Trouble in Deutschland part 1 - German beer culture in doubt

July 1, 12:49 PMBeer ExaminerCharlie Papazian

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Finding yourself in a German Biergarten is a memorable experience,
especially if you can recall how much more interesting the beer was decades
ago.  All photos by Charlie Papazian

Let there be no mistake about beer in Germany.  It is good.  Germans still love it.  And if you find yourself in Germany for the first time sitting in a summer Biergarten confronted with a liter mug of golden lager or a tall cloudy refreshing Hefeweizen (wheat beer with yeast) you’ll feel like you’re in heaven. 

But increasingly both German and foreign visitors know not of what they speak or drink.  German beer has undergone a massive shift in the past two decades.  There’s trouble in Deutschland.

The number of small traditional and independently owned breweries in Germany has plummeted from numbers approaching 2,200 fifty years ago to about 1,300 in recent years. Fifty years ago 2,200 were almost all independently owned.  Today’s 1,300 may reflect the number of actual breweries, but it does not indicate the number of independently owned breweries. That number is far less.

There are many reasons for this.  The competitive nature of the beer business is purely based on price, forcing many to call it quits.  Large breweries buy out small breweries to eliminate competition and international global brewers buy out large breweries to do the same.  Regularly there are family owned breweries can’t find an heir to continue the company. 

It doesn’t matter whether it happens in Germany, USA, UK , Japan, Australia, Brazil, Mexico, or South Africa.  When there is consolidation of businesses then consolidation of beer types and homogenous beer character follow.  When brands get taken over they get reformulated and there is a decrease in beer differentiation. 

Photo right: The small town Bierfests still exist, but finding variety and distinctive German beers is a challenge these days.

The variety and wonderful nuances of different brands of pilseners, Helles lager, dark beers, wheat beers, etc. in Germany are disappearing. 

If you had the good fortune to have visited and enjoy beer in Germany twenty years ago, you know what you are missing.  If you have just visited Germany for the first time, you don’t know what you’re missing.  That’s the point.

Next: Trouble in Deutschland part 2 – German beer quality unsurpassed