Photo by Jon Grant

On the heels of D.C. Beer Week, a boozy seven days if there ever were any, comes new evidence that as a nation, we just can’t get enough of the sudsy stuff.

A Gallup poll conducted last month found that 66 percent of Americans imbibe, with a bit more than half of drinkers saying they consume between one and seven drinks a week; 12 percent enjoy more than eight. But the average drinker in 2012 has 4.2 drinks a week, up from 4.1 a year ago. (What exactly constitutes one-tenth of a drink? Polishing off someone else’s empty?)

And when it comes to what types of alcohol we like to ingest, beer was the clear winner, being picked as the preferred beverage of 39 percent of respondents. Thirty-five percent preferred wine, while 22 percent went for hard liquor. Surprising as it might be, beer is on a statistical upswing. In 2011, beer edged out wine by only one percentage point.

The increased preference for beer can be accredited to the expansion in the number of craft breweries, a trend we’ve witnessed in D.C. over the past two years with the rise of companies like D.C. Brau, Chocolate City and Three Stars Brewing.

“The rise in popularity is a tribute to the innovation among brewers large and small,” Joe McClain, president of the Beer Institute, said in a press release touting the Gallup survey. “That innovation is bringing traditional beer lovers back and drawing in new beer drinkers.”

However, as booming as the beer business is, the poll revealed a gender gap when it comes to ales and lagers. While 55 percent of men chose beer as their drink of choice, only 23 percent of women said they reach for beer before other beverages. Those numbers are just about the opposite when it comes to wine.

The poll also broke down frequency of drinking by gender and race. Sixty-seven percent of men in the survey said they drink alcohol, averaging 6.2 boozy beverages a week; 64 percent of women are drinkers, but with an average intake of 2.2 drinks a week.

The disparity between whites and non-whites was even greater. Seventy percent of white poll respondents said they drink alcohol, compared to 57 percent with non-whites.

Gallup conducted the poll July 9-12, surveying 1,014 adults 18 and older in the 50 states, the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico.