Who is the good beer drinker?
January 22, 2025
The Background
When we started We Are Beer, there were no events or festivals catering to the emerging new beer drinker or serving the innovative breweries capturing their attention. Over the 12 years we’ve been running our festivals, beginning at the start of the craft beer boom, we’ve witnessed a broadening and diversification in the types of beer drinkers attending our events.
Recognizing this shift, we decided to leverage our data and audience insights to deeply explore and understand who these beer drinkers are and what drives them. This initiative led to the creation of the Good Beer Drinker report.
Our first edition launched last year, and next week we’re excited to debut our second – The Good Beer Drinker ’25. Ahead of this release, we wanted to revisit and reintroduce the “drinker typologies” developed from this work.
This research has become an invaluable resource, informing not only our own strategies but also guiding breweries in their segmentation efforts, sales presentations, and new beer development initiatives.
** If you’d like to access next week’s report, as well as last years’ and our full typology documents, do join our Industry Membership.
Drinker Typologies
PLEASURE SEEKERS
Our hi-fidelity all-stars
- Good Beer Drinker Audience Size: 34%
- Demographics: Younger (25-40), with a more balanced gender mix (37% female)
- Beer Driver: Discovery and newness
- What They Love: Bold flavors and brands with strong personalities
- Go-to Beer: Hazy tropical pale ales
- What They Like to Try: Fruited or sour beers
- Most Likely to Say: “Have you tried this?”
- At Festivals: Seek novel, special, and funky serves
- Key Insight: 91% love discovering new flavors
- Their Motto: “Beer should be fun!”
DEEP CONNECTORS
Better beer, better conversations
- Good Beer Drinker Audience Size: 24%
- Demographics: Primarily male (77%)
- Beer Driver: Connection and conversation
- What They Love: Sessionable, accessible, and reliable options
- Go-to Beer: Helles or Neck Oil
- What They Like to Try: Local pale ales
- Most Likely to Say: “Can you split the G?”
- At Festivals: Gravitate toward core range icons
- Key Insight: 85% drink craft lager regularly
- Their Motto: “Beer helps drive a good conversation.”
BEER GEEKS
The joy of searching for excellence
- Good Beer Drinker Audience Size: 16%
- Demographics: Predominantly male (89%), older, and wealthier
- Beer Driver: Knowledge and status
- What They Love: Product quality and provenance
- Go-to Beer: Perfect IPAs
- What They Like to Try: Anything they haven’t tried yet
- Most Likely to Say: “I was drinking this IPA in New York…”
- At Festivals: Seek exclusives
- Key Insight: 70% enjoy researching beer processes and styles
- Their Motto: “I like breweries that excel at one style.”
COMMUNITEERS
The warm heart of communion
- Good Beer Drinker Audience Size: 14%
- Demographics: Older and more gender-balanced
- Beer Driver: Community and belonging
- What They Love: People, places, and stories
- Go-to Beer: Local options
- What They Like to Try: Iconic beers that bring people together
- Most Likely to Say: “I’ve just joined a run club at the taproom.”
- At Festivals: Engage with people and their stories
- Key Insight: 81% feel part of a community of beer enthusiasts
- Their Motto: “Everybody wants to be a part of something.”
CURIOUS CASUALS
Surfing the trends
- Good Beer Drinker Audience Size: 12%
- Demographics: Younger and the most gender-balanced group
- Beer Driver: Cultural experiences
- What They Love: Variety and bold brands
- Go-to Beer: Session IPAs
- What They Like to Try: Another session IPA
- Most Likely to Say: “I love the branding on this one.”
- At Festivals: Seek entertainment
- Key Insight: Two in three find detailed discussions about beer a bit boring
- Their Motto: “I’m not sure about breweries or styles, but I love Hazy Jane.”
If you’d like to access the Good Beer Drinker ‘25 report (launching in late January) as well as the Horizons report please join our We Are Beer Industry Membership. Other benefits include tickets to our Expo & Conference, future and historical reports, insight presentations and networking events and tickets to the trade sessions of our festivals. Find out more here.