Memorial Day Alcohol Sales Down for the On-Premise, But Bright Spots Emerge On Summer Kickoff Weekend
Guinness and Pacifico posted standout growth on draft; White Claw, Busch Light and RTDs deliver strong gains
SYRACUSE, NY (May 28, 2025) — BeerBoard, the leader in technology and insights for the on-premise hospitality industry, today released its performance report analyzing alcohol sales during Memorial Day weekend (May 23–26, 2025, Fri-Mon), comparing results from same-store sales against the same period in 2024 (May 24–27, Fri-Mon).
Memorial Day Weekend marks the unofficial start of summer, with most alcohol sales coverage centered on off-premise events like barbecues and parties. However, real-time insights from on-premise locations show total beverage alcohol sales declined -4.4% year-over-year. The data points to evolving consumer preferences, though Beyond Beer packaged products stood out with strong performance over the weekend.
Draft & Packaged Beer
Draft Beer saw a -3.9% YoY decline in volume, showing resilience amid larger packaged beer declines.
Draft style highlights:
- Domestic: -3.2% poured kegs / +0.9% volume share
- Craft: -6.1% poured kegs / -3.4% volume share
- Imports: -1.2% poured kegs / +4.7% volume share
- Beyond Beer: -4.0% poured kegs / -4.7% volume share
Top 5 Draft Brands (by volume):
- Michelob Ultra
- Miller Lite
- Modelo Especial
- Bud Light
- Coors Light
- Miller Lite jumped to the #2 position in draft brands for the weekend, leaping over Modelo Especial, up from #3 in 2024
- Bud Light moved up to #4 (+1 from #5 in 2024) and saw a healthy +17.4% increase in volume YoY
Outside the Top 10
A couple notable showings came from:
- Guinness saw marked growth over 2024, realizing +17.3% in total volume, and +5.6% growth in rate of sale (ROS).
- Pacifico was also a big mover, seeing +29.8% in volume and +23.9 in ROS.
Packaged Products
In contrast, Packaged faced a noticeable drop with -6% decline YoY in units sold. This is an improvement from a -17% YoY decline on the Kentucky Derby-Cinco de Mayo weekend a few weeks prior.
- Domestic Packaged: -4.8% units sold / +1.2% volume share
- Craft Packaged: -2.3% units sold / +8.8% volume share
- Import Packaged: -9.9% units sold / -4.3% volume share
- Beyond Beer Packaged: +5.3% units sold / +12.5% volume share
Beyond Beer (Canned Cocktails, Hard Seltzers, Non-Alc)
Beyond Beer remained a growth driver, seeing +5.3% growth in units sold and +7.9% volume share.
- RTD Cocktails rose +21.3% in units sold and +29.2% in volume share
- Non-Alcoholic Beverages were another driver, increasing +18.5% in units sold and +20.4% in volume share
Top packaged performers:
- Corona Extra was the #1 packaged product on the weekend, though it was down -13.8% in units sold
- White Claw Hard Seltzer Black Cherry was the top performing non-beer product while also improving volume share by 2.9%
- High Noon Sun Sips Pineapple: +20% units sold / +27.3% volume share
- Busch Light: +16.4% units sold / +16.2% volume share
- Heineken 0.0: +7.2% units sold / +14.2% volume share
Spirits
Spirits faced significant another tough holiday weekend, with total sales down -13.7% YoY.
- Coming off a strong showing on Kentucky Derby weekend, Whiskey sales decreased in volume (-5.7%), but saw a notable increase in volume share at +9.3%
- Tequila saw a steep -19.3% decline in volume, coupled with a -6.4% drop in volume share