Culture

Ranked: America’s Most Popular Beers, by Generation

Published

8 months ago

March 30, 2024

Marcus Lu

Graphics/Design:

Sam Parker

See this visualization first on the Voronoi app.

America’s Most Popular Beers, by Generation

This was originally posted on our Voronoi app. Download the app for free on iOS or Android and discover incredible data-driven charts from a variety of trusted sources.

In this graphic we’ve visualized the most popular beers for each U.S. generation as of Q4 2023, according to a consumer survey conducted by YouGov.

The “popularity” metric represents the % of people who had a positive opinion of that beer. Note that YouGov surveys are conducted with a representative sample of 1,500 respondents.

Overview: Millennials

U.S. millennials appear to favor foreign beers, with the top five spots taken by Dutch (Heineken) or Mexican beers (Modelo, Corona).

Beer	Popularity (%)
🇳🇱 Heineken	60
🇲🇽 Modelo	59
🇲🇽 Corona	59
🇲🇽 Corona Extra	58
🇲🇽 Corona Light	58
🇺🇸 White Claw	56
🇮🇪 Guinness	55
🇧🇪 Stella Artois	55
🇺🇸 Budweiser	54
🇺🇸 Miller	54

While not exactly a beer, White Claws (which have a similar alcohol content) claimed sixth place. Hard seltzers have become very popular in recent years due to their variety of flavors, attractive packaging, and relatively low amount of carbs and calories.

Overview: Gen X

Gen X also has a strong preference for foreign beers, particularly Guinness (fun fact: Over 31 million Americans claim to be of Irish descent).

Beer	Popularity (%)
🇮🇪 Guinness	57
🇳🇱 Heineken	49
🇲🇽 Corona	49
🇲🇽 Modelo	47
🇺🇸 Samuel Adams	47
🇧🇪 Stella Artois	46
🇲🇽 Corona Extra	45
🇲🇽 Corona Light	44
🇺🇸 Blue Moon	43
🇺🇸 Miller	41

Two American beers that weren’t on Millennials’ top 10 list are Samuel Adams and Blue Moon.

Samuel Adams is the flagship brand of the Boston Beer Company, named after U.S. Founding Father Samuel Adams. On the other hand, Blue Moon is a Belgian-style witbier brewed by Molson Coors.

Overview: Baby Boomers

Boomers’ top 10 favorite beers are similar to Gen X, with a few key differences. One is the absence of Modelo, which ranked second and fourth for Millennials and Gen X, respectively.

Modelo (which became America’s best-selling beer in 2023) has focused its advertising efforts on sports, which may not reach Boomers as effectively as younger generations.

Beer	Popularity (%)
🇮🇪 Guinness	49
🇳🇱 Heineken	48
🇲🇽 Corona	48
🇺🇸 Samuel Adams	46
🇺🇸 Coors	43
🇺🇸 Miller	38
🇺🇸 Michelob Light	38
🇺🇸 Miller Lite	37
🇲🇽 Dos Equis	37
🇧🇪 Stella Artois	37

An interesting pick for Boomers is Dos Equis, which is produced by Heineken-owned Cuauhtémoc Moctezuma Brewery. The brand gained popularity for its “most interesting man in the world” commercials, which ran from 2006 to 2018.