"The troops came back and they didn't mind it," Papazian said. "Now light beers claim the largest segment of the market."
Anheuser-Busch makes 49 percent of the beer consumed in the US, followed by Philip Morris Cos' Miller Brewing, which controls 20 percent, according to industry figures. Golden, Colorado-based Coors accounted for 11 percent. Miller, Pabst Brewing Co and many regional brewers prefer corn to rice because of the golden color it imparts to beer, said Bill Radtke, vice president of operations for Pabst in Milwaukee.
US brewers used US$320 million in rice and corn last year, compared with US$560 million in malt and US$73 million in hops, according to the Beer Institute, a Washington-based brewing industry trade group. The group doesn't keep records of the cost of rice alone, or for water and other ingredients.
As brewer's rice has been gaining, the price of long-grain rice has fallen 24 percent to US$0.1025 a pound in the past year. Rough rice futures, which represent unmilled long-grain rice, have fallen 33 percent in the past year to US$0.0414 a pound on the Chicago Board of Trade.
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