Cheap Buzz: No whining - it's Philly Beer Week

Buzz:  Hey Marnie, it's Philly Beer Week. Does that mean you whiners get the week off?

Marnie: Not exactly, Buzz. Wine and beer have so much in common that most wine stewards are beer enthusiasts, too. For example, I'm particularly proud of Pennsylvania's German brewing heritage. I support our local lagers, weizens and bocks whenever I can.

Buzz: I love German beer. Do you know where I can get a good maibock weizen lager dubbel pilsner?

Marnie: Buzz, it sounds like you know as much about beer as you do about wine. Those are all different styles of beer. Weizens are German-style wheat beers, for example, great for beating the summer heat. Bock beers are German-style strong beers, usually dark malty lagers called "doppelbocks." Both are brewed more often here than anywhere in the country because of Pennsylvania's German history.

Buzz: This is America, so the only kind of history we have is American history.

Marnie: William Penn's stance on religious freedom drew thousands of Germans here from Europe long before the Revolutionary War. By 1776, there were nearly as many German-speaking Philadelphians as English speakers. And they sure knew how to make good beer.

Buzz: I guess that's OK then.

Marnie: Yup, this was the center of American brewing for two centuries, thanks to German beer know-how. And, when German pilsners and lagers were the hot new thing in Europe, it was a German immigrant who brought lager yeasts to the U.S.A.

Buzz: Lager is my favorite.

Marnie: In that case, you should know that the first American lager was made in Northern Liberties. It's only fitting that Pennsylvania remains the leader in lager-brewing. Yuengling and Samuel Adams, the two largest American-owned breweries, both produce most of their beer in the Lehigh Valley. And local craft brewers in Pennsylvania make a wider array of German-style beers here than you'll find anywhere else.

Buzz: No kidding. I guess I can drink to that. But, if you sommeliers are so beer friendly, can I get my Yuengling Lager decanted tableside?