In fact, says Ogle, one of the last things people would focus on was the beer itself. The gardens had multiple purposes; they were entertainment centers and beer was just one part. “This was clearly, rooted in a very real experience that still lived in people’s memories,” she said. “Today, people sit at communal tables and hammer down beers.”
Carl Miller of beerhistory.com said the beer gardens were a place of refuge for many in the 1800s, as it gave them a chance to stroll through parks, relax under trees, catch up on a nap, or sit with family and friends in a setting designed to promote both social activities and calm. It appears at least one activity has not translated from either the first German beer gardens or the early American ones: the shooting gallery. Miller says marksmanship activities were quite common at beer gardens, where contestants would line up to take their best shot at targets. “Today we think of it as hilarious,” he said, “back then it was part of the deal.”
Imitation as Flattery?
It is not the largest in Munich, but likely the best known globally. Thanks in part to its worldwide availability, reputation as a must-visit spot for tourists and its wonderfully catchy and classic beer drinking song, Hofbräuhaus is nothing short of sacred.
Nicholas Ellison is keenly aware of that reputation and made sure that the two Hofbräuhaus franchises his company operates in the United States are continually striving to match the original.
We’ve learned a lot in seven years,” he said in telephone interview. “But we have done some modifications to the whole thing because we’re in a different country.”
Here it is important to make the distinction between a beer hall and a beer garden. The original Hofbräuhaus has both. The large main hall seats up to 1,300 thirsty revilers at once and there is a smaller outdoor seating area (only 400 guests) that is opened in warmer months and gives people a chance to enjoy lager alfresco. There is also a formal dining room that can accommodate up to 900 guests. So, while it is easy to slip and say that Hofbräuhaus is a beer garden, clearly it is much more. That is not unlike the U.S. variations.
The beer is not one of the things that was modified. When Ellison and his partners opened their first location in Newport, KY, considered a suburb of Cincinnati, OH, in 2002, they had brewers coming from Munich to make sure their lagers were not just acceptable, but perfect. Today, they have a classically trained German brewer, Eckhard Kurbjuhn, who oversees operations at both locations (the other is in Pittsburgh and opened in 2009). Their state-of-the-art equipment is wired to the Hofbräuhaus headquarters in Munich where brew masters there can keep an eye on things.
Ellison said some differences between his Hofbräuhaus locations and the one in Munich would are never even noticed by most of the patrons who visit. “We’re in America so we have a bar,” he said. While the location in Germany rotates among four beers, his locations offer four year-round as well as monthly specials. The floor of their beer garden is crushed limestone, not tile or concrete.
They offer different food than their Munich counterpart, including vegetarian options and nachos, but also traditional dishes. Ellison said they recently learned that they have been plating their food wrong. Acceptable by American standards, but wrong if they are striving to honor their European roots, so Ellison said they are working to change that.
Plating issues and nachos aside, the concept is popular. There is a third Hofbräuhaus operating in Las Vegas and another being talked about for New York City. The two run by Ellison and his partners are continually busy. He said that mid-February the Newport location had sold 3 million liters of beer. That same month Pittsburgh passed the 1 million liter mark.
Germans come in and look at both places and the comment we hear the most is ‘I’ve never seen a beer garden quite like this in Germany, but if I did I wouldn’t be surprised,’ he says. “We take that as a big compliment.”
