Falling Beer Sales Have Brewery Mergers Over a Barrel

WSJ ^ | 01/21/2010 | David Kesmodel

[Pyro7480]

U.S. beer sales volumes fell 2.2% last year, the highest rate since the 1950s, with demand worsening late in the year in a sign of the pressures on big brewers to make their mergers pay off.

The decline, the industry's first since 2003, raises demands for industry leaders Anheuser-Busch InBev NV and MillerCoors LLC to come up with better advertising and to rethink recent price increases, said retailers and analysts.

But they must tread carefully, balancing price moves against a need to drive profits in the wake of the mergers that created the two.

The two giants increased prices by about 5% last year, fresh off InBev NV's acquisition of Anheuser-Busch Cos. and the move by SABMiller PLC and Molson Coors Brewing Co. to combine U.S. operations. Those increases, along with a weak job market and lackluster advertising, contributed to the sales drop, industry analysts said....

Anheuser, the maker of Bud Light, posted a 2.1% decline in shipments last year, its biggest drop since 1976, according to preliminary research by Beer Marketer's Insights. MillerCoors, which produces Coors Light and Blue Moon, had a 1.9% drop. Large suppliers specializing in imported beers fared worse, with Crown Imports LLC, importer of Corona, showing a 5% drop. The small-batch "craft" beer industry continued to represent an industry bright spot, with the biggest among the craft brewers, Boston Beer Co., showing a 1.7% increase.

[research99]

Yes - Homebrew. The ultimate DIY, and NO TAXES!

[GGpaX4DumpedTea]

“Bush’s fault.....”

Correction...

Busch’s fault.

[knews_hound]

Some great kits here. An amazing variety - http://www.northernbrewer.com/brewing/recipe-kits

Happy Brewing !

Cheers,

knewshound

[gunnyg]

It's a bragain @ any price! My preference is my own Gunny G Ale, though!

[6ppc]

Since zero took office I’ve switched from beer to whisky...only way I can handle it!

[Yo-Yo]

[gunnyg]

Boil the Hops, Not the Extract!
Re Bader

http://www.baderbrewing.com/store/product.php?productid=22691&cat=396&page=1

[Frank Sheed]

One of the last and largest of the American owned breweries too...

[Hotmetal]

I can't get Stone here in MS,but I love this beer.I have one left that I picked up in Memphis.I think I have one Arrogant Bastard in the fridge. We have a 5% ABV cap on beer here,so you can see the limitations on my beer choices.

[IYAS9YAS]

Yup. Homebrew. Have my Kolsch bottle-conditioning now. Will do a Breakfast Stout next and then a Bavarian Hefeweizen. Still on extract kits - full grain will have to wait, for now. I really want to get a keg setup put together, but that’s a big step funds-wise.

[Billthedrill]

Thanks for the ping. I was informed today by a concerned fellow beer-o-phile that the Stella Artois company is looking at a union strike in Belgium. Heck, I sez, they own Budweiser, why don’t they start making beer there?

[Andonius_99]

I don't have much to contribute on this except for the following, and I want to shout it from the mountaintops: I FINALLY GOT A BREW KIT!!! W00T!!! I will be making my first batch next weekend, most likely...

[Hotmetal]

beer ping

[absolootezer0]

-— http://www.moderndrunkardmagazine.com/issues/01-05/0105-beer-snobbery.htm

envisio.. did you write this article? sounds like something you’d say.

[knews_hound]

I have 20 gallons in fermenters now.



5 of Corona, 5 of Mexican Lager, 5 of Vienna Lager and 5 of Dortmunder Pils.

They have been going for a month a 52 degrees and I have been bumping up the temps for the last few days on their way up to 65 to finish.

I live in Sacramento, so winter is brewing season for us!

Cheers,

knewshound

[absolootezer0]

i've been waiting all week for a homebrewer ping..

[IYAS9YAS]

What a great link! I love it when some 20-something snot nose tells me what defines a “great beer.” I’ve drunk more kegs of beer than he has drunk beers!

When I was in the service, I drank Bud, Coors and Keystone by the suitcase - it was cheap and easy to get.

Then I tried other stuff as my income grew, and started spurning those brands. But the reality of it is, if you hand me a cold one, I'll not turn you down.

I'm brewing my own, and love the different flavors you can get. My wife doesn't like "chewy" beers (stouts, hardy ales, porters) or overly hopped beers. I really don't like overly hopped beers, either, but really like the "chewy" stuff. They almost taste skunked to me, but that is likely a remnant of drinking massive quantities of OB and locally-brewed Bud in Korea. Some bars didn't know what refrigeration or shade was and the beer was damn nasty. I prefer beer that allows me to keep my eyeballs in their original sockets.

[Nervous Tick]

>> (The ‘Ruination’ version is nuts.)

Is Ruination one of those ridiculously high alcohol content IPAs?

IMHO those high alcohol ales don’t taste so good after a certain point (~7%).

[knews_hound]

I just passed that on to some brewing buddies!

Thanks for the laugh.

I must say however, Mountain Dew syrup in beer sounds NASTY !

Cheers,

knewshound

[IYAS9YAS]

I meant that overly-hopped beers taste skunked to me - not the chewy ones.