If you’re not a giant beer drinker and your only experience with alcoholic beverages is through advertisements, you would probably assume that there are no beers even remotely as popular as classic Budweiser and Bud Light. But according to a recent poll, that couldn’t be further from the truth. In fact, according to YouGov Ratings, neither of these beers is even in the top ten.
If you don’t know what YouGov is, it’s an online research and analytics technology group. It was created as a way to find out what Americans think about a variety of topics. They do this by getting 24 million responses and counting on the various topics from products, to companies, and even celebrities.
Its technology and polling are so good that it often outperforms many more well-known polling companies. And while they turn their attention to many important topics, today it’s time to find out what their research says about the American beer landscape. Specifically, which beers are the most popular?
The most popular beers in the U.S.
According to YouGov, the most popular beer in the United States isn’t the proverbial “King of Beers”, but an Irish import. The top beer, with a popularity of 56% is Guinness Stout. Samuel Adams Boston Lager comes in at second place with 52% popularity, the only other beer with 50% or more popularity is Heineken (which happens to have 50% approval). The rest of the top ten is Corona (48%), Blue Moon (47%), Corona Extra (46%), Dos Equis (43%), Corona Light (43%), Stella Artois (42%), and Michelob Ultra (also 42%).
You’re probably wondering where some of your favorite beers that didn’t land in the top ten were ranked. Well, the aforementioned Budweiser is the fifteenth-ranked beer with a popularity of only 41%. Bud Light landed at number twenty-one with only 36% popularity. But this should come as no surprise as the brand has seen a major dip in sales in the last year.
If you’re a craft beer fan, you might be scratching your head because you might not ever purchase a macro-brew like all of these beers listed so far. Well, even though there are over 9.000 breweries in America, with many of them being craft breweries, the marketplace is still dominated by the big boys.
The closest thing to a craft beer (although it’s a giant brand owned by Lion, the Australian subsidiary of Kirin Beverage Group of Japan), New Belgium Fat Tire, landed at number twenty-three with only a 35% popularity rating. The first actual craft brewery to crack the top fifty is surprising. Great Lakes Brewing made it above some of the more well-known brands. It landed at number thirty-seven with a popularity of 31% (just about Mexican brand Tecate).
And while these rankings likely won’t affect what beer you buy (If you’re anything like us, you already have brands or styles you seek out on the regular), at least it gives you a good glimpse into what the rest of America is drinking. Keep scrolling to see the top ten listed based on popularity:
- 10. Michelob Ultra
- 9. Stella Artois
- 8. Corona Light
- 7. Dos Equis
- 6. Corona Extra
- 5. Blue Moon
- 4. Corona
- 3. Heineken
- 2. Samuel Adams
- 1. Guinness
