When it comes to Facebook and beer, the international beers have had their way over American suds. In fact, even a small brewer like Yuengling had a bigger Facebook following than some of the major brands as recently as a month ago. But, this summer everything changed when the big boys at Bud and Miller/Coors began to take the portal seriously.

The old Facebook model was geared to the microbeers that spread their name through word of mouth and international beers that may not have been as concerned with age restrictions as their U.S. counterparts. What we are seeing now is a move to a new version of Facebook that is being dominated by big brands who are using it as a natural extension of their marketing. And they are operating under an agreement Facebook made with attorneys general to limit access to alcohol and tobacco sites to those who are of age for those products. Now, the big boys have taken the gloves off and begun to promote Facebook through games, apps and contests that have really driven fans to the sites.

Below is the list of beers with fanpages on Facebook. As I said, it is a rapidly changing list; if you looked at it two months ago, the top American beer would have been Coors Light at number 12 with only 33,380 fans. At that time, Budweiser only had 23,745 and Miller Lite only 10,874.

1. Heineken 324,057 fans
2. Guinness 261,007
3. Corona: 255,210
4. Cerveza Aguila: 178,160
5. Stella Artois 160,999
6. Coors Light: 137,543
7. Bud Light 132,088
8. Desperados: 128,438
9. Tuborg: 115,137
10. Dos Equus 114,876
11. Budweiser 111,625
12. Miller Lite 79,793
13. Carlsberg 62,856
14. Bud Light Lime Canada 55,572
15. Yuengling 46,409.
16. Pilsner Urquel 41,577
17. Tuborg Julebryg 35,754
18. Blonde Leffe 35,191
19. Pabst 32,514
20. Molson Canadian 29,060
21. Efes Pilsen 23,687
22. Beck’s 21,066
23. Hoegaarden 20,805
24. Peroni 20,284
25. Michelob Ultra 19,978
26. Fat Tire 18,529
27. Dogfish Head: 16,960
28. Tiger: 16,523
29. Sierra Nevada: 15,225
30. Tooheys Extra Dry: 14,794
31. Blue Moon: 14,291
32. Bavaria: 13,311
33. San Miguel 11,988
34. Medalla Light: 11,000
35. Abita: 10,313
36. Shiner: 10,045
37. Carlton Draught: 9,659
38. Sam Adams: 8,937
39. Sarajevsko Pivo: 8,772
40. Cusquena: 8,358
41. Cruzcampo 8,620
42. Leinenkugel 8,252
43. Newcastle Brown Ale  8,063
44. Pilsener: 7,713
45. Carling: 7,611
46. Harpoon: 7,130
47. Club Colombia: 6,981
48. Tecate Light: 6,360
49. Cerveza Cristal: 5,516
50. Miller High Life: 5,455
51. Cerveza Quilmes: 5,412
52. Miller Genuine Draft: 4,652
53. Stiegl: 4,582
54. Staropramen: 4,493
55. Warsteiner: 3,973
56. Pacifico: 3,682
57. Singha: 3,339
58. Chang: 3,243
59. Beamish: 2,723
60. Skol: 2,464
61. Moosehead: 2,255
62. Castle Lager: 2,123
63. Tyskie: 2,041
64. Anchor Steam: 1,916
65. BitBurger: 1,734
66. Guinness Draught: 1,626
67. Schlitz: 1,426

Beer, of course, is a perfect topic for Facebook, conjuring up leisure and devotion in one product. The astonishing thing is the high ranking for international brands that do not get much attention in the U.S. When’s the last time you saw Cerveza Aguila or a Blonde Leffe? This demonstrates the power of FB in countries around the world. It may have started here, but it has the look of something that the world owns now.

The list is constantly changing and the numbers are likely to already be out of date. Also, the ability to differentiate between fan pages and official fan pages can be very difficult. A couple of other observations:

- FB seems ideal for the microbreweries. When will one of those break through because of a Facebook page?

- Where is Red Stripe beer? Of all the niche beers that could benefit from a fan group it would seem to be a brand associated with Jamaica, for all the reasons I know you’re thinking about.

Stay tuned to this space for more analysis of brands on Facebook.