Miller and Bud Race Yet Again
First there was Miller Lite, at about 96 calories per 12 ounces (back around 1975).
In later years the non-alcoholic malt beverages (or “near beers”) became more common, with leading brands such as Clausthaler and Kaliber at about 80 calories (as per Skilnik).
Now, in the past year, it appears we have a race to the bottom. That is, Miller Genuine Draft 64 came out about a year ago. It is, not surprisingly, 64 calories per 12 ounces (and 2.8% alc./vol.).
Lower and more recent still is Bud Select 55. It is only 55 calories and 2.4% alc./vol.
This is one important trend over the past 34 years. In a future post we will look at a countervailing trend toward very high calorie/alcohol malt beverages.
All of this leads us to wonder, where will this go in the next 34 years? When the Jonas Brothers hit middle age, will they be drinking Bud Exträ Epic Mega Select 11 (down near the lower limits for the legal definition of beer)? Hops flavored Perrier?
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brand extensions, business strategy, serving facts/allergens, would you drink it?
This entry was posted on Wednesday, August 5th, 2009 at 8:55 am and is filed under malt beverage . You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can post a comment, or trackback from your own site.
August 5th, 2009 at 11:34 am
How low in calories can the major beer producers go before they’re basically making non-alcoholic beer? With < 3% ABV, I don't see why people would bother paying for these ultra low calorie beers.
August 6th, 2009 at 9:17 am
Clearly near beer during prohibition was very far ahead of it’s time…..
September 2nd, 2009 at 8:57 am
Forty Proof Beer | bevlog | beer, wine, spirits trends | beverage blog says:[...] wars ever materialize, once the rules changed? Among the major brewers, not really. In fact, we noted that there is war of a different kind — increasingly lighter beers (in alcohol and caloric content) from Anheuser-Busch and [...]