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Getting confused by all my parallel series of posts? I am. Modern day Germany, that’s where we are.

As promised we’ll be looking at some more regional styles. And a non-style, alcohol-free beer. In my definition of beer alcohol is an essential ingredient. The most important ingredient, too.

Let’s kick off with that to get it out of the way. Simply put, alcohol-free beer is most popular in the South, surprisingly. Where it has a 4.5 – 5% share. Though the growth in 2010 was lower there than in the Northweast, which seems to be catching up. Seen against a general fall in beer sales, the percentage increases are staggering. In double digits pretty much everywhere. Alcohol-free beer is noticeably less popular in the former DDR, where its market share is less than half of that in the former Bundesrepublik.

Next is the highly regional Helles. Outside of Bavaria it’s not very popular anywhere. Though it does seem to have more fans in the former DDR than in the Northwest. And it’s hugely on the up there – by as much as 42% in some states. I’m surprised in a way that it isn’t more popular there. Helles was the most popular style back in the DDR days. Only in two places did its share decline in 2010: Bavaria and Bremen/Niedersachsen.

Dunkles isn’t hugely popular anywhere. Even in Bavaria, where once it ruled supreme. I’m guessing that in the case of the former DDR, it’s mostly Schwarzbier rather than Bavarian-style Dunkles. Even here, the largest share it manages is a measly 3%. And is in decline in most places. I must say that the future doesn’t look very bright for this class.

That’s me pretty much ausgebullshitted. Nothing left but the table:

German beer sales by type and state 2009 - 2010
Hell Schwarz/Dunkel Alcohol free
2009 2010 change in % 2009 2010 change in % 2009 2010 change in %
Germany 4.5 4.5 0.2 1.6 1.6 -2.3 3.3 3.7 12.9
Baden-Württenberg 2.4 2.5 6.5 0.7 0.7 1.3 4 4.4 11.3
Bayern 24.3 23.4 -3.9 1.6 1.6 -3.5 4.3 4.7 9.9
Hessen 1 1.1 4.1 1.4 1.4 0.0 4.5 5.1 12.8
Bremen/Niedersachsen 0.7 0.7 -5.8 1.4 1.4 0.3 3.5 4.1 16.7
Nordrhein-Westfalen 0.5 0.5 10.0 1 1 -2.5 3.2 3.7 13.9
Rheinl.-Pfalz/Saarland 0.7 0.8 4.7 0.7 0.7 0.8 4.6 5.5 18.2
Schleswig-Holstein/Hamburg 0.7 0.8 8.4 1.6 1.6 -3.0 2.8 3.3 14.4
Berlin 1.3 1.9 42.1 2.7 2.6 -3.7 3.2 3.5 7.1
Brandenburg 1.9 2.7 42.3 2.5 2.3 -6.0 1.8 2 14.1
Mecklenburg-Vorpommern 0.2 0.3 20.4 3.1 3 -5.1 1.7 1.9 8.0
Sachsen 1.8 2.1 16.3 3 2.9 -2.6 2 2 4.7
Sachsen-Anhalt 1.5 2.5 74.2 2.8 2.9 3.2 1.4 1.6 17.7
Thüringen 2.3 2.5 9.2 2.4 2.4 0.3 1.6 1.9 19.5
Source:
Deutscher Brauer-Bund, Bonn

We’ll be looking at styles that are even more regional next time: Kölsch, Alt and Berliner Weisse.

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