Millennials Are Really Not Into Dry January

While interest in Dry January appears pretty even to last year, millennials are increasingly disinterested in giving up alcohol for a month, according to CivicScience, an analytics platform.

The report (as reported by VinePair) suggests all other age groups have shown about the same interest as in the prior three years in participating in Dry January except for 25-34-year-olds, where interest dropped from 59% in 2022 to 44% this year. Among all age groups, Gen Z (21-24) showed the most interest at 55%.

Dry January Was a Relatively Huge Success in 2022, Even for Bars

Turns out people who weren’t drinking alcohol were still willing to go out and try non-alcoholic spirits, wine and beer

No reason was given for the sudden drop (though Dry January has its share of positive and negative aspects), although another statistic highlights the young and potentially fickle non-alcoholic drinks market. According to CivicScience data, there’s a “high correlation between intent to try non-alcoholic beer in the last year and Dry January intent, as nearly two-thirds of U.S. adults who drink alcohol and intend to try non-alcoholic beer are at least somewhat likely to have a dry month.”

Which is great…except that correlation backfires when people who had already tried non-alcoholic beer were asked about their Dry January intent. Only 38% of people who had tasted non-buzzy brew will abstain from booze this month, while those numbers nearly double among those who “intend to use” non-alcoholic beer, which seems to suggest that non-alcoholic beer is so unpalatable that most people will run back to liquor cabinet (or fridge) for something with a bit of ABV.

Our suggestion? If bad non-alcoholic beer is your excuse for skipping Dry January — and that’s totally your call — we suggest reading our guide to a few good renditions of lagers, IPAs and pale ales that lack alcohol but not flavor.