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Issue link: http://read.dmtmag.com/i/123667
Leaders in light beer Bud Light, Coors Light and Miller Lite are the topthree leading light beer brands in the U.S., according to Beverage Information Group's Beer Handbook Advance 2013, followed by Natural Light, Busch Light, Keystone Light and Michelob Ultra. Corona Light is among the top-10 leading imported brands. And Coors Light has enjoyed eight years of consecutive growth; volume for the brand was up 2.0% in 2012. AB InBev's Michelob Ultra was up 7.0% last year, thanks to the introduction of a number of successful line extensions. Bud Light Lime and the new Bud Light Platinum also placed in the top-10 light leaders, as did Milwaukee's Best Light. But while the leading brands grew 0.5% in 2012, to a projected 1.37 billion 2.25-gallon cases, according to BIG stats, the light category as a whole fell 0.2%. In contrast, the craft brewing industry saw a 15% rise in volume and a 17% increase in dollar growth in 2012, according to the Boulder, CO-based Brewers Association. But American craft brewers produced and sold an estimated 13.2 million barrels of beer in 2012, a mere drop in the bucket compared to domestic premium volumes. Quaker Steak & Lube's "Lube Tube," above, is a tableside, selfservice tap that can be ordered with any draft beer. Below, the chain's draft beers pair nicely with its signature wings. 38 | MAY 2013 BEER IS IN SESSION Session beers are one of the sexy, crafty brews now generating interest. Session beer can be made in any style, according the Brewers Association, but must be lower in strength, with alcohol not to exceed 5.1% by volume. "Drinkability is a character in the overall balance of these beers," says Julia Herz, craft beer program director for the Brewers Association. Because it can be marketed in a number of styles, the prevalence of session beer is difficult to identify and track, notes Herz. But the number of entries in the session beer category in craft competitions such as the Great American Beer Festive has been growing each year. "Session beer is exactly what the name says: a beer you can drink a bunch of in one session," says Clark at RFD. The beer director points to ample historic precedent for these low-alcohol brews. In medieval Europe, for instance, people drank small (low-alcohol) beer in preference to often-polluted water. And monks brewed low-octane saison and farmhouse ales to refresh workers in the fields in summer time. At any time, RFD offers a good half dozen lagers and pilsners on tap, which are low enough in alcohol to be sessionable. "There are a lot of good, high-end, low-alcohol beers to choose from," Clark says. For example, he cites the Founders Brewing Co., which has just released the aptly named All Day IPA, which at 4.7% ABV www.cheersonline.com