1. **Problem statement:** We have 1212 distinct brands of beer, and we randomly choose 33 distinct brands without repetition. We want to find the number of ways to choose these 33 brands, which is the size of the sample space $S$. 2. **Formula used:** The number of ways to choose $k$ distinct items from $n$ distinct items without repetition is given by the combination formula: $$n(S) = \binom{n}{k} = \frac{n!}{k!(n-k)!}$$ where $n!$ denotes factorial of $n$. 3. **Apply the formula:** Here, $n=1212$ and $k=33$, so $$n(S) = \binom{1212}{33} = \frac{1212!}{33! \times (1212-33)!} = \frac{1212!}{33! \times 1179!}$$ 4. **Explanation:** This number represents all possible distinct groups of 33 brands chosen from 1212 brands. Since the consumer cannot repeat answers, each choice is unique. 5. **Final answer:** The number of elements in the sample space $S$ is $$n(S) = \binom{1212}{33}$$ This is a very large whole number representing the total possible combinations. **Note:** Calculating the exact numeric value is impractical by hand due to the large factorials, but the combination formula fully describes the answer.