I sometimes wonder why beers like Miller, Bud and Coors are so crazy popular. It seems to me that the prevalence of beers like these could be due to any of the follow three factors (1) low cost to purchase, (2) taste preference, (3) desire for a "light" beer.
(1) Would economies of scale allow the smaller label brews to match the low cost of Miller, Bud and Coors if they were similarly mass produced?
(2) Why is there no blind taste-testing of beers? Specifically, why has nobody sought to show that, all else held equal, drinkers actually prefer the taste of Miller, Bud, Coors, etc? I imagine that with the big budgets of these major brewing companies, the only reason such testing has never been published is because people don’t actually prefer the taste. Think of Coke, Pepsi, and yes even bottled water companies. It seems like there is always another tasting test being done to "prove" which tastes the best. So tell me, does anyone actually and honestly prefer the TASTE of these beers?
(3) I guess some people probably do drink these "light" beers in an effort to be health-conscious. My natural reaction to that is…it’s beer, you don’t drink beer to stay healthy, but even if this is a legitimate reason to drink the beers I don’t think it can be responsible for the wild popularity.
At this point I’d like to inform you, the reader, that this is in fact a resolution-less post. I have no grand theory or even a major point to make, just thoughts and observations. One final thought before I leave: have you ever noticed that drinking the cheap local beer in a foreign country is far more enjoyable than drinking the cheap beer in your own country? For me, Mexico is close, so Tecate is only slightly above Bud, but I prefer a Quilmes in Argentina, a Gallo in Guatemala, or even a Polar Ice in Venezuela over Miller, Bud or Coors any day.
