Austria
isn’t a country particularly renowned for its beer; a fact which is rather
surprising considering it borders both Germany
and the Czech Republic.
There is no Reinheitsgebot in place ensuring Austrian beers are brewed from
just malted barley, hops and water, although it is fair to say many of the
country’s 170 odd brewers do adhere to the principles of that 500 year old
consumer protection legislation.
There are of course, pockets of excellence and I mentioned
one such example in my previous post about my impending trip to Salzburg.
I arrived back home yesterday, and pleased to report that the beer at Augustinerbräu Kloster
Mülln is as good as ever, and I
even managed to sample the Weinachts Bock (more about that in a separate post).
So far as the rest
of the beer in Salzburg is concerned, I managed to sample beers from several Austrian breweries,
along with a few from the city itself, and whilst they weren’t world classics,
they were still perfectly quaffable beers which suited the time and the
occasion. This largely means they were enjoyed in various pubs, bars and
restaurants, normally as an accompaniment to a meal. The trip was, after all, a
family holiday, rather than a beer-hunting expedition!
Like in neighbouring
Germany, it is often difficult to know exactly which
of a particular brewery’s products you are sampling. Point of sale material on
beer founts is often restricted to just the brewery logo, and menus,
particularly in restaurants, will just list the brewer of the beer, rather than
specifying the particular type. This is quite surprising as in common with
their Teutonic neighbours many Austrian breweries brew a bewildering number of
different beers, many of which have suspiciously similar strengths. Moral of
tale - it’s no use being a “ticker” in this part of the world!
The beers I did get
to sample include, in no particular order, Stiegl Goldbräu and Paracelus
Naturtrüb; Wieninger Dunkel; Hofbräu Kaltenhausen Original; Gösser (variety
unknown); Zipfer Urtyp and Sternbräu Stern-Bier. However, rather than write
about the beers it’s probably better to describe a few of the pubs and kellers
they were enjoyed in.
I intend doing this
in a subsequent post.
2 comments:
It's a good point about not knowing what you're sampling Paul. In Austria & Germany you tend to be expected to sit down rather than stand at the bar reading beer fonts. My experience is then that I end up asking for Helles or Dunkels, though to be fair most printed menus do list the beers.
I quite liked the limited choice, in a Sam Smiths sort of way.
NB Glad you had a good trip.
We had an excellent trip, thanks Martin, with a sprinkling of snow on the first day, followed by bright, but cold conditions on the following two days. Just right, in fact, for a spot of sight-seeing and browsing round the Christmas markets.
With regard to beer menus, some places are obviously better than others, but I have come across places which make no distinction between draught or bottled beer. You don’t even know when the beer arrives at your table; as if it is bottled it’s invariably all been poured into the glass by the waiter/waitress, before it’s placed in front of you.
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