Survey shows craft beer is the drink of choice this New Year’s Eve

BOSTON Ring in the New Year with a full-flavored craft beer. A recent survey conducted by GfK Roper Public Affairs and Media found that men prefer craft beer as their drink of choice when the ball drops on New Year’s Eve.

The Samuel Adams Co. suggested making a good house warming gift of its Winter Classics collection or of Samuel Adams Utopias—the world’s strongest beer, with an alcohol content of 27 percent. The beer is meant to be sipped from a snifter glass like a fine port, cognac or sherry. “Beer has been bringing people together for festive occasions long before champagne was even invented,” says Jim Koch, founder and brewer of Samuel Adams. “2007 was a great year for appreciating craft beer, so I’m not surprised that more people will be raising their steins to ring in 2008.”

Fifty-nine percent of survey respondents said they’d prefer to be given craft beer as a host/hostess gift. The findings are the result of 315 telephone interviews of U.S. men ages 21-34, conducted from Dec. 13 to Dec. 15, 2007.