The Bierwärmer (beer-warmer) is an endearing little contraption that is a testimony to old people’s attachment to beer.
Because they have digestive difficulties and intolerance for cold beverage and though beer is normally served at a moderate temperature of about 8° C in German establishments, they may ask the waiter for a Bierwärmer, a metallic cylinder as big as a Frankfurter sausage, that is filled with warm water and immersed in their beer mug.
It is touching that they do not want to forgo the ceremony of their beer, to drink it and to do so in the proper establishment for beer— be it a Gasthaus, a Bierhalle, or a Kneipe. Actually at home they could have a bottle at room temperature or in their drinking establishment order a bottle that had been kept out of the refrigerator. But, no, they hold to the custom of the frisch gezapftes Bierchen (fresh little draft beer) and so resort to the beer-warmer. They will certainly be sitting at the Stammtisch (the table reserved for the regulars) and quite rightly so.
