Munich Breweries Face Beer Bottle, Keg Shortage Ahead Of Oktoberfest

Oktoberfest Might Have A Beer Crisis
MUNICH, GERMANY - OCTOBER 03: Revellers cheer with beer mugs inside Schottenhamel beer tent during the last day of Oktoberfest beer festival on October 3, 2011 in Munich, Germany. (Photo by Johannes Simon/Getty Images)
MUNICH, GERMANY - OCTOBER 03: Revellers cheer with beer mugs inside Schottenhamel beer tent during the last day of Oktoberfest beer festival on October 3, 2011 in Munich, Germany. (Photo by Johannes Simon/Getty Images)

Is it possible that people are drinking too much beer in Munich? That's what some breweries are claiming -- there's a shortage of bottles and crates. While there is plenty of beer, there's simply nowhere to put it. The solution, the German brewers hope, is that people return their empties so they can be reused.

"Dear Munichers - bring back your crates," Heiner Müller, manager of the Paulaner and Hacker-Pschorr brewery, told Munich's TZ newspaper. They are short tens of thousands of bottles. Kegs are also in short supply.

Brewers can wash and reuse their bottles up to 50 times, explains CNBC. Every summer there's a shortage, but 2012 has been a particularly big year for drinking in Germany, apparently.

Seven and a half million liters of beer were served during Oktoberfest last year. This year's festival begins September 22 and runs through October 7.

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