A German who was the world’s second oldest man and briefly believed to be the oldest man alive died on Wednesday at the age of 111, his family in the western German city of Duesseldorf said.

Hermann Doernemann, who was born on May 27, 1893, was called the world’s oldest man in media reports after American Fred Hale Sr. died on November 19. Hale died less than two weeks short of his 114th birthday.

Doernemann, a retired electrical engineer who said he stayed fit by drinking a glass of dark beer every day, was at the time of Hale’s death listed as the oldest man alive, based on data from the Gerontology Research Group in Los Angeles.

But in January, the Guinness Book of Records certified Emiliano Mercado del Toro, age 113, of Isabela, Puerto Rico as the oldest man alive. Mercado del Toro was born on August 21, 1891 - 21 months before Doernemann.

Guinness lists a woman, Hendrikje van Andel-Schipper of the Netherlands, as the world’s oldest person. She was born on June 29, 1890.