A History of Beer Gardens Main Menu The Popularity of Beer Gardens in America was Directly Impacted by the Acceptance or Lack Thereof of German-Americans The Beginning How Beer Gardens were Born Beer Gardens and the Picnic Ethnic Foods in Beer Gardens The Temperance Movement The Second Great Awakening to Prohibition War Hysteria and German Persecution WWI & WWII Credits

Beer Gardens and German Immigrants

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Beer gardens were brought to America by German immigrants as well as other Eastern Europeans. Immigrants were drawn to America for the promise of opportunity, land and a new start. There were also push factors that helped these people make the decision to leave their homelands such as war, religious persecution, economic turmoil, political unrest. German immigrants tended to settle in areas which had a similar climate to Germany. This gave them the opportunity to grow the same crops they had in Germany, wheat, barley, hops among others. A problem many German-Americans faced was a lack of quality beer. Germans had mastered the craft of making lagers, a pure delicious form of beer. The German-Americans worked hard throughout the week and each and every Sunday, after church, they would gather in parks, gardens or even on farms to enjoy beer, games, music and family in a uniquely German manner which was commonly called the beer garden. 

The Americans of English decent favored ales, ports and India pale ales, none of which suited the German-Americans' taste. Germans started out small, making home brews and selling them to the local community in all parts of the colonies. After the Revolutionary War German-American beer became more popular mainly due to the high standards of the brew-masters. The German brews were renowned for their purity at a time when there were no standards regulating the quality or safety of commercially sold beer. Germans began large breweries in New York, Pennsylvania, Wisconsin and eventually St. Louis. Wisconsin brewers began mass producing beer due to a high demand in New York City and Chicago. The location of Milwaukee made it ideal to serve this demand with high quality ingredients, pure water, and low shipping costs so Milwaukee brewers could keep prices competitive. The market expanded quickly for the Wisconsin beer barons and Milwaukee became the beer capitol of the world.

This page has paths:

  1. The Popularity of Beer Gardens in America was Directly Impacted by the Acceptance or Lack Thereof of German-Americans Robert Soucek
  2. The Popularity of Beer Gardens in America was Directly Impacted by the Acceptance or Lack Thereof Concerning German-Americans Robert Soucek

Contents of this path:

  1. The Beginning
  2. German Immigration in Pennsylvania
  3. Germans in the Pacific Northwest
  4. Ramona Colorado

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