Also simply lager. [ad. G. lager-bier beer brewed for keeping, f. lager a store + bier beer.] A light beer, consumed largely in Germany and America, and to some extent in England.
1853. Ure, Dict. Arts (ed. 4), I. 153. Beers at present brewed in Germany…. 11. Wheat Lager-beer (slowly fermented).
1858. N. Y. Express, June (Bartlett). The German drinks his lager, and drinks it apparently in indefinite quantities.
1863. Dicey, Federal St., II. 80. Neither for love nor money could a stranger obtain a drink more intoxicating than lager beer.
attrib. 1882. Sala, Amer. Revis. (1885), 401. Tinware shops, butchers’, bakers’ and lager beer Saloons.
