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Issue link: http://read.dmtmag.com/i/123667
Bright Lights The latest in light beer drinking trends By Thomas Henry Strenk L ight beer's aura has been somewhat overshadowed in the U.S. by the still small but rapidly growing craft brew market. And the traditional light category is being supplanted by low-alcohol craft session beers. But light beer is still going strong, and the top brands prevail. Since their emergence in the 1970s, domestic premium lights such as Budweiser, Coors, Miller and Michelob Ultra, along with light imports Corona, Amstel and Heineken, have grabbed the lion's share of the market. Operators attest to their strength. "We carry the big four: Bud Light, Coors Light, Miller Lite and Michelob Ultra," says Kip Snider, director of beverage for Irvine, CA-based Yard House Restaurants. Each of the casual, beer-centric chain's 43 locations offers an array of 120 to 180 different brands, priced $4.25 to $8.50. The majority are craft and imports, Snider notes, but light beers are an important part of Yard House's offerings. "Some people knock us for carrying the domestic brands, but at the end of the day, all of those light beers are in our top-10 sellers," Snider says. "And we want to give our guests what they are looking for. If it's a hot summer day and a customer wants to drink three or four light beers, that's what we are providing for them." THE LIGHT BEER TYPE RFD Washington, a sports bar in Washington, D.C., has 45 beer taps, of which just one is devoted to domestic premium light. But light beers are still "a big part of the market," says RFD beer director Brett Clark. "We are [located] across the street from the Verizon Center arena, and the customers who come in after the games will www.cheersonline.com often order Miller Lite, so we have to have it on tap," says Clark. Warm weather and sporting events aside, there is a middle-aged, business-man type who typically drinks light beer, he notes. RFD's drafts range from $4 to $10. Bud Premium Light can be found among the 300 bottles the bar offers, as well as pricy imports that can range in price up to $50 for a 750-ml. bottle of Belgian ale. "There is a core group who will always drink Bud Light, Miller Lite, Corona Light," says Kate Malaniak, senior director of food & beverage for Sharon, PA-based Quaker Steak & Lube. The beverage list at the casual, automobile-themed restaurant chain includes those light beers and others, such as Michelob Ultra. Some locations have added new lights such as Bud Platinum Light, but it is not mandated. "I think a lot of light beer consumption is female-driven," Malaniak says, "but there is a male crowd that always drinks light beer because it's less filling." Quaker Steak & Lube restaurants feature eight to as many as 26 taps, as well as a range of canned and bottled beer; prices vary according to location. A Quaker Steak signature is the Lube Tube, a 100-oz. tableside, self-service tap that's popular with groups. Customers can order any draft beer for the Lube Tube, says Malaniak, and the sight of one of these towers passing through the dining room typically garners me-too orders. Deep-pocketed domestic premium brands often cosponsor promotions at Quaker Steak, which gives sales of those beers a bump, Malaniak says. But she thinks the average beer drinker is moving slightly away from domestic premium these days, and getting more adventuresome. "Light beer is always going to have a place on beverage lists," she says, "but right now there are sexier things out there to drink in the beer world." MAY 2013 | 37