The less-fun part of being a drinks writer is following sales, tariffs, mergers, and the overall business of the whole industry. It’s not always flashy and rarely interesting to the passive beer drinker or whiskey sipper. Still, following the business side of the drinks world does offer insight into what people actually spend their money on. In today’s case, that means which beers people around the world actually like to drink (based on how big those brands are).
The numbers we’re using today come from Brand Finance’s Alcoholic Drinks 2021 report. Please don’t fall asleep. We know that title is like a shot of hot milk at two-in-the-morning. It gets interesting, we swear.
Pretty much every major beer or spirits brand lost massive amounts of cash in 2020. Corona, as a brand, lost 27% of its value last year. That’s catastrophic from one point of view. From another point of view, Corona was able to remain the world’s most valuable beer brand in 2021, despite that downturn. In fact, Grupo Modelo (which produces Corona) has three of the world’s biggest beer brands in the top ten. Viva Mexico!
Instead of looking at the sales or P&L statements of each of the top ten brands (we have to care about the business side but that doesn’t mean you do!), we’re going to look at their taste. We knew all these brews, of course, but re-tasted them to be sure. That said, they’re ordered based on size, not our preference (as you’ll see, we liked very few of them).
If you haven’t already tried any of these tasty and popular beers, click on the prices to give them a shot yourself!
10. Asahi
ABV: 5.2%
Average Price: $28 (12-pack)
The Beer:
This Japanese rice lager is all about being a “dry” sip of beer. The brew starts out with high-starch barley mixed with rice that’s thrown in the tank with Asahi’s own dry yeast strain. The brew is then hopped with an array of noble hops.
Tasting Notes:
This has a grassy and yeasty nature on the nose that drives into the palate. There’s a thin layer of barley cake maltiness next to the effervescent fizz of the beer. The hops are barely present and lean slightly towards floral and grassy.
Bottom LIne:
This is a pretty thin lager. It’s great when it’s super cold and you’re diving into a massive sushi menu or watching something on the grill under the hot summer sun.
9. Miller Lite
ABV: 4.2%
Average Price: $13 (12-pack)
The Beer:
Miller Lite is the O.G. lite beer that was developed by a biochemist back in the 1960s as a “diet beer.” The light lager is based on Miller’s pilsner roots but, if we’re being honest, it strays pretty far from those roots. At the end of the day, this would be called a “low-cal” beer today.
Tasting Notes:
This is notably thinner than Miller High Life. The maltiness is almost gone with the main thrust of this beer being a hint of hop “aroma” next to a dry fizz and… not much else. There’s a tinniness to the whole sip that’s accentuated by a faux-sweet undertone.
Bottom LIne:
With so many craft “low-cal” beers on the market today, why even bother with this? That being said, this is a very easy beer to crush when it’s freezer cold.
8. Kirin
ABV: 5%
Average Price: $17 (12-pack)
The Beer:
This Japanese import is actually an American lager when it comes to the style of beer it is. That means the hops are very drawn back with more emphasis on bready malts and fizz.
Tasting Notes:
This is a little maltier than the other beers on this list but more in a Saltine cracker way. The beer carries that cheap metallic note next to a hint of hop aroma, but only if you’re stretching to find it. The essence of this brew is its light body and dry, fizzy end.
Bottom LIne:
Who hasn’t crushed a sixer of these while eating sushi? There’s something about that very mild touch of salt that goes a long way to make this a pretty good pairing lager to have on hand.
7. Modelo Especial
ABV: 4.4%
Average Price: $18 (12-pack)
The Beer:
This adjunct lager from Mexico leans into the corn over the barley in its base. The yeast, water, and hops are more of a supporting cast for that corn at the end of the day.
Tasting Notes:
There’s a bit more going on in this beer’s taste than just corn-fueled sweetness. The sip has a crusty white bread maltiness with an almost orange flower hop twinge. The sweetness of the corn manifests more like watered-down floral honey with a hint of hop dank lurking far in the background.
Bottom LIne:
This might only be the seventh most valuable beer brand in the world but it’s close to number one in our hearts. This is just a really drinkable adjunct lager that’s easy to access and goes down almost too easily.
6. Snow Beer
ABV: 4%
Average Price: $3 (one can)
The Beer:
This is one of the most imbibed beers on the planet, which may shock you. Technically a European pale lager, this beer is a very commodity-driven beer of the people. The brew is a mix of rice and barley in the base with hop aroma, yeast, and water making up the rest of the recipe.
Tasting Notes:
This is thin. This leans so watery that it’s almost like you’re drinking a plain hard seltzer that was poured into a glass that once held a regular lager. There are memories of malts somewhere lurking under the fizzy mineral water. As for the hops, the character is more like some said the word near the brewing tank, as opposed to actually putting them in the beer.
Bottom LIne:
I grabbed a sixer of these for my motel room the last time I was in China. I drank two and left the rest.
5. Bud Light
ABV: 4.2%
Average Price: $9 (six-pack)
The Beer:
This light lager came around about a decade after Miller’s entry into the “lite” beer pantheon. This light lager also utilizes rice in its base with a little barley. Hop aromas are added to give that “beer” sense.
Tasting Notes:
Again, this is more like plain hard seltzer that was poured into a used beer glass. That’s really all there is.
Bottom LIne:
It’s almost offensive how watery this beer is. It doesn’t even reach the mild maltiness of a Miller Lite, which really isn’t saying all that much.
4. Victoria
ABV: 4.4%
Average Price: $18 (12-pack)
The Beer:
This Vienna lager from Mexico is a pretty solid hot-weather go-to. The beer is brewed with non-malted cereals, malted barley, and corn. A touch of hops is added to the mix and that’s about it.
Tasting Notes:
This is light but not listless. There’s a real malty character with a touch of floral, almost bitter, hops. The sip, overall, is very dry and effervescent with a mild touch of dry yeastiness and a distant orange oil brightness.
Bottom LIne:
This manages to be low-ABV without sacrificing character or flavor. Yes, it’s a thin lager but at least there’s something there. Plus, this is a fantastic beach beer or food-pairing beer for spicy, bitter, or cheesy foods.
3. Budweiser (USA)
ABV: 5%
Average Price: $9 (six-pack)
The Beer:
Classic Budweiser is made with a recipe of malted barley, rice, yeast, and water with a touch of hop aromas. The beer is still carbonated naturally and rested in beechwood casks while it’s lagering.
Tasting Notes:
This isn’t hard seltzer but it’s close. You do get a sense of wet grains with a note of floral hops buried in the body of the beer… somewhere. There’s a tininess at play with a hint of an empty rice bag.
Bottom LIne:
You’re not a beer snob if you find this hard to go back to after getting into the run-of-the-mill German beers it was based on. It’s just so thin and lifeless while not really offering anything that makes it taste as a classic lager should.
2. Heineken
ABV: 5%
Average Price: $18 (12-pack)
The Beer:
Heineken keeps things simple. It’s made with malted barley, yeast, hops, and water. That’s it. Heineken’s A-Yeast strain is what gives the brew its signature fruity body and dryness.
Tasting Notes:
This is relatively sweet in the sense that apples are sweet sometimes. The taste does lean into the fruitier aspect of the maltiness while the hops are more floral and kind of bitter. This leads towards a light, bright, and thin end with a crisp apple edge and salted crackers.
Bottom LIne:
This tends to be a cheap go-to when you want a dive bar or grocery store beer with a little something to it. It’s still pretty thin, but at least there are flavor notes to pick up.
1. Corona Extra
ABV: 4.6%
Average Price: $18 (12-pack)
The Beer:
This is the ultimate vacation or beach beer. It’s also pretty ubiquitous in bars around the world. The brew is a mix of corn, malted barley, hop aroma, yeast, water, and vitamin C, or ascorbic acid. Propylene glycol alginate is also added as a stabilizer.
Tasting Notes:
The corn really shines on this beer. It’s sweet, grainy, and a little bit dry. The floral hops are barely present on this light sip. For an adjunct lager, there is a bit more depth than the average American one. The real draw is the soft end to this beer with a mild salinity, especially when a lime wedge is added.
Bottom LIne:
I’ve been drinking a lot of these over the last year. I don’t know if it’s nostalgia or what, but they still hit the spot. There’s a certain tang to this beer that hits just right on a hot day.
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