Emma Joliffe takes exception to the assumption that women are buying newer versions of stout because they are less bitter
Your report (Higher stout consumption driven by female drinkers and low alcohol options, 4 April) quotes Tom Holmes from Vocation brewery as attributing stout’s popularity to a female preference for sweeter tastes: “We think there is something around the sweeter flavours of stout being introduced that are bringing more females in, as it does not have the same bitterness typically associated with hops, so it’s more accessible.”
Leaving aside the wince-inducing use of “females” as a noun, this sentence immediately raised my antennae. As a woman who prefers black coffee, dark chocolate and a pint of bitter (and, yes, stout), I wondered if there was any scientific evidence that women have a sweeter tooth?
