This beer showcases light hops paired with subtle malt flavors for a pleasant brew. August Schell Brewing Company Firebrick – A mild example of the style.Don’t forget about the herbaceous bitterness to balance it out! Sierra Nevada Vienna Lager – Sierra Nevada puts forward a malt-focused lager with bready notes as the main star.Vienna Lager – This smooth beer is perfectly balanced with rich malty flavors and light sweetness. Looking for another great German beer? Try a German Pilsner! Popular commercial Vienna Lagersįor the beer enthusiasts and the beer curious here’s a quick list of Vienna lagers you should try: This is primarily due to German brewers taking their techniques over in the late 1800s. Vienna Lagers still hold favor in certain areas such as Mexico. While they are still around these days they are less common. Over time they began to fade in popularity. Using the lighter malts–later known as Vienna malt and Munich malt–they made the first Vienna Lager and Märzen.īoth beers became widely popular for many years. The two took this new technique back to Schwechat and Munich, respectively. It was at this time the English were developing those new kilning techniques. In the early 1830s, Dreher and Gabriel Sedlmayer, a friend of Dreher’s, worked in an English brewery. This new style relied on new kilning techniques to create lighter malts. The style was first brewed in 1841 by Anton Dreher of the Klein-Schwechat Brewery. Vienna Lagers originate from Austria in a town near Vienna called Schwechat. Mouthfeel – Smooth, moderate carbonation.Common flavor – Toast, hop bitterness, toffee.Color – 9-15 SRM (copper to reddish brown).When poured it should form a finger of head that will stick around.ĭefining characteristics of a Vienna lager include: The style does include a decent level of carbonation.

The mouthfeel should be quite smooth and crisp as well. Hop flavors and aromas may be present but certainly not the main focus. The malt flavors should not reach the deeper notes of roast, caramel, or biscuit–though hints of biscuit are permissible. The flavor profile is led by the malt flavors such as toasted bread and hop bitterness. In terms of alcohol content, it is fairly average. This beer style ranges from amber to a reddish brown. Your standard Vienna lager is a malty lager that brings bitterness and toasty malts without being overly heavy. Sam Adams Boston Lager is ranked the second most important American craft beer and the fourth most popular beer, so chances are you’ve enjoyed this excellent example of the style at many a restaurant. You may not know it, but I bet you’ve enjoyed a Vienna-style lager before. Popular Vienna Lager recipe kits (all-grain or extract).

Vienna lager examples