Time to catch up...
A few days back my fellow beer hunter and Tripel tippler Paul headed home to Canada and I jumped on an Innsbruck-bound train - via Cologne and Munich. I was kind of hoping to taste a fresh glass of kolsch whilst transferring trains in Cologne and perhaps something unique in Munich as well, but it was not to be. The train systems here are so efficient and on time, that I had only about 15 minutes in each station to find the next platform and board.
So, something about the Austrian beer scene...
There are more than 180 breweries operating in Austria, though Brau Union AG dominates the market with a 56% share, and together with four other large players control 83% of the market and have national distribution. There are many other local, well established breweries that provide their products only to their own regions, but in the last decade many new microbreweries have popped up and many brewpubs as well. There are no Reinheitsgebot laws like Germany, though many older traditional breweries do adhere to it.
Not far from Innsbruck is Tyrol's oldest privately owned brewery Zillertal, which was established in 1500 in the market town of Zell am Ziller. They produce the wonderfully aromatic Weissebier Dunkel (5.0%). Starting with a floral and slightly citric nose and dense head, this beer is dark amber/light brown, with an unfiltered cloudiness, well balanced palate and a somewhat chocolately sweet finish. Their Maerzen (5.1%) is a popular beer in Innsbruck, light, crisp and clean, a clear pale gold colour, some definite hop character, effervescent, easy on the palate with a nice dry finish. The Schwarzes is excellent (see Beer of the Day, Sept. 12) and the 2010 vintage Gouder Bock is exceptional (see Beer of the Day, Sept. 16), brewed only once a year.