I'm with you on this. A grove of trees with seating is a lot different from a concrete patio or a lawn space with tables and umbrellas. 'Outdoor seating' does not translate to biergarten in my way of thinking
The discussion about Texas breweries/biergartens reminded me of a visit last fall (2024) to Tyler, Texas. I have family and friends who live in New Braunfels, TX and my wife and I regularly visit them (annually and sometimes twice a year) and often we go via a road trip. We stayed in Tyler for one of our stops (my wife selected Tyler because: The Tyler Municipal Rose Garden is the nation's largest rose garden). We were there for a Monday evening and decided to get some beers at True Vine Brewing. It was an unpleasant/rainy evening but we decided to get wet and visit the outdoor area which is a combination biergarten/pavilion. A stock photo: There was only a handful of people there but they were friendly and we struck up a conversation. It was my first visit to Tyler and that brewery so I asked a few questions and I come to find out I was speaking to the two owners (husband and wife): Ryan and Traci Dixon. I mentioned to Ryan that I homebrew and he was kind enough to give me a personal tour of the brewery. Both Ryan and Traci are good folk! I recommend y’all visit True Vine if you are ever in Tyler. Below is a photo of Ryan and Traci so you too can say “Hi” during that visit. Cheers!
And don't forget to visit the HUGE Rose Garden. And plan your trip during the blooming season. We visited in early November and while there were still plenty of roses in bloom it was at the tail end of the season. Cheers! P.S. I neglected to mention in my prior post that the True Vine beers I had were quite tasty. Ryan knows how to brew IMO.
A most welcome visit was on a July day over 90 degrees F to the Brauhaus Zwölf Apostel in Worms. The evening cooled slightly and the light through the trees and the beer was delightful.
The intent of this thread was to discuss local biergartens but what the heck… Back in 2019 my wife and I went for a beercation in the Czech Republic and we visited the brewery/brewpub of U Fleků three times. The beer and food were very good but the beautiful biergarten (pivní zahrádka in Czech) was a BIG draw as well. Personally, I am not hard over that biergarten has to have trees (@PapaGoose03) but an arboreal setting is a definite plus. Na Zdravi
Communal seating seems rare around me. When I think communal seating, I think long tables that people who are not affiliated with one another share. There's some of that in my parts, but very little. Lots of it at Notch Brewery in Brighton, MA, however. Fantastic beer too.
I have provided three examples (with photos) so far in the thread and all of those photos included what I term as picnic tables - a long table with bench type seating on both sides. And yes they can indeed be communal (i.e., you sit with strangers) or if you come with a larger group (e.g., a family with 3-4 children) you might not sit with strangers. I am ambivalent to state that a requirement of a biergarten is you have to have communal seating but I can report that every biergarten I have went to (so far) has had some sort of communal seating (i.e., picnic tables). Cheers! P.S. The biergarten I go to the most is at Von C Brewing (although it does not meet the @PapaGoose03 requirement of having trees) and they have a number of these sorts of picnic tables:
Three I really liked over the years were Olde Mecklenburg in Charlotte, FX Matt in Utica and Brewery Ommegang in Cooperstown. Had a great time at all three, The Disc golf course at Ommegang was an added bonus.
The physical facility And the weather look outstanding, and the live music just adds a great bonus to the experience. Wish I could be there!
My local is either Hotel Congress or Borderlands Brewing just down the road from the hotel. https://drive.google.com/file/d/1tCYw8ItCRfcjidouaALQXaT2yz3klvcU/view?usp=drive_link
Olde Mecklenburg here is Charlotte has a great Biergarten, and great beer to drink while enjoying the ambiance.
I was replying to another thread which reminded me of my visit to Únětický Pivovar in the Czech Republic: "There is a very nice Beer Garden at the brewery and it was an absolutely idyllic day – pretty blue skies, puffy white clouds, and warm temperatures. We shared a picnic table with Ivan and Marek and had a wonderful conversation as we drank many glasses (0.5 liter) of beer and ate excellent food for lunch (venison stew for me and roast boar for my wife)." Na Zdravi P.S. @Providence an example of a communal seating & drinking experience above.
