The only way to celebrate the Fourth of July is with a meat-juice-covered spatula in your right hand and a cold beer in your left hand. And while celebrating American history, you should look for two qualities in that beer. First, it should be 100 percent American. Second, it should be an old-school lager that's quenched our country's thirst for so long that it's become a part of the Great American Experience.

That means you'll have to skip on Budweiser, Coors, and Miller. It's not that those beers don't have an important role in American history, because they do, it's that those American flag-draped cans hide a secret: they're not American.

Indeed, after Belgian-owned InBev purchased Anheuser-Busch, the money that you buy your Bud with started flowing over the Atlantic. Belgian Beer on the Fourth of July? What would Uncle Sam say? Same with Miller, a beer that's now owned by a bunch of Brits. Coors is interlocked in a complicated business relationship with Molson, a Canadian brewer.

That's why, this Fourth of July, we're saluting the following four lagers. Not only are they delicious, but they've also all been satisfying our peoples' thirsts long before Prohibition. These beers are truly for the people, by the people, and of the people.

Yuengling Lager

When the German immigrant David Yuengling rolled into Pottsville, Pennsylvania, the year was 1829 and Andrew Jackson was in charge of the country. Ever since, Yuengling has been pumping out its signature beers—save when they switched over to near-beer and ice cream during prohibition—to Northeast workingmen ever since. Pennsylvania steel built the nation, and Yuengling beer fueled the nation's steel workers. Its malty sweetness and dry hop bitterness are light and balanced, making it a beer that Bud Light junkies and craft beer aficionados can tilt back after a hard day’s work.

Anchor Steam

Anchor Steam—called a "steam" beer because it ferments at warmer temperatures in open air, creating steam—traces its San Francisco roots to a German brewer who was called west in 1849 by the California Gold Rush. It's a survivor of a beer. Anchor Steam fought through prohibition, multiple owners, brewery fires, and earthquakes. If the Fourth is sweltering, this is the beer you reach for. It's refreshing with a backbone that’s slightly bitter, salty, and carries a tinge of citrus.

Shiner Bock

In 1909 a rag tag group of German and Czech immigrants in Shiner, Texas realized that if they wanted good beer, they were going to have to make it themselves. Four years after that, they brewed Shiner Bock, a legend of a beer, and the company has been running on the rebel spirit of its founders ever since. (It's rumored that during prohibition the brewery supplied local farmers with illegal beer. Shhh, don’t tell anyone.) Shiner Bock is a Texas original, and great for any guy looking for a brew that's far darker and maltier than the average golden lager.

Narragansett Lager

Although Narragansett was founded by a few beer-swilling Rhode Islanders in the late 1800s, by 1914 the brewery was producing New England's most popular brew. When WWII ended and thirsty GIs came back home, Narragansett became the official beer of the Boston Red Sox and began their now famous, "Hi neighbor. Have a 'Gansett" advertising campaign. If you enjoy a nice, crisp Bud, Coors, or Miller, you'll be in heaven with a 16 oz. 'Gansett in your hand. It's the Great American Lager—elevated. 

Via: Drink American On The Fourth Of July