Americans' fondness for beer shows signs of lagging. U.S. beer sales fell 1.7 percent last year. That’s according to the Brewers Association.
The continued rise in craft beers — and growth of spirits — are taking market share from some of the stalwarts of the U.S. beer industry.
For example, Anheuser-Busch saw sales decline with both Budweiser and Bud Light, according to data from IRI, a Chicago-based market research firm. However, even with a 4.5 percent drop, that didn’t stop Bud Light from being the No. 1 best-selling beer of 2017 with more than $5.6 billion in sales.
In addition, both Miller Lite and Coors Light posted year-over-year sales drops. MillerCoors has a facility in Fort Worth where it brews more than 30 brands, including Miller Light and REDD's Apple Ale, and you can click here to take a tour of the brewery.
You can find out beer favored by Americans, like Blue Moon and Natural Light, rank in this complete breakdown of the top 20 best-selling brands in the United States.
While some of the larger brands are losing market share, other sectors of beer are growing. For example, sales of imported beer climbed 3.2 percent last year, according to data from the Brewers Association. Dos Equis XX Lager Especial saw its sales jump 3.2 percent; Stella Artois rose 13.2 percent; and Modelo Especial jumped 22.9 percent.
In addition to imported beer, craft beer sales rose 5 percent last year – which is good news for the Metroplex as the region continues to see growth in its craft beer sector.
In 2017, the region's largest craft brewery, Deep Ellum Brewing Co., sold 44,290 barrels, which is more than double the 17,777 barrels it sold in 2015. Here, the Dallas Business Journal ranks the top 25 breweries in North Texas based on barrels sold last year.
Even more growth is on tap for the Dallas brewery, which is in the process of adding a 60-barrel brewhouse at its main Dallas facility and opening a taproom in nearby Fort Worth later this year.
In June, Deep Ellum Brewing Co. was acquired by Colorado-based Canarchy Craft Brewery Collective, the country's ninth-largest craft brewery. The acquisition will allow Deep Ellum, which currently distributes only in Texas, to grow rapidly out of the state through Canarchy's distribution network, which reaches all 50 states and 16 other countries.
You can read this story in its original form on DallasBusinessJournal.com by clicking here.
