Q2 '23 Draft Beer Pricing Index Release

Draft data analyzed from nearly 20,000 Untappd for Business independent locations reveals the impact of inflation on draft beer pricing

Over the last quarter, the average price of a 16 oz. draft beer in America increased the most (nearly 9 cents on average) on a quarter-to-quarter basis since a full year ago.  The average price of a pint is up 3.6% from Q2 of last year.  Here are the tabular results of the Q2 ‘23 release – including a breakout of the Big 3 Light Lagers – of the Untappd Draft Beer Pricing Index with some observations to follow:

Observations:

1.     The average price of a pint of Bud Light, despite the brand’s well documented and persistent challenges, continues to increase in-line or above that of its Big 3 light lager peers.  Since Q1 2022, the average price of a 16 oz. Bud Light has increased more than that of both Miller Lite and Coors Light.  Additionally, its price increase from Q1 ’23 to Q2 ’23 was in-line with Miller Lite (both increased 1.1%) and above that of Coors Light, which increased 0.4%.  A pint of Bud Light is now 7.3% more expensive than at the time of our first measurement at the end of Q1 ’22 (vs. 6.7% for Miller Lite and 5.9% for Coors Light).

2.     Our Independent Craft category jumped strongly (over an 11 cent increase, more than any other category) between Q1 ’23 and Q2 ’23.  At the time of our last measurement at the end of March, Independent Craft lagged all categories other than Macro-Owned Craft in terms of average draft price increase since Q1 ’22.  With its strong average increase over Q2 ’23, it has drawn nearly even with our Macro Staple set and lags only the Big 3 Macro Light Lager grouping in terms of average increase since Q1 ’22.

3.     24 of the 25 beers in the Untappd Insights Draft Beer Pricing Index increased in average pint price quarter-over-quarter between Q1 and Q2 of ’23.  Only Pliny the Elder, which was essentially flat, did not increase.

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That’s all for this month.  Visit our Untappd Insights page if you’d like to learn more about how our data can support your business.

Cheers,

Trace

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Methodology:

1. The index comprises the top 25 most checked-in beers on Untappd in 2022 in the United States (with seasonal favorites like Sam Adams OctoberFest removed due to the seasonality of the product causing it to disappear from retail tap handles outside of the fall/winter).

2. We log pricing data from our nearly 20,000 Untappd for Business customers weekly. The end-of-quarter numbers represent the final weekly reading of each quarter.

3. We exclude data from our large chain Untappd for Business partners. For chains with a heavy concentration of venues in certain states, the addition/removal of a beer to their dozens/hundreds of menus can artificially inflate/deflate the average. The source data is from independent and small chain (<25 locations) retailers.

4. While retail menu counts powering the average of each beer vary by product (the 16 oz. draft prices of regionally/nationally-distributed craft and macro products are generally found on thousands of menus), all of these products show up on at least 70+ on-prem retail menus (i.e., some of the Independent Craft options like Russian River’s Pliny the Elder do not receive broad distribution).

5. Here are the beers (in order of 2022 check-ins), along with which categories we’ve grouped them into:

Guinness Draught - Macro Staple, Import

Miller Lite - Macro Staple, Big 3 Macro Light Lager

Yuengling Traditional Lager - Independent Craft

Bud Light - Macro Staple, Big 3 Macro Light Lager

Bell’s Two Hearted IPA - Independent Craft

Coors Light - Macro Staple, Big 3 Macro Light Lager

New Belgium Voodoo Ranger Juice Force - Independent Craft

Modelo Especial - Macro Staple, Import

Lagunitas Hazy Little Thing - Macro-Owned Craft

Golden Road Mango Cart - Macro-Owned Craft

3 Floyds Zombie Dust - Independent Craft

Kona Big Wave - Macro-Owned Craft

Pabst Blue Ribbon - Macro Staple

New Belgium Voodoo Ranger Juicy Haze IPA - Independent Craft

Michelob ULTRA - Macro Staple

Elysian Space Dust IPA - Macro-Owned Craft

Russian River Pliny the Elder - Independent Craft

Lunch (Maine Beer) - Independent Craft

Goose Island Hazy Beer Hug - Macro-Owned Craft

Cigar City Jai Alai - Independent Craft

Lagunitas IPA - Macro-Owned Craft

Stella Artois - Macro Staple, Import

Heineken - Macro Staple, Import

Goose Island Neon Beer Hug - Macro-Owned Craft