Why is beer the most consumed alcoholic beverage around the world?

Most beers taste bitter to me and even a "good tasting beer" is not as good most drinks, especially not for the price. Is it because beer is the cheapest way to get drunk and people don't care a great deal about taste? Or is it because plenty of people honestly think beer is better tasting than things like whiskey, rum, malt beverages (yeah, some of them are kinda gay, but they're still tastier than beer) , tequila, or mixed drinks? Or is it because drinking beer implies manliness and therefore it becomes a challenge to drink it?|||beer is actually good for your health because it contains good source of Folic aid, magnesium, potassium and niacin.


Today beer is a large part in many culture, associated with pubs, festivals and old traditions, a few mentionable beer festivals are called Oktoberfest, Cannstatter Volksfest, The Great British Beer Festival, Toronto's Festival of Beer, and hundreds of more.


People like the taste of beer. It's an acquired taste.


And yeah, it's also a symbol of manhood.|||Many beers taste bitter - but not all of them do. Try some Belgian fruit Lambics or some of the older styles of beer flavoured with other herbs - Froach Heather Ale from Scotland, for example.





And why is beer the most popular drink in the world? It is uniquely thirst-quenching; it is very good for you - especially Real Ale; it is sterile and safe - even in very unhygienic countries; And, once you have tried a few beers and find the ones like - it tastes WONDERFUL.|||I may come off a bit harsh here...





The question is really 'Why do people drink something that tastes bad', however to most people beer is very enjoyable. Beer is an acquired taste, it has nothing to do with age... most of my friends and I were truly enjoying beers by 16 (raised in Europe... completely legal).





Also, beer is very drinkable: it tastes good (to most people), it doesn't get you drunk very quickly at all (most men have to really be trying to get drunk off beer to manage it), it's also widely available.





Imagine a man going to dinner and ordering shots... not exactly thirst quenching or easy to drink.





And yes, beer can be drank for moderate effects (improved mood, confidence, reduced inhibitions) in order to increase success with the opposite (or the same..) sex, or just to have a better time in social situations.





Cheap beer is drank purely to get drunk... I agree with you on this, the cheap stuff is usually pretty damn awful and harder drinks such as whisky are surely better to get drunk quick.





Also about the malt drinks, people who like beer (who tend to be older, as previously mentioned, beer is an acquired taste which can take some people a while to get) don't like the sugary malt beverages. Proof of this is that the alcohol companies have NEVER made a malt beverage that targets older drinkers. The youthful packaging is aimed at the younger people who haven't acquired the taste of beer, and hence older drinkers are alienated by the companies themselves from drinking malt beverages... imagine a forty year old man drinking an alcopop in it's current packaging.





Alcohol industry could easily target their drinks at older drinkers, by changing the advertising and packaging and having more 'mature' flavours. However the competition is too strong from the beer industry and it's much easier and profitable to go for the young people who haven't discovered the joy of beer.|||not only is beer the most consumed alcoholic beverage in the world, it's the only alcoholic beverage in the top 5 beverages consumed in the world. why? because it's got history. beer in an ancient beverage and potentially the first alcoholic beverage to exist (though wine and mead also claim this title). some historians believe that mankind settled down into what we today know as civilizations in order to grow the necessary grains to brew beer. throughout the ages beer has been used no only for getting drunk but as an everyday drink. you couldn't drink the water but you could drink beer because boiling is a major step in the process (the microbe killing alcohol didn't hurt either). and in many places around the world this is still true. maybe if they'd realized that you could just boil and drink water things would be different today. anyhow, beer is cheap, easy, and comparatively quick to make. while it is an acquired taste so are wine and spirits. if you don't like beer, don't drink it. if you want to acquire the taste for beer I'd recommend something fairly mild like guinness.|||Beer is an aquired taste, and people grow up drinking it from a small age and get used to it. It is a part of our culture and was being brewed for so long that each generation has grown up drinking it. If you got someone who has never drank it and they were say 25, they probably wouldn't like it. This is because they haven't grown up drinking it and had the association of relaxation, togetherness and friendship when people usually have time to drink. A recent study showed that people who drank alcohol from plastic cups enjoyed it more than glasses. Even though the cheap plastic ruined the taste. Why? Because it reminded them of their college drinking days, It is all about the environment you drink in and how drinking beer (way more common than other alcohols) reminds you of that atmosphere you were broughy up on.|||"Beer is proof that God loves us and wants us to have fun" Benjamin Franklin|||beer is more popular due to many reason, even though some are bitter, it gives some enjoyment. so people love it|||The Hopps are what make beer bitter. And, you will probably grow to like beer. Your taste buds change. I know I hated it at 16, liked it at 21 and loved it by 30|||Fairly cheap, and really good|||I genuinely love the taste of beer, I've always liked it but now with more experience I enjoy it even more and enjoy a much wider range of styles, to me it is better than anything else (scotch whisky runs it close though). There is so much variety in beer, if you wanted to I'm sure you'd find one you liked, if bitter isn't your thing then stay away from IPAs and the like but not there are many beers really not that bitter at all. It may be though you just don't like any sort of beer and never will, people have different tastes and what's delicious to one may be disgusting to another, I'm sure a lot of people who do drink beer just do it for the image or the alcohol and don't really enjoy it but many more just like the taste of it.|||Absolutely none of the above.





Let's examine your points one by one.





Bitter taste: A lot of the things people eat and drink have a bitter taste. Coffee being the prime example. A bitter taste can also be quite pleasant. Not everyone wants to be bathed in sweetness all day. Tea and coffee are among the world's most popular beverages, are bitter, and have nothing to do with being drunk. In other words, the bitter taste of beer is an attraction of it's own, not something that people have to "overcome" in order to get drunk.





Cheapest way to "get drunk". Beer is cheap, but I can get drunk a quicker by drinking a glass or two of straight whiskey. Liquors may be more expensive by volume, but you don't have to drink as much if your aim is to "get drunk".





"Manliness/machismo". There are lots of alcohol drink choices that carry more of a "macho" factor. Tequila shots and whiskey among them. Go to any popular bar-- there are many women enjoying a nice beer there, and I don't think they are in it for the manliness of the drink.





I believe you are a young person, and inexperienced in adult things. Kids tastes are very different from adults. As examples, please think about the ultra-sour candies and super salty treats that kids buy, but few adults want anything to do with. Think about how hard it is to get kids to eat bitter greens like broccoli or cabbage.





Isn't it more likely that younger people have an aversion to the bitter tastes which we outgrow as we mature?