“What concerns us particularly is the reduction of sales in hotels and restaurants,” Wolfgang Burgard told the paper. “In this year we expect sales to drop by three percent.”

Competition between brewers has intensified in recent months, he told the paper. While most breweries raised their prices last year, they have since lowered them in reaction to the recession, he said.

But Burghard refused to acknowledge speculation that the German brewing tradition was dying out.

“Experts have said this since 1977 when the number of beers per head first sank – but the industry is not affected to this day,” he told the paper, adding that some 20 to 25 new breweries have opened in recent years. These breweries are profiting for increased demand for local specialty products, he said.

For this reason Burghard said the beer industry would overcome the current tough economic times.

“A cold summer would hit us much harder,” he said.