Country

Austria

Origin of Vienna lager, the amber malt-forward lager that shaped brewing in both central Europe and Mexico.

Anton Dreher’s Vienna lager of 1841 was, with the Pilsen beer that followed a year later, one of the two beers that established pale and amber lager as modern categories. It used a gently kilned amber malt that still carries the city’s name.

The style largely disappeared from Austria itself but survived through emigration, most visibly in Mexico, where it underlies the Vienna-derived amber lagers still brewed there.

Brewing traditions

Vienna and Mexican amber lager

The amber malt-forward lager tradition begun in Vienna in 1841, which survived more strongly in Mexico than in Austria.

Use of gently kilned amber malt for toasty depth without roast, produced with indirect-fired kilning.
Clean lager fermentation and conditioning, letting the malt character sit exposed.
In the Mexican line, frequent use of maize as an adjunct, lightening the body.

1 styles from Austria

Vienna lager4.5–5.5% ABV
An amber lager built on gently kilned Vienna malt: toasty and lightly sweet, but finishing clean and dry.

Brewing regions

Vienna. Dreher’s use of gently kilned amber malt, produced with the English indirect-fired kilning technology he had studied, created a lager with toasty malt depth and a clean lager finish. The malt type still carries the city’s name.

Breweries in Austria

Carried because a reference beer, a tradition or a historical event needs them. Not a directory.