Big Mistakes About Beer: #3: Beer Is For Poor People

Have you ever heard the phrase that beer or drinking it is vulgar? That it's a poor man's drink ? If not, you're in luck because it's pretty annoying when it reaches your ears. If you've read several of my articles, you've probably noticed that I position myself as a bit of a White Knight of Beer ! 🏰🐎⚔️

If you're reading this article, you're definitely a French speaker. However, I don't know if you're French. If not, you need to understand that French culture is intimately linked to wine . Entire sectors of our economy depend on its production and consumption.

It all starts from there and you will understand why some people consider beer to be a drink for the poor , in the literal sense. 😥

I'll start with the historical cause and then I'll go over several negative expressions that you may hear here and there. It ends well, don't worry! 😉

1) It all started because of the Romans

Aha! Here they are, the real culprits of history! I'll give you the lowdown: we were very peaceful in Gaul , living our little lives. We fought over land, cattle, or women. It was the good old days of every man for himself and gods for whoever wanted. At the time, our favorite drink was ale , which we made with our cereals . Beer mugs emptied and refilled quickly! 🍻🍻🍻

And there, without further ado, here comes Mr. Julius Caesar with his Roman legions ! You know the rest of the story: Gergovia is classy and Alesia is a loser... In short, our dear Gauls took a good beating and were therefore annexed by Caesar who then returned to Rome to be crowned with glory. 👑

The Roman Empire had a relatively simple way of operating: all its provinces were to be governed by the law of Rome , its customs and traditions, as well as its religion. Our dear Romans were unconditional fans of the grape, namely wine . Their technique for domesticating their newly conquered people also consisted of imposing their culture on them.

This is how vines began to flourish in Gaul and people began to drink wine. The Gallic bourgeoisie therefore began to drink wine and abandon the ale of their ancestors . 🍇🍇🍇

Fortunately, the populace continued to brew and consume beer . It was much more affordable and too popular to disappear. 😉

2) Social status conflict between beer and wine

It was actually from this period that this difference in appreciation between wine and beer, which has since become beer, was born. This has persisted for over 2,000 years, it's pretty crazy, isn't it?

Can you imagine going to a fancy restaurant and ordering a pint? No, of course not. Me first, in fact. My case is a bit unusual because even though I love beer , I don't like to drink it with a meal. I'm also a big fan of wine, but I drink it much less often than beer . So a restaurant or a romantic dinner is the perfect opportunity. 😊

It's the very image that beer projects that places it below wine. Can you imagine a meal for heads of state with Heineken on the table? A family meal with a pack of Krogers ? No, of course not. Beer is too cheap for special occasions. Wine is more glamorous ... 😱

There is a price difference that can be enormous between wine and beer , especially with the great Burgundy or Bordeaux vintages. Wine has a different social status than beer . However, things are changing as it becomes more and more chic to drink beer .

By dint of cutting shorts sometimes for wine and sometimes for beer, it reminds me that we sell a pair of shorts! Here they are for those who like them:

Too original, I'll check it out!

3) Generational conflict between wine and beer

I hope you don't take this the wrong way, but I'll use a very concrete example to illustrate this title. A friend of mine got married a few years ago, and for the occasion, his in-laws offered to contribute to the costs. So they decided to pay for the alcohol. A significant item when you know what a wedding costs ! 👩‍❤️‍👨

The parents assumed that people would drink wine and champagne . 🍷 The bride and groom wanted a beer tap to also be present during the reception and during the evening. The wine merchant reassured the parents by telling them that anything that was not drunk (bottles of wine and barrels of beer ) could be returned to them. Okay for the tap then. 🍻

Guess what happened? They ended up with unopened boxes of wine, while more than a dozen barrels were booed ! The parents didn't understand what had happened and seemed incredulous. The bride and groom had warned them: " Our friends drink wine at the table, but prefer beer for aperitifs and in the evening ."

The moral of this true story is that times are changing . When you look at the numbers, the French are drinking less and less wine , especially young people. Mentalities are changing, but it takes time for the assimilation to take place .

4) Beer is bad form

I remember when I was a kid, I would walk around town and see these young punks hanging out with their dogs. They would sit in the town squares and get beers. My mom would say to me, “You see these kids? They get drunk all day drinking their beers .” So I had internalized the idea that beer = punks = dirty drunks.

Of course, you can guess that I've changed a lot. It was just the vision of a child who sees things he doesn't understand. It was just young people having a few beers outdoors with a specific clothing and hair style. No judgment, each to their own! 🎸💇

Another anecdote: when I was a teenager, I was taking a little walk around town with 2 or 3 friends, a can of beer in hand . The look of the people we passed was always the same . You could read in their eyes the good old “Oh, these young people!”. Apart from the fact that you theoretically have to be of legal age to consume alcohol, we weren’t doing anything wrong.

Again, this is the image we give off when we drink a beer , seen by the right-thinking...

5) Beer makes you alcoholic

I realize as I write this article that I'm actually telling a lot about my life, right?! No problem because at least it smells like real life! And speaking of real life, I'd like to tell another anecdote. 😉

For your information, my childhood and teenage stories took place in a small provincial town, but I have been living in Paris for quite a few years now.

If you're Parisian, have you ever had a beer on the subway ? Okay, I can already see some people saying, "Uh, did you know that it's forbidden to drink alcohol on the subway ?"

Okay, I plead guilty. But, in my defense, I must clarify two things:

• This only happened to me a few times. It was just an anticipation of the “ reward beer ” at the end of a workday.
• Actually, it's not forbidden! I know because I checked . Alcohol consumption is allowed, but drunkenness and public disorder are punishable .

I haven't done it for ages, but what also stopped me at the time was always that famous look from people , full of value judgments like "Oh, did you see that one! He's drinking a beer here, and blah blah blah..."

On the other hand, I can't help but mention the poor unfortunates that we see at the opening of the supermarkets going to buy their can of 8.6. A beer like a Monday, what... 😔

There, it's sure that the effect rendered is not great... But it's not the beer that should be blamed, it's rather their addiction. Alcoholism can be synonymous with beer but beer should not be synonymous with alcoholism.

6) Beer is vulgar

Well, I'm announcing that it's too late now. I've already mentioned too many personal anecdotes to stop there! So let's continue with Julien's hectic life! 😅

I lived in England for a while , about twenty years ago. There, the view of beer is completely opposite to ours. Going to the pub at 5 p.m. does not make you an alcoholic . It is socially speaking completely normal. However, I was shocked when I arrived in this country. 🍺🍺🍺

You can always ask yourself when to drink beer or rather from what time but I think the answer is in each of us, little beetle. 😊

As a French student, I wasn't used to drinking pints . At the time, I knew this format as " serieux " in France. French people tended to drink half- pints . And then I realized that everyone in this country drinks 50 cl of beer with each round !

I was also surprised to see girls downing pints as if they were syrup! Giving you a big burp as well, otherwise it loses its charm of course! It was very strange for me to see girls dressed in English style -translation: plunging necklines and skirts...well, you get my drift!- walking around in groups of 10 with each a pint in hand . 😨

I have to admit that yes, at first, I found it vulgar . And I was only 20 years old! The explanation was quite simple: I was culturally conditioned to see it as unusual at best. A cute, well-dressed girl with a large pint in her hand was weird.

Travel broadens the mind, as they say, but it's also an opening to other cultures, norms, and habits. Yet, in this case, I only had to cross the Channel!

So beer is not more vulgar than any other drink, but rather it is society's interpretation that can make us believe it . So let's keep our eyes wide open and learn from our mistakes, okay?

6) Young people get drunk on beer

Before you become an adult, when you're young, you want to experiment with a lot of things. Alcohol is one of them. It's funny how drinking a beer as a teenager can seem trivial to us as French people, while Americans theoretically wait until they're 21 to drink their first glass! I'm not raising the debate about when to drink beer, though.

In any American movie , teenagers no longer feel like it as soon as one of them manages to get a pack of 4! Wow, we're going to be guys and we're going to drink beer ... This also comes from the fact that there has always been great laxity in France regarding the sale of alcohol . This has changed in recent years because stores now ask for ID.

Coming back to the fact that young people get drunk on beer , well yes it's a fact. I'm not a health professional but I suppose it's still less bad than binge drinking . For those who don't know, it's about drinking as fast as possible to get drunk. What better way to do that than with strong alcohol...

In the 60s, young people got drunk on wine , and now it can be on beer. Fine. That's just my opinion, but I think it's...less bad with beer ! Anyway, youth has to grow up!

7) Beer becomes trendy and qualitative

It's a fact: beer consumption has been steadily increasing for several years. More and more consumers are turning to more premium beers than international supermarket brands. Craft breweries are popping up like mushrooms all over our country. 😍

This follows the food trend of recent years, “ consuming better ”. Organic has also made its appearance in the beer sector . The price of craft beer is significantly higher than what you can find in supermarkets. It varies greatly, but the price per liter can easily increase by 3 or 4. 😫

Trends come and go, but what's certain is that this hoodie proves that you can be proud to love beer and show it:

Not bad at all, let's go check it out!

So people are willing to pay a lot more for good beers . This can quickly add up if you pay for your aperitif with single beers. It will cost you more than a bottle of wine.

8) Beer becomes a luxury product

Funny how things can turn around, isn't it? Twenty years ago, you would never have found a beer at a wine shop . Now, shops that sell only craft beer can be found everywhere.

Palates are becoming more refined and a word like zythologist (equivalent to an oenologist for beer) is starting to be known. The most expensive beer in the world is Allsopp's Arctic Ale , the beer of the North Pole . It was brewed in 1852 to satisfy a British expedition to the Arctic by Sir Edward Belcher. Only one bottle is said to have reached us unopened. It was sold at auction for 4,600 euros in 2015! 😱

This example is extreme, but it illustrates the fact that beer isn't necessarily what it used to be. The gap is widening between accessible beer sold in packs and these beers sold individually. Beer tasting is still a recent phenomenon, but it's growing in popularity. Just look at the searches on what is an IPA beer .

The craze for these higher quality beers is no longer in doubt. Consumers are spending more on their beer than before .

Beer is becoming more democratic and bourgeois at the same time . This may seem like a paradox , but it is precisely the fact that beer is gaining its letters of nobility that is gaining it a new audience. Our Gallic beer has evolved and is starting to turn heads.

This gentrification also reminds me of the famous phrase from the author Shakesbeer, Two beer or not two beer, that is the question. Do you know it? 😆 Great minds think alike and so we decided to write it on this T-shirt :

He's nice, let's go see it!

Beer still has a negative image among some people, but this is tending to diminish with this move upmarket. The diversity of tastes, colors, textures and components gives beer a special status . The future of beer looks bright and I am personally delighted!

Writing these blog articles takes me a lot of time for research, writing, images, etc. You have noticed, there are no unwanted advertising banners for insurance, credits or other but suddenly it does not bring me any source of income.😢

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If you would like to read one of my other articles, I suggest you see All the benefits of brewer's yeast.

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