Craft beer is partially responsible for disrupting Budweiser’s US market share

Total per capita US consumption of beer has dropped 30% since the 1980s

Between 2011 and 2021, AB InBev and MolsonCoors (two of the leading beer parent companies in the US) experienced a combined 17% drop in US market share. Budweiser parent company AB InBev has focused on premiumization and diversifying their product offerings in recent years to combat the losses.

Why the craft beer industry is in decline

The trend began in 2024, when more craft breweries closed than opened, and has continued since then. Some blame the rise of canned cocktails, hard seltzers, and non-alcoholic beers, while others point to declining drinking rates for Gen Z.

Budweiser stores yeast derived from the original 1800s strain in a secret bunker, which only the Head of Yeast Management can access—not even the CEO

Budweiser still uses the same yeast lineage derived from the one used in the 1800s

During the late 1800s when Budweiser beers hit the market, darker, all‑malt lagers dominated the US beer market. Budweiser was brewed with a single, consistent yeast strain that gave it a crisp uniform flavor, differentiating it from darker beers.

Bud Light was created to compete in the lower-calorie light beer market

Arguably sparked by Miller Lite's successful 1975 launch, Anheuser-Busch rolled out Bud Light in 1982. The brand faced controversy in 2023 after a sponsorship deal with transgender influencer Dylan Mulvaney, sparking a Bud Light boycott.

American beer, by the numbers

This statistics-focused resource breaks down the shape of the beer industry in the US, outlining the amount of beer produced by American breweries, the state cranking out the most beer, and the states with the most breweries per capita.

Scroll through a Budweiser historical timeline

From Eberhard Anheuser’s purchase of the Bavarian Brewery in 1860 to the Anheuser-Busch and InBev merger that created what became the world’s largest brewer, this historical timeline highlights the most significant moments in Budweiser’s more than 150-year story.

Anheuser-Busch sold half of its real estate holdings to survive Prohibition

The Budweiser parent company also created and sold out more than 25 different nonalcoholic products during this time, including but not limited to infant formula, frozen eggs, and specialized coffees and teas.

How Jimmy Carter helped kick-start the craft beer trend

When Prohibition was repealed in 1933, the government did not specify that homebrewing of beer was permitted. That changed when President Jimmy Carter passed a bill in 1978 that explicitly legalized home brewing, allowing hobbyists to pursue an interest that eventually became a lucrative industry.

Budweiser pioneered refrigerated rail transport for its beer in the 1870s

This enabled Budweiser to achieve national distribution long before competitors, fundamentally transforming the US beer industry. It was also among the earliest large-scale adopters to use pasteurization, allowing it to be shipped long distances without going bad.

Budweiser temporarily changed its name to ‘America’ in 2016

In the run-up to the 2016 United States Presidential Election, Budweiser changed its name as part of a marketing campaign that ran from the end of May through the November election itself.

How Prohibition changed beer

This historical survey from The Beer Connoisseur explores the breweries that survived the government's ban on alcohol production. The common denominator? They all pivoted their business models.

How one Portland dive bar helped drive Pabst Blue Ribbon's comeback

In 2004, the Washington Post reported on the resurgence of Pabst Blue Ribbon, recast as a hip alternative to bigger-label brews, and said its comeback was thanks to Lutz Tavern in Portland, Oregon, which sold the beer for $1 a can.

There’s some confusion over who founded the Bavarian Brewery that later became Budweiser

While many traditional histories credit German immigrant George Schneider with founding the Bavarian Brewery in 1852, an investigation from St. Louis Magazine found that it was actually started in 1857 by a fascinating German physician named Dr. Adam Hammer.

Jimmy Carter signed a 1978 bill that legalized home brewing, a move credited with kick-starting the craft beer industry.

Explore an archive of Budweiser’s past Super Bowl ads

With about 47 of them airing over the past few decades, Budweiser’s Clydesdale ads have basically become synonymous with the Super Bowl—but how many have you actually seen? From 1991 to 2024, this website includes many of Budweiser’s most famous Super Bowl ads.

The long history of alcohol and sports

Spectators have long enjoyed alcohol at sporting events, dating back at least to ancient Rome. This article unpacks how companies leveraged this history to make beer a central part of sporting events and masculine culture.

In 2013, consumers reportedly purchased more beer on Cinco de Mayo than on Super Bowl Sunday or St. Patrick's Day

Beginning in the early 1980s, breweries positioned Cinco de Mayo as a "Mexican St. Patrick's Day," sponsoring events and targeting Latino consumers. Anheuser-Busch and Miller created Hispanic marketing departments, while Coors spent over $60 million marketing to Latino consumers.

The best beer cities in the US

This list contains some expected mainstays, like Asheville, North Carolina, and Portland, Oregon, as well as less-mentioned enclaves, like Minneapolis and Richmond, Virginia.

How a modern 'beer archaeologist' crafts ancient ales

The short documentary follows Travis Rupp, a University of Colorado classics professor who also works with Avery Brewing to produce Ancient Egyptian, Roman, and Peruvian beer.

See how Budweiser's famous Clydesdales spend their days at Warm Springs Ranch, where roughly 70 to 80 of the beer brand's giant horses can be found at any given time.

Oktoberfest generates over $1B every year

As one of the largest festivals in the world, Oktoberfest is an economic mainstay for Munich. Analysts estimate the annual beer fest contributes at least $1.4B in revenue to the city alone, accounting for roughly 2% of the city's gross domestic product.

From soil to beer, microplastic pollution is all around us

Marine plastic pollution has been studied for decades, but the extent and effects of plastic pollution elsewhere is only just beginning to be explored.

Climate change is disrupting maple syrup by shortening its production season

The number of unusually warm winter days in parts of Maine has increased significantly over the past few decades, stressing maple trees into shifted sap flows and leaving producers with less consistent outputs.

Exclusionary ads can help win over customers, some marketers argue

Slogans like "if you don't like dark roast, this coffee isn't for you," also known as "dissuasive framing," can entice specific groups of customers, some marketers say. The shift comes from the perceived authenticity of a company admitting that a product is not perfect for everyone.

Unlike small businesses, startups aim to disrupt entire industries

They also differ from small businesses in that startups have a higher level of risk, may take on outside funding from venture capital firms to boost growth, and more.

HBO's success inspired Showtime, AMC, Netflix, and more

HBO’s success in the early 21st century bred plenty of imitators, who were now more willing to embrace darker, more challenging series like “Weeds,” “Mad Men,” “Breaking Bad,” and “House of Cards.”

The dating app Hinge markets itself as 'designed to be deleted'

Harvard graduate Justin McLeod started Hinge in 2011. Since then, despite competition from larger apps like Bumble and Tinder, it's grown into the third-largest dating app by market share in the US, bringing in roughly $396M in revenue as of 2023.

Fast-casual restaurant Chili's is experiencing a resurgence, with its parent company recently reporting a nearly 32% increase in sales, thanks to passionate Gen Z fans on TikTok.

'Silent' fireworks have gained more interest in recent years as a quieter celebratory option.

A century of Billboard issues documenting the evolution of popular music.

US housing costs have risen by roughly 175% between 1991 and 2026—but a growing number of Gen Zers are becoming homeowners anyway. In 2025, 4% of homebuyers were Gen Z, up from 3% the year before.

Up to a million Girl Scouts sell about 200 million cookie boxes every spring, generating $800 million, largely because refusing a child is frowned upon

Exploring the Larry Bird punch that almost changed March Madness

After the Boston Tea Party, colonists switched to coffee, which became the main morning drink for revolutionaries.

Dozens of S&P 500 stocks, including Coca-Cola and Walmart—known as the dividend aristocrats—have increased dividends every year for 25 years

The Beatles' US label rejected the band's first two singles, 'Please Please Me' and 'From Me to You,' with one executive calling the band 'dead in the water.'

Mark Twain spent decades feuding with the US Postal Service, convinced its costs and regulations were bureaucratic overreach.

While the first exchange-traded fund (a 'basket' of different assets that can be bought and sold on a stock exchange) in the US only launched in 1993, the global ETF market has grown to more than $10T in the short time since.

Mid-century modern graphic designers, known for their bright colors and bold lines in advertising, also found success with children's books.

The price of gas is a composite made up of several different factors, with the federal gas tax making up less than 20% of what drivers pay at the pump.

Discover the catastrophic consequences of a failure of the US electrical grid—something that is more likely than many Americans think.

The distributor behind 'Rocky Horror' pulled the film from its scheduled national release, believing it would be a failure, though it eventually amassed a dedicated fanbase through midnight showings, a trend that continues over 50 years later.

Volcanic activity may have triggered the Black Death by spewing gases that led to crop failures in Europe, thus forcing the import of grain ships with plague-infested fleas.

The 2026 Ebola outbreak in the DRC is spurring new Ebola vaccine development for the Bundibugyo species.

Astronauts have repaired genetic damage in space using CRISPR—a molecular tool that can make precise changes to DNA and is used in single-celled organisms to attack invasive viruses.

Alzheimer's can lead to brain shrinkage, with an average of around 2% of volume reduction per year

Most of the observable universe's volume consists of voids and supervoids—enormous regions of space with little to no galaxies, stars, or light.

Some Pokémon have been named after real and fictional organisms, while some real-world species have been named after Pokémon, such as Chilicola charizard and Binburrum zapdos.

In 2009, the nation was gripped by the story of a missing young boy who was believed to be floating over Colorado in a homemade balloon, until it was revealed that he was at home the whole time.