Are You Telling Me Idahoans Know Jack About Beer?

First, I don’t drink beer. I’m not bragging, but I drank quite a bit when I was young, and when I concluded it was a great waste of money, I quit. But from my college days and through my years as a young adult, I became somewhat of a connoisseur of suds. Eventually settling on specialty brews to break the boredom of a lot of big-selling brands that had one flavor and that was cold.

Miller High Life was a brand that was well-known when I was a kid. That was because of some intense TV advertising, but I didn’t know any of my dad’s friends who drank it. Once, I heard a fellow describe it as “Ladies' beer!”

Then came watered-down Lite Beer from Miller and an even bigger advertising campaign, and apparently, it increased sales.

I concluded that’s why one survey claimed Miller was the most popular beer in Idaho. You can see the story by clicking on this link.

A few thoughts, and this is from talking to the handful of people I know who still drink beer. First, an Internet search doesn’t say anything about sales. Two, how many searches were there for beer online? I guess that the sample is small.

My impression is that Coors dominates midrange sales in the Mountain West. Also, I talked to a young Hispanic man at the grocery store one day, and he told me that Tecate is the most popular among his demographic, which is a large share of our population.

I should also note that the only time I ever searched for beer online was when I was writing a story.

The last time I drank a Miller was probably more than 40 years ago. My impression was that it was carbonated water. A step above Pabst and Iron City, which would be like drinking water from rusty pipes.

When it came to midrange brands, I would rank Coors and Budweiser above Miller. Or I did at the time. If I was buying beer at a decent price, I favored Session Ale from here in the Northwest and Yuengling Lager from back east.