US retail beer sales slip 2.6% in October as cider and non-alcoholic segments gain

NielsenIQ (NIQ) Retail Measurement Services / Vinetur reports that United States retail beer dollar sales fell 2.6% year-over-year during the four-week period ending October 24, 2026, while volume dropped 4.3%. Weaker consumer demand drove 84% of the contraction, with distribution cutbacks accounting for 16%. Weekly dollar sales stood at $849.6 million, down 0.8% from the previous week.

Traditional domestic segments saw the steepest declines, with domestic premium dollar sales dropping 6.6% on a 7.7% volume slide. Craft beer sales fell 4.6% in dollars and 6.1% in volume. In contrast, alternative beer-adjacent categories delivered strong performances: cider expanded 5.3% in dollar sales and 3.7% in case volume, while non-alcoholic beer climbed 7.6% in revenue and 6.4% in volume. Domestic super premium beer also saw modest gains, rising 0.8% in value and 0.2% in volume, while imports fell 0.7% in dollars.

Performance among producers was fragmented. Anheuser-Busch dollar sales dropped 3.1% alongside a loss of 2.2 million cases, while Molson Coors Beverage Co. fell 4.7% in dollars and shed 1.6 million cases. Heineken USA dropped 7.5% in dollar sales. Conversely, Constellation grew dollar sales by 0.8% despite shedding 133,300 cases. New Belgium Brewing posted a 7.1% dollar sales increase and added 62,000 cases. Sapporo Breweries Ltd. recorded a 15.3% dollar increase with 18,600 additional cases, while Schilling Cider gained 7,100 cases and Boston Beer gained 0.5% in dollars despite declining 9,800 cases.

Originally reported by [NielsenIQ (NIQ) Retail Measurement Services / Vinetur](https://www.vinetur.com/en/20261103110314/us-retail-beer-sales-fell-26-in-the-four-weeks-ending-oct-24.html). DISTRYB summarises the facts; read the full story there.