Americans are cutting back on alcohol. How brewers are responding

With Americans saying “no” to alcohol more often, brewers are getting creative.   

A recent survey from Gallup found 54% of U.S. adults say they consume alcohol, a record low, amid growing health concerns surrounding alcohol consumption. That’s opened space for alternatives like nonalcoholic beer to grow, according to Dave Williams, vice president of analytics and insight for Bump Williams Consulting, a Connecticut firm that specializes in the alcoholic beverage industry.  

Companies are "putting more emphasis and focus on stabilizing or trying to revive their flagship or their core brands," Williams said. "At the same time, they are looking toward the future to where consumer habits are shifting. You’ve seen it with nonalcoholic extensions. There’s now a nonalcoholic version of almost every leading beer brand." 

Why are Americans drinking less? 

A recent U.S. surgeon general advisory that warned even moderate alcohol consumption is linked to increased cancer risks has some Americans questioning their drinking habits.

Just over half of drinking-age Americans say they’ve heard of these findings, according to a March report from Pew Research. Forty-one percent of those drinkers say they plan to cut back on drinking a little (30%) or a lot (11%).

The findings came at a time when the beer category was already losing business to alternatives like hard seltzers, according to Marten Lodewijks, president of beverage industry analysis firm IWSR U.S. Data from the firm shows beer volume has been flat or declining since 2007, with the compound annual growth rate down 1% between 2008 and 2024. Declines picked up in recent years, with the growth rate down 3% between 2019 and 2024.

Industry experts say economic challenges have also contributed to the recent slump. 

Nearly one-third of U.S. consumers intend to spend less on alcoholic beverages over the next three months, according to an August report from McKinsey & Company. Fifty-seven percent plan to keep their spending in the category static while 14% plan to spend more. 

“There’s a lot of concern around discretionary income. Either trying to save money, trying to cut back on spending, or just having to make different decisions on the frequency or volume side,” Williams said.

IWSR data suggests this is especially true among younger drinkers. While the participation rate for alcoholic consumption has picked up among Gen Zers of legal drinking age, jumping from 46% in 2023 to 70% in 2025, Lodewijks said younger Americans tend to drink less often than previous generations. 

“They’re much more likely to go out once and not go out again for a week or two weeks,” Lodewijks said. "They can’t afford to go out drinking every weekend.” 

New trends, new products 

While beer is still the most popular alcoholic drink among Americans, evolving trends have brewers experimenting with new products.  

Heineken, which launched the nonalcoholic Heineken 0.0 in the United States in 2019, is testing Heineken 0.0 Ultimate – a new offering advertised as having zero alcohol, zero calories and zero sugar.  

After initial testing in Massachusetts and New Jersey, the brand will enter double-digit states in 2026, according to Maggie Timoney, CEO of Heineken USA. 

“People are looking for more healthy options. It’s not that they’re not drinking, but they’re changing the way they drink,” Timoney told USA TODAY. “So we just have to make sure that we are true to our brands that we're offering our, in particular, premium offerings, and then we continue to invest behind those brands.” 

Timoney said the company views nonalcoholic beer sales as a growth platform, even if they still make up a sliver of overall beer sales. Heineken 0.0 in particular has seen double-digit growth over the last few years, and Timoney expects similar growth across the nonalcoholic beer segment in the near term.  

“At the end of the day, we do want to make moderation cool. Like, Zebra Striping” ‒ or alternating between alcoholic and nonalcoholic beverages at social events ‒ “is a thing,” Timoney said.  

Bump said he sees a lot of emphasis on zero-alcohol or light beer at play in the market these days, as well as an emphasis on fun flavors or smaller pack sizes to match customer demands. 

Lodewijks added that he believes the post-pandemic uptick in health and wellness concerns is here to stay. How severely they will impact long-term alcohol sales is another question. 

“Just because you know something isn’t good for you doesn't mean you’re not going to do it, and drinking still has a lot of social benefits,” he said. “So I do think you’ll see continued growth of healthier options, but that doesn’t necessarily mean they’re going to be nonalcoholic options. It just means how they connect to identities, lifestyles is a little different.”