With a multitude of different beers to choose from in the U.S, it’s no wonder so many people have their different opinions on what is the best beer to drink. Since it can be difficult to base the best beer off just its taste alone, we put together some research to determine the popularity of beers within the U.S to help us better determine which beer is the best.
Bud Light, a light American lager, is the most popular beer in the U.S as of 2021. This statistic is followed by Coors Light in second place and Miller Lite in third place. Not only is Bud Light the most popular, but it has sold more than double the cases that Coors Light has this year.
We support various beers and are fans of more than one brand, but it is no surprise that Bud Light would be a fan favorite amongst Americans. This beer is a staple of the American way. Read on to discover more information about this beer and the others that take the top of the list for best beers.
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What are the Different Types of Beers?
Have you ever looked at a particular brand of beer and wonder, what kind of beer is this? We have to. As a fan myself I never really paid attention to what the difference between beers is. But I investigated it and discovered there is a clear difference.
Beer is often categorized into two separate types of beer. Lagers and Ales. The most definitive difference is the type of yeast used during their respected fermenting processes. For example, lager’s yeast ferments at the bottom of the brew while ale’s yeast ferments at the top of the brew.
What else makes these two types of beers different? Read on to discover more enjoyable and informative content!
Lagers
Lagers are beer brewed using bottom-fermenting yeasts that require the stored brew to be left in cold, still areas during its fermenting process. Fermenting usually takes around 2-3 weeks to complete. Then it needs to be left for multiple weeks and in some cases, months to condition properly.
Ales
Ales are beer brewed using top-fermenting yeasts that can be easily fermented in warmer temperatures than lager. Unlike lagers, ales can be fermented in as little as 2-5 days, though they can sometimes take up to two or so weeks. They can be fermented, hopped, and canned, or jarred within a matter of weeks.
What are the Characteristics that Make a Beer Desirable?
Rating a beer for best or worst has to do with several determining characteristics that most professional beer tasters categorize their results as. These characteristics are a common stomping ground for brewers throughout the world.
- Aroma: The first qualities checked by tasters.
- Appearance: Color, Foam, and clarity.
- Taste: An obvious quality but taste is arguably the most important.
- Flavor: Considered the aftertaste, bitterness, and balance.
- Feel: Describes the sensations the body feels after tasting.
What Qualities Should You Find in the Best Beer?
Let’s dive right into the different qualities or characteristics that help tasters determine what is a good beer and what is a bad beer. We touched on the top characteristics but let’s get more detailed now.
- Appearance – Almost always the first quality checked. The color of the beer, foam on top after pouring, and the clarity of it all.
- Aroma – The aroma, or smell, of the beer is generally one of the first qualities checked by tasters. With a good, balanced aromatic taste, the correct aroma for the beer means everything to a taster.
- Flavor – Flavor, like aroma, should be tasting as it smells. Although the flavor is the aftertaste of beers, the bitterness, and the balance.
- Taste – Not to be confused with flavor, the taste is what your tastebuds initially taste. There are 6 different types of flavors to consider when tasting beer. (Sweet, salty, sour, bitter, umami, and fatty.)
- Feel – no, you can’t feel beer very well. Instead, this characteristic refers to the “mouthfeel” of tasting beer. Brewers often use this term to consider how well the sensations from your body, carbonation, and palate are affected when tasting. Is it smooth or dry? Does it have a clean, crisp taste, or is it leaving a bitter taste in your mouth?
What is the #1 Best Selling Beer in the U.S?
Not to be mistaken with the most popular beer, but similar as the amount of any one type of beer may be used to calculate popularity. What is the #1 selling beer in the U.S?
The #1 best-selling beer in the U.S is Bud Light. With over 27.2 million barrels of the beer shipped just in 2019 alone, it can easily be determined to be the best-selling beer in the U.S by an almost two to one ratio.
It’s no wonder that Bud Light is doing so well for itself. Even after several declines over the recent years in sales, its parent company, Anheuser-Busch InBev, is still maintaining its seat at the top of every list with this beer. Continue to read to discover more about this top-rated beer.
What Makes Bud Light the Best Widely Available Beer?
Bud Light, like many of the other top-rated beers in America today (Coors Light, Miller Lite, etc.) is an American lager with more than a few decades to hone its flavor and perfect its ingredients. Beginning sales nationwide in 1982, Anheuser-Busch InBev has continuously sold millions of barrels of its product across the country and world yearly. But what makes it the best?
Popular demand for a light, low-calorie beer such as bud light as well as the data provided from the overall sales make Bud Light the best widely available beer in the U.S today. A 12 oz. can of Bud Light contains a total of 110 calories, 6.6 grams of carbs, and 0.9 grams of protein.
Overall, it may not be a beer with the lowest calories, but it is certainly a fan favorite amongst Americans and continues to outsell other beers like miller lite and Coors light repeatedly each year.
Bud Light has a crisp, clean taste and only gets better the colder the beer and the hotter the weather. With flavor that good, it is expected to be at its absolute best when it is the coldest the beverage can get.
With the different ingredients used to produce Bud Light than other, similar beers, it can be determined that the difference in the taste could be one of the leading factors to why they have become so popular over the years. Standing out from their competition in ways not previously known to brewers everywhere.
What are the Different Kinds of Bud Light?
After Bud Light’s debut in 1982 as Budweiser Light, they have since been steadily adding new additions to the Bud Light family. Some of these different variations came earlier and some have come later in more recent years.
Although some are not considered light or dark beers, each falls under the same category as Bud Light. The different varieties consist of:
- Bud Light
- Bud Light Platinum
- Bud Light Apple
- Bud Light Lime
- Bud Light Seltzers (Black cherry, Lemon-lime, Strawberry, and Mango)
- Bud Light Lime-A-Rita
With some of these considered other styles of beer, like malt liquors, it is easy to forget that they are still considered beers and so we have provided them to you as such. Read on to learn what makes bud Light stand out from the crowd of other beer brands.
What Makes Bud Light Different From its Competitors?
We’ve talked about Bud Light and how they are the most popular as well as the best-selling beer in the U.S, but we haven’t talked about its competitors much. The competitors in both categories, (popularity and best-selling) Coors Light and Miller Lite, are also great beers and fall under the same pretense as Bud Light does. Light lager beers.
Even though all three of these beers are similar and have roughly the same nutritional properties, what makes them different from one another? How does Bud Light take the slot for best widely available beer?
Bud Light is an American lager with only four ingredients. Barely, rice, hops, and water. With no corn syrup or added preservatives, Bud Light can create a different, unique flavor amongst its competition. While most beers are made using corn syrup as the added sugars during fermentation, Bud Light bolsters that using rice is a cleaner and more productive alternative.
While Coors Light and Miller lite are both incredibly good, well-known, and profitable beers, Bud Light takes the trophy home year after year.
Final Thoughts – The Best Widely Available Beer
With so many different brands of beer to choose from within the U.S, it will always be up to someone’s taste on which beer is for them. Some people will reminisce and go back to what they used to drink growing up.
There is always a good chance that people may drink what was around them all their lives. Whether that is bud light, or even an ale, like Guinness. People are bound to stick with what they know. With popularity and statistics from sales across the U.S, Bud Light is, without a doubt, the best widely available beer today.