

          3. Have you tried Southern Tier’s Harvest Ale? If not, you must. Let’s just say that it’s a beer that takes your objection to lack of balance and hoppiness for the sake hoppiness to heart. It is as well balanced a beer as I’ve ever found.Report

          4. My favorite beers tend to be more malty than hoppy. I am not a fan of IPAs but love Porters and Stouts. I can do an Imperial Hopped Pilsner like My Antonia from Dogfish Head though. For beers in the non-dark family, I go more for Pale Ales or regular Ales.

            That being said, the best beers in America are still produced by microbreweries. Sometimes they do produce beers that are too “interesting” but they make some really damn good variety as well.Report

  7. So as a Leinie drinker, apparently I’m a high turnout Republican. But I skip half or more of all elections and have voted for only two Republican candidates in my life. That proves polls are false and Mitt Romney is actyally going to win by 10.Report

    1. Is Leinie good? They used to have a bunch of the different varieties at DC bars, which made me suspect it was local, but I don’t think it was. I never really enjoyed it, though I had only begun to expand my beer palette. Seemed like they had 9 billion different types.Report

      1. Leinie’s is from Wisconin. I like a lot of their varieties, but not all (as a brand increases the number of its varieties, the probability of not liking one of them approaches zero). I really like their Red, their Honey Weiss, their CreamyDark,and their Classic Amber(which may be indistinguishable from Newcastle’s Brown). I’d like to try their porter, but I’ve never found it around here.

        But everyone’s taste buds differ, so if you don’t like it, that just means more for me. As long as you’re drinking something beyond Bud, Miller, Michelob, you’re doing all right.

        And here’s a beer I just recently discovered, Breckenridge Brewery’s Vanilla Porter. Great flavor, perhaps a little heavy on the hops (almost IPA hoppy). I’m pretty sure it puts me in the “‘too busy to vote ’cause I’ll be snowboarding, dude,’ liberal” space of the lower left quadrant.Report

        1. I remember they had a bunch of fruity (as in actually flavored to taste like fruit) ones. Is that accurate or am I getting mixed up?

          I tend to drink Bud Heavies if I’m going to for something light, cheap, and predictable. Sometimes I just want something I can suck back for an extended period without getting wasted. I find Bud to be the best of the major “domestic” macro brews.

          If I’m going fancy and want something to actually savor and enjoy, I’m usually going with IPAs or pale ales in the fall and winter and heffs in the spring and summer. Overall, I prefer the hoppier ones, but they don’t really satiate the way I want them to in the heat. I can enjoy most any style if it’s well done. I’ll see if I can find the Breckenridge. If the vanilla isn’t too sweet, I could see myself really enjoying that… especially in a ski lodge while I smartly park myself indoors watching football while my friends tumble down the mountain.

          While we’re naming good brews, I’m increasingly enjoying the brews made by Yards and Victory, both out of Philly. Victory seems to have wider and more far reaching availability, but both make a pretty good variety of well-crafted beers.Report

          1. They have a berry Weiss and a lemon shandy I don’t care for. Their Sunset Wheat comes off a bit fruity for me, too. If I want fruit and grain together I’ll slice some bananas onto my Wheaties, but I don’t want it in my beer.

            I doubt I can find your Philly beers, but I’ve got a good liquor store lesson half a mile away, so I’ll take a look tomorrow.Report

            1. Yea, those sounds like some of the ones I saw. Sunset Wheat was a popular one. The odd thing was, they were often on special or otherwise one of the “cheap” beers, which is partly what led me to believe it was local and shitty.

              You should be able to find some Victory… Hop Devil and Prima Pils are pretty popular and I’ve seen in quite a few places. Regardless, grab something tasty! I’ll (hopefully) be tripping balls on vicodin.Report

              1. Hey, I had some of the Vic last Sunday. Fished up my sleep through Tuesday. Hope you recover quickly.

                And, yeah, Sunset Wheat, while an attractive name, isn’t a satisfying beer.Report

              2. The one and only time I took vic before this, I was up all night convinced my computer was trying to kill me. I sort of saw it the way Kevin saw the furnace in “Home Alone”.

                “How old were you?” Zazzy asked when I retold this story.
                “22.”Report

              3. A friend of mine once took vicodin in conjunction with some wacky terbacky, and it made him extremely, extremely paranoid (he was riding in a car and was convinced that he was going to die in a fiery crash at any moment; every intersection was sheer terror).

                I don’t really care for opiates at all.Report

              4. Last night I imagined elves in the room. Not Santa elves. Evil elves hell bent on psychologically torturing me all night. They weren’t really aiming to physically harm me, as they maintained a primarily hidden presence. But they were there. And they were plotting.

                I’m fine during the waking hours with the stuff. But once I try to sleep… all hell breaks loose. Probably switching over to ibuprofen until the real pain sets in. Also, that should allow me to drink (cue Dr. Saunders BMing on my BM plans).Report

  8. I’m pretty much a microbrew drinker with a strong preference for IPAs. And, coincidentally a high turnout, generally Democratic voter.Report

  9. I don’t see either of my beers (Newcastle or Negro Modelo dark) here. I guess that makes them both upper-left beers.Report

  10. I find at least one drinkable beer in any quadrant except lower left.

    So if I find myself in a low-turnout Democrat bar, I am gonna be out of luck, ‘cos that is a totally crap selection.Report

    2. I never remember which of the two Dos Equis varieties I like, but it is pretty solid. It doesn’t help that my buddy used to work for the ad agency that represented them and we always drank it for free (he’s since moved up to Diageo, which represents a great array of quality spirits, ho hum). Corona is always a solid option. I don’t love Heineken, but find Heineken Light highly drinkable.

      In addition to the two “Mexican” beers here, I will say that my anecdotal experience tells me Heineken and Corona to be popular among African-Americans, for what that’s worth.Report

    1. Microbrews = metrosexual = Democrat

      No surprise here. Republicans have jobs and if you recall the original Miller lite commercials, can’t afford to get filled* up.

      Among Repubs who ain’t got jobs–and I don’t deny there are many, the 47% notwithstanding—it’s Wild Turkey or meth. Both. Yum. 😉

      The Urban Dictionary gives me hope there is common ground betw Dem and GOP, though. It goes something like this:

      http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=natural%20ice

      1. natural ice 243 up, 60 down
      A beer that tastes bad so the first two cans are a labor of love. After that it goes down smooth, you keep pounding it until you pass out. This is usually achieved before beer #12 because Natty Ice is 5.9% ABV.

      A cheap Ice brewed beer made by Anheuser Busch and is said to be a collection of leftover crap. This is possibly true because some cans are creamy and some are bitter.

      College student 1: We have $12 lets split a dirty 30.
      College student 2: So you want to get Busch?
      College student 1: Yo dumbshit you know Busch is $14 we need Natty.
      College student 2: You’re right. Natural Ice is cheaper and more alcoholic so we’ll be fuckin fat bitches in no time!

      Natty Ice, the Lowlife Common Denominator. Let’s all split a Dirty 30. This one’s for you, Uncle Sam. 8-P

      __________
      *I mean like F***ED-UP. Everybody knew what Dick Butkus was saying with that wink—“I can’t afford to get filled-up.” I hearya, brother.Report

      1. I don’t know the physiology, but Miller Lite gets me blitzed like no one’s business (well, when I used to drink that much…), where High Life or MGD (skews Dem, is that weird?) seems to be a little bit more of a laid back buzz cuz of the calories that they put in the belly. Could be just me.Report

  12. I’m an Anchor Steam guy, largely for patriotic reasons, but Anchor Porter, when you can find it, is delicious. And I don’t understand why Stella gets such a bad rap; it’s a very drinkable, smooth, lightish beer.Report

    1. Love Anchor, especially the Porter. Learning about that was one of two things that made my time in San Francisco worthwhile (that and meeting my wife, not necessarily in that order).Report

        1. As a midwesterner, if I had to live in any city west of Indiana, San Francisco would be second from last on my list, just above Phoenix. I had lots of fun the few years I lived there, but it’s really not my kind of place at all. It’s only saving grace is proximity to Muir Woods.Report

  14. Alas, Dixie Brewing was damaged beyond repair by Katrina, so my favorite microbrew, Dixie Blackened Voodoo Lager, is no longer available. That was Good Stuff — with a nice taste and depth, without the bitterness I find in most dark beers. Man, I miss that beer.Report

  15. There’s considerable distortion inherent in this study. Put aside the partisanship for just a bit: most of us drink. Our current president brews a honey brown ale in the White House and reconciles policemen to professors over a few glasses of beer. Trying to lump “Any microbrew” into a single statistical entity on the Democratic side just won’t do: what sort of beer’s being made? Ale? Stout? Lager? Surely a discriminating palate is not concerned with politics of the brewer or his fellow drinkers.

    A microbrewery is no different than a local bakery. They’re cropping up here and there and everywhere. As for Leinenkugel products being a far-right thing, it’s just not true, at least it wasn’t in Eau Claire and Chippewa, where it’s made.Report

    2. When I do drink beer and I have the option, I always go with Trappist beer, that stuff is fishin’ delicious. And I’m pretty far to the left, as far as I can tell.Report

  18. Accepting the premise of the post i.e. heavier beers are more manly, consider this: What’s more manly than pounding 10 beers with your buddy? You can’t do that with microbrews (I’ve tried once or twice). Pale lagers facilitate over-consumption, bar fights, etc which is SUPER manly.

    In all seriousness though, this chart is nuts. Who puts Guinness and Micholb Light in the same group? That’s criminal…Report

  19. I prefer craft brew, very much so (my favorites among such tending towards huge imperial stouts, btw). But at times I will slum it, and in those moments I prefer malt liquor over anything that would have the word “lite” on it anywhere.

    So where am I?Report

  20. I wonder if someone’s put together a similar chart for liquor; I’m a near-socialist and I love a good single-malt scotch (I’m drinking a tumbler of 15-year Glenfiddich as I read this).Report

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