Bethany BellBBC News in Bavaria
BBCGermans are drinking low and less beer, but non-drug varieties are more popular than ever.
German’s Destatis Federal Statistics Office says that non -alcohol sales have exceeded double in recent years – up to 109% since 2013 – even though beer sales are more widely at its lowest level in more than 30 years.
For the first time, they have fallen below 4bn liters over a period of half year.
German beer sales fell to 6.3% – or 262 million liters – approximately 3.9bn liters in the first half of 2025 compared to the same period last year.
Munich has been making beer since the 1880s, the Ardinger liquor furnace, and its Chief Executive Officer, Stephen Crasses says drinking habits are changing and these days there is a quarter of their production non-alcoholic.
“We need to find a way to make beer, even if it is attractive to non-contact, young people.
“You need to understand the ways they meet and they party together. There is no algorithm that tells you that you now need beer.”
Stephen Crace still sees the culture of German beer as flexible, and nowadays his company promotes its alcohol-free beer in sports events as a natural alternative to energy drinks.
In Cafe Cosmos in Munich, Burman Louis von Tutcher says many of his customers are more health conscious.
“In the 2000s, I remember if you tell them that maybe you must have a glass of water … and they will really be angry.”
Now, however, he has detected a change.
“Everyone is a little more conscious about their consumption. I think most people still drink alcohol, but they do it more conscious and there are alcohol -free drinks in the middle.”
However, Louis say that full power beer is not going away.
“This is a modest innings, he said,” I think we sell 150 to 500 liters of normal beer at night, perhaps compared to 20 liters of alcohol-free beer. So there is still a big difference between them. “
The tradition of drinking intoxicating beer in Germany, at the Sandkerwa folk festival in Bamberg, North Bavaria, appears alive and well.
During the five -day long festival, Bamburg’s winding, medieval roads are filled with musicians, sausage stands and countless beer stalls.
In Sandstrass in the old city, Pascal was beer with a friend.
“Beer is very important for the city and we have a lot of brues,” he said.
“People come here for beer and for celebration. I cannot imagine that the consumption of beer here in Bamberg is actually less than before.”
Standing outside a beer garden, Magdelena, a student, agreed.
“I am looking around, and everyone has a glass beer in his hand. So I think, especially in this part of Germany, beer is a large part of daily life, even though it is not healthy. We all know that,” she said.
“I think, especially in my generation, people drink less on daily basis, but it is still Germany, it is still Bavaria.”
