Most South Africans have never heard of, let alone tasted, the world’s most popular beer.

It’s a weird thought in a country that accounts for 34% of the overall beer market in Africa.

Still, despite drinking a ton of beer, none of our local brands come close to Snow, which sold an estimated 101 million hectoliters worldwide in 2017.

A hectolitre is a hundred litres, so that’s over 10 billion litres of beer. Let that sink in.

Snow Beer is popular in China, but it could be making its way to South African shores at some point.

Here’s Business Insider:

Early in August, Heineken announced plans to take a 40% stake in CRH Beer Limited (CBL), the largest beer producer in China. The most popular beer in China — and the world — is Snow, a brand owned by CBL.

Snow dominates the global beer market, with people drinking more than double the volume of the brand worldwide than the next-biggest competitor.

Snow’s success is in part due to the size of China and the drinkability of the beer which only has 4% ABV and 120 calories per can.

While the Chinese drink less per capita than Americans, the country is by far the biggest beer market by volume, accounting for 25% of the global volume of beer.

China consumed an estimated 493 million hectoliters (over a billion litres) of beer in 2017, according to GlobalData Consumer data analyzed by Bank of America Merril Lynch. For comparison, the US consumed 235 million hectoliters.

We’ve seen our fair share of snow around these parts of late, but South Africans are far more into the ‘soaking up the sun’ vibes.

Maybe that’s why Sol Beer has proven so popular on these shores:

SUNday essentials… Whose with me? #TasteTheSun pic.twitter.com/cwZxAMr8di

— SolBeerSA (@SolBeerSA) September 16, 2018

Sol is an imported Mexican beer, best enjoyed with a little bit of lime. It embodies “Espiritu Libre” (the spirit of freedom), and has landed the world’s greatest brand ambassador.

You know, the sun:

As the sun, I’ve been waking up that Espritiu Libre since the beginning of time and Sol beer since 1899, and they know it. pic.twitter.com/Chu7MdhF6y

— SolBeerSA (@SolBeerSA) August 13, 2018

Sol is always at the centre of the action, whether it’s at a rooftop party, or enjoyed while listening to some of SA’s top bands.

They sponsor some of the funkiest parties and music events in Cape Town, Jozi, and other spots around the country, and you can keep up to date with the best places to crush a cold one here.

[source:businessinsider]