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I’m feeling rushed so little more than a table this time. Which reminds me – I still owe you that table of hop varieties.

The first thing that’s obvious is how fragmented the market is in terms of style. There are a large number of styles with very small sales. Ten have less than a 2% share and only four more than 5%.

The top three are pretty predictable: Pils, Export and Weizen. Though I’m not sure how they differentiate between Helles and Export. Weizen has grown as it’s spread North away from its southern homeland. At the expense of what? Pils, but probably also regional styles like Kölsch and Alt.

Number four and six on the list are pretty depressing: Biermix and alcohol free. The former are those abominations of beer mixed with other crap. It’s sad to see how popular they are in Germany. Though, hang on a minute, why are they being included here at all? Because under the German law they can’t be sold as beer as they don’t adhere to the Reinheitsgebot.

Kölsch and Alt continue to lose market share, though the loss for the latter is much greater, 3.9% as opposed to 0.3%. Why is that? Are people in Cologne more attached to their local beer than those in Düsseldorf? The identity of Alt isn’t quite so closely entwined with one city as in the case of Kölsch.

It’s indicative of the fall in sales of beer in general that only two types saw absolute growth in terms of volume: Alcohol free and Berliner Weisse. The last one surprised me. Though, as you can see, the quantities involved are tiny. But maybe it’s a sign of the beginning of a revival of the style.

Here’s the table. See what you make of it:

German off sales by beer type 2009 - 2010
Market share Quantity in hl
2009 2010 change in % 2009 2010 change in %
Pils 55.2 55.1 -0.2 30,566,810 29,860,950 -2.3
Export 10.1 9.8 -3.3 5,586,580 5,288,690 -5.3
Weizen 7.9 7.9 0.5 4,371,480 4,300,890 -1.6
Biermix 6.5 6.5 0.7 3,589,820 3,538,490 -1.4
Hell 4.5 4.5 0.2 2,507,100 2,459,470 -1.9
Alcohol free 3.3 3.7 12.9 1,814,090 2,005,330 10.5
Kölsch 1.7 1.7 0.3 929,040 912,740 -1.8
Schwarz/Dunkel 1.6 1.6 -2.3 905,230 865,730 -4.4
Malz 1.2 1.2 1.7 671,010 668,170 -0.4
Alt 1.3 1.2 -3.9 696,750 655,680 -5.9
Lager 0.9 1 1.2 522,480 517,950 -0.9
Light 0.6 0.6 -0.7 356,380 346,500 -2.8
Bock 0.5 0.5 -0.7 286,580 278,550 -2.8
Märzen 0.5 0.5 -1.4 280,790 271,050 -3.5
Diät 0.3 0.3 -7.2 157,310 142,900 -9.2
Berliner Weisse 0 0 14.8 9,060 10,180 12.4
All others 3.7 3.8 1.5 2,054,760 2,042,280 -0.6
total 55,307,279 54,167,560 -0.02
Source:
Deutsche Brauer Bund


I’ve also got the numbers broken down by state. I may show you those, too. If I can be arsed.

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