While it's interesting that more US beer is being imported into Germany, the overall picture has me concerned.

Look at the graph from the beer story:

What is going on with Germany's cultural identity that wine consumption is holding steady while beer has a noticeable downward trend? The closest we get to some kind of answer is a hint at a generational shift in attitudes:

“The older people see beer as a daily nutrition. The younger people are more interested in different styles,” said Thorsten Heiser, the head of exports at the Bavarian Weihenstephan brewery, which markets its beermaking origins in 1040 as the oldest in the world.

I definitely see beer as nutrition, since it's part of my after dinner load of carbohydrates. If I didn't drink the beer, I would immediately drop 4 pounds.