The on-premise beer drinking stats are in for 2024 Memorial Day weekend, via BeerBoard, which reports an increase in the amount of draft beer consumed as well as overall sales when compared to last year. BeerBoard provides automated intelligence for on-premise hospitality, and the tech company tabulated data from all of the kegs pouring at BeerBoard sites over the four-day holiday period.
The result? Beer consumption was up 12% on a per location basis compared to 2023, with sales up 32%. Domestics led overall draft volumes, of course, with light lagers commanding a 41% volume share. However, “craft” (the BeerBoard definition of the term) contributed the most revenue at a 44% dollar share, with Blue Moon taking the top spot in most poured Craft on draft.
Notable style gainers across the tap universe were craft IPAs led by New Belgium Voodoo Ranger Juicy Haze and Mexican Lagers like Estrella Jalisco and Modelo Negra.
With all the talk of consumers cutting back, a return to affordable draft lagers was evident, with Busch Light increasing by 46% volume share. Coors Banquet (+7%) and Pabst Blue Ribbon (+20%) also gained in volume share compared to 2023.
Top five brands
There was some slight deviation in the volume performance of the top five draft brands over Memorial Day weekend 2024 when compared to 2023:
- Michelob Ultra held on as the top-poured tap, up 13.8% in volume and leading overall dollar sales in draft.
- Miller Lite moved up a spot to the second most-poured tap, but volumes were down slightly by -5%.
- Coors Light fell to the third place, with volumes dropping by -14.5%.
- Modelo Especial, the top-selling import, grew by 13.8% in volume and rose to the fourth spot overall. From a sales perspective, Modelo checked in as the #2-selling brand overall.
- Bud Light dropped to fifth place with a -6% decline in volume.
- Rounding out the top 10 most poured draft brands: Dos Equis, Blue Moon, Yuengling, Busch Light and Stella Artois.
Packaged on-premise sales
On-premise sales of packaged products (bottles and cans) over the 2024 holiday period were led by Imports, with a 46% share in both volume and overall dollars. Lagers topped sales, increasing 45% in dollar share led by Corona Extra.
Hard seltzers (both malt and spirit-based) showed a range of flavors across the top five selling brands: White Claw Black Cherry, High Noon Pineapple, Truly Wild Berry, White Claw Mango and Nutrl Watermelon.
White wine was 59% of all wine volume sold across BeerBoard tracked accounts, with Pinot Grigio and Chardonnay tied atop style share. The top five wines poured over the holiday weekend were: Ecco Domani Pinot Grigio, Chateau Ste Michelle Chardonnay, Josh Cabernet, La Marca Prosecco and Chloe Pinot Grigio.
Across spirits, Tito’s topped both volume and dollar sales, followed by Sauza. Unsurprisingly, tequila was the best performing category over Memorial Day weekend with margarita sales holding a 50% share of cocktails sold. Rounding out the top five spirits sold were Hennessy VS Cognac, Jack Daniel’s and Bacardi. Tiki cocktails were the second most popular style of cocktails sold, a nod to kicking off the summer fun.
Unless otherwise noted, all comparisons are the 2024 holiday weekend (May 24-27) vs the 2023 holiday weekend (May 26-29).
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