When the days grow longer and warmer people begin heading out to enjoy a drink outdoors. Patios, and decks are all good choices, but the beer garden is the best place of all to drink a beer outdoors.
Yes, beer garden season has arrived. Thanks to two special groups; the Germans who invented lager, and the Germans who immigrated to the U.S. in the second part of the 19th century. If it weren't for them, baseball would likely be our only excuse to sip suds in the sun.
Unlike the ales that constituted all of the world's beer before the middle of the nineteenth century, the lager yeasts discovered in Bavaria at that time required a different type of fermentation. Ales — produced through the addition of top-fermenting yeast — ferment rapidly, at warm temperatures. Lagers, contrarily, depend on a slow, cool fermentation, ideally at temperatures between 45-56 degrees Fahrenheit. And after fermentation is complete, they need to be stored and aged for several months, at even cooler temperatures.
This was an era before refrigeration, however, so Bavarian brewers dug out large underground cellars for stashing the barrels while the beer "lagered." To make sure the sun could not hurt the beer, they laid down gravel and planted an abundance of heavily leaved chestnut trees and linden trees, as they grew larger, shaded both patrons and beer alike.
Someone did the math. Shade, gravel, beer — all just off the banks of Munich's Isar River, which provided an additional source of cooling for the beer. Put some tables and chairs outside, and start the taps. Beer garden culture was born.
In the U.S. to this point, our drinking culture came from the British Isles, where men would gather in inns or public houses to knock back their ales and spirits — generally far from the view of women and children. Meanwhile in Germany, Sundays (in particular) beer gardens had become a family affair.
And when Germans started streaming across the Atlantic in the middle of the nineteenth century, they brought their beer gardens along with them, to cities like Milwaukee, Cincinnati, New York, and Baltimore. According to Andrew Barr, author of Drink: A Social History of America,some American versions were actual gardens, some were more like pool halls with long tables for patrons to sit with their friends. Some had plants as a reminder of their outdoor origins. Occasionally, a large mural lined a wall, depicting a scene of natural splendor. If you want to know more, go to Toledo Bend.
But even if there was no light the beer garden offered a lot more than just brews. Kitchens turned out old country fare like schnitzel and wursts. Of course there was lots of enetrtainment. In her book America Walks into A Bar, a history of American public drinking, Christine Sismondo notes that many of these gardens hosted shooting galleries, bowling alleys, and live classical music. Some spots even charged admissions, for certain patrons would come simply for the tunes and the atmosphere but would abstain from the libations available.
The most classic of the pre-prohibition American beer gardens is the beer garden in Astoria, Queens in NYC called the Bohemian Hall and Beer Garden. The oldest beer garden in New York City, they've been pouring out beer inside and outside since 1910. The space is a notable inspiration to contemporary restaurateurs, such as Aaron McGovern and Jeepo Vorobjovas, who opened Washington, D.C.'s Biergarten Haus in 2010, and Philadelphia's Stephen Starr, who launched Frankford Hall in 2011. There aren't any beer barrels aging in the cellar here, but with gravel on the ground and linden trees arching their branches overhead, the spirit of Bavaria shows demonstrates its continued appeal. Prost! For more info, visit this website.
Yes, beer garden season has arrived. Thanks to two special groups; the Germans who invented lager, and the Germans who immigrated to the U.S. in the second part of the 19th century. If it weren't for them, baseball would likely be our only excuse to sip suds in the sun.
Unlike the ales that constituted all of the world's beer before the middle of the nineteenth century, the lager yeasts discovered in Bavaria at that time required a different type of fermentation. Ales — produced through the addition of top-fermenting yeast — ferment rapidly, at warm temperatures. Lagers, contrarily, depend on a slow, cool fermentation, ideally at temperatures between 45-56 degrees Fahrenheit. And after fermentation is complete, they need to be stored and aged for several months, at even cooler temperatures.
This was an era before refrigeration, however, so Bavarian brewers dug out large underground cellars for stashing the barrels while the beer "lagered." To make sure the sun could not hurt the beer, they laid down gravel and planted an abundance of heavily leaved chestnut trees and linden trees, as they grew larger, shaded both patrons and beer alike.
Someone did the math. Shade, gravel, beer — all just off the banks of Munich's Isar River, which provided an additional source of cooling for the beer. Put some tables and chairs outside, and start the taps. Beer garden culture was born.
In the U.S. to this point, our drinking culture came from the British Isles, where men would gather in inns or public houses to knock back their ales and spirits — generally far from the view of women and children. Meanwhile in Germany, Sundays (in particular) beer gardens had become a family affair.
And when Germans started streaming across the Atlantic in the middle of the nineteenth century, they brought their beer gardens along with them, to cities like Milwaukee, Cincinnati, New York, and Baltimore. According to Andrew Barr, author of Drink: A Social History of America,some American versions were actual gardens, some were more like pool halls with long tables for patrons to sit with their friends. Some had plants as a reminder of their outdoor origins. Occasionally, a large mural lined a wall, depicting a scene of natural splendor. If you want to know more, go to Toledo Bend.
But even if there was no light the beer garden offered a lot more than just brews. Kitchens turned out old country fare like schnitzel and wursts. Of course there was lots of enetrtainment. In her book America Walks into A Bar, a history of American public drinking, Christine Sismondo notes that many of these gardens hosted shooting galleries, bowling alleys, and live classical music. Some spots even charged admissions, for certain patrons would come simply for the tunes and the atmosphere but would abstain from the libations available.
The most classic of the pre-prohibition American beer gardens is the beer garden in Astoria, Queens in NYC called the Bohemian Hall and Beer Garden. The oldest beer garden in New York City, they've been pouring out beer inside and outside since 1910. The space is a notable inspiration to contemporary restaurateurs, such as Aaron McGovern and Jeepo Vorobjovas, who opened Washington, D.C.'s Biergarten Haus in 2010, and Philadelphia's Stephen Starr, who launched Frankford Hall in 2011. There aren't any beer barrels aging in the cellar here, but with gravel on the ground and linden trees arching their branches overhead, the spirit of Bavaria shows demonstrates its continued appeal. Prost! For more info, visit this website.
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