American Craft Beer The Best Craft Beer, Breweries, Bars, Brewpubs, Beer Stores, And Restaurants Serving Serious Beer.
Photo© Brewers Association
The beer biz never sleeps at American Craft Beer. And here’s just some of what’s been happening while you were drinking your way through the weekend.
Craft Beer Declines In First Half Of 2024
The Boulder, Colorado non-profit that advocates on behalf of craft brewers, The Brewers Association, just released its midyear numbers for 2024.
And although it wasn’t horrible news, it did point to a continuing decline in the craft beer sector.
Craft beer volume was down around 2%, but at the same time, the number of active craft breweries increased from 9,339 in June 2023 to 9,358 as of June 2024. So there’s that.
And 54% of the breweries surveyed in this survey, reported growth in the first half of 2024 compared to a year ago. So there’s that as well. But that also means that almost half of the respondents were not seeing growth in the first half of 2024.
“While the category continues to struggle to find collective growth, there are still plenty of success stories in the midyear data,” Bart Watson, vice president of strategy and chief economist at the Brewers Association said. “With so much choice in beer and beverage, brewers need to consistently think about how their brands can meet what beer lovers and drinkers are looking for.”
That’s the basic temperament of the Brewers Association’s Midyear survey. It’s not the worst, but it is a mixed bag. Some breweries appear to be doing fine, others not so much.
Words to Drink By
“Your time is limited, so don’t waste it living someone else’s life.” – Steve Jobs American businessman and inventor.
Top 10 Bestselling Beers In US & Instate Favorites
Innerbody is online publication that offers science-based information and advice on a multitude of health-oriented issues, and for whatever reason they recently ran an interesting beer study that showcased the most popular beer-loving regions in the US and the bestselling beers…
The heath site used Google Trends to compile beer search data for the top 24 beers. With this data, they were able to identify each state’s top beer, find out which state searched for beer the most (crowning them the most beer-loving state), and determine which beers are the most popular in the US. (see above)
Some random takeaways
- Wisconsinites love beer the most, especially favoring Miller brands which are brewed in Milwaukee
- Folks on the West Coast prefer Mexican beers (but that’s not surprising with Modelo Especial now ranked as the #1 bestselling beer in the US)
- The Midwest loves beer more than any other region.
- In spite of Dylan Mulvaney Trans controversy Bud Light is still America’s favorite “light” beer.
The Bestselling Beers in the US
- Modelo Especial
- Bud Light
- Michelob Ultra
- Coors Light
- Corona Extra
- Miller Lite
- Budweiser
- Busch Light
- Natural Light
- Heineken Original
(Source: NIQ, year-to-date sales for all off-premise outlets, week ending March 23, 2024)
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