Here are the 25 most popular beer brands in the world (not a one is craft)

First off: Who the hell comes up with all these lists? Are they credible whatsoever? Is it just unbridled, rando list’o’mania? Well, this one probably is the real deal. Brand Finance is the world’s leading brand valuation and strategy “consultancy.” It has offices in more than 15 countries, and it actually helped to craft the internationally recognized standard on brand valuation (ISO 10668). So, these guys and gals probably know their shit (if anyone does).

And every year, Brand Finance goes out into this shit show we call a world and values the brands of thousands of the globe’s biggest companies. The firm just released the world’s 50 most valuable spirits brands as well as its “Brand Finance Beers 25.” From the press release:

The world’s most valuable beer brand is Bud Light. It is also the fastest growing major beer brand this year, up 34% to US$ 6.6 billion. Sister brand Budweiser is in second place at US$5.9 billion. Anheuser Busch courted controversy with its Superbowl ad, ‘Born the Hard Way’. The cinematic spot emphasized Budweiser’s heritage and the perseverance of its founder, but drew the ire of Trump supporters who called for a boycott of the brand for what they saw as thinly veiled pro-immigrant propaganda. This does not appear to have had any lasting damage however, with brand value up 30%.

Heineken is in 3rd place again with a brand value growth of 22% to US$5.2 billion. Heineken is a major global sponsor, particularly of sports. It has a longstanding relationship with the UEFA Champions League, however Heineken is slowly shifting its focus away from football which it sees as ‘totally overcrowded’ with competitor’s brands making differentiation difficult. It is instead developing its involvement with F1 and has renewed its association with rugby by announcing that it will be the headline sponsor of the 2019 Rugby World Cup.

So did your favorite beer brand make the Top 25? God no! Unless you like giant Asian beer rollups, Dutch dynasty brands or Natural Light. Wait? Natty Light made the list? Jesus, Nietzsch was right.

Brand Finance Beers 25

Rank					Brand Value (USD $ Millions)		Brand rating
2017	2016	Logo	Name	Country	2017	2016	2017	2016
1	1		Bud Light		6,608	4,922	AAA-	AA+
2	2		Budweiser		5,863	4,503	AAA-	AA+
3	3		Heineken		5,237	4,326	AA	AA-
4	6		Brahma		3,148	2,543	AAA	AAA
5	4		Skol		3,071	3,432	AAA	AAA-
6	5		Asahi		3,044	3,345	AA-	A
7	10		Corona Extra		2,394	1,972	AA+	AA+
8	8		Guinness		2,299	2,185	AAA-	AAA-
9	7		Kirin		2,286	2,359	A-	A-
10	11		Miller Lite		2,195	1,826	AA-	AA
11	13		Coors		2,106	1,591	AA+	A+
12	9		Harbin Beer		2,091	2,072	AA+	AA+
13	12		Snow		1,844	1,659	AA-	AA-
14	16		Antarctica		1,429	1,259	AAA	AAA
15	21		Stella Artois		1,390	1,054	AA+	AA+
16	15		Busch		1,333	1,387	AA-	AA+
17	14		Tecate		1,215	1,454	AA+	AA+
18	–		Peroni Nastro Azzurro		1,193	–	AA-	–
19	19		Carlsberg		1,116	1,128	AA-	AA-
20	–		Amstel		1,070	–	AA-	–
21	24		Natural		1,047	940	AA-	AA
22	22		Cass		1,000	1,023	AA-	AA
23	20		Tsingtao		981	1,112	AA	–
24	–		Carling		947	–	AAA-	–
25	25		Sol		904	895	AA-	A-