For what it's worth....int'l Beer ranks w/ graph

[dean2k]

http://www.prweb.com/releases/2013/5/prweb10684249.htm

One of the fun things about graphs is that different people will see different patterns. Among the things I learned from this exercise are:

The opposite of light beer, from a taste perspective, isn’t dark beer. Rather, light beers like Miller Lite are most opposite craft beers like Stone IPA and Chimay.

Coors light is the light beer that is closest to the mainstream cluster. Stella Artois, Corona, and Heineken are also reasonable bridge beers between the main cluster and the light beer world.

The classification algorithm revealed six main taste/opinion clusters, which I would label: Really Light Beers (e.g. Natural Light), Lighter Mainstream Beers (e.g. Blue Moon), Stout Beers (e.g. Guinness), Craft Beers (e.g. Stone IPA), Darker European Beers (e.g. Chimay), and Lighter European Beers (e.g. Leffe Blonde). The interesting parts about the classifications are the cases on the edge, such as how Newcastle Brown Ale appeals to both Guinness and Heineken drinkers.

Seeing beers graphed according to opinions made me wonder if companies consciously position their beers accordingly. Is Pyramid Hefeweizen successfully appealing to the Sam Adams drinker who wants a bit of European flavor? Is Anchor Steam supposed to appeal to both the Guinness drinker and the craft beer drinker? I’m not sure if I know enough about the marketing of beers to know the answer to this, but I’d be curious if beer companies place their beers in the same space that this opinion graph does.

[CorneliusAlphonse]

Six categories eh? Maybe the .NSLC was on to something...

[akr71]

That's gotta be the hardest graph in the world to read. Text on top of text and little fine lines all jumbled together, so I can't see what they're supposed to be linking.

[Graham.C]

That's gotta be the hardest graph in the world to read. Text on top of text and little fine lines all jumbled together, so I can't see what they're supposed to be linking.

I love info graphics, but I agree. This one is very difficult to read and doesn't really convey much intuitively.