It was the introduction of lager beer that changed beer drinking in the United States. Seldom had a new beer style made such immediate and dramatic impact. he quick ascent of lager was nothing short of meteoric, and it was a pair of brewers from Philadelphia who were leaders in a national trend.

      Charles Engel came to America in 1840 after working at breweries in France and Germany. By circumstance he was a childhood friend of Philadelphian Charles C. Wolf, and it was this connection that would lead him to the city. The year was 1844 and Wolf, owner of a Philadelphia sugar refinery, offered Engel employment soon after they began brewing together. Within a year Engel struck out on his own and established a brewhouse in Lewisburg and produced Schenkbier (small beer)*. It wasn't meant to be; only a short while later the brewery was destroyed by fire. Coincidentally, as Engel was losing his business, fire also consumed part of Wolf's sugar house. Thus, fate drew them together again, and the result was construction o fa new lager brcwery at 352-4 Dillwyn Street.

      By chance Engel had made acquaintance with Philadelphia brewer John Wagner, and it was a supply of Wagner's yeast that that enabled Wolf and Engel to begin brewing lager. Wolf, in his later years, was the one responsible for crediting John Wagner of Philadelphia as the first American brewer to produce lager beer.

      Even in that day establishing a business followed the three simple rules - "location, location, location" and for Wolf and Engel their choice perfectly met all three. Their brewhouse on DilIwyn was, at that time, in something of a resort area for the ciry's German population and those thirsty masses, longing for a taste of the homeland, flocked to the brewery's beer garden. Wolf cheerfully reported that on more than one occasion these customers virtually drank the brewery dry. When this happened the partners would simply apologize as they posted the date the next batch of beer would be available.

      Although they were pleased to have such an enthusiastic and devoted following, selling out of beer was a clear signal that demand had far outdistanced production. Thus, in 1849, the pair began planning for a new brewery. This led them to obtain a tract of city land known as Fountain Green. Retaining the original brewhouse at DilIwyn, they devised a rather innovative way to expand. Wort (unfinished beer) was produced at the old brewery and transported by teams of oxen to Fountain Green where it was fermented and aged. More simple than it sounds, the arrangement worked so well that the brewery operated in this manner until 1870 when the city took the property under eminent domain law.

      While Wolf and Engel were building their operation another Philadelphia brewer was gaining an equally impressive reputation. Gustavus Bergner first made beer during 1854 in a small facility located at 586 North street. He too enjoyed the rapid pace with which Philadelphia's sizable German population lapped up lager, and in 1857 he increased capacity by constructing a new facility at Thirty Second and Thompson streets.

      When the city seized Wolf and Engel's property at Fountain Green, Wolf decided to retire from the business. This prompted Engel's search for a new partner. He found the person he was looking for in Gustavus Bergner, and Bergner's plant on Thompson was transformed to the firm of Bergner and Engel in 1870.

      Sales of lager beer continued briskly and the company flourished. By 1877 production at Bergner and Engel reached well past 120,000 barrels and vaulted them into third place among American breweries. Gustavus Bergner died May 6, 1883 but his shares remained in the Bergner family and the company continued operations under the Bergner and Engel name. All the while sales continued to grow and in 1895 they opened a second brewery at Thirty Third and Pennsylvania Avenue increasing production to more than 250,000 barrels. Although sales increased it was far slower than other US breweries. They relied heavily on local sales and never developed markets beyond the immediate area of Philadelphia. As with other successful, but short-sighted, regional brewers they failed to see development of a national distribution system as the future. While they were number three in the nation in 1877, they dropped to fifteenth by 1895. Seventeen years after the death of Bergner, in 1900 Charles Engel passed away and operation of the company was assumed by C.W. Bergner. At the onset of Prohibition the brewery shutdown. It reopened on Repeal, but suffered from outmoded equipment. Lacking a broad based distribution system, it closed forever shortly after it reopened. Philadelphia lost a brewery that once was a national leader and always one of the city's friends.

* Small Beer---The tradition of brewing two distinct beers from one mash has existed for hundreds of years, and the second lighter, weaker beer has been called "Small Beer".

Gregg Smith is the winner of the Gold "Quill and Tankard" History award by the North American Guild of Beer Writers; he was named 1996 Best Beer Writer of the Year - 1st Runner- Up; his second book Beer: A History from Avon Books won a Silver "Quill and Tankard"