Austrian Craft Beer

Austria is beer country. Brewing beer has a centuries-old tradition in Austria.  Austria was also the country where the first lager beer was ever brewed. Hospitality and enjoyment characterize the beer culture there to this day. Discover great beer from Austria in the Beyond Beer Online Shop now!

A brief history of beer in Austria

Brewing activities are already mentioned in sources from the early Middle Ages (around 800 AD). The actual history, of course, goes back even further. The first places of beer brewing were monasteries, as in so many other countries. As early as the 14th century, breweries and private breweries are mentioned in documents.

The origin of Lager beer lies in Austria

1841: The brewer Anton Dreher rented large cellar rooms in Vienna, which he filled with natural ice. There he wanted to cool his beer brewed with bottom-fermenting yeast, which he had developed years before. Dreher had previously been to Germany and England, among other places, for further training and took over the impressions gained there in his own brewery in Schwechat, Austria.

It was in Schwechat that the Wiener Lager beer style was born. While at first the beer could only be served in winter - i.e. it was taken to the pubs in Vienna directly after bottling in barrels - and then had to wait until the next winter for a new brew, the new cooling facility meant that Wiener Lager could be offered all year round. Lager beer was born.

Lager from Austria: A Revolution in Brewing

The triumphant advance of lager, it can certainly be said today, was phenomenal. The invention of the Austrian Anton Dreher caused a sensation internationally and was to change brewing and the beer world for good.

One brewery that has perfected the brewing of lager, or more precisely Pilsner, is Trumer Privatbrauerei. Trumer has developed a great brewing process including the now rare open fermentation, which makes the brewery's beer taste unique.