Moreover, "Beer sales in the US are expected to plunge to their lowest level since 1999 ... [because] "Sales declined by more than 5% in the first nine months of the year."

AKA: no one gives a fuck about 5%, which is essentially a margin of error for MANY different potential reasons for declining sales of anything. There's also a trend in fewer drinkers of traditional alcoholic beverages over the past 30+ years, whereas youngsters are drinkng variations of canned, bubbly caffeinated alcoholic concoctions.