The horse knows the way

(Don Dale photo, 1967)

The Simonbräu brewery in Bitburg dates back to 1817. I had my first taste of the company's best-selling product, Bitburger Pils, 150 years later. In 1967, the brewery was still regional in its focus. Today the market for Bitburger Pills is world-wide. You can pick up a six-pack in any Richmond store with a decent beer selection. But that's only been true for the past couple of decades. I remember seeing Bitburger Pils for sale in Richmond for the first time at the Strawberry Street Vineyard in the 1980s. It was like running into an old friend unexpectedly.

The bottled version we get here in the States tastes different. I suspect that's because it's pasteurized. But it's still good, far better than American beer.

I took this picture in downtown Bitburg in 1967, before the brewery expanded and went international. There was nothing unusual about kegs of Bitburger being delivered to local bars and restaurants by horse-drawn wagon in those days. That's just the way it was done.

When I came back to the States after being discharged from the Air Force, I sang the praises of Bitburger Pils to my friend Walter Foery, one of my favorite travelling companions. I kept telling him, "It's the best beer I've ever tasted."

A couple of decades passed, and Walter and I booked a cruise down the Rhine River from Holland to Switzerland. At our first stop inside Germany, we visited a small village gasthaus that featured Bitburger Pils on draft. We both drank a glass. Then Walter began singing its praises. All along, he had thought I was exaggerating. One sip, and he, too, saw the light.