Beer And Wine Lovers

Beer And Wine - Their Popularity Hasn't Slowed Down One Bit 

Cornell University offers an advanced course titled 'Understanding Wine and Beer'. Topics covered range from the history of viticulture to the microbiology of fermentation to the neurobiology of taste, along with the expected lectures on chemistry, color and tasting methods. Clearly, the two most popular alcoholic drinks have arrived.

Traditional views are that women drink more wine than beer, and men more beer than wine — and statistical studies show that to be, for the most part, correct. However, the numbers also show that the numbers are rapidly becoming more close. For the first time in ten years, Gallup polls show a virtual tie between beer and wine as the alcoholic drink that adults consume most often, regardless of sex.

Wine has lost much of its 'snobby reputation" as even good wines have become less expensive and unacceptable 'table wines' have lost much of their market share. There are many bloggers writing furiously to assure those people still "on the fence" that wine is for everybody. The French and Italians have known this for centuries. Home winemaking kits can now be gotten for less than the cost of a decent camera and, with practice, can be used to make decent tasting wine.

By the same token, beer — thanks to the rise of micro-breweries and effective mass marketing, has elevated its once blue collar status to that of rivaling good wine, if not the $1,000 vintage. No longer viewed as the undisputed beverage of the barbarian, specialty brewed beer has become the new fine wine. Soon it will have its own 'snob index scale'.

Home brewing equipment is only a bit more expensive than most winemaking kits, but the quality produced can be as good as the pros. One Northwest home hobbyist recently went from manufacturing in his basement to leasing a 50,000 square foot building stocked with brewing and bottling equipment and fronted by a beer tasting bar. He's using exactly the same recipe and business is booming.

Even the medical researchers are getting into the act by proclaiming that many of the health benefits asserted for red wine can be had by drinking beer. In November 1999, The New England Journal of Medicine released a study stating that moderate beer consumption decreased the odds of suffering a stroke by 20%. An additional study done at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center reported that drinking moderate amounts of beer lowered the chance of coronary heart disease by as much as 30-40 percent.

It may be that the alcohol alone produces much of the desired effects, apart from the unique ingredients of red wine. Others speculate that since beer contains a similar amount of polyphenols — which are anti-oxidants — as red wine (and 4-5 times as much as white) similar health benefits are to be expected. And, like wine, beer is fat-free and cholesterol free.

So whether your preference is for the Cabernet Sauvignon '96 or the Laughing Dog lager '06, you can set aside any considerations of social status and just enjoy, knowing you're doing nothing more than attending to your health.

After all, if Cornell University is willing to devote a professor's time for an entire semester to the science of wine and beer, you can always claim your choice has been validated by the finest minds around.

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