German beer sales have suffered their worst sales slump on record in recent months, down to levels not seen in more than three decades. According to recent data, beer consumption in the U.S. has reached its lowest levels in decades. In the first six months of 2025, it plummeted by 6.3%, or by nearly 3.9 billion liters—the first time sales have ever dropped below 4 billion liters in a six-month stretch.
This decline is part of a larger trend in Germans’ drinking patterns, especially among younger people. Stefan Kreisz, the chief executive of Erdinger brewery, made the best kind of statement. Today, nearly a quarter of their production focuses on these non-alcoholic alternatives. He said, “We must make sure that we make the beer, if it’s not intoxicated, sexy for the youth.”
The trend toward non-alcoholic beverages is apparent. Sales of these sugar-packed beverages are through the roof, having doubled since 2013. According to Destatis, the federal statistics office, non-alcoholic beer sales soared by an incredible 109% during that period. Input of the humanized paragraph kreisz kreisz_erdinger He pitches it as a healthier replacement for conventional energy drinks.
Even with overall beer sales down, traditional beer culture is thriving in many bars and restaurants. The Sandkerwa folk festival in Bamberg showcases this enduring love for beer, as the city’s medieval streets fill with musicians, food vendors, and numerous beer stalls. Pascal, a local resident, emphasized the significance of beer to their community: “Beer is very important for the city and we have a lot of breweries here.”
Meanwhile down the line in Munich, Louis von Tucher, another longtime barman at Café Kosmos, noted a new trend in customer tastes. He noted that more and more customers are looking for healthier options. “Everybody is a little bit more conscious about their consumption,” he explained. “I think most people still drink alcohol, but they do it more consciously and have alcohol-free beverages in between.” He acknowledged the disparity in sales, noting, “It’s a slight shift. We sell 150 to 500 liters of normal beer at night, compared to maybe 20 liters of alcohol-free beer.”
Students such as Magdalena are representative of this new paradigm shift. She remarked on her peers’ drinking habits: “I feel like, especially in my generation, people tend to drink less on a daily basis, but it’s still Germany, it’s still Bavaria.” Though young adults continue to embrace beer, they are doing so at a lower rate than their older counterparts ever did. “I’m looking around, and everybody has a glass of beer in their hand,” she added. “So I guess, especially in this part of Germany, beer is just a massive part of daily life, even though it’s not healthy.”