Germany is running low on beer bottles

Ask anyone for a handful of facts about Germany, and one of the first things they’ll likely point out is that Germans love their beer. As it turns out, this is even more true during a heatwave: as Germany’s temperatures have soared in recent weeks, the country’s breweries have started to face a shortage of beer bottles.

Germans generally drink their beer out of glass bottles, rather than cans, according to the Telegraph. And instead of recycling their empty bottles, they usually stockpile a few and then return their empty bottles to drop-off spots — such as supermarkets — to get a return of 8 to 15 cents.

With the recent heatwave, however, breweries have been running out of bottles. One brewery, Moritz Fiege, even put up a request for the German public’s help in restocking its supply.

“We need your help!” Moritz Fiege wrote on Facebook on July 19. The company continued:

“Great weather + great beer = serious thirst. The catch: although we regularly buy new bottles, we’re running out. So before you go on your summer holiday, please be sure to return your Moritz Fiege empties. … Make your motto: first the empties, then the holiday! While you are lying in the sun, we will make the bottles full again. … Word of honor!”

“This issue is causing an industry-wide drama,” Niklas Other, the editor of a German brewing industry magazine, told Express recently.

Spokespeople for other German breweries told the Telegraph that they had ordered thousands of extra beer bottles this summer due to the weather. Marc-Oliver Huhnholz, the spokesperson for the German Brewers’ Association, also told the Associated Press that “it would be good if consumers brought their empties back to stores quickly.”

Clearly, the hot weather is driving business — and if German beer drinkers do their part, the whole country can continue to get through heatwave season with some cold brews in hand. Hopefully German brewers will be able to take a break from the increased demand before Oktoberfest rolls around!