Munich breweries running out of bottles

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MUNICH, Germany, Sept. 6 (UPI) -- Beer brewers in Munich, Germany, have called on drinkers to return their empties as an increase in consumption has created a shortage of bottles and crates.

Recent nice weather in Munich led to an increase in beer drinking throughout the city, which, coupled with the ongoing euro crisis, has created a bottle shortage just two weeks before Oktoberfest is set to begin, The Local.de reported.

"We have a huge problem with empties," Heiner Muller, manager of the Paulaner and Hacker-Pschorr brewery, told Munich's TZ newspaper Thursday. "The situation has worsened dramatically in the past few weeks."

Stefan Hempl, spokesman for the Hofbrau brewery, agreed, adding that this year has been worse than others.

"We have this problem every summer, but we've never had it as bad as this year," Hempl said. "We're tens of thousands of bottles short."

Hofbrau issued a warning to retailers that their orders will only be filled if they return empty bottles and crates.

"Dear Munichers -- bring back your crates," Muller pleaded. "We need our empties!"