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26
• September 2016
T
he biggest story in beer this past year was soda—
hard soda, to be exact. The success of Not Your Father's Root Beer, which is
categorized as a craft beer, started a craze for spiked sodas.
The Small Town Brewery brand made its debut in the Chicago area in 2012; after
the company teamed up with Pabst Brewing Co., Not Your Father's Root Beer was
rolled out nationally in spring 2015. A Rising Star Growth Brand, the hard root beer
reached 5 million cases last year. A number of hard root beer launches have followed
in 2015, including one from the Boston Beer-owned Coney Island Brewing Co., and
Anheuser-Busch lnBev's Best Damn Root Beer.
What else is big in the beer world? According to our 2016 Beer Growth Brand
winners, IPAs still reign as a style, Mexican brands remain strong sellers, and while
cider has slowed, most of the category's brands posted strong growth.
Also, the biggest are getting bigger: Not only are A-B InBev and MillerCoors
snapping up craft brewers and launching new brands, the two agreed to merge last
November—a deal that gives the combined company a third of the global beer market.
Presenting the year's fastest-growing
beer, cider and fermented malt beverages
BEER
By Melissa Dowling
PHOTO
CREDIT:
©ISTOCK.COM/PHOTOLOGICA
