<P> Miller Lite was essentially the first mainstream light beer . After its first inception as `` Gablinger 's Diet Beer , '' developed in 1967 by Joseph L. Owades , PhD , a biochemist working for New York 's Rheingold Brewery , the recipe was given by Owades to Chicago 's Peter Hand Brewing . That year , Peter Hand Brewing was purchased by a group of investors , renamed Meister Brau Brewing , and Lite was soon introduced as Meister Brau Lite , a companion to their flagship Meister Brau . Under the new management , Meister Brau Brewing encountered significant financial problems , and in 1972 , sold several of its existing labels to Miller . The recipe was relaunched simply as `` Lite '' on packaging and in advertising ( with `` Lite Beer from Miller '' being its `` official '' name until the late ' 90s ) in the test markets of Springfield , Illinois , Knoxville , Tennessee , and San Diego , California , in 1973 , and heavily marketed using masculine pro sports players and other , so - called , macho figures of the day in an effort to sell to the key beer - drinking male demographic . Miller Lite was introduced nationally in 1975 . Miller 's heavy - advertising approach worked where the two previous light beers had failed , and Miller 's early production totals of 12.8 million barrels quickly increased to 24.2 million barrels by 1977 as Miller rose to 2nd place in the American brewing marketplace . Other brewers responded , in particular Anheuser - Busch with its heavily advertised Bud Light in 1982 , which eventually overtook Lite in sales by 1994 . Anheuser - Busch played on the branding style of `` Lite '' by highlighting the fact that their beer was called `` Bud Light , '' as `` everything else is just a light . '' In 1992 , light beers became the biggest domestic beer in America , and in 1998 , Miller relabeled its `` Lite '' brand as `` Miller Lite . '' </P>
what was the first light beer in the us
Miller Lite