Achtung! Germans stop drinking beer (almost)

The sales of German beer are at their lowest since records began, say the Federal Statistics Office.

Admittedly, records only began 18 years ago - and they are still getting through almost one billion litres of beer per month - but this is Germany and that is bordering on a crisis.

Experts claim the price of beer, the European ban on smoking in restaurants and the poor weather have all contributed to the low sales.

By "low sales" they mean just the 4.93bn litres sold in the first six months of 2009. While that is down 4.5% on last year, it still works out to 38 pints per month for every man of drinking age.