Imported And Craft Beer Beating Big-Name Brews

Are smaller beers slowly gaining more recognition? Investment service company UBS finds that in the four weeks before April 13, imported and craft beer increased in sales, while bigger beer brands like Budweiser saw sales drop.

According to UBS, beer sales in general were down in those four weeks, with off-premise beer sales dropping 4.2 percent. Total dollar sales dropped 1.8 percent, Forbes reports.

When it comes to the past year, however, sales have increased, although smaller breweries are doing far better than large breweries.

Anheuser-Busch and MillerCoors have seen sales grow 2.1 percent and 0.9 percent over the past year, but Crown Imports and Boston Beer have grown 7.8 percent and 6.7 percent, respectively. Heineken, in the meantime, saw an increase in total sales of 3.6 percent in the past year.

Does this mean that Bud Light is out and Sam Adams is in? We know several editors who would debate to the death about the perks of cheap Bud Light versus the slightly more expensive Sam Adams.