Taxing beer as drinking nears historic lows

By Taxpayers Association of Oregon Foundation,

Beer consumption in America in 2023 America fell to the lowest level in a generation.

This beer decline is big.  The Great American Beer Festival, billed as the nation’s largest beer festival, used to sell out tickets within the first day. Now they accept walk ins on the day of the festival. This is similar to Oregon where two popular beer festivals closed.

At the same time, there is a coordinated lobby and media push in Oregon to raise beer taxes. Oregon Health Authority’s Director, Dr. Tom Jeanne, said that by significantly raising taxes on beer it will cause people to stop buying it and therefore reduce addiction — especially among teens.

Why raise taxes when beer is declining?

We asked an industry expert on the reason for the decline in beer sales and the answer surprised us. It appears that beer consumption is down because of the priority younger generation (Millennials, Gen Z) have placed on health. Michelob Ultra has figured this out and done a push to sell their beer based on the health benefits, and now Michelob Ultra is the #2 selling beer in America.

The other issue driving declining beer sales is the rise of THC beer.  So we have a situation where Oregon wishes to tax beer as people drink less while the State ignores marijuana-related intoxicants problems (as Oregon teen pot use far exceeds the national average).