Christoph is a slacker, and as such he forgot his girlfriend's Susanne's birthday. Making things complicated is the fact that she's studying in Mexico. A sweet-talking long distance call could be the rescue - had Christoph only paid his phone bills. A love letter fax from the local post office would come for 12 Deutsch Marks, which Christoph - needless to say - doesn't have. What he has instead are 2 cases of beer, worth the exact sum in deposit money. On a quest to save the (birth)-day Christoph teams up with new room-mate, the American philosopher-to-be and proclaimed teetotaler, Timmy. In a race against time they set out to drink up the brew and cash in the deposit before the post office closes.