St. Patrick’s Day weekend wasn’t necessarily lucky for purveyors of draft beer, according to on-premise data firm BeerBoard, which published its annual recap of bev-alc performance at bars and restaurants during the holiday.
“On what is traditionally one of the biggest party weekends of the year, draft volume was down -12.7% when compared to the same period in 2024,” BeerBoard wrote. “Correspondingly, revenue saw a decline of -12.6% over the weekend. This is coming off a -20% decrease for the holiday weekend in 2024 (when compared to 2023).”
This year, March 17 fell on a Monday, so BeerBoard examined on-premise sales for the four-day period starting Friday, March 14. The firm compared data between those four days and Thursday, March 14, and Sunday, March 17, in 2024.
2025’s draft volume decline marks a deceleration from 2024, when draft volume fell -20% YoY. However, in 2023, St. Patrick’s Day fell on a Friday and coincided with the opening weekend of the NCAA college basketball tournament. The alignment led to a +20.8% increase in draft volume, so if 2024 represented a return to the norm, 2025 may indicate a broader decline.
Nationwide, light lager was the No. 1 style on draft, accounting for 44.1% of all draft volume. However, at -0.2% YoY, it was roughly flat. No. 2 lager increased volume +1.8% YoY and accounted for 21.1% of total draft volume. No. 3 IPA (7.31% volume share) declined -5.9% YoY.
During the holiday weekend, stouts/porters rose to the No. 7 draft style, up from their usual No. 10, bolstered by Diageo-owned Guinness.
“Guinness Draught ranked as the No. 13 brand, but during the St. Patrick’s Day weekend it climbed to the No. 9 position,” BeerBoard wrote.
During the long holiday weekend, Guinness more than doubled its volume share, increasing to 3.12% from 1.44% year-to-date.
“Bars poured an average of 122% more Guinness pints for these four days than the daily average for the 30 days before,” BeerBoard noted.
Revisit this episode of the Brewbound Podcast featuring Guinness national ambassador Ryan Wagner for more information about how the brand prepares for its busiest time of year.
At the brand level, Anheuser-Busch InBev’s Michelob Ultra was the No. 1 beer on draft and increased volume +7.3% year-over-year (YoY). Volume of Molson Coors’ No. 2 Miller Lite declined by a “nominal” -2.2%, and No. 3 Coors Light’s volume declined -3%.
In key cities with major St. Patrick’s Day celebrations, draft volume was down across the board, with New York City posting the steepest decline at -11.8%, followed by Boston (-7.8%) and Chicago (-3.4%). New York City’s top draft brand was Guinness, which had “explosive growth” at +112.4% YoY. Bud Light was No. 1 in Boston but declined -19.4% YoY. Chicago’s top beer was Miller Lite, which posted +4.2% volume growth.
In BeerBoard’s home town of Syracuse, New York, Guinness “shockingly” fell out of the No. 1 draft spot and was supplanted by Miller Lite, which increased volume +14.4% YoY for the weekend. Guinness was the second most poured beer and increased volume +0.7% YoY, followed by FIFCO USA’s Labatt Blue at No. 3, which declined -11.5% YoY.
Among packaged products, light lager (No. 1, 40.2% of volume) and lager (No. 2, 35% of volume) accounted for 75.2% of volume during the holiday weekend. Both recorded volume declines YoY, with light lagers down -2.9% and lagers down -6.8%.
The remaining three segments in the top five in package all recorded YoY volume growth:
- No. 3 non-alcoholic beer, 6.4% share, +113.2% in volume YoY;
- No. 4 hard seltzer, 5.2% share, +7.5% in volume YoY;
- No. 5 ready-to-drink cocktails, 4.2% share, +68.7% in volume YoY.
The top five brands in package were all traditional beers:
- No. 1 Constellation Brands’ Corona Extra, 15.5% share, -7.8% in volume YoY;
- No. 2 Michelob Ultra, 14.6% share, +5.8% in volume YoY;
- No. 3 Miller Lite, 11% share, +3.8% in volume YoY;
- No. 4 Constellation’s Modelo Especial, 8.7% share, +42.6% in volume YoY;
- No. 5 Coors Light, 7.8% share, -4.9% in volume YoY.
Bourbon/whiskey was the top spirit by style with 26% share (-4.6% in volume YoY), followed by tequila/mezcal (17.1% share, +15.2% in volume YoY), and vodka (17.1% share, -5.8% in volume YoY).
Despite its style not being the largest in volume, Tito’s Vodka was the No. 1 spirits brand across all styles, with an 8.1% share of volume (-4.6% YoY), followed by No. 2 Jameson Irish Whiskey (5.7% share, -16.3% in volume YoY) and No. 3 Patron Silver (3.9% share, -11.8% in volume YoY).