Alcohol-free beer defies Austria’s summer sales slump

Beer sales in Austria fell by five percent during this hot summer, but two private breweries in Carinthia’s St. Veit an der Glan district are bucking the trend, ORF reported. Demand is particularly strong for alcohol-free varieties.

When temperatures rise above 25 degrees Celsius, consumers increasingly choose mineral water and soft drinks, said Raimund Linzer, brewmaster and managing director of the Hirt brewery. The brewery, Carinthia’s largest private brewery, said it recorded a slight increase in sales, while the Austrian beer market shrank by five percent compared with the previous year.

The heat also caused crop failures affecting barley and hops. As a result, raw materials are becoming scarcer, and some beer varieties across Austria could become more expensive by the end of the year.

Securing supplies is a challenge for farmers and brewers, Linzer said. Looking decades ahead, he added, it was possible that hops could almost disappear from beer in 40 or 50 years.

In the comparatively cool Wimitzgraben valley near St. Veit an der Glan, enough hops grew this year for Wimitzbräu to produce nine beer varieties. The private brewery marked its 15th anniversary and plans to continue with measured growth, co-founder Josef Habich said.

The brewery is focusing on organic products and on selling them regionally in Carinthia through short, sustainable supply routes. This autumn, Wimitzbräu will deliver outside Carinthia for the first time, with demand for its organic beer rising in Graz.