Report: Alcohol sales, consumption up in 2008

As Americans weathered the worst economic downturn in generations, they also drowned quite a few of their sorrows.

Overall consumption of distilled spirits, wine and beer rose in 2008, according to data in the Handbook Advance 2009 released Monday by The Beverage Information Group. The growth came from atypical segments within each beverage alcohol category, which is a direct result of the U.S. economic downturn, Beverage Information Group said.

However, the rate of growth in each category was less than recent years. And the trend toward consumers trading up to premium brands -- a key factor to growth over the past several years -- decreased in 2008. The growth in 2008 came from the off-premise consumption of value-priced spirits, beer and wine.

Categories to take the largest hit in 2008 were imported beer and wine. Beer imports went from growing 12 percent in 2006 to 2.8 percent in 2007 to a 1.2 percent decline last year. But light beers grew another 2.2 percent and now represent 51.8 percent of the entire beer market.

Wine imports dropped by 1.7 percent in 2008 due to the effects of the recession, the weak value of the U.S. dollar and the grape surplus in Australia.