Hard seltzer losing volume share to light beer

I had a feeling that this would happen with more close to equal calories and carb beers like Yuengling Flight and Corona Premier along with how saturated the HS market is now with many not so good ones and the good ones that don't taste that differently from any of the others. But I have been noticing HS with higher ABVs and I am wondering if that will have a positive impact for that segment, as that is still something beer can't really do (be higher in ABV but lower in calories and carbs).

 

I personally do not drink Hard Seltzers so I have no experience here but I would think that one of the ‘allures’ for Hard Seltzers is flavorings. That certain people would seek them out since they like the flavors of Raspberry, Key Lime, Passionfruit, Pina Colada, whatever. What are your thoughts here?

Cheers!

 

Yes this is definitely a part of the equation and I enjoy Margarita flavors so when I see one with that profile I will try it. And HS are gluten free and that may have an impact on one's choices also.

 

Bud Ice is somehow a 5.5% ABV, 126 calorie beer

 

I still think seltzers are having a negative effect on beer overall. A lot of youngsters these days don't even drink Bud Light, only hard seltzers, alcopops, and mixed drinks.

The article even mentions that the switch back to light beer is among people in their 30s and 40s, who already developed a taste for beer (even if only light beer).

The big losers in all of this are craft beer and non-light AALs. Per the most recent report I can find, the popularity of beers like Budweiser and Coors Banquet are plummeting while craft is also declining.

 

Nah it is 153 calories and 13g of carbs.

https://www.nutritionix.com/food/bud-ice

 

I just bought a can and it says 126 calories, 4.2 carbs

 

IDK where nutritionix.com got their data, but AB-Inbev's web site gives the nutrition information about most (all?) of their brands.

Here is the Bud Ice page:
https://www.tapintoyourbeer.com/guide-our-beers?title=Bud Ice

126 kcal, 4.2g carbs per 12 oz.

 

When I started my diet for health reasons I initially tryed the hard seltzer..but the artificial taste and sweetness overwhelmed my palate.
So found low carb beers like Deschutes Woowza or Omission Golden much more drinkable.
I dunno if this is what's happening to more folks.

 

Right. The cans themselves say the same thing.

It's actually pretty crazy that a borderline light beer can have 5.5% ABV.

 

I bummed a beer at a concert parking lot the other day and it happened to be a Blue Moon Light Sky. I actually thought it tasted pretty good.

The only reason I wouldn't buy it is because it's only 4% ABV, I prefer beers to be in the mid 4s at least.

 

So industry charges 7% higher cost for hard seltzer to consumers over light beer was my take away from that article. Based on my friend who is a brewer, he said that hard seltzer is way cheaper (and significantly easier) to make over beer. So perhaps there is room for a market correction on the over-inflated price of seltzers and the beer industries cash cow (seltzers) is finally coming to and end if the demand is shrinking. I’m guess the decisions being made for the 35-45 age group to jump back to light beer are those that consume a lot of alcohol each day and they need the cash savings. I doubt it’s a shift from seltzers to light beers in the local taproom however. Maybe I’m wrong.

 

When I was a boy (6-7) all the children in my neighborhood had Hula-Hoops. I had one, and could do the requisite tricks with it. I loved it.

My mother said: "It's a fad."

"What's a fad?"

"A fad is when everyone buys it one year, and the next year it's forgotten."

For once, I decided my mother was deluded. How could it be forgotten next year? Everyone was playing with one...

The next year every Hula Hoop was gone from the neighborhood, as if there had been a governmental decree. Then I understood what a fad was.

 

Very true. But Jack, I really think it's a "Duh" moment. Beer just plain tastes better than a spritzy alcopop. It is liquid bread. It's almost like a genetic memory and a nod to the past. Beer is a huge piece of our varied cultures over millennia.

 

I am going out way out on a limb here and say/ask: you aren't a 25 year old, are you?

Cheers!

 

And then all the kids had the next Wham-O product? Frisbee?

Frisbee's lasted more than a year.

Cheers!

 

That is interesting and lower than I would have thought. Thanks for the info!

 

If, by any chance, my personal observation of drinkers around me reflects a microcosm of all drinkers, Michelob Ultra will be the top selling beer in the US within a few years (and take some market from seltzers as well).

I don't personally care for Ultra (if I want similar I just buy Miller Lite or Natty Light which have similar calories/abv/carbs with lower price), but I see many seltzer drinking ladies who drink Ultra if they have a beer as well as serious craft drinkers who drink Ultra when they aren't drink an IPA or Imperial Stout and are watching their calories or carbs.

 

I once was, but Lowenbrau was then my favorite beer. When we found it on draft at Lum's in Greensboro and Richmond, we drank all they could get!