News from Berlin – Perhaps one of the finest examples of German culture is beer and its contiguous diligences. People all around the world are familiar with German beer culture, in particular with German beer brands and festivities such as the Oktoberfest. Yet a revolution is silently sweeping through Germany’s beer gardens. Prompted by a persistent decline in beer consumption since the 1970s, the country has turned to an unlikely strategy in the production of beer. An increasing number of craft breweries, also known as microbreweries, are opening throughout Germany, which itself is Europe’s biggest producer of beer.

Last weekend, yet another German craft brewery opened its doors, in the heart of the German capital Berlin. On the grounds of the Alte Börse, formerly one of Berlin’s main market places for cattle, the Bierfabrik opened for business. It is located right next to yet another small brewery, Marzahner Börsenbrau. And they are not the only ones. Since 2005, the number of microbreweries in Germany has increased by over thirty percent, totaling around 670 today.

Beer consumption in Germany has been on a persistent decline over the past seven years. Instead Germans are drinking more wine, summer cocktails and Italian-style coffee drinks, prompting Germany’s beer enthusiasts to look for new ways to make beer more popular again. In this, Germany seems to follow the United States, where craft breweries have established an impressive foothold over the past decade.

In fact, craft brewers accounted for almost fourteen percent of the $100 billion U.S. market last year. In Germany, craft beers have been long absent from the pilsner-dominated market – until right about now. According to Elisabeth Meyer-Renschhausen, professor of sociology at Berlin’s Free University, craft beers are a new and rapidly growing trend in Germany. “It’s especially highly popular with young urban consumers, who value the local footprint of these products.”

It is truly captivating to witness the developments in the German beer industry. With the rise of craft beers, a distinctive part of Germany’s culture is being shaped into an entirely new entity. Although the craft beer trend comes from the United States, the trend is positive for the German market, as it will surely increase the perceived value of beer. It is a trend that surely will stay around.

News from Berlin – Berlin Global