24/7 Wall St., which seems somewhat like a legitimate news source, I guess, has a survey of the nine mass-market beers that have suffered the largest decline in sales since 2006 and it turns out that times have been tough for the Michelob brand, which takes up the top two spots in the list:

American consumers have abandoned Michelob — a lager brewed since 1896 — at a faster rate than any other beer. From 2006 to 2011, sales declined from 500,000 barrels to 140,000, with a 20% drop between 2010 and 2011 alone. No other beer on this list sold less than Michelob. The next-lowest selling beer, Amstel Light, still sold 200,000 barrels more than Michelob last year. The brand has not always struggled. According to Beer Marketer’s INSIGHTS’ Eric Shepard, “the superpremium category — basically between Budweiser and the imports — Michelob pretty much had that to itself for many years.”

So, how long will it take for Michelob to become the new PBR, sold as a hipster discount staple at a dollar or two a bottle? A year or so? A few months? On the other hand, can anyone actually recall what Michelob tastes like? Maybe that could be part of the problem.

This article appears in Dec 6-12, 2012.

The editor of the Tucson Weekly. I have no idea how I got here.

8 replies on “You Bastards Killed Michelob With Your Craft Beer Purchases”

  1. And I swear on my collection of microbrewery growlers and pint glasses that I’ll continue to subvert the big breweries with every purchase.

    IF CRAFT BEER IS WRONG, I DON’T WANT TO BE RIGHT.

  2. Well, I’ve always enjoyed Michelob but anymore, I drink Michelob Ultra. Not very hip, I realize, but I don’t care.

  5. The new Michelin maybe, but Michelob will never, ever become the new PBR. It’s not anywhere near as good.

  6. I remember when Michelob was the snootiest beer to drink. We had a friend in high school named Tony who we nicknamed “Bernie Michelob”. The rest of us all drank Schlitz or Old Milwaukee (99¢ a six pack). Michelob Amber Bock is one of my favorites, and I’m not ashamed of that!

  7. It’s too bad that Michelob has to suffer like this, being that it is one of the bright spots for the overrated juggernaut known as Anheuser-Busch. I myself must take some of the blame though. The last one I remember having was at a birthday party for my son @ Peter Piper Pizza (his choice, I swear!) because that was the only halfway decent beer on tap. That was probably before 2006, it’s been so long I can no longer recall.

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