Corona, Not Guinness: America's Best-Liked Beer Is a Century-Old Mexican Lager
It is not Guinness, and it is not Budweiser. According to YouGov's 2026 beer popularity rankings, Corona is America's most popular beer brand with a 60% favorability rating. Guinness follows at 56%, with Budweiser third at 54%. YouGov's method is simple: survey Americans on whether they hold a positive, negative, or neutral view of each brand. Behind the top three sit Samuel Adams and Heineken (tied at 49%), Modelo (48%), Coors and Miller (47% each), and Stella Artois (46%), per food outlet Sporked's rundown of the data.
The age breakdown adds texture. Millennials rank Corona first. For Generation X the outlets disagree: Tasting Table puts Corona first, while Food Republic's reading of the same YouGov crossbreak puts Blue Moon first. Among Baby Boomers the readings also differ: Tasting Table reads the numbers as Boomers preferring Guinness, while Chowhound's reading puts Corona first even among Boomers with a 55% positive rating. Note that YouGov scores Corona, Corona Light, and Corona Extra as separate entries: among Boomers, Light draws 40% and Extra just 34%.
Gender splits the vote too. Women prefer Corona, while men show a slender preference for Guinness. The light, easy-drinking Mexican lager plays better with women; the rich Irish stout edges ahead with men.
Corona is no overnight sensation. The Mexican pale lager was first brewed in 1925 to mark the tenth anniversary of Cerveceria Modelo, making it 101 years old. A longtime staple at home in Mexico, La Cerveza Mas Fina took the United States by storm only over recent decades.
Popularity and sales are different trophies. Constellation Brands, which imports and markets the Casa Modelo family in the United States (the beer itself is brewed in Mexico), confirmed in October 2026 that Corona is the "#1 most loved beer brand in the U.S.," while Modelo Especial is the "#1 beer in the U.S. by dollar sales." Modelo seized the dollar-sales crown from Bud Light back in 2023 and has held it since, Constellation says.
The popularity crown arrives as volumes soften. In its latest quarterly report, Constellation said total beer depletions fell 0.6%, with Corona Extra down about 5% and Modelo Especial down about 2%, offset by growth from Pacifico (up about 19%), Victoria (up about 15%), and the Modelo Chelada line (up about 5%). Even so, Modelo remains number one by dollar sales, Pacifico has broken into the top ten, and Corona Extra stays in the top five, according to trade coverage of the results.
Measured by volume rather than dollars, the crown changes hands. Beer Marketer's Insights reports that Michelob Ultra leads on volume, and Circana retail data for a 52-week window likewise put the light lager first, per industry outlet Everything-PR. Corona's premium pricing wins the dollar race; light beer's cases win the volume race. America's "most popular" beer depends entirely on whether you ask about affection, dollars, or cases — and on affection, the 101-year-old Mexican lager wins.