It's time to kick back a few cold ones. Lagers to be exact. Order a lager and there's a common assumption: you're talking about Yuengling, the Pottsville Institution that calls itself America's oldest brewery. But according to a Pennsylvania historical marker, the nation's first lager beer was brewed in Philadelphia by a brewmaster named John Wagner, who brought lager yeast from Bavaria when he arrived in 1840.
Philly at the time already had a long tradition of brewing beer, mostly ales like those served in England. Compared to Ale, Lager was lighter, both in taste and color, and it was popular in Philadelphia during the hot summers. Later, other German immigrants began brewing lagers as well, and America's brewing industry was off and running. There are claims that lager was brewed in the U.S. before 1840 and not here in PA. But nonetheless, we raise a glass to John Wagner, beer pioneer.
