Believe it or not, the original “biergarten” in Germany was invented because of a brewing ban. Due to the increasing number of fires in Germany’s breweries to was forbidden to brew in the summer months. Those brewers decided to dig makeshift cellars near riverbanks in order to keep their brews cool and to give their lager beers the proper time and conditions to ferment (lagers require a lot longer time and much cooler temperatures to ferment properly). They added gravel over top of these pits, and shade trees, and so those areas became places where people would gather usually on Sundays with their families to enjoy a brew, a game of chess, a political conversation or even a musical concert.
Max Liebermann, Beer-garden in Brannenburg [Image: Wikimedia Commons]
German immigrants to America (Fredrick Pabst and Frederick Miller in particular) wanted to translate that positive experience in their new cities. And so the American Beer Garden was born. At first it mimicked the German version–only bigger, like many things were in the New Country. The largest beer garden in New York was Atlantic Gardens, which was built indoors to guard against unpredictable weather, and featured giant frescoes, skylights, indoor gardens, and an orchestra. The whole thing was a pleasant change from dark, gloomy taverns. But of course, once the Temperance movement took hold, the Beer Garden was seen as the worst sort of influence, allowing teenagers to be “exposed” to alcohol drinking and where young women would tempt young men to drink on a Sunday instead of going to church.
Thanks to the Volstead Act (outlawing liquor in American in 1919) Beer Garden culture had to go underground, like all other booze consumption (which as we know still continued, and only became more dangerous but that’s a post for another time). Now, the revival of the breezy, fenced in areas where beer can be consumed out of doors is a highly regulated affair. Regardless, more and more Americans like to take their beer outside a bar our restaurant to enjoy it in the sun and fresh air. And we plan to take that experience to a whole new level at our new location at 1370 N. Long Lake Road!
Our beer garden (think “Beer Park”) will have beautiful views of our vineyard, hop garden and pond. Once we get it up and running sometime later this summer we think it will become a great gathering place where you can enjoy your favorite FWB beer or wine and a snack from our kitchen! More on this later. In the meantime, enjoy the “work in progress” photos and the views of our soon to be opened FWB Beer Garden!
Happy Thursday!
Ginny & Matt