If you’re anything like me, you look forward to the fall for the warming, malty beer the season brings. Beer styles like the brown ale, porter, stout, barleywine, Oktoberfest beer, and of course the gourd-centric, spiced pumpkin ale. But, if you ask me, there’s no better fall beer than the balanced, flavorful Vienna lager.
I’ve been enjoying the complex flavor of the Vienna lager every autumn for as long as I’ve been old enough to drink beer. The style, named for the city in Austria, is known for its crisp, refreshing flavor profile featuring toffee, toasted malts, light hops, and a clean, dry, memorable finish. It’s one of the best beers to bridge the gap between the crisp, thirst-quenching beers of summer and the maltier, richer beers of fall and winter.
What is a Vienna lager?
For those new to the style, the Vienna lager is known for its caramel brown to copper-like hue. Usually around 5% ABV, this bottom fermented beer is brewed with a variety of malts with the main being Vienna malt. This results in the toasted malt, bready, biscuit, caramel flavor. Often brewed with Saaz, Norther Brewer, and other European hops, it’s known for its subtle hop presence and no spice or fruit flavors, relying more on malt flavor than floral, pine notes.
When was it invented?
It’s believed that the first Vienna lager was brewed by a man named Anton Dreher, the owner and brewmaster at the Schwechat Brewery, in Klein Schwechat, near the city of Vienna, Austria in the 1840s (the same time the Märzen was catching on in Germany). It was an instant success in the area because of its balanced, malty, easy-drinking flavor profile. It didn’t take long for it to gain in popularity throughout the country and beyond.
Even almost two-hundred years later, it remains a fall staple to this day. You might be surprised to learn that, thanks to Austrian immigration to Mexico, some of the most well-known darker Mexican beers are actually Vienna Lagers.
Vienna lagers today
The style, like many classic beers, has gained in popularity in the last few decades with many American brewers trying their hand at this classic beer style. Below, you’ll find some of our favorite American Vienna lagers to drink this autumn.
von Trapp Vienna Lager
Brewed with Pilsner, Munich, and Vienna malts along with Noble hops, it’s known for its easy-drinking toasted malt, toffee, and biscuit notes. This is the kind of traditional lager you’ll want to drink all fall.
Dovetail Vienna-Style Lager
Brewed with 100% Vienna malt and Goldings hops, it’s known for its malt-forward flavor profile featuring notes of toasted malts, caramel, and a nutty sweetness. It’s 5.1% ABV bready, malty, and has a memorable dry finish that leaves you craving more.
Devils Backbone Vienna Lager
First brewed in 2008, this award-winning beer is brewed with Vienna, Pilsner, Dark Munic, and CaraAmber malts as well as Northern Brewer and Saaz hops. The result is a fall favorite known for its flavors of toasted malts, sticky toffee, and gentle floral, noble hops.
