Despite being primarily a wine site, Vinepair often has some interesting beer content. A few months ago, they created a chart of The 20 Most Popular Beers in America. The rankings are based on IRI data from 2013, which is a little odd since more recent figures are undoubtedly available. But in the top sellers, they don’t change all that often so it’s likely still reasonably accurate.
In the “Details” below, the twenty beers are listed with a number of pieces of other interesting data, including the number of cases, price per case and their Beer Advocate score.
The only one on that list I really enjoy (especially in hot weather) is Yuengling (& I can get it only when visiting friends back east). That it has the highest score on the list for (what I presume is taste/judge ranking) sez it all! In a pinch, I’ll tolerate Modelo E (much prefer Negra Modelo), Busch (when golfing), or Heineken – the rest (especially the light ones & “ices” are crapola).
This list truly confirms the fact that the majority of Americans do not know what a full flavored beer taste like. Yuengling is the only beer on the list that comes close to that. Now let me see a list of the average IQ associated with each beer versus a list of the same number of the most favorite craft beers. That would be interesting indeed. I have no preconceptions of the results.