I wasn't planning on continuing down the road of the economic relationship of domestic versus import versus craft beer. But, in a totally unintended coincidence, I came across an article on Yahoo! Finance today about America's number one import beer—Corona Extra.
The gist of the article, written by Kyle Stock, is that Corona is bad, yet has managed to climb into the number one spot for imports, and the number 5 spot for best selling beers in the U.S. market overall. Stock asserts that its Constellation Brand's (Corona's former U.S. importer and as-of-last-year, the owners) marketing strategy that is the impetus for the brand's success. Essentially, he says, that it's Cororna's laid-back, beach-vibe that does the selling—not the beer's flavor. Stock, cites Rate Beer and Beer Advocate reviewers and rankings in his article, noting that BA gives Corona an "awful" rating of 55 out of 100, and that it doesn't even break 2 out of a possible 10 on Rate Beer.
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Courtesy of Corona's Facebook page |
I have to tell you, I don't buy that. First off, I think we can all agree that those who do the ratings on those sites might be a bit biased against mass-produced light lagers in the first place. Secondly, I'm not sure how hard Corona is really being pushed by Constellation. Sure, I see the occasional Corona ad, with a little more push around Cinco de Mayo, but no more than I see advertising for big craft, like Sam Adams.
Here's the thing, I actually like Corona. Add a lime wedge and you've got a pretty great barbecue and picnic beer. I've always thought Corona was a nice alternative to the corny-sweet American made macros. There's been a thousand time that I've been to a party or watching the game at someones house and they said "Oh, man, your a craft beer drinker, right? All I have is Corona, is that cool.?"
Of course it's cool.
So, maybe—and I'd imaging to the chagrin of all those BA reviewers—people drink Corona, because they just like it.