Bavaria's breweries are facing a costly challenge: Their draft beer is going bad because the pubs have closed during the pandemic.
That's why the Giesinger Bräu came up with a real crazy idea.
Because there are no celebrations and the inns are closed, many breweries sell their draft beer.
Many breweries now only produce a small amount of draft beer.
Nevertheless, yesterday's juice often has to be disposed of.
There is also a problem with the Giesinger Bräu.
There they try to make schnapps from part of the expired beer together with the “Bavarian Spirits” distillery.
Munich
- "If you have to throw away beer," says Steffen Marx from Giesinger Bräu, "your heart bleeds." But: The shelf life of draft beer, which is not drunk in restaurants and at events because of the corona pandemic, ends at some point.
At Giesinger Bräu there are 18,500 liters of beer that have to be disposed of - around 120 full baths.
Corona: Big challenges for breweries - Giesinger Bräu starts experiment
But not everything ends up in the drain: some are carted in containers to the schnapps distillery of Johannes Schlemmer, managing director of “Bavarian Spirits”, in Unterhaching.
There the beer is processed into beer schnapps.
“It's an experiment,” says Steffen Marx.
800 liters of beer have been branded so far.
"If the result is right, we can expand production further," he hopes.
The Giesinger Bräu already has a gin on offer.
Marx and Schlemmer have known each other for a long time - so the idea was born quickly.
“The beer schnapps is a great addition,” says Marx.
"The alternatives to what you can do with the beer are rare." It is not possible to transfer unneeded draft beer into bottles - often the only thing left is destruction.
Corona in Bavaria: The draft beer expires in many breweries - Giesinger Bräu uses it to produce beer schnapps
If this happens under supervision, the breweries will at least get reimbursed for the beer tax and the costs for the spoiled beer.
"That is a small consolation," says Walter König from the Bavarian Brewers' Association.
"But the greatest support would of course be an open restaurant again."
Many breweries - including the big ones - have the problem with expired draft beer.
The company Anheuser-Busch InBev with the breweries Spaten, Löwenbräu and Franziskaner Weissbier confirms that beer had to be destroyed.
“This year, however, not to the same extent as last year,” says spokesman Fried Allers.
The production was specially adapted.
“We try to plan, brew and fill as up-to-date as possible in order to avoid destruction as much as possible,” explains Johannes Rieger from the Paulaner Brewery Group, which includes Paulaner and Hacker-Pschorr.
Corona in Bavaria: Big loss for many Bavarian breweries - "Business plan thrown back by two years"
"Non-alcoholic drinks that we bring back from closed catering establishments are passed on to non-profit organizations." Hofbräu has also reduced the number of kegs.
"We are careful," says spokesman Stefan Hempl.
“So far we haven't thrown away any beer.” Usually two thirds of Hofbräu beer goes to the catering trade.
A loss often remains in any case, as Steffen Marx confirms.
He would normally have earned 100,000 euros from draft beer.
He is not yet sure how much will be replaced.
“The Corona crisis set our business plan back by two years,” he fears.
He hasn't made draft beer for a long time.
After all, bottle sales are going well.
"Our online shop is twice as strong as usual," he says and emphasizes: "I'm always optimistic, even now."
The schnapps should taste hoppy and fruity and have a good aroma
Johannes Schlemmer
In any case, the beer schnapps seems to be successful.
The changeover to its production was not at all great for the schnapps distillery: “The distilling process for beer is almost the same as for single malt whiskey,” explains Johannes Schlemmer.
Around 35 liters of beer schnapps should be ready in a few weeks.
The alcohol content should then be around 40 percent.
How much the schnapps will cost on sale has not yet been determined.
But its taste is already emerging.
Schlemmer reveals: "The schnapps should taste hoppy and fruity and have a good aroma."
Will the Oktoberfest be back this year?
The Hofbräu brewery is optimistic - and has long been planning to start producing beer for the Oktoberfest in autumn 2021.
All important information about the corona pandemic in Munich and Bavaria is available in our news ticker.
(By Claudia Schurri)
