(Wine-Searcher) - As beer soars in popularity on the Wine-Searcher database, could wine's superiority be coming to an end?

In the world of beverages, wine has always been seen as the epitome of taste, class, and sophistication; a beverage to be shared with fine cuisine, and subject to a precise etiquette to scare off the unworthy.

Meanwhile, beer has always been simple: a common beverage drunk at sporting events, fraternity parties, or as a reward for hard labor. Surely, the two could never be seen as equals – have you ever seen beer-pong game played with Cabernet Sauvignon? Wine is revered, beer is an afterthought. Or is it?

The times might be changing, as we mark a historical milestone here at Wine-Searcher – a beer has made an appearance in our list of Most Searched-for Wines.

Goose Island Bourbon County Stout is the beer in question and it has been a rousing success since its launch in the early 1990s, when it became the first Bourbon barrel-aged beer ever brewed. Every year people enter a lottery for their chance to acquire a few bottles, so perhaps it's no surprise that each November there is a huge spike in searches for the beer.

In fact, the Bourbon County Stout accounts for almost 10 percent of all beer searches during November and December, compared to the 2 percent average for the rest of the year.

But it isn't just about Goose Island. Searches for beer have boomed in the past 30 months or so, with numbers growing sixfold since June 2013, when 17,096 users searched for beer. In November, the number was 100,056, as year-on-year growth has seen November search figures leap from 33,561 in 2013, to 49,401 in 2014 and cracking the six-digit mark in 2015. What has changed? Why are users searching for beer on our wine platform?

The answer of course is the continuing rise of craft beer.

According to the market research firm IRI Worldwide, craft beer sales in the US grew by 18.8 percent in 2015. The Brewers Association claims that there are now more than 4000 breweries in the US, the highest number since 1873, when there were 4131; 75 percent of US adults over the age of 21 live within 10 miles of a local brewery.