The lemon-flavored malt beverages have become trendy, as consumers look for something new and different. Lemon brews, which up until a year and a half ago didn't exist, now make up between 1 percent and 2 percent of the $54 billion U.S. beer industry's sales.

According to Skip Carpenter, a beverage analyst for Donaldson, Lufkin & Jenrette Securities Corp., hard lemonade's total market share in supermarkets alone has more than tripled to 0.9 percent in the last year.

The popularity of hard lemonade isn't limited to the United States. In Europe, and especially the U.K., the lemon-flavored drinks are in great demand. The fruit beer attracts not only women drinkers, but men as well.

"It tastes like lemonade," said Russell Barnett, marketing chief for Mike's Hard Beverage Co., the San Francisco, Calif.-based company that makes the market-leading Mike's Hard Lemonade. "It is a flavor we all grew up with."

To keep the trend going, beer makers are looking at other flavors. Anheuser-Busch, for instance, is planning to launch a raspberry flavor under its Doc Otis Hard Lemon Malt label next spring.

"People are always looking for something new to try," said Steve Bagwell, vice president of premium plus brands for Anheuser-Busch. "Basically people want variety.

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