Beer in Austria

Brewing arose in Austria at the same time as Germany and the Czech Republic ; beer was originally brewed mainly in monasteries. Vienna became an important European brewing center in the first half of the 19th century.

Although, according to the Austrians themselves, winemaking is developed in their country, today the brewing industry is on the rise, and according to statistics, Austria ranks second in the world of beer consumption per capita (after the Czech Republic) - 107.8 liters of beer are consumed for each Austrian annually.

The modern Austrian market is relatively small, local breweries produce more than 360 different types of beer, with a total annual production of more than 8 million hectoliters.

Statistics of the brewing industry in Austria in 2012 provide the following data:

• Volume of production: 8.917 million hl (hectoliters)
• Export volume: 713,000 hectoliters
• Import volume: 673,000 hectoliters
• Consumption: 9105000 hectoliters
• Existing breweries: 170 (+ 97 microbreweries) ^[1] .

By technology, most beers are produced by the method of bottom fermentation , currently the most common are light lagers , the most famous of which are Gösser , Stiegl , Zipfer , Ottakringer , Schwechater , Egger , Wieselburger , Fohrenburger , Hirter , Kaiser , Zwettler . In addition, Austrian brewers have traditions in the production of March beer - Gösser Märzen , Zipfer Märzen , zwickelbir - Schwechater Zwikl , sidebir and doppelbock - Gösser Bock , Eggenberg Urbock 23 , Ottakringer 2000 , viscous malt beer - Eggenberg Nessie and Christmas beer .

In addition, Austria is proud of the local top-fermented wheat beer - Edelweiss Weissbier , Stiegl-Weisse and others.

Vienna Camp

Vienna lager (Vienna lager) - a type of "European Amber Lager" (European Amber Lager). The style was created in 1840 by Austrian brewer Anton Dreer at the Schwechat brewery and was named Vienna beer , or Vienna lager . Dreer created a large brewing company in Vienna, and later founded breweries in Budapest , Trieste and Michalovce ( Bohemia ). In the 1930s, the Vienna brewery went bankrupt, and a new beer style ceased to be produced in Austria. Currently, the Vienna camp is popular mainly on the other side of the Atlantic - in countries such as Mexico and the United States.

This type of beer owes its qualities to Viennese malt. Only high-quality malt is used in combination with continental European hops of noble varieties. Vienna lager is bright red from amber to copper; transparency plentiful, yellow and steady foam, rich malt taste of the Viennese or Munich malt, hop notes. The alcohol content in the range from 4.5 to 5.7 vol.%. Today it is produced by several Austrian breweries. Examples of brands are Ottakringer Wiener Original , Schloss Eggenberg Nessie , Stiegl-Ambulanz Wiener Lager , Gusswerk Wiener Lager , Gablitzer Wiener Lager , Brew Age Malzstrasse .

Steinbier

Steinbier (from German: Stein - “stone”), also known as stone beer , is a traditional special beer that was distributed in Carinthia until the beginning of the 20th century. It was also popular in Scandinavia , Franconia, and Southwest Germany. Today it is rarely produced by individual breweries in Germany, Austria and the USA . It got its name because of the technology of wort cooking, which boils thanks to the installation on hot stones. In the past, cooking vessels were often made of wood, so it was not possible to heat them on fire. Thus, the only way to boil the wort was by heating with stones. The beer obtained by this method differs from ordinary beer, since the stones caramelize the maltose contained in the must. As a result, sugar deposits with a pronounced aroma of smoke settle on the stones. After filtering the beer from the brewing vessel into the vessel for fermentation and cooling, “saccharified” stones are placed at the beginning of fermentation in beer. During fermentation, the yeast quickly processes sugars adhering to the stones. The resulting beer acquires a pleasant smoky aroma and a slightly sweet malt flavor. Usually steinbier is not filtered. Stone beers have an alcohol content of 4.5 to 7.2 vol.%. The Austrian beer brand in this exotic style is Gusswerk Urban-Keller's Steinbier .

Christmas beer

The best-known brand of Christmas beer in the world is Samichlaus of the Austrian brewery Schloss Eggenberg. Samichlaus is a brand of strong doppelbock -style lager . Beer is brewed once a year, on December 6, and then aged for 10 months and is traditionally ready for use the next Christmas . Contains 32% extract and 14% vol. and is one of the strongest beers produced regularly. The high content of extract and alcohol leads to long-term storage - five years or more. Produced was launched in 1984 by the Swiss brewery Brauerei Hürlimann in Zurich , which was closed in 1997. The Samichlaus brand was bought by the Austrian Schloss Eggenberg brewery, which began producing Christmas beer at its brewery in 2000. The name of the beer comes from Switzerland, where Samichlaus is named after Santa Claus . Beer has a dark honey color, nutty aroma and a rich and complex taste that combines notes of malt, fruit and alcohol.

Trappist beer

Trappist beer (Bière trappiste, Trappistenbier) - beer brewed by or under the control of Trappist monks . There are 174 Trappist abbeys around the world, and only eight of them (six in Belgium , one in the Netherlands and one in Austria) produce Trappist beer and have the right to put the label “Authentic Trappist Product” on the labels, meaning compliance with the International Trappist Association standard ^{[2] [3]} .

Engelszell is an Austrian Trappist beer that is produced and bottled at the Stift Engelszell Abbey Brewery, near Engelhartszell an der Donau in the province of Upper Austria . The abbey brewed its own beer from 1590, but in 1929 production ceased. In November 2011, the construction of a new plant began. It is installed in the existing outbuildings of the monastery and has the ability to produce up to 2500 hectoliters per year. On February 8, 2012, the first Trappist beer was brewed at the new brewery in the Austrian Abbey after the brewery closed in 1929. The new Austrian beer, which appeared on the shelves in May 2012, was produced by top fermentation in two versions: Engelszell Benno - light beer with an alcohol content of 6.9% vol., And Engelszell Gregorius - dark beer with an alcohol content of 9.7% vol ^{[ 4]} .

The largest brewery in Austria is Brau-Union AG, which combines several breweries with a 56% market share.

• Brau Union Österreich AG (property of Heineken ):
  • Brauerei gösser
  • Brauerei zipfer
  • Brauerei schwechat
  • Brauerei wieselburger
  • Brauerei puntigamer

Large breweries with a production volume of more than 500,000 hectoliters per year:

• Brauerei stiegl
• Ottakringer brauerei

Medium breweries with a production volume of 100,000 to 500,000 hectoliters per year:

• Vereinigte Kärntner Brauereien
• Privatbrauerei Fritz Egger
• Brauerei fohrenburger
• Brauerei zwettl
• Mohrenbrauerei August Huber
• Schloss eggenberg
• Brauerei murauer
• Brauerei Hirt und Josef Sigl

• Edelweiss
• Egger bier
• Freistadter bier
• Fohrenburger
• Hirter privat pils
• Gösser Märzen
• Goldfassl
• Kaiser bier
• Capsreiter
• Ottakringer
• Schwechater
• Stiegl
• Zipfer
• Zwettler

• Official website at Verband der Brauereien Österreichs
• Beer Pages: Austria
• Verband der Haus- und Kleinbrauereien Österreichs
• The official website of the Austrian beer consumer organization