The sum of it was a too distant cousin of the German biergarten ideal I sought.

BBC: The wiedergeburt (rebirth) of New York��s biergartens

Overall, Radegast did one of the best jobs of capturing the crowded, sloppy, jovial spirit of the traditional biergarten.

BBC: The wiedergeburt (rebirth) of New York��s biergartens

Add to that its prime location, under the southern end of the new High Line park, and Biergarten ranks as my third favourite, with the added chance to beer garden hop.

BBC: The wiedergeburt (rebirth) of New York��s biergartens

It may be a further stretch of the definition of biergarten, but the best beer bar in the city, Spuyten Duyvil in Williamsburg, does have a lovely, shaded backyard with trees and old metal lawn furniture.

BBC: The wiedergeburt (rebirth) of New York��s biergartens

One of those new beer gardens is the modern and lively Bier International, the first return of a biergarten to Harlem, a Manhattan neighbourhood where beer baron Captain Fred Pabst opened a 1, 400-seat restaurant hall in 1900 to serve his eponymous brew.

BBC: The wiedergeburt (rebirth) of New York��s biergartens

In the farmlands northeast of Austin I drive through a series of comatose old villages with names like Heidenheimer, Schwertner and Walburg, where the only place still trading is an indoor biergarten, bedecked with Bavarian flags, cuckoo clocks, beer steins and military memorabilia.

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