Germans are emptying fewer beer steins with consumption of the national beverage falling by 1.8 per cent last year.
Beer consumption has now hit the lowest level in Germany since the beginning of the 90s.
That said, government statistics show that the country stilled chugged 96.5 million hectolitres of the amber nectar last year.
While some are blaming the lack of a hot summer in 2012, the German love of beer has been following the steady global decline of beer drinking by volume, for the past three decades. The decline is being attributed by growing health concerns and the new preference for alternative alcoholic beverages in the younger generation.
However, in 2012, Munich’s Oktoberfest celebrations reported record levels of beer consumption at the festival – it’s good to see some things never change.