Prost! Selling German Beer to Americans

Any list of top beer countries has to include Germany. Historically and in modern times Germany and Germans are inextricably linked to beer. Many of the words associated with beer and brewing used internationally are German. Germany and beer are inseparable in the minds and traditions of beer lovers all over the world.

Despite all of this, beer imported from Germany to the US, one of the biggest beer markets today, is relatively small. A quick survey of the shelves of most beer sellers will reveal lots of imports – Mexican, Canadian, Dutch, Belgian, British – but only a few German beers. And, invariably, the German representatives are dominated by Pilsner and wheat style beers and only from a few of the biggest German brewers.

This is something that Horst Dornbusch spends a lot of time thinking about. Dornbusch is a consultant to German and other European beer brewers and raw material producers. He makes it his business to try to understand why these discrepancies exist and find ways to rectify them. “I try to instill a fairness into the game,” he says. “I’m basically on the side of two groups. I’m on the side of the producer because they sweat their tail off to make a fine brew. And I’m on the side of the consumer.”

Whether they realize it or not, the lack of German brewed beer in the US market is really a disservice to beer lovers there. Beer and brewing are not only deeply rooted in Germany, but German beer is some of the best in the world. Many US drinkers, while familiar with the clichés associated with the German beer tradition, associate German beer with the oftentimes skunky Pilsners that make it to their American pint glasses. They don’t realize the vast number of German beer styles available and the variety of beer that exists within those styles. At the same time, US beer lovers are intimately familiar with a number of British beer styles and are becoming increasingly enamored of Belgian style beers.

This is more than a disservice to German brewers. Despite their world-wide reputation as one of the great beer producing societies, sales are declining and German breweries are shutting down. According to Dornbusch German drinkers are more and more turning to wine, liquor and mixed drinks. The past three decades have seen a significant decline in the number of German breweries.

The differences between the German beer market and the US beer market are as much generational as they are cultural. The craft beer revolution that continues to transform the US brewing culture into one of the most exciting in the world is still driven by the pioneers that ignited it in the 1970s and 80s. It retains a youthful vitality which is reflected in every aspect of the beer, from blending of styles and brewing techniques to exciting, eye-catching labels. Conversely, German beer has depended on the same business model for generations – brew great beer to be sold locally to customers that have bought it for generations. As German drinkers increasingly turn their backs on the stodgy drink of their elders, this once dependable way of doing business is failing German brewers and they need to find a market elsewhere or stop brewing beer.