Beer Lovers Demand Both ‘More and Less’ in 2021

It’s not really suprising that COVID-19 has changed buying habits. But it now appears that pandemic-addled beer fans want things both ways.

Thanks to the coronavirus retail shopping has become hit and run affairs, with consumers increasingly buying their beer in bulk to limit those now less pleasant trips.

But that’s just the beginning of the shift in alcohol buying habits that analysts expect to continue in 2021.

A Nielsen report on off-premise alcohol sales trends, which includes liquor store and grocery/convenience store purchases, found that consumers were purchasing larger pack sizes of beer, with a 20% or more increase in 24 and 30-case purchases.

Reporting on a trend that industry watchers are seeing all over the country, Jason Hall, senior director at Anheuser-Busch Sales of Oklahoma, said they have had to adjust space on shelves at stores to accommodate the demand for 24 and 30 packs.

And as the lockdowns continue in the US, consumers are increasingly gravitating towards alcohol choices they perceive as healthier options.

“In the second half of the year, we saw an upward trend of consumers purchasing better-for-you options like seltzers and Michelob Ultra brands,” Hall continued. “Even during a tough year, consumers want products that are better for them.”

And after months of lockdown drinking many beer consumers may be thinking that “enough is enough.” In the last 52 weeks ending on Nov. 1, 2020, IRI found that N/A beer (Non-Alcoholic) sales rose 38% in the US.

And taking their lead from multinational brewers like Anheuser-Busch, Heineken and Molson Coors who are aggressively addressing the sector, craft breweries are increasingly offering low or no alcohol beer options.

Craft beer pioneer Brooklyn Brewery currently offers not one, but two, non-alcoholic beers…

Coming off the success of their first non-alcoholic brew, Special Effects Hoppy Amber which debuted in Sweden in 2018 and was  successfully introduced to the US in 2020, Brooklyn Brewery is expanding its N/A roster with Special Effects IPA, a buzz-free India Pale Ale with a huge hop profile and only 100 calories.

“When we first developed Special Effects Hoppy Amber, we were determined to show the consumer that non-alcoholic beer doesn’t have to be about taking something away, but rather that it adds to the experience,” says Brooklyn Brewery’s CEO Eric Ottaway…

“Since that launch, craft non-alcoholic beers have seen triple digit growth this past year. In sticking with our belief that non-alcoholic beverages are for everyone, and given that IPA’s are by far the most dominant category in the craft beer industry, it made natural sense to focus our attention on craft’s most popular style as we are expanding the Special Effects family.”

With the impact of COVID-19 still reverberating around the world, many beer fans are approaching their favorite beverages differently.

And for some beer that mean more, while others are increasingly happy with less….