Cheapflights.ca Toasts the 200th Birthday of Biergartens

TORONTO--(Marketwire - Sep 5, 2012) - With Oktoberfest, the most globally celebrated beer festival, just around the corner, the travel experts at Cheapflights.ca, the online leader in finding and publishing travel deals, have beer on their minds. And, given that 2012 marks the 200th anniversary of "biergartens" or beer gardens, we think they make a perfect setting for a pint (or more) to celebrate Oktoberfest. So, get ready to wet your whistle with Cheapflights.ca's Top 10 Beer Gardens Worldwide.

While it's no surprise that Munich, Germany, the birthplace of Oktoberfest, leads off our list with three beer gardens featured, below are four to make the list that can be enjoyed this side of the world.

• Estabrook Park Beer Garden, Milwaukee, Wisconsin - It's little wonder that Milwaukee is featured in our top 10. This noted city of brewing learned the trade from the German immigrants who settled here in the 19th century. The Old German Beer Hall on Old World Third Street represents the spirit and tradition of the Hofbräuhaus in Munich, which is perhaps the most famous beer hall of all.
  
  Just this summer, Milwaukee got a new beer garden (the Estabrook Park Beer Garden), the county's first in a park since Prohibition. The garden is situated in the wooded 50-acre park that hugs the Milwaukee River. Featured beers include Hofbräu Original Lager, Dunkel Lager and Hefe Weizen. Weather permitting, the beer garden will be open seven days a week, noon to 9 p.m., from Memorial Day through the end of September, then weekends only through Nov. 24.
  
  
• Radegast Hall & Biergarten, New York City, New York - German expats had found a convivial home away from home in the beer gardens of New York for many years since the 18th century. Prohibition in the 1920s and later ill feelings toward Germans spelled the end of many of them. But the beer garden has made a comeback over the past few years. Undoubtedly, The Bohemian Hall in Queens is part of New York City history. It is said to be the last original remaining beer garden in New York, dedicated to preserving the Czech and Slovak communities.
  
  Our pick of the bunch is Radegast Hall & Biergarten in Brooklyn, which with its rustic decor, hearty fare and great brews captures the ambiance of Oktoberfest in all its giddy, belly-busting glory.
  
  
• Yaletown Brewing Company, Vancouver, BC - A Western Canadian twist on the beer garden, the Yaletown Brewing Company has won many awards such as Best Brewpub in Canada and Readers' Choice awards for Best in Vancouver. It's located in a renovated warehouse in one of Vancouver's trendiest districts. And the glassed-in brewery produces top-class beers. The best thing about it might be the long, narrow seats outside where Yaletowners and visitors pitch up to enjoy a pitcher or two.
  
  
• Praça Hercílio Luz, Blumenau, Brazil - This German settlement in the state of Santa Catarina is world famous for the crowd-magnet Oktoberfest it puts on each year (in 2011, more than 550,000 showed up and more than 626,000 litres of beer were downed; it's on Oct. 10-28 this year) but it honours its Germanic heritage year round.
  
  There's no better place to soak this up than Praça Hercílio Luz, among the beer museum, WW2 monument and beer garden. German brews might be the most popular but Blumenau has plenty of micro-breweries of its own. Eisenbahn is the best known and there's Bierland and Unser Bier, too; all of them offer a taste of Blumenau.

For those travelling overseas, check out these other top-notch beer gardens to make our list: Hirschgarten, Munich; Taxisgarten, Munich; Airbräu, Munich Airport; Forest Beer Garden, Tokyo, Japan and Lowenbrau Keller, Salzburg, Austria. To read Cheapflights.ca's complete list of Top 10 Beer Gardens Worldwide, visit www.cheapflights.ca/promos/top-10-beer-gardens-worldwide.

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