5 beers Americans aren't drinking

By Michael B. Sauter and Alexander E.M. Hess, 24/7 Wall St.
Bottoms up

After three years of declining sales, shipments of domestically brewed beers are up more than 1% this year. Driving this uptick are sales of light beers and specialty beers -- such as Budweiser Light Platinum, Shock Top and Blue Moon.

While sales of specialty, craft and small-market beers have improved dramatically, traditional, full-calorie beers that were once the staples of most breweries have fallen behind. In the five years through 2011, sales of Budweiser -- for years the top-selling beer in the country -- have fallen by 7 million barrels.

Nine domestic beer brands saw their sales decline by at least 30% over the past five years, according to data examined by 24/7 Wall St. For some, the decline reflects consumers' changing habits; light beers increasingly have become the beverage of choice for many beer drinkers.

Despite eclipsing sales of full-calorie beers, sales of most leading light brands have been flat in recent years. The segment's growth has come mostly from specialty and craft beers.

The big brewers have fought back with their own versions of craft beers. Anheuser-Busch Inbev (BUD) introduced Bud Light Platinum with a splashy ad that debuted during the 2012 Super Bowl broadcast. Shock Top, a Belgian-style wheat ale produced by Anheuser-Busch, has been another success.

No. 5: Old Milwaukee

Brewer: Pabst Brewing
Sales decline (2006-2011): 52.8%
Barrels sold last year: 460,000

Old Milwaukee is brewed by the Pabst Brewing, acquired in 2010 by C. Dean Metropoulos, described by The New York Times as "a veteran food executive known for corporate turnarounds."

Last year, the Chicago Tribune reported that Pabst employees felt Metropoulos' marketing plans were moving the company away from the philosophies and practices that made it successful.

Old Milwaukee sales fell by 12.4% between 2010 and 2011.

No. 4: Milwaukee's Best

Brewer: MillerCoors
Sales decline (2006-2011): 57.1%
Barrels sold last year: 750,000

MillerCoors, a joint venture between SABMiller (SBMRY) and Molson Coors Brewing (TAP), promotes Milwaukee's Best as a beverage "brewed for a man's taste," and asserts that it is "highly drinkable (and) highly affordable."

Consumers haven't seemed to notice: The beer has one of the lowest rankings on BeerAdvocate, a website and magazine that bills itself as a grass-roots network dedicated to supporting and promoting beer.

No. 3: Budweiser Select

Brewer: Anheuser-Busch InBev
Sales decline (2006-2011): 60.8%
Barrels sold last year: 775,000

Introduced in 2005, Budweiser Select claims to offer a "distinctively full flavor," with just 99 calories per 12-ounce serving, roughly the same as Michelob Ultra.

The brand has never sold well, and in 2009, Anheuser-Busch InBev introduced an offshoot, Budweiser Select 55, which the company describes as "the lightest beer in the world with fewer calories than any other beer option currently available."

No. 2: Michelob Light

Brewer: Anheuser-Busch InBev
Sales decline (2006-2011): 66.3%
Barrels sold last year: 425,000

As sales of Michelob Light have dimmed, sales of Michelob Ultra -- a light beer with only 95 calories per 12-ounce serving introduced a decade ago -- have increased by 10.3% over the past five years.

No. 1

Great read. I think the biggest issue with the beers on this list is that most people nowadays either drink "quality" beer for flavor or lite beer. The five above don't fall into either category.

Yep, and they are all cheaply made and terrible.

I agree FistK. That is exactly what it is. This is what my fridge is currently stocked with.

funny to read this I just had a conversation with a friend that went to Ireland and drank nothing but bud light...I tried to explain what sort of a dissapointing travesty that is....

Yep. Bud Light is the number one beer in the world.
It's the power of marketing.

Damn I miss the good old high school days of underaged drinking and driving and puking in your friends back seat while trying to get laid by an unconscious fat girl with the best breasts you can ever hope to see.

Ahhhh Labatt's stubbies... best beer in the world.

The only way to drink Milwaukee's Best is through a beer bong. Atleast that way you cant really taste how horrible that beer is. My friends and I used to call it the beast. Cause if you could drink it straight and like it you were a beast.

I remember going on a road trip to Orofino, Idaho in 84. Heh the kin-folk we were visiting were all amazed at my capacity to guzzle American beer with utter impunity. I thought the Old Milwaukee tin cans and the lack of alcohol all rather amusing.

Haha Milwakees Best - The Beast and Meister Brau (Meister Chow)! Thats what I could afford on a college budget. Damn I miss those days.

Occasionally the local distributor would have a special on something called OV splits also I remember. And there was a grocery store that sold some beer called Golden Anniversary. It sucked so bad, but it was $5 a case. How could you go wrong, haha.

Yes... The Beast was the college beer of choice.
$6.99 for a case of returnable bottles and $39 for a half keg (including cups, ice, and delivery).

We used to call old milwakee "old milcrotchie"...

In college I started drinking miller high life because it was cheap. I've become so used to it that I now love it and it's my beer of choice. I no longer drink it because it's cheap, I drink it because it's fantastic. If I'm at a party where the beer is free I'll choose high life over most others.

Are you also 65 years old?

hahaha...no! I'll be 37 this year.

I will say my two absolute favorite beers are polar opposites, High Life and Guinness

Guinness is by far my favorite beer and nothing really comes close.
When I need to switch it up, I will usually go for a dos XX.
Dog Fish Head is my go-to IPA. Sierra Nevada for a regular pale ale.

I guess over my years of drinking I've finally settled with the beers that make me feel the best after a night of drinking. Although I do enjoy occassionally going to world of beer or the winking lizard and trying something new and different, I tend to feel shitty after a handful of them. I can easily drink 10-11 high lifes or Guinness and wake up the next day without even a headache.

Thats how I feel with whiskey, mainly Canadian and mainly Crown Royal or Black Velvet. I'll smash 8 Crown and Cokes and be completely falling down fitshaced with no puking and no hangover the next day. That's not something I can say for beer. My beer of choice is Modelo Especial, which I'll only have a couple of after work just a few times a week. Once in a while I'll go for a Fat Tire or Widmer Hefeweizen which is really light. Maybe once or twice a year I'll get a Guinness Extra Stout just because it looks black, and I'll drink it and talk like Bullet Tooth Tony the whole time. "Point of the black stuff". And, once a year, usually around this time of year, in fact just a week ago, I'll grab a Boddingtons Pub Ale and choke it back for Ploppyseed. It's gross lol, but he was a good dude and that was his favorite. Hard to believe it's been 4yrs. Overall I think alcohol is just a way of life for most Americans. You walk into a BevMo and see the freeking selection in the place, it's hard to argue that.

Choke back a boddingtons???? Man I LOVE that stuff, it's the blonde version of Guinness.

Yeah but you like Miller High Life too sooooo............

I have never tried any of those beers, except Budwiser.

I like European lagers, San Miguel, Stella, Heineken, Carlsberg etc.

I don't think I've even tried a low cal beer before, maybe its bigger in America

DEP wrote:

And, once a year, usually around this time of year, in fact just a week ago, I'll grab a Boddingtons Pub Ale and choke it back for Ploppyseed. It's gross lol, but he was a good dude and that was his favorite. Hard to believe it's been 4yrs.

<---
I actually still keep his top five beers in my wallet and a few times a year go to a pub that serves over 400 beers and has them all. I will drink a few of each of them and usually get a cab home. My wife is cool as hell and lets me do it even though drinking alone is pretty strange. When I get home she always asks me "how was jeff night"?

It's probably the dumbest thing in the world, because I still send him emails and texts. When I went to see the avengers i sent him a text as soon as it was over to tell him how awesome it was and that he would love it. I have no clue why i do it, because I could easily just talk to the air or something, but for some reason I can't break myself of the habit. It makes me feel better for some dumb reason.

That's actually pretty awesome dude...not dumb at all.