Web Article "The Eight Beers Americans No Longer Drink"

The Eight Beers Americans No Longer Drink - 24/7 Wall St.

This article is pointing to a drop in sales amoung 8 beers americans no longer drink. Does not really give much detail on what americans are drinking instead of these BMC style macrobrews which still probably lead well ahead of the microbrew industry. I am curious to hear if anyone else wonders about the beers on this list. I don't drink most BMC beers mostly due to the fact that I brew 90% of what I drink.

Yea i could care less about bmc i seem to always opt for craft when i need to buy beer,like u i drink mostly my beer

What I am curious to know is if the BMC beers have taken such a large decrease in consumption what are americans drinking in their place? Have microbrews replaced much of this loss or have many americans switched over to drinking other types of alcohol?

I would think its more craft brew a lot of local bars i go to have more craft brew on draft and bmc in the bottle.That being said it is a resession and i think depressed people tend to drink hard liquer?OK i give up whada u think?

Beer is the only type of alcohol I drink so I had not considered hard liquer as a possibility. For the cheaper brands of hard liquor is the cost per ounce of alcohol the same as that for cheap beer?

cheap hard liquor is cheaper bang for the buck, but i doubt that is the reason for the fall off. the article mentioned that keystone and PBR were taking some of the market from MillerCoors low end product. I know in Missouri PBR and Stag are becoming popular

#8 : Budweiser
#7 : Milwaukee's Best Light
#6 : MGD
#5 : Old Milwaukee
#4 : Milwaukee's Best
#3 : Bud Select
#2 : Michelob Light
#1 : Michelob

None of these are a big surprise to me, except Budweiser I suppose. It does make sense for the rest of them though. InBev and MillerCoors doesn't really push all the brands that they own equally, and as such people start to forget about the other brands and beers (Michelob, Old Milwaukee). When preferences change, they might just fade away.

I don't drink any of these. PBR and MGD High life (Champagne of Beers®) didn't make the loser cut this time- whew!

When the recession first hit, sales of budget brands like keystone and pbr soared. I think most of those sales came from BMC drinkers. Now folks are sick of being budget conscious, (because as Americans it's our natural tendency to live above our means...) and couple that with the trendiness of craft beer, you have BMC drinkers purchasing up. I've also seen wine sales are up. Any way you spin it, traditional BMC brands are taking a hit.

I read an article recently about how flavored vodka has taken a huge share of the alcoholic beverage market in recent years. I'd venture with vodka being on the cheap end of the beverage scale, it can take a chunk of the BMC market.

HokieBrewer said:

Any way you spin it, traditional BMC brands are taking a hit.

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It's all relative though...considering the beer market share of non-craft beer is still 95.7% (data from BA).

I don't have the information in front of me, but I've seen the breakdown in the change in consumer purchasing habits. Some of these percentages of loss from the BMC products have actually gone to spirits and wines. There is a small percentage that have switched to craft, but it seems wine and spirits have gained most of the points from people switching.

It does makes sense with the 10% discounts you see on wine in grocery chains for bulk purchases as well as the bang for your buck on cheap spirits.

It's kind of a cop-out article...I mean they have a point, but it's not as interesting as I thought it would be. That's like saying "What meats do we not eat in fast food?.......tada...it's beef! Most beef is cut with other products...blahblah..."

I think they should have listed things like Czech pilsner, pre-prohibition pilsner, gruit beer, or just beers in general that a lot of people don't drink...it would have made for a more interesting article at least

Edit: I guess that's why I read magazines like BYO for beer articles, and not WSJ haha...

I think as others stated, its the cost that is causing the drop in sales. I think two things are happening. For those who cannot afford the increased cost of BMC, they are switching to PBR and Keystone which has not really changed in price. For those that can afford it, I think they are switching to micro brews that are only a dollar or two more expensive than BMC. Plus, there are stores like Trader Joe's which somehow sell beer that is significantly cheaper than almost anything else out there and its at the same level or higher quality than BMC.

Looking through the article, it's interesting that only one light beer was mentioned, Michelob Light. I'd bet Michelob Ultra cannibalized it.

Budweiser is trying hard to stay relevant. They've got two options, become more "Here we go" like Bud Lite, or position themselves as a heritage brand that tough guys like your grandfather drank. From recent ad campaigns and packaging I've seen, it looks like they're going with choice A. My guess is that sales will continue to slide.

msa8967 said:

What I am curious to know is if the BMC beers have taken such a large decrease in consumption what are americans drinking in their place? Have microbrews replaced much of this loss or have many americans switched over to drinking other types of alcohol?

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If you read the entire article, you'll note that a lot of the sales have shifted to light versions produced from the same breweries. So it seems that it's not so much that BMC is losing that much market share (though clearly they are losing some) but rather that particular beers within their portfolio are falling, while others are rising.

So BMC beers with little quality taste in my opinion are now being moved more into the lighter versions with even less taste. I am curious about the cost of a 6 pack of Bud versus 6 of Budlight versus 6 of Bud Select. Are many drinkers paying more for less? Have to check this out next time I am at the grocery store.

Are there more brands from BMC in the last 5 years? The spread to other BMC brands would explain a drop in some.

I think there is a heightened awareness of craft and regional brews. Likely the hype is true, more drinkers are trying smaller craft brews. I don't really care if they do or not, my brew comes from my back patio and the rest of america can do what they please. Whatevah.