The figures come from a poll of 600 men and women by the beer and women forum Dea Latis, which said 73% of respondents felt good headway had been made.
Similarly, 74% of those asked felt women were now more likely to include beer within their drinks repertoire and 17% believed women were choosing it as their main drink.
However, responses from men to both questions were more optimistic than from women.
Men more optimistic
In a bid to discover how to get more women to drink beer, respondents said beer lists with taste descriptions was an effective method (33%), followed by free samples (27%). A wider selection of beer in the off-trade was also helpful (31%).
Recommendations from staff was also believed to be a strong method of recommendation, but more women thought that was more effective than men.
A wider selection of beer glassware was seen as a moderate motivator and displaying calorie content or health benefits was met with little positive reaction.
Ros Shiel of Dea Latis, said: “We’re delighted that 600 people took the time to complete our survey, a response that we think makes our findings relatively robust.
“We weren’t surprised that tasting notes and sampling scored highly, but would have expected a higher ranking for beer and food matching.
‘Glassware not unimportant’
“Factors such as glassware shouldn’t be considered as unimportant though – just that these respondents rated them as less effective than others in persuading women to try beer.”
More than half (58%) of respondents to the survey were women, with the majority (33%) of them aged between 35–44.
Meanwhile, the Publican’s Morning Advertiser will host its first Future Trends: Beer and Cider event on 22 June where beer and cider trends will be the hot topic.
For the full agenda and details on how to book visit www.FutureTrendsBeerandCider.co.uk.