Beer has been part of American history since the Mayflower landed at Plymouth Rock in 1620, but German immigration has largely shaped what U.S. beer culture looks like today. From style to social ...

MUNICH — It looked like all the other beers in the sea of giant one-liter glasses at the Augustiner Brewery tent at Oktoberfest, but Peter Asen’s mug harbored a secret: His drink was nonalcoholic.

For a while now, I’ve marveled at how Berlin has eclipsed Munich in urban energy. Bavaria’s capital seems to be comfortable just being itself rather than trying to keep up with Berlin or Hamburg, its ...