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Munich (pte049/24.04.2003/15:59) - Germany, the country that dedicates a whole week each year to the celebration of beer, is hanging its head in shame after it was revealed that the Irish drink more than they do of their national drink.
According to the German Brewers Association http://www.brauer-bund.de , the Irish are a nation of beer drinkers and have beaten the beer-loving Germans pints down.
Much to the shame of many Teutonic drinkers who have slipped down to third place in the world beer-drinking ranks behind Ireland and the Czech Republic, which took first place.
Stunned beer lover Guenter Hegel, 69, from Berlin said: "That can't be true. They must not have included me in their study." And fellow drinker Hans Werder, 53, added: "To place behind the Czechs is nothing to be ashamed of, they have very good beer. But the Irish? Who likes to drink Guinness?"
Berte Klippien, spokeswoman from the German Brewers Association which carried out the study, said although the amount of beer drunk in Germany was decreasing it was not at an alarming rate. She said: "In 30 years the amount of beer drunk per person in Germany has only dropped by around 13 per cent. This isn't bad if you consider a number of factors such as increased prices, the introduction of alco-pops and the fact that wine has grown in popularity."
She added that third place was not bad and admitted that although the statistics showed the Czechs drank more, it was possible that the figures were misleading. She said: "We have been monitoring the drinking habits of nations around the world for some time now. One explanation for the rise in the amount of beer drunk in the Czech Republic is its split from Slovakia. The Slovaks obviously don't drink as much as the Czechs and when the two countries were joined the number of non-beer drinkers was greater, making the average amount of beer drunk per person lower."
But the German beer expert had no explanation for why the Irish came in second. She said: "All I know is that the Irish are renowned for enjoying themselves. All those parties they go to must result in a lot of beer being drunk." She added many Germans did not drink Irish beer because of national pride: "Germans are very emotional about beer, it has become our national drink. Most only drink native brands and very few beers are imported."
Only three per cent of beer in Germany is imported, with 67 per cent of the nation preferring Pils to any other brand. The statistics showed that in 2002 the Czechs consumed on average 158 litres of beer per person, the Irish 125 litres and the Germans 121.5 litres. In the UK the average amount of beer drunk per person was 97.1 litres, the Dutch consumed 80.5 litres and the wine-loving French and Italians came in last with 35.9 litres and 28.9 litres respectively.
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