Austrian Beers and Innsbruck Bars

Despite the overwhelming dominance of the big breweries in the Austrian market place, and a slew of German products also available, one can still find some unique beers in Innsbruck’s supermarkets.
One of the more interesting finds is MacQueen’s Nessie, subtitled ‘Whisky Malt Red Beer’ (see Beer of the Day, Sept. 15). From the Schlossbrauerei Eggenberg, this beer is packaged in a tall 330 ml long-neck bottle to showcase its difference. Though only 5%, it is big in flavour, but not actually whiskey- flavoured like some beers aged in whiskey casks, but more like a Trois Pistoles (Unibruoue), whose character is derived from the special malts used in the grain bill. They use Scottish highland whiskey malt and age the brew for two full months before bottling. This brewery also makes the legendary Samichaus, once considered one of the strongest beers in the world. Another high end beer Schlossbrauerei Eggenberg makes is the very malty and fantastic Urbock 23°, as in 23 degress plato or 9.6% alc/vol (see Beer of the day, Sept. 22). This beer will knock your socks off, so well balanced and deceivingly delicious that it hides its strength very well. It is aged for 9 months in their ancient cellars turning this ‘cognac of beers’ a deeply amber tinted ambrosia. Schremer Brauerei from Schrems, Austria makes a rye beer known as Roggen Bio Beer. Very dry with an intense earthy quality and a hazy-dusky amber hue, this is a top-fermented specialty, full bodied with some initial fruitiness, but underpinned by enough hops to produce a long, lingering aftertaste.
The flagship brew of the Kostritzer Schwarzbier Brauerei is the very dark and drinkable Kostritzer Schwarzbier. At 4.8%, this beer is a deep brown-burgundy colour, with a big-bubbled tan head that produces loose lacing on the glass. It has a pretty neutral nose, but with some subtle fruitiness detectable in the palate, a smooth and almost creamy mouthfeel with some hoppiness producing a nice dry finish.
Another interesting and tasty beer available throughout Innsbruck (though from Hauzenberg in Germany) is Apostelbrau’s Dinkel (naturtrub) Bier, a bottle-conditioned specialty using the ancient variety of wheat known as ‘spelt’ to enhance its delectable flavour profile. This is a delicious brew, very wheaty in aroma and hazy, pale straw in colour. It exhibits some citric fruitiness, but is overall very well balanced and fully flavourful, with hints of wheat malt, herb and some hidden hop. Malt sweetness on the palate, dries out to a lovely, long finish.
All of the above beers come in small 330 ml bottles, as opposed to almost ubiquitous ½ liter bottles used by all the major players. The big breweries often sell their products in large, returnable hard-plastic cases for ease of stacking and transport.

There are two decent beer bars in downtown Innsbruck whether you are a draft-slayer or a bottle-stalker. The first is the Restaurant Krahvogel (Raven), a great place to stop for lunch, with a fine secluded patio in the back, and just a few hundred meters from the centre of town. They have 10 beers on draft and about 8 bottled varieties. I started with the Mohren Bräu, a light, pale yellow thirst quencher on tap, featuring a frothy head, a fruity nose, some hop presence on the palate with an effervescent and pleasantly dry finish. I ordered the vegetarian curry lunch special, so went for a hoppy pils next. Grieskirchner Pils, winner of the Goldenen DLG Preis 2008, comes in a beautiful tall 500 ml glass, with the name embossed vertically. (See Beer of the Day, Sept. 22) This beer was the perfect accompaniment to the curry, which was served with homemade chipatis and a deliciously warm, sweet chutney that had more than a hint of heat to it. I finished up with a taste of Zwickl, an unfiltered spezial. Very pale, almost straw coloured, with a cloudy haze, thick mousse head that sits on top of the beer and follows it right to the bottom of the stein. An initial citric bite eases into a medium bodied maltiness, creamy mouthfeel and a slight lemony finish.
Their bottle list went from the mundane (Heineken, Corona, Becks) to a little more adventurous (Aventinus Schneider Weisse, real Czech Budvar, Fransizkaner Dunkel Weisse) and a couple of oddities, including the ‘joke’ beer Duff, that I’ve seen in a few places, plus some non-alcoholic brews. This restaurant enjoys a good reputation, plays cool music and serves a hip downtown lunch crowd.
The other decent beer bar right in the centre of the old quarter is called Elferhaus (Eleventh House) where the focus is bottled beer. They have a fine selection of bottled Austrian brews that include Eggenberger Urbock, Murauer Maerzen, Mohren Pfiff, Starenberger Schlossbrau and three from Hirterl, to name a few. The Hirter Morchl is a fine dunkel from Karnten. (See Beer of the Day, Sept. 21)
Their international selections were about 20, ranging from Lindeman’s Kriek, Framboise and Peche, Chimay Grand Reserve, EKU 28, Lapin Kulta (the golden beer of Lapland) and Aventinous Schneider Weisse to the more ordinary, which included Duff once again and Desparadoes (a tequila infused beer I keep running into everywhere I go). Their drafts list is not long, but includes Weiselburger, Gösser Zwickl, Francizkaner Weiss and Kaiser Doppel Malz, plus an Oktoberfest special from Spaten. They also pour an Austrian version of a black and tan, mixing Weiselburger and the Doppel Malz, something they call Diesel.
This is a long and deep wood-paneled room, displaying many old metal stamped plates from breweries of old and beers gone by. This funky old town hangout probably gets going when the tourists go to bed.

There is one privately-owned craft brewer in Innsbruck, Tiroler Bier. Brewmaster Harald Buamgartner has an unusual set-up out on the edge of the city. This one man operation not only produces a fine naturally carbonated brew in returnable swing-top bottles, but he is also a distiller of some local renown, making and selling his 4 year old, French oak-aged single malt whiskey in unique, square ½ liter bottles. His products are only available at his production facility and at a few selected locations on tap in Innsbruck and in 1 liter swing-top bottles and 2 liter growlers.