Twitter Can Determine What Kind Of Beer America Drinks, And Where

Craft beer may be getting all the attention, but big beer is still king.
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Craft beer has been getting a lot of attention lately. Production has reached an all-time high, growing 9.6 percent last year while overall beer production dropped 1.4 percent. But let's not forget who's really king: big beer.

Anheuser-Busch Inbev and MillerCoors control 90 percent of the domestic beer market in the U.S. While mass-market beer may be feeling threatened by craft beer's soaring popularity, the vast majority of the $200 billion worth of beer that Americans drink comes from huge companies, not the small, independent craft breweries.

With big beer still dominating the market, LiveScience took a snapshot of beer consumption patterns from an unlikely medium: Twitter. Instead of chartings sales, LiveScience charted tweets to gauge what kind of cheap and light beer the country is drinking. It also checked out where wine is more popular.

There's a ton of variation under the big beer umbrella, with distinct preferences according to region. If Twitter is any indication, people favor a different kind of light beer on the East Coast than they do on the West Coast. The coasts drink more wine than the middle of the country, and Americans like different cheap beer depending on where they live.

Do these tweet-based graphs accurately represent your beer of choice?


Source:LiveScience

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Before You Go

Light Beer Taste Test, 2013
#1: Miller Light(01 of10)
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Comments: "This one actually tastes like beer." "Actually tastes like beer." "Okay. This is recognizable as beer. I took a second sip. I would continue." "There's some beer flavor here! Yay!" "I guess this is pretty much as good as it's gonna get. It's balanced." (credit:Damon Dahlen/The Huffington Post)
#2: Coors Light(02 of10)
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Comments: "Really flavorless and tastes like what carpet smells like." "Wet cardboard and sadness." "A little sour at the end, not great." "This tastes like what you'd drink at a classy frat party." (credit:Damon Dahlen/The Huffington Post)
#3: Bud Light(03 of10)
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Comments: "Almost tastes like beer." "Low on flavor, but not offensive." "Rather flat." "Super flat." (credit:Damon Dahlen/The Huffington Post)
#4: Sam Adams Light(04 of10)
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Comments: "So much darker in color than the others. Looks out of place. Nutty" "Watery, nutty? But really flavorless, too." "Bitter, otherwise completely absent of flavor." "It's got some body, tastes like Yuengling." "Almost like rye toast." (credit:Damon Dahlen/The Huffington Post)
#5: Corona Light(05 of10)
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Comments: "Bitter, bitter water." "Fine, inoffensive, no beer flavor though." "The bitterness adds something to the water." "Very harsh! Not even sessionable." (credit:Damon Dahlen/The Huffington Post)
#6: Heineken Light(06 of10)
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Comments: "It smells SO BAD for something that tastes like water." "Well, this tastes like bubbly, skunky water." "Water, bro. Water." (credit:Damon Dahlen/The Huffington Post)
#7: Beck's Premier Light(07 of10)
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Comments: "This actually tastes like water. Stale water." "Smells like cheap weed, tastes like air." "Easy to drink, no flavor." "Tastes like weed, sweat and fraternity basements." (credit:Damon Dahlen/The Huffington Post)
#8: Amstel Light(08 of10)
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Comments: "It's got flavor, but I don't like it. Kind of tastes moldy, and definitely nutty." "Tastes like wet sawdust. But at least it tastes like something." "Gross. Is that barley?" (credit:Damon Dahlen/The Huffington Post)
#9: Bud Light Lime(09 of10)
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Comments: "What is happening? So sour." "Subtle flavor, smells a bit citrusy. Tastes really watery." "This actually tastes like seltzer, and smells fruity?" "Gross, fake lemon or lime." (credit:Damon Dahlen/The Huffington Post)
#10: Natural Light(10 of10)
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Comments: "Tastes like stale ice melted in cheap beer." "Water water water." "This tastes like paper." "Well, this is water." (credit:Damon Dahlen/The Huffington Post)

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