Is the Great Beer Recession Over?

For commercial beer manufacturers, the United States is the most important market, and after the Great Beer Recession of 2009 to 2011, sales figures are finally looking up for big beer companies like Anheuser-Busch InBev (NYSE:BUD).

Beer drinkers in the United States are hugely important to the Budweiser maker. The region accounts for approximately 40 percent of the company’s operating profit and one-third of its sales, reported The Wall Street Journal. So when beer drinkers, especially among the country’s blue-collar workers, lowered their consumption during the recession, AB InBev took a tough hit. But with employment conditions slowly improving alongside the economic recovery, Americans are drinking more beer.

According to preliminary numbers tabulated by Beverage Marketing, beer sales in the United States rose 1.4 percent in 2012 — the first increase in four years reported the New York Post. The problem for AB InBev is that the growth was spurred by the continued rise of craft beers and imported beer, segments that are not the company’s strongest suit. But AB InBev is working to expand beyond Budweiser, its staple, flagship lager…