Beer, the lifeblood of so many happy hours, is the most popular alcoholic drink in the United States. But while there’s been a burst of craft brewers introducing beers with complex flavors, Americans still largely love their beer to taste one way: bland.

Almost every best selling beer is a light beer. Bud Light, the most popular brand by far, accounts for nearly one out of every four beers sold in the United States.

Dismayed by the popularity of tasteless beers, economist Ranjit Dighe decided to figure out the origins of Americans’ preference for pilsners, lagers and other milder brews. What he found is that a taste for bland beer might as well run in Americans’ veins.