GERMAN BREWERS OFFER FREE BEER AS KEGS NEAR EXPIRY

The pandemic year was not good for German breweries. With events canceled, and restaurants and bars closed for several months, all brewers could do was watch as the best-before date on their beer supply drew closer, Josefine Kaukemueller reported for Deutsche Presse Agentur (dpa).

The idea of dumping their hard work down the drain seemed wasteful - so some came up with a novel idea: Free beer. At the Irsee monastery brewery in southern Germany's Allgaeu region, they did just that.

Some 2,500 liters of beer that had a short shelf life were given away for free. "This great beer cannot be destroyed," says David Frick, from the brewery. "Two days before, I sent a callout to close contacts that they should come pick up the beer."

But good news travels fast, and gradually, hundreds of people were showing up with beer mugs, tankards and other containers.

Admirably, everyone wore FFP2 masks, kept their distance and didn't drink the beer on-site, says Frick. However, he is unlikely to do it again.

The Oechsner brewery also had a similar experience, giving away beer on two Fridays. To quench people's thirst for a draft beer, they converted a large bar truck in the courtyard into a beer filling station, says Yvonne Schmieg.

Like at Irsee, people showed up with all kinds of drink containers to fill with freshly tapped beer, and also like at Irsee, the brewers think it of it as a one-off event. A bar in the western city of Essen decided to get rid of a lot of beer quickly before Germany's second lockdown by selling it at cut-rate prices.

Even so, according to owner Christian Fischer, there are still about 30 cases left in cold storage with an expiration date coming up soon - and "destroying it is not an option," he stressed.

WEEKLY FEATURE : BONNER DYTOC SHOWS THE WAY IN STOCK PLAY