IRI Announces Annual Top 30 Beer Brand Performers and Top 15 New Brands

Twenty of Top 30 Beer Brands are High-End Brands
CHICAGO--(Business Wire)--
The IRI Beer, Wine and Spirits Practice today announced its
highly-anticipated "Top 30 Beer Brand Performers in 2007," a revealing
industry look at the 30 fastest growing beer brands across the beer
market. IRI also unveiled its "Top 15 New Beer Brands in 2007," a list
of emerging new brand entries.

For the Top 30 Beer Brand Performers ranking, IRI analyzed volume
growth, share of segment trends, everyday base pricing, and
incremental sales growth in 2007 versus 2006 to determine the brands
with the strongest performance in the beer industry.

"The historic trend of consumers trading up and paying a premium
price for their favorite brands continued in 2007," said Bump
Williams, general manager, IRI Beer, Wine and Spirits Practice. "In
fact, 20 of the top 30 Beer performers are high-end brands that
include 13 imports and seven craft brands. Brewers, Distributors and
Retailers are doing a phenomenal job of meeting the ever-changing
tastes of consumer demands with their new product innovations. The key
now is getting the proper amount of shelf space and distribution in
the right stores across multiple trade channels to support these power
brands."

Notables, such as Bud Light, Miller Lite and Coors Light are on
the list, but the coveted No. 1 brand goes to a super premium beer,
Blue Moon Belgian White Ale, brewed by Molson Coors Brewing. Import
beer brands have a very strong showing in the ranking this year with
such brands as Heineken Premium Light Lager, Stella Artois Lager,
Newcastle Brown Ale and Guinness Draught. Craft beers also remain
popular with Samuel Adams Boston Lager, New Belgium Fat Tire Amber
Ale, Sierra Nevada Pale Ale and Shiner Bock among the brands making
the list. Of course, domestic brands will never go out of style. Busch
Light, Keystone Light, Yuengling Traditional Lager and Steel Reserve
High Gravity Lager remain strong brands.

The Top 30 Beer Brand Performers ranking is designed to highlight
the brands that experienced significant year-over-year growth across
total U.S. supermarkets in 2007. In addition to looking at volume and
dollar sales, IRI also examined pricing, share growth and incremental
volume and dollar contribution.

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IRI Top 30 Beer Brand Performers in 2007
Total U.S. Supermarkets
-----------------------------------------------------------
Rank Beer Brand
-----------------------------------------------------------
1 Blue Moon Belgian White Ale
-----------------------------------------------------------
2 Samuel Adams Seasonal
-----------------------------------------------------------
3 Heineken Premium Light Lager
-----------------------------------------------------------
4 Stella Artois Lager
-----------------------------------------------------------
5 Newcastle Brown Ale
-----------------------------------------------------------
6 Coors Light
-----------------------------------------------------------
7 Bud Light
-----------------------------------------------------------
8 Yuengling Traditional Lager
-----------------------------------------------------------
9 Miller Lite
-----------------------------------------------------------
10 Samuel Adams Boston Lager
-----------------------------------------------------------
11 Keystone Light
-----------------------------------------------------------
12 Corona Light
-----------------------------------------------------------
13 Tecate
-----------------------------------------------------------
14 Guinness Draught
-----------------------------------------------------------
15 Samuel Adams Variety Pack
-----------------------------------------------------------
16 Model Especial
-----------------------------------------------------------
17 Michelob Ultra Light
-----------------------------------------------------------
18 Dos Equis XX Especial Lager
-----------------------------------------------------------
19 Samuel Adams Light
-----------------------------------------------------------
20 Sierra Nevada Pale Ale
-----------------------------------------------------------
21 Michelob Golden Draft Light
-----------------------------------------------------------
22 Heineken
-----------------------------------------------------------
23 New Belgium Fat Tire Amber Ale
-----------------------------------------------------------
24 Grolsch Lager
-----------------------------------------------------------
25 Dos Equis XX Amber Lager
-----------------------------------------------------------
26 Steel Reserve High Gravity Lager
-----------------------------------------------------------
27 Red Stripe
-----------------------------------------------------------
28 Busch Light
-----------------------------------------------------------
29 Shiner Bock
-----------------------------------------------------------
30 Guinness Extra Stout
-----------------------------------------------------------
*T

-- Minimum of 500,000 cases sold in total U.S. supermarkets for
52 weeks ending Dec. 31, 2007

"While we've seen double-digit growth for Blue Moon during the
past six years, it's really been a 12-year success story," said Sara
Mirelez, vice president of marketing for Blue Moon Brewing Company.
"Not only did we focus on brewing the highest quality beer, we also
developed an overall sensory experience rooted in the quality of the
beer, the serving ritual and the unique brewing process and allowed
consumers to discover it. We're very proud of Blue Moon's success and
for being named the No. 1 performer in the beer industry by IRI."

Providing forward-looking insight about key brands to watch in the
year ahead, IRI also announced the following Top 15 New Beer Brands in
2007:

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IRI Top 15 New Beer Brands in 2007
Total U.S. Supermarkets
-----------------------------------------------------------
Rank Beer Brand
-----------------------------------------------------------
1 Miller Chill
-----------------------------------------------------------
2 Bacardi Silver Mojito
-----------------------------------------------------------
3 Landshark Lager
-----------------------------------------------------------
4 Bud Light Chelada
-----------------------------------------------------------
5 Smirnoff Ice Pomegranate Fusion
-----------------------------------------------------------
6 Mike's Hard Light Cranberry Lemonade
-----------------------------------------------------------
7 Michelob Ultra Lime Cactus
-----------------------------------------------------------
8 CM Parrot Bay Pineapple Colada
-----------------------------------------------------------
9 Budweiser Chelada
-----------------------------------------------------------
10 Michelob Ultra Tuscan Orange Grapefruit
-----------------------------------------------------------
11 Mike's Cocktail Crantini
-----------------------------------------------------------
12 Alaskan IPA
-----------------------------------------------------------
13 Mike's Cocktail Lemon Drop
-----------------------------------------------------------
14 Zima Pineapple Citrus
-----------------------------------------------------------
15 Kokanee Gold
-----------------------------------------------------------
*T

-- New brands did not report any IRI sales data prior to Jan. 2,
2007

"It's all about flavor in 2007," added Williams. "From pomegranate
and cranberry to pineapple and orange grapefruit, these new flavor
product innovations are definitely hitting the right note with
consumers."

For complete details on the Top 30 Beer Brand Performers, contact
Bump Williams at bump.williams@infores.com.

About IRI

IRI is the world's leading provider of consumer, shopper, and
retail market intelligence and insights supporting 95 percent of the
FORTUNE Global 500 consumer packaged goods (CPG), retail and
healthcare companies. Only IRI offers the unique combination of
integrated market information, automated and predictive analytics,
innovative enabling technologies, and domain expertise. With IRI,
leading retailers and manufacturers are able to quickly discover
breakthrough insights driving smarter decisions and actions across the
enterprise for breakthrough results. Companies around the world depend
on IRI for improved productivity, stronger brands, and dramatic
revenue growth. For more information, visit http://us.infores.com.

Editor's Note: Specific brands and/or products listed are either
trademarks or registered trademarks of their respective companies.

IRI Contacts:
John McIndoe, (312) 474-3862
john.mcindoe@infores.com
Fax: (312) 474-2512
or
Shelley Hughes, (312) 474-3675
shelley.hughes@infores.com
Fax: (312) 474-2512

Copyright Business Wire 2008