CHICAGO – As interest continues to grow for import beers, beer drinkers can now choose from a wide variety of specialty brews, the Chicago Tribune reports.

Beginning this month, Anheuser-Busch Cos. will be the exclusive U.S. importer for the Stella Artois brand, as well as Beck's, Bass Pale Ale, Hoegaarden and Leffe. The beer giant already distributes Grolsch, Tiger and Kirin. The brewer also announced that it has inked a deal to sell Czechvar Premium Czech Lager, which is already sold in 30 states through other companies.

Meanwhile, Miller is expanding distribution of Polish beer Tyskie beyond Chicago and New York. In addition, the company will begin importing Aguila, Cristal and Cusquena. Miller also imports Peroni and Pilsner Urquell. "We haven't even come close to tapping into the global brand portfolio of our company," Miller spokesman Peter Marino told the newspaper.

Consumer demand for imported brews continue to expand as sales for domestic brews decline. For the first 11 months of 2006, domestic beer sales dropped 0.5 percent, while total imports jumped 12.8 percent, according to the Beer Institute.

For example, in grocery stores, sales of import beers advanced 6.3 percent last year, compared with a 1.4 percent decline in overall beer sales, according to data from ACNielsen. But part of that increase can be attributed to the fact that supermarkets offered nearly 10 percent more imported beers last year than they did in 2005.

"This is a real consumer shift," Nick Lake, beer analyst at ACNielsen, told the newspaper. "It's not going to be a flash in the pan. Consumers are upscaling across all categories. Look at coffee, ice cream, chocolate."