On National Beer Day 2024, the US is drinking more Modelo than Bud Light as NA brews rise

Cheers to National Beer Day, which is on tap Sunday, April 7.

The date commemorates a big event in beer history so it's good excuse to pop a top – and to assess what's happening right now in beer.

National Beer Day marks the beginning of the end of Prohibition in 1933. On April 7, 1933, The Cullen-Harrison Act, signed by President Franklin D. Roosevelt, went into effect, allowing people to buy and drink low-alcohol content beer and wine in public. Prohibition would be totally repealed in December 1933, when the 21st Amendment was ratified.

Over the subsequent decades, beer in the U.S. grew beyond major breweries such as Anheuser-Busch, Coors and Miller Brewing Co. – and don't forget the country's oldest brewery, Yuengling, which remains a family-owned business.

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The rise of independent craft breweries grew, thanks in part to President Jimmy Carter's signing in 1978 of a law allowing home brewing of beer. Some of those home brewers went on to create well-known breweries including Boston Beer Co., Brooklyn Brewery, Dogfish Head Brewery, and Sierra Nevada Brewing Co.

Here's a look at how beer tastes are changing in the U.S.

Modelo still reigns after dethroning Bud Light

Modelo Especial remains the best-selling beer in the U.S. and its sales are up 12% so far in 2024, compared to a year ago, according to Bump Williams Consulting. The Shelton, Connecticut firm services the alcoholic beverage industry and uses NIQ data tracking retail sales at supermarkets, convenience and select liquor stores. 

Modelo Especial overtook Bud Light in May 2023 amidst a backlash from conservative consumers after the Bud Light brand's collaboration with transgender influencer Dylan Mulvaney to promote a contest for March Madness. This year, Bud Light sales are down 28% from a year ago.

The top-selling beers in the U.S.

• 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.

Non-alcoholic beer sales keep climbing

On this National Beer Day, perhaps more imbibers than ever will pop the top on a non-alcoholic beer. Non-alcoholic beer sales have increased 32.6% so far this year, according to data firm NIQ's tracking of sales.

Non-alcoholic beer sales are even stronger in supermarkets (up 35.5%), where it accounts for 3% of all beer sales, Dave Williams told USA TODAY. Corona, Blue Moon and Guinness are among recent big names to enter the non-alcoholic beer category, he said.

Non-alcoholic beer "has remained a consistent growth engine within (and for) beer," Williams said. "Not sure we’re quite at the point of saturation as there is still a lot of ground to cover from a market distribution standpoint, but competition is heating up as the 'big boys' all come ready to play."

Number of U.S. breweries approaches 10,000

The number of breweries in the U.S. has grown from 93 in 1982 to 9,709 in 2022. Most of those (9,552) are regional breweries, microbreweries, taprooms and brewpubs.

In 2023, 420 new breweries opened, while 385 closed, according to the Brewers Association.

But slowing demand for beer and increased competition from other products such as ready-to-drink hard seltzers and cocktails could make it hard to hit that 10,000 brewery mark.

The amount of beer being sold in the U.S. declined 3% in 2022, the most recent year available from the Brewers Association. But price increases drove sales to $115 billion in 2022, up from about $100 billion in 2021, the trade group says.

Craft beer sales increased 5% to $28.4 billion in 2022. Beer made by independent brewers accounted for more than 13%, by volume, of beer sold in the U.S., the association says. But craft beer production likely declined in 2023, the association's chief economist Bart Watson said in a year-end presentation.

The price of beer at home rose 3% in February 2024 at about the same rate as all items, according to the Labor Department's consumer price index. But beer prices rose higher than that of alcoholic beverages as a whole (2.4%).

Top selling craft beers

• Blue Moon Belgian White Ale
• New Belgium Voodoo Ranger Imperial IPA
• New Belgium Voodoo Ranger Juice Force IPA
• Sierra Nevada Hazy Little Thing
• Sierra Nevada Pale Ale
• Shiner Bock
• Lagunitas IPA
• Elysian Space Dust IPA
• Samuel Adams Seasonal
• Kona Big Wave Golden Ale

Source: NIQ, year-to-date sales for all off-premise outlets, week ending March 23, 2024.

Follow Mike Snider on X and Threads: @mikesnider & mikegsnider.

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