News

Concern that Dortmund could run out of beer

10 July 2024 By James Evison

There is growing concern that the entire city of Dortmund could run out of beer ahead of the semi-final clash between England and The Netherlands tonight.

(Image: Historic City Hall of Dortmund in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany)

The news was reported by journalist Marcel van der Kraan to Sky Sports, stating that the city was expecting 85,000 Dutch fans to descend on the city for the match.

It is only around 150 miles from the border of The Netherlands to Dortmund, which is a similar distance from London to Cardiff, and only takes a couple of hours to drive.

Van der Kraan said that the Dutch fans would be undertaking “the biggest invasion ever” for a match in Germany.

Fan zones

He said: “Every town has been turned upside down by this Orange crowd. Dortmund is preparing to host these, but they don’t know how yet, because they only have fan-zones for 25,000, 30,000 maybe.”

“Holland alone will bring 85,000. There is a fear that the beer will run out, with 40,000 English fans there and the Dutch, it would mean it would probably come to 1.2m beers.”

Only half-a-million people live in Dortmund and there are around 600 bars in the area, creating fears that the city could run out of beer should the projected number of fans descend on its bars and clubs.

Beer styles

Although there are Alt biers, which originate from nearby Dusseldorf available in the city, Dortmunder is the main historic style from the city. Even the football team was named after a brewery — Borussia Brauerei — and it has a proud brewing past.

Brewing in the city dates back to 1293 with beer how produced by Dortmunder Actien Brauerei (DAB), made exclusively from water in the area and in accordance with the German Purity Law, the Reinheitsgebot.