Younger Germans take pleasure in alcohol-free beer as lager gross sales fall flat

[ad_1] Bethany Bell BBC Information in Bavaria

<img sizes="(min-width: 1280px) 50vw, (min-width: 1008px) 66vw, 96vw" srcset="https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/240/cpsprodpb/c05d/live/f4caa4b0-84ba-11f0-85ca-c5c26b7f555d.jpg.webp 240w,https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/320/cpsprodpb/c05d/live/f4caa4b0-84ba-11f0-85ca-c5c26b7f555d.jpg.webp 320w,https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/480/cpsprodpb/c05d/live/f4caa4b0-84ba-11f0-85ca-c5c26b7f555d.jpg.webp 480w,https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/640/cpsprodpb/c05d/live/f4caa4b0-84ba-11f0-85ca-c5c26b7f555d.jpg.webp 640w,https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/800/cpsprodpb/c05d/live/f4caa4b0-84ba-11f0-85ca-c5c26b7f555d.jpg.webp 800w,https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/1024/cpsprodpb/c05d/live/f4caa4b0-84ba-11f0-85ca-c5c26b7f555d.jpg.webp 1024w,https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/1536/cpsprodpb/c05d/live/f4caa4b0-84ba-11f0-85ca-c5c26b7f555d.jpg.webp 1536w" src="https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/480/cpsprodpb/c05d/live/f4caa4b0-84ba-11f0-85ca-c5c26b7f555d.jpg.webp" loading="eager" alt="BBC A barman under a bar umbrella pours a dark beer from a barrel. He is wearing a white t-shirt and an apron and is photographed in profile. There are about six beers on the table beside him. " class="sc-d1200759-0 dvfjxj"/> BBC Beer gross sales in Germany have fallen to their lowest degree for 30 years

Germans are ingesting much less and fewer beer, however non-alcoholic varieties are extra standard than ever.

Germany's Destatis federal statistics workplace says non-alcoholic gross sales have greater than doubled lately - up 109% since 2013 - regardless that beer gross sales extra broadly are at their lowest degree in additional than 30 years.

For the primary time, they've fallen beneath 4bn litres in a half-year interval.

German beer gross sales slumped by 6.3% - or 262 million litres - to round 3.9bn litres within the first half of 2025, in contrast with the identical interval final yr.

The Erdinger brewery close to Munich has been making beer because the Eighteen Eighties, and its chief govt, Stefan Kreisz, says ingesting habits are altering and as of late a couple of quarter of their manufacturing is non-alcoholic.

"We have to discover a approach to make beer, even when it is non-alcoholic, enticing for younger individuals.

"You might want to perceive the methods they meet and the methods they occasion collectively. There is not any algorithm which tells you you want a beer now."

<img sizes="(min-width: 1280px) 50vw, (min-width: 1008px) 66vw, 96vw" srcset="https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/240/cpsprodpb/dd3b/live/916631b0-8388-11f0-ab3e-bd52082cd0ae.jpg.webp 240w,https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/320/cpsprodpb/dd3b/live/916631b0-8388-11f0-ab3e-bd52082cd0ae.jpg.webp 320w,https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/480/cpsprodpb/dd3b/live/916631b0-8388-11f0-ab3e-bd52082cd0ae.jpg.webp 480w,https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/640/cpsprodpb/dd3b/live/916631b0-8388-11f0-ab3e-bd52082cd0ae.jpg.webp 640w,https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/800/cpsprodpb/dd3b/live/916631b0-8388-11f0-ab3e-bd52082cd0ae.jpg.webp 800w,https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/1024/cpsprodpb/dd3b/live/916631b0-8388-11f0-ab3e-bd52082cd0ae.jpg.webp 1024w,https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/1536/cpsprodpb/dd3b/live/916631b0-8388-11f0-ab3e-bd52082cd0ae.jpg.webp 1536w" src="https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/480/cpsprodpb/dd3b/live/916631b0-8388-11f0-ab3e-bd52082cd0ae.jpg.webp" loading="lazy" alt="Bottles of the non-alcoholic beer, Erdinger, on a conveyor belt. " class="sc-d1200759-0 dvfjxj"/> The sale of non-alcoholic beers has greater than doubled since 2013

Stefan Kreisz nonetheless sees the tradition of German beer as resilient, and these days his firm promotes its alcohol-free beer at sporting occasions, as a pure various to vitality drinks.

On the Café Kosmos in Munich, barman Louis von Tucher says a lot of his clients are extra well being conscious.

"Within the 2000s, I keep in mind individuals being delay should you instructed them perhaps you must have a glass of water… and they'd be actually offended."

Now, nonetheless, he has detected a change.

"Everyone is slightly bit extra acutely aware about their consumption. I feel most individuals nonetheless drink alcohol, however they do it extra consciously and have alcohol-free drinks in between."

<img sizes="(min-width: 1280px) 50vw, (min-width: 1008px) 66vw, 96vw" srcset="https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/240/cpsprodpb/2a9f/live/69dce300-8388-11f0-83cc-c5da98c419b8.jpg.webp 240w,https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/320/cpsprodpb/2a9f/live/69dce300-8388-11f0-83cc-c5da98c419b8.jpg.webp 320w,https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/480/cpsprodpb/2a9f/live/69dce300-8388-11f0-83cc-c5da98c419b8.jpg.webp 480w,https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/640/cpsprodpb/2a9f/live/69dce300-8388-11f0-83cc-c5da98c419b8.jpg.webp 640w,https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/800/cpsprodpb/2a9f/live/69dce300-8388-11f0-83cc-c5da98c419b8.jpg.webp 800w,https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/1024/cpsprodpb/2a9f/live/69dce300-8388-11f0-83cc-c5da98c419b8.jpg.webp 1024w,https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/1536/cpsprodpb/2a9f/live/69dce300-8388-11f0-83cc-c5da98c419b8.jpg.webp 1536w" src="https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/480/cpsprodpb/2a9f/live/69dce300-8388-11f0-83cc-c5da98c419b8.jpg.webp" loading="lazy" alt="A young lady smiles to the camera holding a half-drunk beer. She has a long auburn bob and red painted nails. " class="sc-d1200759-0 dvfjxj"/> Magdalena, a scholar, believes that folks her age drink much less repeatedly than older generations however nonetheless take pleasure in a beer

Nonetheless Louis says full-strength beer shouldn't be going away.

"It is a slight shift, he stated, I assume we promote 150 to 500 litres of regular beer at evening, in comparison with perhaps 20 litres of alcohol-free beer. So there's nonetheless an enormous hole between these two."

On the Sandkerwa folks competition within the city of Bamberg in northern Bavaria, the custom of ingesting alcoholic beer in Germany seems alive and nicely.

In the course of the five-day lengthy celebration, Bamberg's winding, medieval streets are crammed with musicians, sausage stands and numerous beer stalls doing a roaring commerce.

Within the Sandstrasse within the outdated city, Pascal was having a beer with a pal.

"Beer is essential for town and we now have numerous breweries right here," he stated.

"Folks come right here for the beer and for the fest. I am unable to think about that consumption of beer right here in Bamberg is absolutely lower than earlier than."

Standing exterior a beer backyard, Magdalena, a scholar, agreed.

"I am wanting round, and everyone has a glass of beer of their hand. So I assume, particularly on this a part of Germany, beer is only a huge a part of each day life, regardless that it is not wholesome. Everyone knows that," she stated.

"I really feel like, particularly in my era, individuals are inclined to drink much less each day, but it surely's nonetheless Germany, it is nonetheless Bavaria."