There are over 223 Million people in the United States who are of legal drinking age. 95 Million of those are beer drinkers. That’s a lot of audience potential for your average beer blogger. Interestingly, many bloggers cater to the beer geek population, which is slim. Consider the number of active beer lovers on BeerAdvocate.com: 285,000 — that’s less than 1% of American beer drinkers. But check out this stat: RateBeer.com boasts 20,000 unique daily visitors.

Yes, that’s a lot of potential audience for your beer blog.

The beer bloggers influence

Yes, you beer blogger aren’t just under the influence. You can be an influence!

In a recent survey 1,000 beer drinkers responded to SaveOnBeer.com, with the resulting figures—

• 56% of craft brew drinkers buy beer from a specialty shop they know carries a great selection.
• 89% of craft beer drinkers say it’s often “difficult” to find the beers they are interested in.
• Price aside, craft beer drinkers rate: Drinkability, Freshness, and Accessibility high on their wish lists.
• They ranked factors like Label Artwork, Name and Uniqueness lower on their list of values.
• 97% of craft brew drinkers said at least one of their purchases was directly influenced by a blog, ad, or social media post this year.

Yes, as a beer blogger you have INFLUENCE on what people drink!

And as a retailer, I can confirm that. Every week we have customers walking in with lists of beers that they jotted down or printed from their computer, all from blogs and news posts. I always realize that something big has hit the media outlets when many people call or come in looking for the same beer.

A few examples… In late summer – early fall 2011 we had a run on folks seeking out Dogfish Midas Touch. The article in hand? Smithsonian’s The Beer Archaeologist. This March we had fellows coming in seeking out porters listed in the New York Times Dining & Wine. And in May, Washington Beer Blog’s news of a beer with a cause brought in customers seeking it out.

So, who are you writing for? Are you engaging them to action? Who are you reaching? RateBeer says 75.5% of their subscribers are men, just 27.5% women. Do you know who your readers are?

95 million beer drinkers

There are 95 Million beer drinkers in the United States of America. That’s a lot of beer drinkers. We know that most of them are consumers of fizzy yellow mass-produced lagers, not craft beer. There’s a lot of potential to reach that mainstream beer audience here, online, on your blog! But, where are they, physically? The Beer Institute has some interesting 2011 statistics as to where our fizzy yellow beer drinkers live…

Top 10 States Receiving Malt Beverage Shipments

1. California
2. Texas
3. Florida
4. New York
5. Pennsylvania
6. Illinois
7. Ohio
8. Michigan
9. North Carolina
10. Georgia

Top 10 States Consuming Malt Beverage, per capita

1. North Dakota
2. Nevada
3. New Hampshire
4. Montana
5. New Mexico
6. Wisconsin
7. South Dakota
8. Texas
9. Louisiana
10. Wyoming

And the Brewers Association pipes in with information for craft beer drinkers, with their statistics…

Top 10 States With Most Microbreweries (2010)

1. California
2. Washington
3. Oregon
4. Colorado
5. Michigan
6. Pennsylvania
7. Wisconsin
8. New York
9. Illinois
10. Texas

Top 5 States, citizens per craft brewery (2011)

1. Colorado: 39,600
2. Alaska: 35,512
3. Oregon: 31,662
4. Montana: 30,919
5. Vermont: 27,206

So, my dear beer blogger, do you live and write about beer in a state that’s dominated by malt beverage drinkers or craft beer drinkers?

What beer topics can you write about that will expand your reach to include more beer lovers? Can you better share the joys of craft beer with those who limit themselves to fizzy yellow malts? What can we beer bloggers learn from the musings of the big malt houses?

Beer drinker personalities and readership

Here are some interesting reads, fun & food for thought about beer drinker’s personalities, who pays attention to beer marketing, and why beer bloggers blog:

How has Budweiser coded the American Male Beer Drinker in its advertisements?

What does your favorite beer say about political ideology and likelihood to vote

Mixing It Up: Decoding Personality Through Drink

Advertising Targets for Alcohol Industry

Beer Advertising and Marketing Update: Structure, Conduct, and Social Costs

Beer and Television: Perfectly Tuned In

Does anybody read beer blogs?

The Session #62: Blogger Roundup, What Drives Beer Bloggers?