I know the light lager trend has been brewing (sorry) for a while, and is part of chasing a session market, including radlers and hard sodas (spritzers?). But I wonder how much is influenced by the closing of bars. I can see people choosing packaged alcohol on the basis of when and where they are going to consume it, after all, lot's of people do have lawns to mow.
When I walk into a bar (please let this be soon), and I suspect others do this too, I look at tap heads or a list to see what might be an interesting beer to try that I haven't seen before. I am highly unlikely to seek out a lawnmower beer if there are some more substantial options available. This then translates to package sales. If I have a great beer fresh on tap, I'm likely to seek it out in the future at the LCBO.
Without that bar step, I wonder if people are just buying stuff to get them through eight hours of Zoom tedium every day. If my theory holds, this is not really so much a trend as it is brewers chasing some sales and when things get normalish again, they might be back in the lab trying to find new recipes to stand out from the crowd.
Though I fear that will just be a race to a new over the top style. Boston Clam Chowder IPA anyone?
Brands are for cattle.
Fans are cash cows.
The herd will consume until consumed.