So, what is a beer garden? A beer garden is an outdoor space where people consume liquor and food. Unlike other outdoor venues where people drink alcohol, beer gardens are covered in trees and different vegetation types. Generally, beer gardens are not allowed for individuals with a legal drinking age.
Whether you’re just beginning a bar or attempting to turn an old patio area into something new, a beer garden opens up many new possibilities for your business. Beer gardens allow your customers to enjoy drinking outside in a fresh and exciting environment, allowing your business to foster a social and communal vibe.
What Makes a Beer Garden?
The Biergarten (beer garden) is an outdoor location surrounded by trees where you may eat skillfully provided meals or food brought from home while drinking local craft beer. Each German city and town has one, usually on the main square.
The beer gardens serve as a social gathering spot for strangers, regardless of their money or social level. Therefore, it will be sufficient to inquire and take your place after obtaining a positive response.
Nothing beats lounging in an open area outside, generally encircled by trees and selling food and beverages, for unwinding. This region is pretty pleasant, designed to help strangers make new relationships. In beer gardens, seats are traditionally set with minimal space between them to create a sense of camaraderie.
However, don’t confuse this notion with casual conversing with others, and be aware that Germans are masters at maintaining privacy in crowded situations.
Traditional German beer gardens still have benches with little space between two chairs. However, they provide a sense of community and allow you to share a table with strangers. These locations were declared vital to Bavarian culture in 1999, with no restrictions on working hours or noise levels.
Pub grounds should have a level surface of well-mown grass, enabling safe strolling while holding pints and a sturdy place to rest a pitcher of beer.
Why Do They Call a Bar a Beer Garden?
On Jan 4, 1812, Maximilian I, Bavaria’s first monarch, approved a compromise edict allowing brewers to sell beer but prohibiting them from selling other foods. Biergarten was born as a result of this.
An open-air cafe or tavern that offers beer and food is a beer garden (formed from the German “Biergarten”). In reality, to keep beer fresh, Bavarian breweries planted gardens above basements. In addition, Bavarian brewers constructed gardens above cellars to keep their lagers cold enough to ferment underground.
Plants and trees were grown above ground to maintain the temperature lower around these beer caves since the shadow kept the temperature cooler. The owners saw the possibilities of these garden spaces and decided to expand their seats to incorporate them. Patrons would collect beer from the vault and drink beer in the brewery’s new garden, spawning the modern beer gardens notion.
Where Is the Largest Beer Garden?
The Hirschgarten in Munich, Germany, has 8,000 seats and is an enormous traditional beer garden. Beer gardens may be found all around Germany, although you can still find the most traditional beer gardens in Bavaria, where they initially began in the early 1800s. Visitors to Munich beer gardens can bring their food as long as they purchase beer from the establishment. Visitors are frequently startled to learn this.
Without a nice beer under the shelter of a chestnuts or linden trunk, surrounded by the pleasant noises of friends and family, summer in Germany would be incomplete. Biergarten is the German word for the beer garden, and these are an essential aspect of German culture.
How to Set Up a Beer Garden?
You may wonder that setting up a beer garden is as simple as placing just a few tables outside your bar, but this is far from reality. Instead, you’ll need a specific site and layout to successfully operate a beer garden that encourages social contact and good times.
Locations of Beer Gardens
A specific sort of site is required to construct a proper beer garden. Traditional beer garden locations were shaded areas with plenty of greenery. Many pubs and restaurants have outdoor seating and have called them “beer gardens” since the COVID-19 epidemic; however, they are not classic beer garden sites.
Beer Garden Tables
People use standard picnic tables with seats on both sides in beer gardens. These tables are for accommodating large groups of people, contributing to the communal atmosphere that beer gardens want to foster. In addition, bar-height tables and chairs can be utilized in specific beer gardens to accommodate smaller groups and fill empty spaces.
Tables in the beer garden are close together to promote social contact among the various parties. A beer garden is supposed to be a communal gathering place with plenty of people, and the small arrangement is a fantastic way to keep that vibe going. Therefore, different groups of individuals are prone to sit together and socialize in beer gardens.
Beer Garden Menu
A beer garden’s location and design are just as significant as the drinks and food it serves. Therefore, it’s critical to plan a healthy cuisine for a beer garden so that your visitors have the best time possible. Guests will frequent the beer garden by becoming regular customers if you serve good cuisine and high-quality alcohol.
Beverages
It’s no surprise that beer is the most popular beverage in a beer garden. Beer gardens provide a variety of beers, such as native craft beer and foreign lagers. Guests should anticipate a broad assortment of beers, with higher ABVs frequent in beer gardens. Other alcoholic beverages, like beer garden wine, strong seltzer, schnapps, or hard cider, are available, as they are in most bars.
Beer Garden Food
Beer gardens offered no food on the premises after being initially built in German in the 19th century. Guests instead brought their meals to the beer garden to go with their beverages. Even though many modern beer gardens have eliminated this practice, some historic beer gardens permit you to carry your own food.
Nowadays, most beer gardens feature basic bar food paired with beer.
Snacks and simple finger meals like nachos and pretzels are the most common beer garden foods. Traditional German beer garden meals such as knockwurst (sausage), fowl (chicken), and sauerkraut may be served at some beer gardens.
Indoor Beer Garden
People classify beer gardens as outdoor areas that offer alcohol; hence an inside beer garden is impossible. Even if people refer to an alcoholic tavern with a German theme as a beer garden, it is a beer hall instead. To qualify as a beer garden, a site must be outside and covered by trees and flowers.
Almost every pub or restaurant would benefit from a beer garden. A beer garden not just expands your capacity and allows you to welcome guests to a new location. Still, it also provides a social and community atmosphere that anyone can enjoy. The COVID-19 epidemic has boosted the trend’s popularity alongside so many people adopting it.
Final Words – What Is a Beer Garden?
Beer gardens were first popularised in the 19th century in Germany’s Bavarian area. Local regulations prohibited Breweries from producing during the summer season due to fire risk. Breweries extended beer cellars to contain more beer but have sufficient stock to endure over the summer months to comply with the new restrictions. Beer is frequently offered in an outdoor location with seating during gatherings or outdoor restaurants. Alcoholic drinks are available for purchase and consumption.
