If you are trying to keep the finer points of your personality under wraps, you might want to think twice before you grab your favorite beer from the fridge in front of your friends, family or a potential lover this weekend.
Why? Because if they've been doing their reading, they just might learn a lot about you by observing which brewski you uncap.
A recent study by Mindset Media, a psychologically based marketing research group, links a definite set of personality traits with the drinkers of certain brands of beer. And, as most of us old enough to consume alcohol know, some windows to the soul are better left shuttered, or at least curtained up until many dates down the road.
Mindset Media started out with a theory that with so many opinions and so much brand loyalty around beer, the choices people make must be connected to their personality. Mindset interviewed more than 2,600 people online in August and September and found specific personalities and mind-sets "popped" for more than half a dozen branded beer choices.
Lauren Hudson, the company's public relations director, says she sees merit with the findings.
"If you look at the commercials that go along with the brands, the commercials really speak to the people likely to drink them," she said in a phone interview Tuesday.
According to Hudson, the study showed how personality relates to what people buy, do and even their political leanings.
"Go visit any bar and watch what people order," she said. "It relates."
Michael Levy, Ph.D., director of clinical treatment services at CAB Health & Recovery Services in Peabody and author of "Take Control of Your Drinking ... and You May Not Need to Quit," said he thinks there's merit to the study, but also wants more information.
"I'm not sure what kind of personality test they are using," he said of the research. "From the start, they seem to be working with a subset of people who do online surveys, so that weighs in."
Still, he said, as a trained psychologist he believes projections can be made about most any aspect of a person's personality, appearance, or demeanor.
"It was kind of cute," he said of the study. "Is there something to this? I'm sure, because whenever you look at a person closely, what they choose, it always says something. A person who likes to try a lot of different kinds of beer might be saying, 'I don't want to be mainstream.' And it also says something about your socioeconomic status: Craft beer can be expensive, for instance."
Regardless of what beer a person chooses, however, Levy reminds that there are some very real guidelines for how much a person should drink: The National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism says for a man, low-risk drinking involves two beers or drinks a day, and a woman about half that amount. The World Health Organization is a bit more lenient, putting guys at up to 21 drinks a week and women about 12 when setting guidelines for low-risk drinking.
And as for the doctor, well, he used to drink beer. But since he's developed wheat allergies, he steers clear of them.
"I had my favorites," he said. "Not a lot of favorites. But a few."
— Staff writer Jill Diver contributed to this story.
WHAT your beer SAYs ABOUT YOU
Budweiser
Bud drinkers are sensible, grounded and practical. They don't tend to daydream. They don't like authority. And they live in the present. However, they also can be spontaneous and tend not to do much advance planning.
Budweiser drinkers are 42 percent more likely to drive a truck than the average person. They are 68 percent more likely to choose a credit card with flexible payment terms and 42 percent more likely to use breath-freshening strips every day, according to the Mindset Media study.
Bud Light
Bud Light personalities actually are quite different from their more-caloric siblings. Bud Light drinkers lack in carefulness, according to the study. They are grounded, but respect authority. They are accepting of most everyone and generally easy to get along with.
Bud Light drinkers are 48 percent more likely than the average person to play the lottery every day and 34 percent more likely to not buy organic products.
Michelob Ultra
Michelob Ultra drinkers rate high in superiority; that is, they think highly of themselves and can be a little bit conceited, according to the study. They care what other people think about them and want to appear to be flawless. They also tend to be take-control types with strong opinions.
Michelob Ultra drinkers are 34 percent more likely than the average person to buy life insurance.
Corona
Corona drinkers like to party. They are busy, energetic, friendly and social. Meanwhile, according to the Mindset Media study, they care deeply about others.
Corona drinkers are 91 percent more likely than average to buy recycled products and 38 percent more likely to own three or more flat-screen TVs.
Heineken
Mindset Media has a term to sum up Heineken drinkers: posers.
Heineken drinkers are full of themselves, study says. They love their brands, fancy themselves as being dynamic and enjoy being the center of attention.
People who choose Heineken as their favorite beer are 58 percent more likely than the average person to have American Express cards; 45 percent more likely to be sure they purchase the newest mobile phone; and 29 percent more likely to drive sports cars.
Blue Moon
People who prefer this Belgian style wheat beer profile similarly to the people who prefer craft beers — even though Blue Moon is made by Molson Coors Brewing Co. in Colorado.
Blue Moon drinkers tend to be liberal, study says, and care little about convention. They can be sarcastic and snide when making their point.
People who drink Blue Moon are 105 percent more likely than the average person to drive hybrid cars; 77 percent more likely to own Apple Mac laptops; 65 percent more likely to purchase five pairs or more of sneakers every year; and 32 percent more likely to not be registered voters.
Craft Beers
This group likes to ponder beer. A lot. They are open-minded, study says, and curious. Craft-beer drinkers also skew as having a lower sense of responsibility — they don't stress about missed deadlines and tend to be happy-go-lucky about life.
Craft-beer lovers are 153 percent more likely to always buy organic, 52 percent more likely to be fans of the show "The Office"; and 36 percent more likely to be the ones to choose the movie they are going to see at the theater.
Abstainers
It probably doesn't take a psychologist to discover that people who refuse to drink beer at all don't like to party it up. They tend to be conservative and see many issues as black and white. They also honor authority.
People who turn down beer are 50 percent more likely to call themselves Republican, and are 30 percent more likely to never buy organic products, the study says.
— Information from a report by Advertising Age was utilized in this story.
WHAT READERS SAY
Here are excerpts from an online survey asking readers what they think their beer — or the beers other people choose — say about them.
bass
I like Black and Tans. Guinness floated on top of Bass. It describes the multiple levels of my complexity, and my ability to balance multiple things. Multitasker that I am!
John Lazzaro
bud light
I drink Bud Light because a lot of my friends are from St. Louis and refuse to hang out with me if I drink anything else.
Don Frazier, New Orleans
I am a regular American who loves the taste of beer. After three or four, I get the gift of gab. After three more, I like every one. Then after three or four more (10 total), I call my wife for a ride home!
Bill Londonderry, Naples, Fla.
Blue Moon
I have taste.
Bob Osgood, Salem, N.H.
Started drinking it after the Obama Beer on the Lawn Summit guy.
Mark McKallagat, Lawrence
Coors
I've seen "Smokey & the Bandit" 50 times. And it keeps getting funnier.
Michael Murray, North Reading
John Denver was a decent man.
Jesse Kattar, Methuen
Corona extra
Why bother?
Ben Weirich, Haverhill
For those who fancy themselves exotic.
Bob Gurka, Methuen
Anyone who adds fruit to beer ought to be flogged.
Paul Mezlevele, Haverhill
Craft Beers
There are so many great craft brews out there that make the Coors, Millers, and Buds of the world look like the watery, flavorless crap they are. Open your minds, folks, and go out and grab some Dogfish Head, Stone, Southern Tier, etc., etc.
Brian Williams, Salem, N.H.
You care about what you drink.
Steve Nowicki, Haverhill
A truly knowledgeable drinker who knows that marketing does not equal quality and is unafraid to try new things.
Mark Mesiti, Lawrence
That you have a true taste for the good things in life. You appreciate hard work and creativity, and support local businesses.
Lee Strauss, Lawrence
Microbreweries are the CBGB's of beer-making venues. Every sip applauds your do-it-yourself punk rock ethos. It's elitist beer for the common man.
Mike Kinlin, Methuen
Leinenkugel is my absolute favorite. I rationalize that the orange slice most bars put in it makes it healthy because oranges have Vitamin C. I can never remember the name, though, and tend to order it by saying, "It's the beer that smells like Froot Loops." Hmmm. I guess it is appropriate. I have often been described as a Fruit Loop.
Jen O'Callaghan, Manchester, N.H.
Guinness
I think it says that I have good taste in beer.
Jamie DiGregorio, Nashua, N.H.
Looking to eat not drink.
Michael Mahoney, Haverhill
Heineken
Heinekin Light. Rich in flavor, low in calories: quality but not cheap — like me!
Nanci Charney, Andover
Well, excu-oo-oose me ...
Michael Murray, North Reading.
Light, crisp, intelligent, independent.
Neil May Derry, N.H.
Michelob
Boring! Maybe my aunt or uncle.
Ryan Molloy Lawrence
Michelob Ultra
I rarely drink beer. But when I do I drink Ultra because it has the fewest calories. When you're gonna have about 15 of them, you really don't want to feel bloated.
Steve D'Urso, Andover
Worker bee.
Bob Plugh, Nashua, N.H.
I am health conscious and have fallen prey to Michelob's "healthy" marketing campaign, even though it only has one less carb than Miller Lite.
Blake Dakota, Billerica
Phony.
Pat Magron, Lowell
I would rather drink tonic.
Harold Hughes, New Bedford
Sam Adams
Sam's Winter, cause I'll make you feel all warm and cozy inside.
Dan Brunelle
I usually drink Sam Adams; my boyfriend is a Bud Light guy all the way. (Is that a metaphor for our relationship?) I also really like fall beers — anything Octoberfest or with Pumpkin in it, and I'm sold.
Stephanie Chelf, Methuen
Reader Comment: Well Steph, we know who wears the pants in your relationship.
It's STRONG & BOLD. I guess that's what I am and like?! Yup, strong and bold.
Vanessa Samsel Chirichiello, North Andover
Sam seasonal: It says that I am a very adaptable, adventurous and sophisticated. And most of all I change with the seasons.
Anthony DeVito, Andover
White collar, higher income, able to afford premium-priced product.
Richard Hurtz, North Andover
New Englander. Simple as that!
Keith Partridge, Salem, N.H .
New Englander on Pay Day.
Andy Murphy, Haverhill.
Beer: Ick.
What if I don't like beer? What does that say about me? I prefer wine or the hard stuff!
Margot LeSage Regan, Haverhill
How about strawberry daiquiri? No beer for me.
Jaden Paige Brulotte, Nashua, N.H.
