Which brew for you? 'Millercoorweiser' still rules the market, but imports are on the rise. Our taste tests make you wonder why.(Buyers Guide)(Cover Story)(Evaluation)

Anheuser-Busch, Miller, and Coors brew four of every five beers that Americans hoist. The only serious challengers to the big three are imports, whose market share has more than doubled since 1993. Indeed, imports now account for one bottle of every ten sold in the U.S. Among the major brands: Corona (Mexico), Heineken (Holland), and Molson (Canada).

Imports are luring a well-educated, well-to-do crowd that a few years ago was quaffing beer from microbreweries, many of which have closed. "Drinking an import confers status, a badge," says Benj Steinman, editor of Beer Marketer's Insights, a trade publication. "This is an image business."

Buyers of imports are paying a price for the image: Imported beer sells for about $6 to $7 per six-pack vs. as little as $3 for some domestic beer.

But if imported-beer drinkers think they're getting a great product, they're often wrong. Half of the regular (full-calorie) imports we tasted scored lower than the worst regular domestic beer, and the two light imports we tasted scored lowest of ten light beers. Other key findings from our tests:

* Within most categories--light, imported, and craft lagers as well as ales--there were big differences in the quality of beers' flavor and body. Only the nonalcoholic beers were of similar quality: All were only Fair.

* The best beers were sometimes far less expensive than the worst.

* Light beers generally scored lower than their full-calorie versions. And they may not be as light as you think. Milwaukee's Best full-calorie beer has 128 calories; Michelob Light has 134.