Burgenland immigrants to Pennsylvania drank more beer than wine. Grapes could be grown and turned into homemade wine, but not wine like in the Burgenland. 

My grandfather Sorger made wine from Lake Niagara grapes, grown on an arbor in his back yard, but the taverns sold little wine, mostly beer and whiskey (schnaps). Home made wine was often good and tasted a little like southern Burgenland Uhudler, as did most available tavern wine. The Vitus Vinifera grape can not survive harsh winters and Vitus Labrusca grapes were used for wine except in California. It was not until 1950 that California wines began arriving in the eastern USA in quantity. 
Not all immigrants worked in the cement or steel mills, some worked in or for the breweries, by operating brewery taverns. Under this plan, the tavern was leased by the operator who could only sell that brewery’s beer. Four of my southern Burgenland immigrant families (Berghold -tavern in Catasauqua, Wallitsch-taverns in Northampton, Allentown and Coplay, Holzer- Burkhart, hotel in Stiles-West Coplay) were involved in these enterprises and two (Bergholds) worked in breweries (Neuweiler’s and Uhl’s). 
Other Burgenland families operating taverns were Golatz, Fiedler, Donchez, Weber, Trinkle, Jaindl and Halleman. Some purchased taverns outright and sold other brands of beer. The taverns were also hotels and boarding houses for newly arrived immigrants. Many breweries operated in the Lehigh Valley, but only one (a new plant) is still in operation. 

The Lehigh Valley breweries were:

Allentown: 

• Liebermann- Eagle, 1864-1915, 

• Daeufers, 
  1890 (formerly H. Koenig,1869; later merged into Daeufer-Liebermann, 1915-ceased operation 1948), 

• Neuweilers , 1900-1968 (Ortlieb bought label) , 

• Horlachers-1873-1978 (various firms bought label)

Bethlehem: 

• Uhl, 1870-1941, 

• Widmann, 1888-1920, 

• South Bethlehem Brewery, Larkin’s ?-1954 

Catasauqua: 

• Old Dutch, late 1880’s-1964, 

• Viking , before 1919-1935.

Fogelsville (west of Allentown): 

• Schaefer 1971-1981, then Stroh’s 1981-present ( 100 different labels)

Northampton: 

• Northampton Brewery (Tru-Blu) 1900-1950. 

As a young man in Allentown, I enjoyed a glass of beer when coming home from work. I preferred Old Dutch and Neuweiler beer. When these firms went out of business, I drank Horlacher. Favorite memories are the gifts of cases of local beer brought by visiting friends and relatives when we relocated. 
I missed the local taverns, where everyone knew everyone’s family, the beer was good, the food was tasty and often included Burgenland specialities and “Gemütlichkeit“ reigned. Both breweries and taverns were hurt and changed for the worst by the Prohibition Laws (1919-1933), which prohibited the manufacture and sale of alcoholic beverages. The taverns are no longer the same and Lehigh Valley local beer is no more. When in Burgenland I drink wine before beer. 

by G. Berghold <GBerghold@aol.com>