Bud Light swoops in as most popular student beers are revealed

Carlsberg has replaced Foster’s as the most popular beer of choice for university students in the UK, according to new Yoyo data. But the big winner this year is new entry Bud Light, which has swooped in to take fifth place on Yoyo’s 20 most popular student beers list – a year after it was first re-introduced to the UK market.

With the academic year kicking off and Fresher’s Weeks’ taking place up and down the country, we decided to find out the 20 most popular beers bought by university students through Yoyo’s payments and loyalty app (the most popular form of mobile payments for students and accepted at over 70 universities and student unions across the UK).

Comparing a random sample of 96,000 beers that were bought through the Yoyo app during the 2017/18 and 2016/17 academic years, Carlsberg has now taken the number one spot, replacing Foster’s, which has taken second place this year.

Coors Light has moved up two places to take third position, replacing Stella Artois which has dropped to eighth place.

Budweiser’s position has remained unchanged, taking fourth place, while its sister brand, Bud Light, entered the list for the first time to take fifth place.

Bud Light is reported to be the most popular beer in the US and only entered the UK market in March 2017, 16 years after attempts were first made to have it introduced.

The only other new entry to make this year’s list was Italian beer brand Birra Moretti (4.6% ABV), which came in at 19th place.

This latest ranking of beers amongst university students comes after data from the Office for National Statistics revealed that school-leavers are now drinking less.

Alcohol-free beers are said to be on the rise among students because of this, but Yoyo’s data suggests new-entry brands that deliver lower alcohol strengths than their competitors may also be proving more popular.

Brewed to 3.5% ABV in the UK,  Bud Light has the lowest alcohol strength out of the top five beer brands on this year’s list, with Carlsberg at 3.8%, Foster’s at 4%, Coors Light at 4.2%, and Budweiser (draught) at 4.3%.

Now compare this to a pint Stella Artois, which has an alcohol strength of 4.8%. Considered by many to be a strong beer (its alcohol content was reduced from 5% in 2012), the Belgian brand saw the steepest fall in popularity amongst students on this year’s list – dropping five places from 3rd to 8th position.