Anheuser Busch to release lighter version of Bud Light

Bud Light Next first ever zero-carb beer released by major brewer

Bud Light is getting even lighter. The country’s most popular domestic light beer is slimming down to appeal to more health conscious consumers.

Anheuser-Busch recently told CNN Business that its newest beer — called Bud Light Next — will be released early next year as its first ever zero-carb offering.

According to Andy Goeler, Bud Light’s vice president of marketing, Bud Light Next was designed to appeal to Generation Z consumers who are more mindful of nutrition. 

The shift to healthier drinking has led to the recent popularity of hard seltzers and low-carb beer offerings. 

“Today’s consumers have got options of low calorie and low carb products, this is another entry to have something that goes all the way to zero carbs,” Goeler told CNN Business. “It’s a big consumer trend we see across many consumer industries.”

Anheuser-Busch will reportedly be the first major brewer to release a zero-carb beer. Goeler told CNN Business creating Bud Light Next took the company around a decade and included going through 130 prototypes.

Bud Light Next comes with an alcohol percentage of 4% and contains 80 calories per 12 ounces, according to CNN Business. It will be sold in both bottles and cans in six and twelve pack varieties. Bud Light, meanwhile, has 110 calories per serving and roughly the same alcohol percentage. 

Goeler told CNN Business the plan is to keep “evolving and innovating,” in order to cater to all of the different drinkers of today, using the success of Bud Light Seltzer and fruit flavored version of Bud Light as an example of adapting to evolving interests. 

The pandemic also appears to have reignited people’s interest in drinking beer, following a decade of slowing sales. CNN Business reports that, according to Nielsen, retail sales of beer increased 8.6% percent last year for a total of $40 billion, while the sale of light beer in particular rose 5% to $10.6 billion.