More Americans Drink Canned Beer

When's the last time you drank a canned beer? Chances are, pretty recently: New stats show that 53 percent of the beer consumed in 2011 came in a can, not a bottle or on draught.

Reports Bloomberg, there are two reasons for the resurgence of canned beer: the recession (canned beer is usually cheap), and the rise of smaller breweries. (Bloomberg also notes another funnier reason: hipsters, naturally). After canned beer's peak in popularity in 1991 (at 60 percent consumption), bottes and draughts became the norm due to the rise of foreign brews.

Said Brewers Association president Charlie Papazian to Bloomberg, the best-selling beers as of now are the high-priced craft beers, and the lower-priced "below-premium" beers. That includes the cheaper, Pabst-type beers that, you guessed it, come in a can. But, Papazian says, "The image of beer in cans has changed."

However, the rise of canned beer doesn't change the fact that overall beer consumption has slumped since the recession: beer consumption has fallen 7 percent since 2007.