Draft sales on the night before Thanksgiving declined -17.1% compared to the same day in 2021, on-premise data firm BeerBoard reported.
On what is typically considered “the biggest party night of the year,” draft sales last year increased +79.1% compared to Thanksgiving Eve in 2020, when the COVID-19 pandemic forced many bars and restaurants to constrict operations and caused Americans to alter holiday plans.
BeerBoard considers this year’s deflated draft sales “more as a normalization/right-sizing than signs of decline,” CEO Mark Young told Brewbound. On-premise business boomed in 2021, so Thanksgiving Eve 2022 was facing difficult comps.
“It was due to everything being fully open and really the first holiday to experience that since the initial shutdown,” Young said. “2022 would have had to do massive numbers just to match that.”
Last Wednesday’s draft sales increased +45% compared to the previous Wednesday. However, that lift couldn’t match the +69.2% increase Thanksgiving Eve 2021 saw over the prior Wednesday.
Unlike the national trends, BeerBoard’s hometown of Syracuse, New York, recorded growth both compared to Thanksgiving Eve 2021 (+8.1%) and the prior Wednesday (+107.8%).
Style-wise, light lagers won the day as the most-poured style, with Anheuser-Busch InBev’s Bud Light claiming the top spot, followed by regular lagers, IPAs, Belgian witbier/white ales and European ales.
“This is a change from a regular Wednesday, where Euro ales checks in at No. 14,” Young said. “Strong ales checked in at No. 10, up from its regular position of No. 17.”
After Bud Light at No. 1., the remaining top-selling draft brands are:
- No. 2 Michelob Ultra (A-B)
- No. 3 Miller Lite (Molson Coors)
- No. 4 Modelo Especial (Constellation Brands)
- No. 5 Coors Light (Molson Coors)
- No. 6 Dos Equis Lager Especial (Heineken)
- No. 7 Blue Moon Belgian White (Molson Coors)
- No. 8 Yuengling
- No. 9 Stella Artois (A-B)
- No. 10 Budweiser (A-B)
Drizly: Thanksgiving Weekend Winners Include Canned Cocktails, Non-Alc & Tequila
Drizly reported that ready-to-drink canned cocktails increased sales nearly +40% on the e-commerce alcohol delivery platform this Thanksgiving weekend compared to the holiday in 2021. The increased sales of RTD canned cocktails has been a theme throughout 2022. Drizly’s annual Retail Report recently found that 63% of retailers surveyed said they plan to carry more spirits-based canned cocktails in their stores in 2023.
Sales of non-alcoholic beer (+20%), wine (+39%) and spirits (+100%) sales all spiked on Drizly this Thanksgiving weekend compared to Thanksgiving 2021.
Finally, Drizly reported that sales of tequila on the platform increased +7% for Thanksgiving 2022. Sales of reposado increased +17% this Thanksgiving.
Editor’s note: This story was updated at 2.:20 p.m. PT on Wednesday, November 30 to correct information about draft sales on Thanksgiving Eve compared to the prior Wednesday.