Really good beer. Internationally, this country is associated with the palatable mixture of water, hops and malt. Germany, your beers: 6000 varieties from 1500 breweries, around 900 of which are microbreweries. This makes Germany the leading brewing country in Europe. But how are beer and the craft brewing industry faring?

Consumption has been declining for decades. Instead of drinking a lot, people prefer to drink better. Between 2005 and 2020, the number of microbreweries that emphasise craftsmanship, product quality and variety grew from 500 to over 900. One of these is the Heidenpeters brewery in the basement of Markthalle Neun. This is where Clemens is training as a brewer. With a beer in his hand, he explains how he ended up in one of the oldest craft trades:

"When I was 23, I dropped out of my media design degree and spent 5 years in Cambodia. That wasn't planned. I had actually only booked for six weeks. But then I somehow got stuck there and set up a hostel with a few people. That's also where I first came into contact with craft beer. I think it was around the same time that microbreweries started popping up here. The pandemic brought me back to Berlin. I worked at the Neulich brewery and from there I ended up at Heidenpeters. The apprenticeship wasn't planned that way. I just liked it so much at the brewery and here in the hall that I decided to start another apprenticeship at the age of 30. I was finally on to something!"

The low wages in particular make it difficult for career changers, although many people only become interested in these professions later on. The passion for the food trade must be strong to enter the dusty and outdated structures of the training system in Germany. When it comes to learning the brewing trade, things look just as outdated as they do for bakers. "We work with the Kunze, the "brewing bible", written in 1961, where sour beers are considered a brewing mistake. The techniques tend to be industry-friendly, less geared towards craft breweries. A mate of mine who is doing his apprenticeship in Bavaria - they only brew three beers there: a light, a dark and a bock. When I told them that I was doing my apprenticeship in Berlin, they said: "What are you doing there? You don't learn to brew beer in Berlin!" But they were wrong, Berlin has a huge variety of breweries and is the epicentre of the craft beer movement in Germany. According to Clemens, it is precisely this freedom from rigid traditions that appeals to him. He has been able to try out his own recipes right here; the "Whole Lotta Wheat" - a wheat beer - is one of his own. So the essential and creative aspects of his training are taught on the spot. Who needs a brewing bible when enlightenment comes from the cellar?

So far, the official training structure does not seem to be changing for the better, even if it is time for reforms that are geared towards the realities of food craftsmen and women and inspire enthusiasm for apprenticeships.

In Germany, the average age of employees in breweries is significantly higher than in other food industries. In addition, around 1000 jobs have been lost in breweries every year since 1995 due to technological change and outsourcing processes. This is not the case in microbreweries, which are far more attractive to young people as a place to work and train. The situation is similar for apprenticeship contracts: while they are steadily increasing in craft breweries, they are on the decline in the industry. The future of the brewing industry therefore lies, at least in part, in the cellar of this Markthalle. Thanks to craft brewers and headstrong career changers like Clemens, hops and malt are not lost.