Wegbier

The first time I noticed a man double fisting beers on the S-bahn was a bit of a culture shock. I was pleased to learn that this is common practice, especially for people headed home from work. Taking a beer everywhere is a relatively new—but not unheard of—phenomenon. It is called wegbier (vaeg-beer), which means “a beer for the journey.”

By afternoon it is extremely common to see most people with a beer in hand, their fingers wrapped around the neck and one thumb holding the cap in place. This open-carry concept is so foreign to me, and yet oddly very comforting. There is a special sort of freedom in being able to carry your beer around in public.

The first thing everyone told me when I got to Berlin was, “Don’t smile, they’ll think you want something,” so, in my mind, this casual beer-toting tradition softens the standard apathy of German strangers. At the end of the day, we all just want to wander home with our friends while enjoying some German brew.