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    Domestic beers have ruled the brew world for years, by generally accepted reputation or by bar owners’ dependence on their revenue. Lately, however, there have been more and more offerings from various companies — beer, liquor and wine alike — competing for their portion of the profits. Yet, domestics continue to be dominant in sales, driving solid business at bars across the country. While guests do like to try something new and different occasionally, they usually go with something familiar — something that they know — and domestics are there for those customers. Whether paired with an appetizer plate or poured alone into a frosted pint glass, domestic beer continues to increase on-premise sales.

Size Does Matter
    Jackson’s on Third is a large entertainment venue in the Phoenix area and an ideal location for domestic beer sales. And because of its proximity to professional baseball and football stadiums, the bar is very event-driven. However, Jackson’s operators also feature a nightclub component for patrons, so there is a good variety in the crowd.
    The 30,000-square-foot venue carries 28 different beers on tap, with 20 or so in bottles. Staff there sell a range of domestic beers, with products from Budweiser, Coors and Miller.
    General Manager Mike Haasch says when they have a baseball or football crowd, Miller Lite seems to do best, but when Jackson’s on Third does its nightclub thing, the crowd veers more to Bud Light.
With that many tap handles, operators don’t necessarily have to feature domestics. However, when they do, there are a variety of options they have.
    “We feature our domestics via sponsorship in beer tubs and on other POS,” Haasch says. “We decorate the bar with flags and banners. We decorate the beer tub and put a hot chick behind there, and (we) sell, sell, sell.”
    At Jackson’s on Third, there are no Happy Hour prices for domestic beers, but the beers are promoted in several other guest-enticing ways. For example, during special events, Jackson’s on Third likes to discount 16-ounce beers down to the price of a 12-ounce. Similarly, during Arizona Diamondbacks home games, the staff pushes the 24-ounce cans for the price of regular 12-ounce, which is $3.50. They put out the Miller Lite tubs and go to work on moving an easily sellable product.
    According to Haasch, size does matter when talking about domestic beers. “My suggestion is to try a larger-size domestic beer. We’ve been doing that for a while and that’s what has worked for us,” he says.
    For a while, Miller Lite was making 20-ounce containers, and that sold well at the bar. Again, the key is getting the beer in something other than the usual 12-ounce size, “something they couldn’t get or wouldn’t buy at a grocery store,” Haasch says. “It’s that little something that makes you stand out. A guy might go out and experiment, not with taste, but with a different size beer.”

Variety, Promotions and Support
    Domestic beer companies also have been putting out a variety of different beers to try to capture as much of the beer market as consumer interest will allow.
    “The most recent one I’ve come across is the Michelob Ultra Amber,” Haasch says. “That’s the one we’re going to take a look at next.”
    Jackson’s on Third staff don’t pick up beers that might not sell, as Haasch explains. “I don’t do a lot of experimenting. We try to appease everybody, and I don’t have the space.”
    Haasch says he did try Bud Select in the Phoenix market, though. “It did well,” he says. “Marketing and packaging on (Anheuser-Busch’s) end helped. People saw it on television and recognized it, which makes it a lot easier for them to try.”
    Over in Texas, Ruby Trabanio owns Big John’s Bar in Houston. According to him, Bud Light sells the best in his bar, followed by Miller Lite, then Budweiser and then Coors Light.
    “Budweiser is the best promoter of all for me. They seem very aggressive in their marketing,” Trabanio says.
    Big John’s Bar offers 80 draft beers, so the focus isn’t on domestic beer sales. However, operators do use domestic beers as solid promotions for Houston Rockets or Houston Texans games. One of the things they do is offer 60-ounce pitchers at $6 or $7, which is a savings of $3.25 for patrons. While the size is impressive on pitchers, the real key is the savings. Serving size is one thing that works for domestic beer sales, but price is also very key. “The best way it is, the lower it is, the better the sales, obviously,” Trabanio says.
    At the Arena Sports Bar in Anne Arbor, Mich., domestics do very well. They have 24 taps, but most of them are split among various domestic offerings. Arena Owner Mike Flore observes Miller Lite selling best in his area, followed by Bud Light, then Bud and then Coors Light. But, what makes one domestic sell better than another? “Advertising,” Flore says. “They’re the same price, but whoever has the best ads does well. Miller has had a pretty strong campaign over the past couple years.”
    Trabanio thinks Miller has aggressively worked on increasing its product’s exposure. “Miller Lite has a promotion where they bring in the Miller Lite girls and take pictures of the customers to make baseball cards and what not,” he says. “Miller has been doing a pretty good job of getting out to the masses.”
    Promotions in general are solid for sales, he says, and they have become vital to bar livelihood.
    “You can go from selling 12 bottles to selling four or five cases in a couple of hours,” Trabanio says. “It just gives people something to do. A long time ago, you had to just sell beer and you were good to go. You have to entertain now.” NCB