Top US Beer Brand Stats

By on June 5, 2008 @ 10 PM (3 Comments)

Note: This post was written in 2008 for the 2007 stats. We’ve since updated it for the 2009 stats (here) and the 2010 stats (here).

In a recent issue of Beverage Industry magazine (April 2008) there is a category focus on US beer consumption for 2007 that gives some really interesting stats by sales. The good info is in tables that aren’t on the link above, so I’ll summarize below. Prepare for the bullet points:

Top Craft Beer Brands 2007:

  1. Sierra Nevada Pale Ale
  2. Samuel Adams Boston Lager
  3. Samuel Adams Seasonal
  4. New Belgium Fat Tire Amber Ale
  5. Samuel Adams Light
  6. Shiner Bock
  7. Widmer Hefeweizen
  8. Samuel Adams Brewmaster Collection
  9. Redhook ESB
  10. Pyramid Hefeweizen Ale

The BeerFathers Notes on Top Craft Beer Brands:

  • Sam Adams gets to lump it’s collections together, like seasonals, to show up as one brand, which is quite misleading.
  • Two awful hefeweizens make the list. Weihenstephaner to the rescue?
  • I’d be really interested to see how Michelob Amber Bock sales compare to Shiner Bock, since the two are so close in taste and one has a solid craft reputation.

Top Imported Beer Brands 2007:

  1. Corona Extra
  2. Heineken
  3. Corona Light
  4. Tecate
  5. Heineken Premium Light Lager
  6. Modelo Especial
  7. Newcastle Brown Ale
  8. Guinness Draught
  9. Labatt Blue
  10. Beck’s

TheBeerFathers Notes on Top Imported Beer Brands:

  • A tip of the beer glass and a hearty “Hola!” to our amigos south of the border.
  • Heineken. Now there’s a tough one. A marketing machine, yes. But is it just the image associated with drinking Heineken that makes people get it? It sure as hell isn’t the taste.
  • Guinness is the only one on this list above the 50th percentile at RateBeer.com (with a solid 82). Newcastle Brown Ale comes in good second with a respectable 47. Beck’s is the next closest with a 14. All the others, seriously, are in single digits.

Top Beers by Brand 2007:

  1. Bud Light – 21.9% market share
  2. Budweiser – 11.1% market share
  3. Miller Lite – 7.2% market share
  4. Coors Light – 7.0% market share
  5. Corona Extra – 4.7% market share
  6. Natural Light – 4.1% market share
  7. Heineken – 2.9% market share
  8. Busch Light – 2.6% market share
  9. Busch – 2.1% market share
  10. Miller High Life – 2.0% market share

The BeerFathers Notes on Top Beers by Brand:

  • Good grief this is a depressing list.
  • Anheuser-Busch owns 41.8% of the US beer market.
  • The highest rated beer on the list at RateBeer.com? Heineken FTW at a 9. Second place? Corona Extra at a 3. Shouldn’t at least one of the top beers be in double digits?
  • Coors’ Blue Moon grew 77% last year and was called the top performing beer brand of 2007. It’s not cracked the top 10 list yet but it may soon. If it does we’ll have a double-digiter on the list.

3 Comments (Add Your Comments)

  1. Ilene Steiner says:

    I’m trying to figure out the top 6 beer brands for 2008, and I thought that Corona Extra was 6th. If so, what are the 5 above it? I’m a market research student and this for a paper. Thank you very much. Ilene

  2. Juergen says:

    Even more interesting would be a list of beer companies owned by Big Beer.
    You’d be surprised!

  3. chandrapal singh bundela says:

    hi
    i m chandrapal singh
    as a bartender pub & hotel worked
    from india, indore, M.P./jaipur ( R.J.) (pune M.H.)
    i m working in indore level-3 pub & disc lounge
    i like to corona, henieken, budweser, coors light
    i suggestion to guest & friend

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