Typing the Tap: Why America’s Cheers Are Getting Quieter (And Healthier)

A Sip of Reality

Once upon a time, Americans embraced drinking like a rite of passage. But as of August 2025, just 54% of U.S. adults report drinking alcohol—the lowest rate since Gallup started tracking in 1939 (Sources: The Washington PostAxios). What’s behind this sober shift? Rising health awareness is the main driver: 53% now believe that even moderate drinking is harmful—up dramatically from just 28% in 2015 (Sources: AP NewsThe Washington Post).

Generation Z: Raising Glasses Less, Living More

The steepest declines are happening among younger adults and teens. Among 18–34-year-olds, alcohol use dropped from 59% in 2023 to 50% in 2025 (Sources: The Washington Post). And while it’s not the sole factor, lifestyle choices like health-first habits, social media influences, and “sober curiosity” are reshaping how people unwind (Sources: TIME Wikipedia).

Teen Drinking: A Dramatic Retreat

Perhaps most striking: only 42% of 12th graders reported drinking alcohol in 2024, down from 75% in 1997. Tenth graders dropped to 26% (from 65%), and eighth graders to 13% (from 46%) (Sources: Vox). The Monitoring the Future survey also confirms widespread declines in teen use of alcohol, cigarettes, and marijuana (Sources: People.com).

Health Wins Across the Board

This trend isn’t just a cultural shift—it’s a public health victory. About 4,000 under-21 Americans die every year from issues tied to excessive alcohol use—ranging from car crashes to suicides and drownings (Sources: Vox McLean Hospital.) Reduced teen drinking directly corresponds to fewer serious accidents and long-term addiction risks.

Moreover, even moderate drinking carries serious health risks. It’s been increasingly discredited as harmless or beneficial—in fact, experts now state there’s no safe level of alcohol consumption (Sources: Vox Wikipedia). Risks span cancers (breast, colorectal, liver, esophageal), high blood pressure, poor sleep, and more (Sources: Vox Wikipedia).

The Social Squeeze

Still, not all trends are celebratory. Some experts warn that this decline might be symptomatic of a deeper issue: Americans are socializing less, and alcohol, in moderation, has traditionally served as a social lubricant (Sources: Vox).

Why It Matters

As voices for beer lovers, we’re not here to shame alcohol. Instead, this shift invites us to reimagine beer culture with more intentionality—champion smarter drinking, highlight non-alcoholic alternatives, and spotlight experiences that don’t revolve around getting tipsy.

---

The Takeaway

• Americans are drinking less overall, with only 54% consuming alcohol.

• More people now view even moderate drinking as unhealthy.

• Teen drinking has plummeted, delivering clear public health gains.

• Though moderation is key, any amount of alcohol carries risk.

• The decline also raises deeper questions about social isolation.

Thank You For Reading

If you like this article, please check out our other many articles, including news, beer reviews, travelogues, maps, and much much more. We greatly appreciate everyone visiting the site!

Cheers.

Thanks again for reading everyone. Take some time to check out the site, we greatly appreciate it. We have affiliates and sponsors with Pretzels.com and Beer Drop.com, which can save you money on their products if you are interested. Check out our articles on them. Make sure to check out our beer reviews, brewery reviews, Amy’s weekly column, book reviews, hike reviews, and so much more.

As always, thank you everyone for reading! Leave your likes, comments, suggestions, questions, etc, in the comments section. Or use the Feedback – Contact Us – page, and we’ll get right back to you! You can also reach out to us at our direct e-mail address: thebeerthrillers@gmail.com

Thank you for visiting our blog. Please make sure to follow, bookmark, subscribe, and make sure to comment and leave feedback and like the blog posts you read. It will help us to better tailor the blog to you, the readers, likes and make this a better blog for everyone.

We are working on a massive project here at The Beer Thrillers. We are creating a map of all of the breweries across the United States. State by state we are adding maps of all of the different states with every brewery in each state. (We will eventually get to the US Territories, as well as the Canadian Provinces, and possibly more countries; as well as doing some fun maps like a map of all the breweries we’ve been to, and other fun maps.) You can find the brewery maps here:

• MAPS OF BREWERIES

We are also working on a project of creating printable and downloadable PDFs and resources to be able to check and keep track of all of the breweries you’ve been to. So stay tuned for that project once we are finished with the Brewery Maps of the US States.

You can check out our different directories here: Beer Reviews, Hike Reviews, Book Reviews, Brewery News, Brewery Openings, Brewer Interviews, and Travelogues.

Please be sure to follow us on our social media accounts – Facebook, Facebook Group, Twitter, Instagram, YouTube, and Influence. As well as our brand new Tumblr page. Please be sure to also follow, like, subscribe to the blog here itself to keep updated. We are also now on BlueSky as well, so make sure to check us out there also. We love to hear from you guys, so be sure to leave a comment and let us know what you think!

You can now find us on our Discord Server here: The Beer Thrillers (Discord Server).

We also now have a SLACK channel – which acts as a hybrid chat room, message board, Reddit style; workspace and posting area for us. You can hang out with us there and chat about all kinds of things – not just beer, but “off topic” things like movies, TV, books, podcasts, hiking, sports, and more! Join us at: The Beer Thrillers on SLACK.

We’ve also joined LinkTree to keep track of all of our social media pages, as well as hot new articles we’ve written. The Beer Thrillers on LinkTree can be found here: The Beer Thrillers LinkTree.

We have partnered with an affiliateship with Beer Drop.com. You can check out that partnership and receive great discounts, coupons, and more here: Beer Drop. Going here and logging in and ordering will help you receive your discounts and coupons as well as help support our page. Thank you for helping to support The Beer Thrillers and to help us maintain the site and blog and to keep it running.

The Beer Thrillers are a blog that prides itself on writing beer reviews, brewery reviews, travelogues, news (especially local to the Central PA brewery scene), as well as covering other topics of our interests – such as hiking, literature and books, board games, and video games which we sometimes stream with our friends over at Knights of Nostalgia. We are currently listed as #5 on FeedSpot’s “Top 100 Beer Blogs” and #9 on FeedSpot’s “Top 40 Pennsylvania Blogs”. (As of May 2025.) Thank you for reading our site today, please subscribe, follow, and bookmark. Please reach out to us if you are interested in working together. If you would like to donate to the blog you can here: Donate to The Beer Thrillers. Thank you!

You can also check out our partnership and affiliation with Pretzels.com, where ordering pretzels and using our affiliate code – AFFILIATE CODE IS THEBEERTHRILLERS20 – will help you get wonderful pretzels and help us maintain and keep this blog running. Thank you!

If you would like to reach out to us for product reviews, beer reviews, press release writing, and other media – please contact us at thebeerthrillers@gmail.com. Thank you.

(Thank you for reading. The opinions, thoughts, and expressions of each article posted on The Beer Thrillers represents the author of the content and only themselves. It does not express the opinions, beliefs, or ideas held by The Beer Thrillers or any company in which the author themselves work for. Each piece of written content is written by the creator(s) listed in the authorial section on each article unless otherwise noted. Their opinions, comments, and words on screen do not represent any company in which they work for and / or are affiliated with or any non – profits that they contribute to. Thank you.)