Generation Z is reaching for beer less frequently, and breweries are feeling the impact. Those who can’t shift to alternatives may have to close due to high costs.
Why does Gen Z not drink beer? The reasons for Generation Z drinking less or less often are varied: Many young people don’t have as much money, and some find beer simply too unhealthy or too high in calories. This is reported by the magazine Deutschlandfunknova.de.
This situation is concerning for brewers, as consumption continues to decline. From 126 liters in 2000 to 88 liters in 2025. Holger Eichele, the Managing Director of the German Brewers Association, explained to the magazine Bloomberg (possibly paywalled):
To be honest, this is concerning. The conditions are not good. And then it might be that one has run the business for many centuries but now simply has to give it up.
Non-Alcoholic Beer as an Alternative
What is the alternative? For many of the approximately 1,500 breweries in Germany, this means that they must adjust their offerings to the new consumption habits of Generation Z. Those who can’t manage this will sooner or later have to close due to high costs: between 2023 and 2024, 52 breweries closed nationwide, the highest number in 30 years. In the last 5 years, nearly 100 breweries have closed (via ernährungsindustrie.de).
Many large breweries are now primarily focusing on non-alcoholic beers or beers with very low alcohol content. This aims to partially compensate for the declines in sales of alcoholic beers.
However, producing non-alcoholic beer sometimes requires machines that necessitate investments in the millions to remove the alcohol after the brewing process. An investment that especially smaller, local breweries cannot afford. Thomas Becker, a brewing professor from the Munich area, says:
Small breweries typically cannot afford to remove the alcohol after brewing. The equipment alone requires investments in the region of one million.
Another problem is energy as a cost factor, which is very expensive in Germany. Energy is needed to brew the beer and then to cool it down afterward. Energy is also required for cleaning the glass bottles. Many breweries are therefore looking to the future with concern.
Germany still drinks a lot of beer overall. Even in a global comparison, but the world champion comes not from Asia nor from our neighborhood: One country drinks more beer than all others and it is not Germany
