Business: Less Suds; Beer makers scramble amid falling U.S. consumption

Americans are increasingly laying off the booze, prompting the world’s biggest brewers and liquor companies to push beyond their traditional fare and roll out teas, energy drinks and nonalcoholic spirits.
New data show that U.S. alcohol volumes dropped 0.8% last year, slightly steeper than the 0.7% decline in 2017. Beer was worst hit, with volumes down 1.5% in 2018, compared with a 1.1% decline the previous year.

Budweiser InBev, ne of the two biggest brewers in the world, has invested in energy drinks and non-alcoholic beer, with other beer makers moving into seltzers and cannabis-infused brews among other innovations to keep younger drinkers in particular turning to the suds.

Meanwhile, Bud's longtime rival, Molson Coors Brewing Co. plans on cutting hundreds of jobs as it tries to reinvent its business and move beyond just selling beer.
The maker of Coors Light and Miller Lite said Wednesday it expects to cut between 400 and 500 positions as part of a broader restructuring that includes dropping the "Brewing" from its name.