The beer biz never sleeps at American Craft Beer. And here’s just some of what’s been happening in the beer world while you were drinking your way through the weekend.
Bud Light Decline Continues
Turbulent times continue for Bud Light in the wake its brief, but ultimately costly, partnership with Dylan Mulvaney, a transgender influencer whose image was put on a Bud Light beer can to celebrate the activist’s “365 Days of Girlhood.”
The initial Dylan Mulvaney announcement took place on April 1, 2023 and in spite of Anheuser-Busch’s many efforts to put the matter to bed, the brand has been experiencing serious sales declines ever since then.
Now, in a stunning fall from grace, Bud Light, once the #1 bestselling beer in the nation, has dropped to #3, according to the WSJ.
Based on Nielsen IQ data that was analyzed by the Bump Williams consulting firm, Modelo Especial, which is brewed and imported by White Plains, NY headquartered Constellation Brands, is now No. 1, with for 9.7% of beer dollar sales in US stores for the four weeks that ended July 6.
The good news for Anheuser-Busch, who make Bud Light, was that another one of its beer brands, Michelob Ultra, came in at second place with 7.3% of beer dollar sales nationwide. Now at #3, Bud Light commanded 6.5% of beer dollar sales during that same four-week period, according to the NY Post.
Words to Drink By
“Be a yardstick of quality. Some people aren’t used to an environment where excellence is expected.” – Steve Jobs American businessman and inventor, and investor best known for co-founding Apple Inc.
Hidden Health Dangers Found In Non-Alcoholic Beer
Embracing a more healthful and clear-headed lifestyle, younger consumers are abandoning alcohol products in droves. And this migration away from alcohol hasn’t gone unnoticed by a beer industry that is now taking the non-alcohol segment seriously and that sector is growing.
But that doesn’t mean that brewing buzz-free beer can’t pose problems.
A study by researchers at Cornell University has found that non-alcoholic beers can be a breeding ground for bacteria such as E. coli and salmonella.
Head researcher Randy Worobo and his team of microbiologists studied the growth of three types of bacteria—E. coli, salmonella, and listeria—in traditional beer, low-alcohol beer, and non-alcoholic beer. The study which was published in The Journal of Food Protection, tested the beers in two situations. In the first case beers were a refrigerated 39.2°F but others were left at “room temperature” 57.2°F.
And while E. coli and salmonella were able to survive in both low and non-alcoholic beer for up to 63 days, the microbial pathogens grew more rapidly in the non-alcoholic beverage.
“Low and nonalcoholic beers should be processed through pasteurization to achieve commercial sterility,” they said in a statement, via The Daily Mail. “Sterile filtration and the addition of preservatives should be considered as additional steps to reduce this microbial risk.
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