Success for Bavarian brewers
January 19, 2015
Some 22.8 million hectoliters - that's over 2.2 billion litres - of beer were brewed in the southern German state of Bavaria in 2014, the state's agricultural minister Helmut Brunner announced at the International Green Week food trade fair in Berlin.
And that puts Bavaria at the top of the list of all German states, as far as beer brewing is concerned - surpassing regular chart-toppers North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany's most populous state.
The main reason for these impressive figures is the great international demand, pushing exports to some 4.5 million hectoliters - a new record. Hardly any other product, according to Brunner, represents Bavaria and Bavarian lifestyle as much as beer.
Domestically there was a change in the 2014 figures as well: after years of declining demand the amount of beer consumed in Germany has seen a marked increase. One possible reason for this trend is thought to have been the football World Cup finals last summer.
The foundation for Bavaria's success, Brunner stressed, was the "Reinheitsgebot" - the German Beer Purity Law from 1516 - as well as high quality raw materials and the art of brewing based on centuries of tradition, reflecting regional identity.
The approximately 600 breweries in Bavaria produce some 40 different types of beer and 4,000 brand specialties.
ks/jr (dpa, kna)