Dmitry Kostyukov / AFP - Getty Images, file

Russians, like this Muscovite enjoying some suds at an outdoor pub, will no longer have unfettered access to beer, under a new law that takes effect Jan. 1.

It will be tougher for Russians to cry in their beer in 2013.

Restrictions on when and where beer can be sold go into effect Jan. 1 with a law that declared beer is alcohol, not food.

Under the new rules, beer can only be sold in licensed outlets — not street kiosks, gas stations and bus depots like it has been. Russians won't be able to buy it from shops between 11 p.m. and 8 a.m., and beer commercials are a thing of the past.

The limits are part of a government effort to reduce alcohol abuse in Russian, where one in five male deaths are linked to booze, according to world health experts.

Not everyone is toasting the change, however.

The brewing industry warns that the crackdown could make harder alcohol even more popular.

"It will be tougher if you want to buy a beer on the way home from work, or pop down from your apartment," Isaac Sheps, chairman of the Union of Russian Brewers, told London's Daily Telegraph.

"So you have to stock at home. And stocking beer is more problematic than stocking vodka. It's bulky, it's big and there's no room for it in small homes. It's much easier to buy two bottles of vodka and manage for your instant need for alcohol.

"So it's quite ironic that this attempt to improve health and lower alcoholism could have the opposite effect and cause people to drink more harmful spirits," Sheps said.

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Vodka is king in Russia. Government statistics show the spirit accounted for almost 50 percent of alcohol sales between January and November, while beer rose a bit to 32 percent. Wine had an anemic 10 percent market share. And champagne accounted for 1 percent of sales.

In the past few years, the Russian government has introduced an array of measures aimed at reducing what then-President Dmitri Medvedev called a "national calamity."

"We are used to smoking, drinking, eating a poor diet and doing little sport and then falling ill, and expect to be operated on or take pills to get better," Nikolai Gerasimenko, deputy head of the lower house of parliament's health committee, told Bloomberg in October.

“That's got to stop.”

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The beer will flow in Germany this year, but perhaps not as much as everyone would like.

Beer brewers in Munich may not be able to supply enough beer for the annual Oktoberfest beer festival, local newspaper Munich TZ reported, but the problem is not a lack of the alcoholic beverage.

Instead, Heiner Müller, manager at the Paulaner and Hacker-Pschorr brewery told TZ, brewers do not have enough bottles to supply the festival. He called on drinkers to return their empties.

"Dear Munichers — bring back your crates. We need our empties,” Müller said.

Warm summer weather combined with popular festivals led to a sharp increase in consumption in the city, according to Munich TZ. 

Brewers wash and reuse their bottles up to 50 times and rely on their customers to turn return them, but that hasn’t happened quickly enough this time and is preventing beermakers from building up the required supplies.

Every summer brewers deal with a shortage of bottles, but it never has been as bad as this year, a spokesman for Hofbräu brewery, which is also suffering from a shortage of bottles, said. He claimed the brewer was short of “tens of thousands” of bottles.

Spaten and Löwenbräu, two other brewers, said they were running short of 30-liter kegs.

Hofbräu spokesman Stefan Hempl told the paper the brewer would start prioritizing the production of light and wheat beers. Dark beer drinkers will have to wait.

The diminished supply comes only weeks before the suds-soaked bacchanal for which the German state is famous which kicks off on September 22.

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Eddie Keogh / Reuters file

A brand of beer is seen on a pump at the Railway Tavern pub in east London Feb. 2, 2012. Built around 1825, the pub is across the road from the athlete's village. The landlady for the past 40 years Jan Dooner said: "I'm hoping for some good business during the Games, whether they want to celebrate or drown their sorrows."

Spectators hoping to enjoy the London 2012 Olympic Games with a cool brew in hand will have to shell out the equivalent of about $11 for a pint of beer, according to organizers.

London Olympics organizers announced Wednesday they expected to serve 14 million meals during the games, calling it "the largest peace time catering operation in the world."

"We have gone to great lengths to find top quality, tasty food that celebrates the best of Britain," said Paul Deighton, chief executive of organizing committee LOCOG.

"We believe that our prices are more than comparable to those found at other major sporting events, which because of their temporary nature are often more expensive than the high street."

A bottle of water will cost 1.60 pounds ($2.50) and a bottle of Coke will sell for 2.30 pounds ($3.60). A plate of fish and chips will go for 8 pounds ($12.50).

Many were outraged by the prices, and particularly the cost of beer, British newspaper The Telegraph reported.

An 11-ounce bottle of Heineken lager will cost 4.20 pounds or $6.50, which makes the equivalent price of a pint 7.23 pounds or $11. That's more than double the national average price of 3.17 pounds for a pint of beer in the UK, The Telegraph said.

Organizers said food and drink for a family of four should run under 40 pounds ($62).

Reuters contributed to this report.

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