{"id":6567,"date":"2026-05-15T14:01:51","date_gmt":"2026-05-15T14:01:51","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/siliconvalleymovingpost.com\/?p=6567"},"modified":"2026-05-15T14:01:51","modified_gmt":"2026-05-15T14:01:51","slug":"californians-still-love-their-beer-burp","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/siliconvalleymovingpost.com\/?p=6567","title":{"rendered":"Californians (still) love their beer. (Burp.)"},"content":{"rendered":"

Have we no fealty to Napa and Sonoma? Do Paso Robles\/Santa Barbara fill us with ennui?<\/p>

Read more What to know about new Ebola outbreak that has killed 65 people in Congo<\/a><\/p>\n

Despite producing some of the world\u2019s finest wines, Californians last year drank a solid 7% less of what we once called \u201cMommy juice\u201d \u2014 a slightly steeper drop than seen in the rest of the country, where wine drinking fell by 6%.<\/p>\n

Brew bellies, however, may abound.<\/p>\n

While beer consumption also dropped 6% nationwide, it fell exactly 0% in California.<\/p>\n

This is the latest from IWSR, the analytical trade organization once known as International Wine and Spirits Record, which calls itself a leader tracking the global beverage alcohol market.<\/p>\n

Drinking-wise, California has an interesting bit of Jekyll and Hyde going on:<\/p>\n

\u2014 Overall, booze consumption here dropped only 2%, compared to a 5% drop nationwide.<\/p>\n

\u2014 Those pre-mixed \u201cready to drink\u201d thingies? Down 8% in California, but down only 1% nationwide.<\/p>

\n<\/div>\n

\u2014 The hard stuff? Spirit swilling was down 5% in California, compared with a 4% drop nationwide.<\/p>\n

And how temperate we are! Though it\u2019s still just a tiny fragment of the market, no-alcohol wine consumption rose 29% here, compared to 19% nationwide, while consumption of non-alcoholic beer was up 22% in California vs. a jump of 15% nationally.<\/p>\n

\u201cCalifornia\u2019s beverage alcohol market outperformed the national trend in 2025, with the state\u2019s strong beer culture (particularly Mexican imports) providing a buffer against the broader industry decline,\u201d said IWSR Research Director Adam Rogers in a statement.<\/p>\n

\u201cBeer accounts for 63% of California\u2019s total beverage alcohol volume and has structural advantages with several major brands all growing. California also benefits from a diverse range of options for drinking at bars, restaurants and clubs.\u201d<\/p>

\n<\/div>\n

Yay us!<\/p>\n

You may recall that alcohol consumption hit record highs during the pandemic, and really, who could blame us? A study by Keck Medicine of USC found that from 2018 through the end of 2020 heavy alcohol use grew by 20%, and that it remained elevated for years after the pandemic peaked. Drinking tapered off in 2023, continued to decline in 2024, and reached a record low in 2025, when just 54% of U.S. adults said they drink alcohol. That was the lowest since the Gallup Poll began asking the question in 1939.<\/p>\n

But the 2025 vs. 2024 numbers tell an even more complicated tale.\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n<\/p>\n

It was a year of \u201cdifficult trading conditions,\u201d IWSR said, noting high inflation, shifting consumer behavior and intense trade disruptions.<\/p>\n

\u201cAffordability concerns are forcing many consumers to cut discretionary spending, and this is putting the beverage alcohol industry under pressure,\u201d said Marten Lodewijks, IWSR president and managing director, in a statement.<\/p>\n

The overall number of people drinking hasn\u2019t changed, he postulated. Instead, more people are drinking less often and having fewer drinks when they do indulge.<\/p>\n

\u201cModeration trends are also playing a role. But when consumer confidence rebounds, we expect volumes in many categories currently in decline to start growing again,\u201d he said.<\/p>

Read more FBI offers $200,000 reward to catch ex-Air Force specialist wanted on espionage charges in Iran<\/a><\/p>\n

We suspect there\u2019s something else at work here: The explosion of GLP-1 weight control drugs.<\/p>\n

About one of every eight adults in the United States is taking one, which is more than 30 million people, according to recent estimates. Researchers believe GLP-1s show promise for tackling other prickly health problems such as smoking and alcoholism.<\/p>\n

That could be curbing binge-drinking, which we see in many pockets of Orange County (often close to the shore and near college campuses, where there\u2019s a younger demographic).<\/p>\n

Heading to Las Vegas anytime soon? While the amount of alcohol imbibed declined in 49 of the 50 states, Nevada bucked the trend. There, alcohol consumption grew by 3%.<\/p>\n

My personal favorite as of late, prosecco, saw a 3% increase as well, IWSR found.<\/p>\n

Perhaps the most interesting increase was in \u201cnational spirits\u201d (i.e. Scotch from Scotland, vodka from Russia\/Poland, etc.), which grew 18%. The overwhelming majority of that gain came thanks to the surging popularity of the Korean spirit soju.<\/p>\n

This data is from IWSR\u2019s US Navigator product, which reports volume data at the national and state level. Global data will be released soon.<\/p>\n

While we do love our bubbly, we\u2019d be remiss not to remind you here that alcohol is the drug that kills more Americans than any other.<\/p>\n

While overdose deaths from fentanyl and its sinister cousins have seized the spotlight for years \u2014 hitting a high of 110,000 in 2022 and declining to about 70,000 by last year\u00a0 \u2014 alcohol-related diseases kill many more people, about 178,000 Americans annually, according to the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism.<\/p>\n

The World Health Organization says there is no safe level of alcohol consumption, and STAT News\u2019 new series on \u201cThe Deadliest Drug\u201d is sobering reading:<\/p>\n

\u201cAlcohol is central to American life because of its social and cultural benefits to the many people who drink without issue,\u201d STAT News\u2019 report says. \u201cBut alcohol\u2019s ubiquity persists in the face of mountains of research linking heavy drinking to cancer, heart disease, stroke, cognitive decline, developmental disorders, gun violence, injuries and countless other consequences.\u201d<\/p>\n

Alcohol-related emergency department visits nearly doubled in the U.S. between 2003 and 2022, STAT News found.<\/p>\n

So if you tipple, please tipple moderately. Less is more. The data suggests people may be figuring that out.<\/p>

Read more Those with expired registration tags will likely end up paying a penalty<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Columnist Teri Sforza writes: Drinking-wise, California has an interesting bit of Jekyll and Hyde going on.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":6565,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-6567","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news"],"yoast_head":"\nCalifornians (still) love their beer. (Burp.) - Silicon Valley Moving Post<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/siliconvalleymovingpost.com\/?p=6567\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Californians (still) love their beer. (Burp.) - Silicon Valley Moving Post\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Columnist Teri Sforza writes: Drinking-wise, California has an interesting bit of Jekyll and Hyde going on.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/siliconvalleymovingpost.com\/?p=6567\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Silicon Valley Moving Post\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2026-05-15T14:01:51+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/siliconvalleymovingpost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/a0e82b95e16e187868debfdc44fb1143.webp\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"490\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"1238\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/webp\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"4 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/siliconvalleymovingpost.com\\\/?p=6567#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/siliconvalleymovingpost.com\\\/?p=6567\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"admin\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/siliconvalleymovingpost.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/636e2e5a10a21cf87fe6eb5951e8a6b7\"},\"headline\":\"Californians (still) love their beer. (Burp.)\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-05-15T14:01:51+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/siliconvalleymovingpost.com\\\/?p=6567\"},\"wordCount\":891,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/siliconvalleymovingpost.com\\\/?p=6567#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/siliconvalleymovingpost.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/05\\\/376d743faed1ecac5515f5fc42be4faa.webp\",\"articleSection\":[\"News\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/siliconvalleymovingpost.com\\\/?p=6567#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/siliconvalleymovingpost.com\\\/?p=6567\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/siliconvalleymovingpost.com\\\/?p=6567\",\"name\":\"Californians (still) love their beer. (Burp.) - Silicon Valley Moving Post\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/siliconvalleymovingpost.com\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/siliconvalleymovingpost.com\\\/?p=6567#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/siliconvalleymovingpost.com\\\/?p=6567#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/siliconvalleymovingpost.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/05\\\/376d743faed1ecac5515f5fc42be4faa.webp\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-05-15T14:01:51+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/siliconvalleymovingpost.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/636e2e5a10a21cf87fe6eb5951e8a6b7\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/siliconvalleymovingpost.com\\\/?p=6567#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/siliconvalleymovingpost.com\\\/?p=6567\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/siliconvalleymovingpost.com\\\/?p=6567#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/siliconvalleymovingpost.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/05\\\/376d743faed1ecac5515f5fc42be4faa.webp\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/siliconvalleymovingpost.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/05\\\/376d743faed1ecac5515f5fc42be4faa.webp\",\"width\":1024,\"height\":790},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/siliconvalleymovingpost.com\\\/?p=6567#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/siliconvalleymovingpost.com\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Californians (still) love their beer. (Burp.)\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/siliconvalleymovingpost.com\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/siliconvalleymovingpost.com\\\/\",\"name\":\"Silicon Valley Moving Post\",\"description\":\"\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/siliconvalleymovingpost.com\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/siliconvalleymovingpost.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/636e2e5a10a21cf87fe6eb5951e8a6b7\",\"name\":\"admin\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"admin\"},\"sameAs\":[\"http:\\\/\\\/siliconvalleymovingpost.com\"],\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/siliconvalleymovingpost.com\\\/?author=1\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Californians (still) love their beer. (Burp.) - Silicon Valley Moving Post","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/siliconvalleymovingpost.com\/?p=6567","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Californians (still) love their beer. (Burp.) - Silicon Valley Moving Post","og_description":"Columnist Teri Sforza writes: Drinking-wise, California has an interesting bit of Jekyll and Hyde going on.","og_url":"https:\/\/siliconvalleymovingpost.com\/?p=6567","og_site_name":"Silicon Valley Moving Post","article_published_time":"2026-05-15T14:01:51+00:00","og_image":[{"width":490,"height":1238,"url":"https:\/\/siliconvalleymovingpost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/a0e82b95e16e187868debfdc44fb1143.webp","type":"image\/webp"}],"author":"admin","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"admin","Est. reading time":"4 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/siliconvalleymovingpost.com\/?p=6567#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/siliconvalleymovingpost.com\/?p=6567"},"author":{"name":"admin","@id":"https:\/\/siliconvalleymovingpost.com\/#\/schema\/person\/636e2e5a10a21cf87fe6eb5951e8a6b7"},"headline":"Californians (still) love their beer. (Burp.)","datePublished":"2026-05-15T14:01:51+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/siliconvalleymovingpost.com\/?p=6567"},"wordCount":891,"commentCount":0,"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/siliconvalleymovingpost.com\/?p=6567#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/siliconvalleymovingpost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/376d743faed1ecac5515f5fc42be4faa.webp","articleSection":["News"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/siliconvalleymovingpost.com\/?p=6567#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/siliconvalleymovingpost.com\/?p=6567","url":"https:\/\/siliconvalleymovingpost.com\/?p=6567","name":"Californians (still) love their beer. (Burp.) - Silicon Valley Moving Post","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/siliconvalleymovingpost.com\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/siliconvalleymovingpost.com\/?p=6567#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/siliconvalleymovingpost.com\/?p=6567#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/siliconvalleymovingpost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/376d743faed1ecac5515f5fc42be4faa.webp","datePublished":"2026-05-15T14:01:51+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/siliconvalleymovingpost.com\/#\/schema\/person\/636e2e5a10a21cf87fe6eb5951e8a6b7"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/siliconvalleymovingpost.com\/?p=6567#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/siliconvalleymovingpost.com\/?p=6567"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/siliconvalleymovingpost.com\/?p=6567#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/siliconvalleymovingpost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/376d743faed1ecac5515f5fc42be4faa.webp","contentUrl":"https:\/\/siliconvalleymovingpost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/376d743faed1ecac5515f5fc42be4faa.webp","width":1024,"height":790},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/siliconvalleymovingpost.com\/?p=6567#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/siliconvalleymovingpost.com\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Californians (still) love their beer. (Burp.)"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/siliconvalleymovingpost.com\/#website","url":"https:\/\/siliconvalleymovingpost.com\/","name":"Silicon Valley Moving Post","description":"","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/siliconvalleymovingpost.com\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/siliconvalleymovingpost.com\/#\/schema\/person\/636e2e5a10a21cf87fe6eb5951e8a6b7","name":"admin","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"admin"},"sameAs":["http:\/\/siliconvalleymovingpost.com"],"url":"https:\/\/siliconvalleymovingpost.com\/?author=1"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/siliconvalleymovingpost.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6567","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/siliconvalleymovingpost.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/siliconvalleymovingpost.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/siliconvalleymovingpost.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/siliconvalleymovingpost.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=6567"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/siliconvalleymovingpost.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6567\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/siliconvalleymovingpost.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/6565"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/siliconvalleymovingpost.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=6567"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/siliconvalleymovingpost.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=6567"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/siliconvalleymovingpost.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=6567"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}