Though my family is not German, this Bite speaks to me in a more personal way than a lot of the others, because I live in a city that German immigrants had a heavy influence on. German lager was one of the cornerstones of St. Louis, as this is where Eberhard Anheuser set up shop, and later passed the business to his son-in-law, Adolphus Busch. Germans brought a method of brewing that took out a lot of the unpredictability of beer, and thus it became much preferred over the earlier, murkier American brews. German pretzel recipes also took over, and it's little wonder why.
The food and drink themselves weren't the only things that helped these two establish dominance. Particularly in the case of beer, technology gave it helping hand. The invention of refrigerated railroad cars in the 1870s meant that beer could be shipped nationally, and the crimped cap on the bottle prevented it from exploding. Budweiser became the first national beer, and for generations, it and other big brands ruled the roost in bars, saloons, and beer halls.
Nowadays, as you can tell from the photo, people like to drink local again. Soft pretzels are the perfect accompaniment to beer, and I even tried my hand at making them from scratch, with tasty if not wonderfully photogenic results.
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