Beer Sales Catching up to Hard Alcohol Sales

Bet you didn’t know that sales of booze and mixed drinks were more than beer did you? I know I didn’t. But in an article titled, “Beer closing in on cocktails as drink of choice” MSNBC reports:

“After years of losing people to mixed drinks, industry experts say the beer industry regained some of its lost luster in 2007, helped by surging interest in craft beers, a slowing economy and the desire of more drinkers to imbibe at home.”

While sales of spirits and beer are both up about 2% this year, this represents a slow-down in sales growth for the spirits industry, which had been growing at a faster rate in previous years.  An executive for Brown-Forman, who make Jack Daniels and Southern Comfort, believes the slowing economy may also be having an effect:

 “We speculate that the typically higher out of pocket cost for the standard sizes purchase hurts spirits relative to beer and wine in an environment where many consumers are feeling short on cash.”

So does this data ring true to anyone? Have any So Good readers changed their drinking habits lately? Either going from spirits to beer or vice-versa?