Why the craft beer industry is in decline

Craft beer is partially responsible for disrupting Budweiser’s US market share

Over the past few decades, as craft beer from smaller breweries has become more popular (as well as seltzers, light beers, and other alternatives), Budweiser’s market share has declined.

Explore why Americans are drinking less alcohol

US alcohol consumption fell 5% in 2025, with beer and wine leading the decline. Economists point to tighter budgets and less face-to-face socializing overall, while younger Americans are increasingly choosing not to drink.

Total per capita US consumption of beer has dropped 30% since the 1980s

Between 2011 and 2021, AB InBev and MolsonCoors (two of the leading beer parent companies in the US) experienced a combined 17% drop in US market share. Budweiser parent company AB InBev has focused on premiumization and diversifying their product offerings in recent years to combat the losses.

Jimmy Carter signed a 1978 bill that legalized home brewing, a move credited with kick-starting the craft beer industry.

American beer, by the numbers

This statistics-focused resource breaks down the shape of the beer industry in the US, outlining the amount of beer produced by American breweries, the state cranking out the most beer, and the states with the most breweries per capita.

Gen Z is drinking less alcohol than older generations.

How Prohibition changed beer

This historical survey from The Beer Connoisseur explores the breweries that survived the government's ban on alcohol production. The common denominator? They all pivoted their business models.

More than 100 types of beer are produced around the world

Beer dates back to ancient times, and since then, the fermented drink has taken on many different styles around the globe, depending on the grain and ingredients used. See how pilsners, IPAs, Sours, and other types evolved from the drink's early history.

The states in America that drink the most beer

Americans, in 2020, drank on average almost twenty-six gallons of beer per adult aged twenty-one or over, over the course of the pandemic.

A Portland dive bar helped drive Pabst Blue Ribbon's early 2000s comeback by selling cans for $1 apiece.

The long history of alcohol and sports

Spectators have long enjoyed alcohol at sporting events, dating back at least to ancient Rome. This article unpacks how companies leveraged this history to make beer a central part of sporting events and masculine culture.

Beer companies turned Cinco de Mayo into a mass consumer event in the 1980s

Starting in the early 1980s, breweries including Anheuser-Busch, Miller, and Coors created Hispanic marketing departments and sponsored Cinco de Mayo events. By 2003, American beer companies spent over $5M annually on Cinco de Mayo advertising. Some users may experience a paywall.

Why are archaeologists brewing ancient beers?

Archaeologists have managed to brew beer from yeast found inside jugs abandoned thousands of years ago. This article explores why scientists are recreating these ancient beverages and what they hope to learn. People have been drinking beer for...

In 2013, consumers reportedly purchased more beer on Cinco de Mayo than on Super Bowl Sunday or St. Patrick's Day

Beginning in the early 1980s, breweries positioned Cinco de Mayo as a "Mexican St. Patrick's Day," sponsoring events and targeting Latino consumers. Anheuser-Busch and Miller created Hispanic marketing departments, while Coors spent over $60 million marketing to Latino consumers.

The non-alcoholic wine market

A no-nonsense, stats-based exploration of the relatively new market for nonalcoholic wine. Driven by people looking to consume less or no alcohol at all, production of nonalcoholic wine has increased dramatically over the last few years. This report details the basics of nonalcoholic winemaking, as well as the current state of the market and what to expect in the future.

Anheuser-Busch sold half of its real estate holdings to survive Prohibition

The Budweiser parent company also created and sold out more than 25 different nonalcoholic products during this time, including but not limited to infant formula, frozen eggs, and specialized coffees and teas.

Dive into the history of beer via comic book

Why was the covered beer stein invented, and what led to the creation of the Vienna Lager beer style? Find out in this article about a 173-page comic book outlining the history of beer. According to creator Mike Smith, the history of beer is a...

Bud Light was created to compete in the lower-calorie light beer market

Arguably sparked by Miller Lite's successful 1975 launch, Anheuser-Busch rolled out Bud Light in 1982. The brand faced controversy in 2023 after a sponsorship deal with transgender influencer Dylan Mulvaney, sparking a Bud Light boycott.

How beer became a part of medieval culture

This history of beer's evolution during the Middle Ages unpacks how the brewing process, which killed harmful bacteria, made beer a safe alternative to water. That fact, along with the Catholic church condoning (and, in some cases, producing) the beverage, helped it evolve into a major commodity.

Tour the ancient world via beer

What did the people of yesterday make of beer, and how exactly did they make it? Explore the timeless beverage in this guide to ancient beers from around the world. Archaeological evidence suggests the rise of beer brewing may have coincided with humanity's shift from hunters to farmers. According to this article, beer was first enjoyed in ancient Mesopotamia, where paintings, poems, and myths glorified the porridge-like brew.

Why young people in the UK are hanging out at saunas

In the UK, Finnish-style saunas doubled from 45 to over 100 in 2024. This recent surge is driven by young people seeking healthy and affordable spaces to meet others and socialize. While Gen Z also turns to sobriety more due to costs and health concerns, these rejuvenating leisure spots are providing a perfect home to alcohol-free gatherings. Read more about the rising trend here.

Budweiser still uses the same yeast lineage derived from the one used in the 1800s

During the late 1800s when Budweiser beers hit the market, darker, all‑malt lagers dominated the US beer market. Budweiser was brewed with a single, consistent yeast strain that gave it a crisp uniform flavor, differentiating it from darker beers.

Only six breweries are permitted at Oktoberfest

Oktoberfest’s beer offerings are tightly regulated. Only six breweries are invited to supply the entire festival with drinks. The “youngest” brewery, Paulaner, was founded in 1634.

Pizza's popularity has waned in the 2020s

The food remains popular, but it has lagged behind the growth of other fast food spots like coffee shops and Mexican restaurants. It ranked sixth in US food sales from restaurant chains in 2024; it was in the second slot throughout the 1990s. (Some readers may experience a paywall.)

How a modern 'beer archaeologist' crafts ancient ales

The short documentary follows Travis Rupp, a University of Colorado classics professor who also works with Avery Brewing to produce Ancient Egyptian, Roman, and Peruvian beer.

'Loveflation' is making dating more expensive and less frequent

A survey found that more than half of Americans are going on fewer dates due to rising costs, with 27% stopping altogether. Gen Z and millennials are the hardest hit, with 62% reporting changes in their dating habits due to inflation.

Tequila overtook whiskey as a top US spirits subcategory in 2023

Tequila sales in the US totaled $6.5B in 2023, surpassing whiskey's $5.3B. The shift was partially driven by premiumization, with the majority of supplier revenues coming from premium and super-premium tiers and brands.

Despite record-high housing costs, Gen Z homeownership is surging

Many Gen Z homeowners have compromised on location and tightened their expenses to make buying a home possible. In 2025, 4% of homebuyers were Gen Z, up from 3% the year before.

Researchers believe beer was being brewed 13,000 years ago

In 2018, archaeologists discovered traces of a wheat-and-barley-based alcoholic beverage near Haifa, in modern-day Israel, and believe it was produced by the Natufian people.

How Guinness became a social media trend

In early 2024, an unexpected meme emerged on Instagram and TikTok: "splitting the G," where Guinness drinkers would attempt to take a first sip big enough to leave the remaining beer perfectly aligned with the middle of the "G" on a Guinness pint glass. This Vinepair article explores where the trend came from and how it took off.

In the 1920s, Prohibition helped cement tipping norms in the US

During Prohibition, restaurants lost significant revenue, given that they could no longer legally serve customers high-margin alcohol. As a result, many of these restaurants leaned more heavily on tips to ease the financial pressure of paying employees.

The best beer cities in the US

This list contains some expected mainstays, like Asheville, North Carolina, and Portland, Oregon, as well as less-mentioned enclaves, like Minneapolis and Richmond, Virginia.

Nearly 9 in 10 Americans were annoyed by tipping as of 2025

That’s a sharp increase from the 75% who thought tipping culture had gone too far in 2024. One potential culprit? The proliferation of tipping screens in places outside sit-down restaurants, such as coffee shops and hair salon. Three in 10 Americans say they give less when presented with tipping screens.

Tequila is uniquely prone to busts, as agave plants take 6 years to grow

Most liquors derive from products that are grown annually and age in barrels for years, like whiskey and wine. Tequila comes from blue agave plants in Mexico, which require six years of cultivation before they can be processed. This makes tequila particularly prone to speculative bubbles, like the one occurring in the mid-2020s.

Illinois rolled back its happy hour legislation in 2015, opting to cap reduced-price drink sales at 15 hours per week and prohibit them after 10 pm instead

In this episode of the podcast "The Right to Drink," alcohol expert and host Jarrett Dieterle explains why some states allow happy hour while others don't. The host also dives into the fight to change happy hour legislation across the US.

Budweiser pioneered refrigerated rail transport for its beer in the 1870s

This enabled Budweiser to achieve national distribution long before competitors, fundamentally transforming the US beer industry. It was also among the earliest large-scale adopters to use pasteurization, allowing it to be shipped long distances without going bad.

South Koreans appear to be losing interest in K-pop

K-pop fandoms don’t seem to be losing steam in the US, but apparently, South Korean fans are less interested in their domestic music industry. A number of factors could be contributing to this dwindling passion, such as scandals with idols, BTS’ hiatus, and less dependency on media after COVID-19. Currently, there’s no panic that the industry is dying, but there is increasing concern that the future will not be quite as bright as the past.

Scroll through a Budweiser historical timeline

From Eberhard Anheuser’s purchase of the Bavarian Brewery in 1860 to the Anheuser-Busch and InBev merger that created what became the world’s largest brewer, this historical timeline highlights the most significant moments in Budweiser’s more than 150-year story.

The 21st Amendment was the only amendment to repeal another

The 1933 constitutional amendment rolled back 1920's 18th Amendment, better known as Prohibition, which outlawed "the manufacture, sale or transportation of intoxicating liquors."

America's ice cream obsession began under Prohibition, with the street treat acting as a legal vice that helped ease the pain of the Great Depression.

Explaining the rise in adult sports leagues

Community sports leagues shifted from publicly supported entities to privatized ones in the 1990s, as tech advances streamlined registration processes. Millennial interest drove significant growth in social sports leagues for adults, growing much faster than other kinds of sports. A few industry leaders have benefited from this shift.

Colonial America imported brides for their beer brewing skills

Life in the New World's English colonies was hard, so it's easy to see how these colonizers might've wanted to reach for a cold one more often than not. This article explains how beer brewing became one of the most critical skills expected in imported English wives.

The federal government allowed toxic chemicals into alcohol during Prohibition

Industrial alcohol was still legal during Prohibition, and was often used by bootleggers. In an attempt to disrupt the black market, the government required toxic additives to be included in industrial alcohol, leading to more than one death.

Budweiser temporarily changed its name to ‘America’ in 2016

In the run-up to the 2016 United States Presidential Election, Budweiser changed its name as part of a marketing campaign that ran from the end of May through the November election itself.

The K-pop industry's Big Four are facing declining stock prices

The major players of the K-pop industry—SM, JYP, YG, and HYBE—are publicly listed companies. Despite huge financial successes, these corporations have recently dealt with plunging stock prices, losing between 29% and 56% of their market cap by late 2024. While there’s no one reason for the recent devaluation, there are signs of slowing enthusiasm and less action from the major players—BTS and Blackpink.

In a survey of US Gen Z workers, 53% were freelancing for at least 40 hours per week

Overall, Gen Z has a pretty different attitude about work from previous generations, partly because of the economic hardship they’ve witnessed being born into the Great Recession and coming of age during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Why there's a snack recession

Inflation and economic uncertainty have driven many Americans to make cuts to their snack budgets, according to reports from major food manufacturers like General Mills, JM Smucker, and Campbell's. Major retailers have also observed lower-income consumers cutting back on nonessentials due to the macroeconomic environment.

Many of the 2010s girlboss-era founders experienced a public fall from grace in 2020

In the 2010s, dozens of female founders were celebrated on the covers of business magazines like Inc. for their recent startup success, from Emily Weiss’s Glossier makeup brand to Steph Korey’s Away luggage company. But many of these companies were also the subject of large takedown articles around the year 2020.

Americans are reading fewer books than in the past

A 2022 Gallup survey found that Americans are reading fewer books than ever before. An additional study found that the time people spend reading has dropped over the last 20 years. The most compelling narrative for the shift? Screens have stolen potential readers, occupying the time that they otherwise would’ve spent with books.

Some critics argue bebop and free jazz led to jazz's decline in popularity

Although jazz was once a popular art form, it has largely been confined to the margins of pop culture, with many of the genre's current bestselling albums from previous decades. Some critics argue that this is because the music betrayed its position as dance music and focused instead on musical proficiency.