I find the obsession with the fortunes of the brewing industry overall a bit odd. For me, there is no real connection between the rate of beer consumption here in Canada and my own personal interest in both the trade and the product. So, I am always interested in the new reasons given for the collapse or expansion of brewing generally or by sector as with this story from Deutsche Welle:
"There's a very simple explanation," he told Deutsche Welle. "The socio-demographic development in Germany is the way it is, and it means that for the last 30 years and more, the beer market has shrunk by between one and two percent every year. So with this year's fall of 1.7 percent, we're in the normal range." The message might fly in the face of regular newspaper reports about binge-drinking, but Germany's aging population means less beer, and less alcohol in general, is being consumed. "The number of German beer-drinkers is going down, and in the last ten years, another 500,000 weren't born - so to speak – who could take their place," Huhnholz added. "Meanwhile, the older age groups – who used to drink a lot of beer – have got older, are working less and drinking less."
This is called a "tragedy" and "demoralizing" but I am not sure why. Isn't it just a fact? I mean, it is not like the brewers of Germany are going to now advocate for or, say, sponsor programs to increase birth rates, are they? As with comments about beer drinkers by wine drinkers, it all seems a bit overblown and a call to a cause that is utterly irrelevant to one's own interests.
Is there really a danger to us all? I am not sure. The only dangers to me are that I cannot obtain what I want or, if it is available, it costs too much. What is the effect of a wine snob, lower birthrates or confused artsy farsty beer on the marketplace? As far as I can tell they each help me out in their own way by keeping the interest in good beer so niche or disrespected that one way or another supply outstrips demand. And, based in part on that healthy disrespect, when gouging does seem to rear its ugly head, well, it still gets rightly slapped down. Excellent. There is nothing finer than having an interest that too few share. Like anyone who collects 8-track recordings knows, we all benefit by the forces that keep our beer affordable.
Comments
Gary Gillman - February 10, 2011 4:08 PM
Well Alan, fewer breweries, fewer beers, less choice. I think that hurts the beer culture overall. It lessens the chances the craft segment, seemingly established today, will be stable and grow. I wonder too if a craft beer segment can truly grow in a country that always had one in a sense. If the taste for beer is lost in Germany as a major component of its social and business culture, no beer-related revival may save it. I visited a couple of brewpubs on a recent visit to Bavaria and didn't think the quality was as good as the best of established companies. It reminded me of the earlier days of craft brewing here, in fact. Also too, Germans have other quality drinks to choose from made in their land or close by: excellent wine, notably and there are is the range of non-alcohol drinks (soda, coffee) that at times can take share away from ethanol-based drinks. True, perhaps we here can stand apart from all that, but since the world and beer culture in particular is getting smaller and more international respectively all the time, you can argue that what happens there may impact what happens here: the birth rates aren't so different and I am not sure greater immigration will make up for it in this particular area (beer appreciation). Really the publicizing of these stories is a plea to the current population not to forsake the national beverage. They won't have more babies because of it, but they may start to take an active, conscious appreciation of their brewing and beer-consuming heritage.
Gary
Alan - February 10, 2011 5:18 PM
Well, if this was a real risk it would not be the case that the growth in US and UK craft beer segment could not be occurring concurrent to a total retraction in the beer market. No, I am content in small hungry excellent brewers feeding me excellent beer on a slim but reasonable profit margin. I don't care much for beer culture or community or any of that. I certainly don't care if Germans drink twice as much as they did or half as long as the weisse they make is still good and cheap over here.
Gary Gillman - February 10, 2011 7:44 PM
I think it's different here and in the U.K. (even): we never had the dyed-in-the-wool beer culture with its associated high quality that the Germans have had. Just having been there and Austria, I was struck by how good almost all the everyday pils and helles was not to mention various specialties. If they forsake that heritage, will they nurture a craft beer counter-trend or will they just give it all up so to speak? I think there is a risk of the latter because, why re-invent the wheel? And that could have a knock-on effect here I think.
Gary