Friday, 6 November 2009

Making beer Unisexual


As a brewer and licensee I have a vested interest in understanding the reasons why people might choose the drink they do. I have written before about the subject of the gender imbalance in the beer market. Dividing by sex is the clearest and most measurable of differences in peoples drinking habits. It's a subject that fascinates me intensely and so when the BitterSweet partnership asked me to write for them I was only too happy to do so. Yes, I know they are funded by the major multinational conglomerate Molson Coors, but it's all part of the beer world. And besides that, they own The White Shield brewery where there are some remaining bottles of the 140 year old Ratcliff's Ale. I know there is little chance of them letting me try it but the long shot is worth it.

I think the beer world is too masculine and here is the first post on the subject as guest blogger at BitterSweet.
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5 comments:

  1. Curmudgeon6 November 2009 at 12:10

    Umm, isn't there a rather blatant typo in your title?

    Anyway, off for a pint of Top Totty :-)

    ReplyDelete
  2. Unknown6 November 2009 at 12:28

    Thanks Curmudgeon, blatant indeed. Now corrected.

    ReplyDelete
  3. DeliveryDemon8 November 2009 at 19:04

    If anyone starts sticking pink frilly labels on beer with the idea of making it appeal to women, I will boycott that particular product no matter how good it tastes!

    I don't think there's a problem with beer, the problems lies with the wrong choice of pub or the wrong choiced of drinking companions ;-)

    ReplyDelete
  4. Kristy10 November 2009 at 19:08

    Dave – Kristy here. Believe me, I’d love to get my hands on the 140 year old Ratcliff's Ale too, if I do you'll be the first to know ;o) Joking aside, thanks again for writing for BitterSweet blog for us – we love hearing people’s opinions on the women and beer debate


    Delivery Demon – sticking pink frilly labels on beer is the complete opposite of what we’re hoping to achieve with BitterSweet Partnership! We’d be interested to know what you think of our site - www.bittersweetpartnership.com

    ReplyDelete
  5. DeliveryDemon12 November 2009 at 18:31

    Kristy, the pinkness of the title would normally stop me going past the first page. The relentless use of pink in sites aimed at women is stereoptyping, which is demeaning.

    I'm not interested in beer cocktails (except the occasional Black Velvet) because a good beer has freshness and sublety and complexity of taste which is lost if you start mixing other stuff into it. If I want a cocktail I'll order a Margarita or Sea Breeze.

    My liking for beer has to do with a liking of the good things of life - the great outdoors, 'extreme' sports, good food, travel, relaxing with like-minded people. If I see a beer promotion tied in to boring mass market stuff like shoes and handbags I assume that more effort has gone into the image than the taste.

    Sorry if this sounds negative, and I'm probably not your target market, but your website has no appeal for me.

    ReplyDelete

This blog was originally started by Dave to describe difficulties running a pub, and then later a brewery.

He has now left the beer industry, probably forever, quite disillusioned by the whole experience.

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