General Discussion
Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsAmericans Now Drink More Craft Beer Than Budweiser
Last edited Tue Nov 25, 2014, 04:36 PM - Edit history (1)
A few years ago I saw Sam Calagione speak, and at that time craft beer was about 5% of the total market. So it's about tripled in less than a decade.
They call it a "bad sign" for Anheuser-Busch, although I don't really see why it has to be, in principle. AB could (wait for it) start making some better-tasting craft beer. It's not written in stone that they have to make insipid beer for all time. Hell, they're big enough to support multiple sub-brands.
(edit) To clarify, I'm not anti-Budweiser, or anti-Big-Five. I am pro-variety, so I like to see that the Big Five are becoming just one choice among many, instead of The Entire American Beer Universe that they used to be.
On the one hand, this chart is a reminder that craft brewing is still a nichealbeit a fast-growing one. According to the Brewers Association, craft labels make up about 14 percent of the U.S. beer market. Take Allagash, Lagunitas, Dogfish Head, and all your other favorite little breweries, toss them together, and they barely outsell the third most popular brand in America.
On the other hand, it's also a very specific testament to the decline of Budweiser, which these days is basically a beer without a purpose. Twenty years ago, when Americans were less health-conscious and had more homogeneous tastes, selling a mass-market, midpriced lager designed to appeal to the largest possible demographic made lots of sense. But now, it's a brand without a natural audience except for older Americans who drink it out of habit and maybe a nostalgic sense of brand loyalty. If you walk into a bar, there will almost always be a cheaper beer, a less caloric beer, and plenty of tastier beers on tap. And so it's not totally shocking that, by Anheuser-Busch Inbev's account, 44 percent of Americans between the ages of 21 and 27 have never tried a regular old Budweiser. It's not as if they're missing anything.
http://www.slate.com/blogs/moneybox/2014/11/24/budweiser_sales_decline_americans_now_drink_more_craft_beer_than_bud.html
unblock
(52,317 posts)BWAHAHAH!
i'm on a roll today!
rhett o rick
(55,981 posts)unblock
(52,317 posts)rhett o rick
(55,981 posts)unblock
(52,317 posts)rhett o rick
(55,981 posts)unblock
(52,317 posts)rhett o rick
(55,981 posts)Aristus
(66,462 posts)I haven't had a mass-market beer in over 20 years.
edhopper
(33,615 posts)you just borrow it.
I am convinced that the popularity of Bud is not because it is good (it's not, it is an awful beer) but because at a certain point in drinking that is the only sound a guy or girl can utter. "Gimme Ud".
Eleanors38
(18,318 posts)cali
(114,904 posts)says nothing cracks him up more than going into am upscale Vermont bar and ordering a bud. Looks of horror abound. People who know who he is are shocked.
This state is awash in craft beer. Me? I live down the road from Hill Farmstead Brewery, voted the best brewery in the world in 2013. I prefer to drink Blue Moon when I drink beer.
cleanhippie
(19,705 posts)Sure, it tastes better than Coors, but it's still crappy, mass produced beer.
Same for Shock Top, owned and brewed by Bud.
cyberswede
(26,117 posts)I provide Blue Moon when my yellow-beer drinking friends come over. They would be afraid to try Rogue or Bell's or Sammy Smith or whatever else I have around.
cali
(114,904 posts)and all these super hoppy craft beers really don't appeal to me.
cleanhippie
(19,705 posts)Pale Ale, Brown, Porter, Scottish...the list is virtually endless. Lots of good beer out there.
But for christs sake, please put down the mass produced junk.
CBGLuthier
(12,723 posts)I don't give my money to Coors. The Coors family is a bunch of right wing assholes and I would never knowingly give them a penny.
We really liked Leinenkugel until we found out it was owned by Coors. Never touched it again.
LuvNewcastle
(16,856 posts)It's off my list as well.
I like Switchback.
liberal N proud
(60,344 posts)Kilgore
(1,733 posts)Just another label owned by Bud or Coors. Check out this article,
http://time.com/5002/who-really-owns-your-craft-beer/
Brother Buzz
(36,463 posts)Historic NY
(37,453 posts)JCMach1
(27,572 posts)period...
Brother Buzz
(36,463 posts)Anheuser-Busch has been in the pseudo Craft Beer business for some time. They have purchased quite a few labels, and even launched a few of their own in order to jump on the bandwagon. Anheuser-Busch bean counters are laser focused on market share; profit is profit even if you rob Peter to pay Paul.
http://coolmaterial.com/feature/9-craft-beers-you-didnt-know-werent-craft-beers/
phantom power
(25,966 posts)If the Big Five start making different kinds of beers (and/or buying them up), that's the right direction even if they aren't "real" craft beers (whatever that means anyway). I don't personally care for Shock Top, but I like Blue Moon all right. After a hot muggy day of work, sometimes a corona with some lime hits the spot.
Although mostly it's all about the imperial IPAs for me.
Brother Buzz
(36,463 posts)Most all the IPA's I encounter today are WAY over hopped, just for the sake of hopping/shocking. The same trend happened in the wine industry back in the eighties was all the wines became over oaked, just because they could.
My benchmark for all pale ales is Sierra Nevada Pale Ale, the perfect barley sandwich that's wonderfully hopped to my satisfaction.
phantom power
(25,966 posts)I think the whole hops/IPA fad has gotten a little over-heated, but I love IPAs so much I can't pretend I'm very disappointed. Making a really well balanced IPA, especially an imperial IPA, is easier said than done. They aren't all great. For me personally, it's a bit like the old Woody Allen quote - "even when it's bad, it's pretty good"
Brother Buzz
(36,463 posts)It was my benchmark for IPA's back in the eighties: 4 gold medals for IPA from the The Great American Beer Festival (GABF).
Good hop nose, taste, and palatable bitterness, but you can still taste and enjoy the barley; everything working in harmony.
LuvNewcastle
(16,856 posts)You can't go wrong with that or Warsteiner.
Brother Buzz
(36,463 posts)My one desire would be to see more lager houses in the craft beer industry. I think beer accountants shun lagers; time is money.
Historic NY
(37,453 posts)XemaSab
(60,212 posts)n/t
belzabubba333
(1,237 posts)Americans Now Drink More Craft Beer Than Budweiser
Initech
(100,102 posts)It was called "Third Shift" and it failed miserably. You can't fool us real craft beer supporters and brewers.
Brother Buzz
(36,463 posts)And it's still out there, but they did pull their "craft lite" brands, whatever the hell that was.
Initech
(100,102 posts)hifiguy
(33,688 posts)usually Surly or Summit - I drink Minnesota-brewed Grain Belt Premium. Coors/Bud/Miller are dogwash.
JCMach1
(27,572 posts)make a good beer.
marlakay
(11,491 posts)buy up a bunch of the good craft ones and keep their names.
Gallo bought a bunch of good wineries in Sonoma and other places.
I personally like that the small guys are winning. but watch. they will buy out the better craft ones.
phantom power
(25,966 posts)But you never know, big money can be hard to turn down.
If they just buy them and then let them do their thing I'm not sure I care. If they start buying them up and closing them down, or otherwise messing with them, that would be bad.
Glassunion
(10,201 posts)rhett o rick
(55,981 posts)kick out of seeing a big tough, pickup driving guy order a Miller Lite. I am always tempted to ask them if they want a water chaser.
madville
(7,412 posts)I just put a simple pale 2-row based all-grain with some Columbus and Citra hops in the fermenter on Friday. It should be ready to force carbonate right about the time I run out of the home brewed Rye Pale Ale that's currently in my keg system. I also occasionally do a hard apple cider once or twice a year.
If I have to buy something at the store my go-to is usually just Sierra Nevada Pale Ale, Torpedo IPA or their Rye version.
B Calm
(28,762 posts)Paulie
(8,462 posts)I'm drinking my smuggled New Glarus Spotted Cow...
Eleanors38
(18,318 posts)Blanco (west of town) has been a big success, but there are several in-town brews. Real Ale is hoppy-oriented, but are having success with Hans Pils. There are a couple of hefferveisens brewed in town as well. I'm rapidly becoming a snob! The place I go -- Radio Beer & Coffee -- has 2 dozen crafts on tap, good & fresh!