What beer do Austrians drink?

Austrians primarily drink Märzen, a crisp, pale golden lager with 4.5–5.5% ABV that makes up roughly 60% of the market. Popular brands include Stiegl (especially Goldbräu), Gösser, Zipfer, and Ottakringer. While Märzen is the standard, Pilsner-style beers and Radlers (shandy) are also very popular choices.

What is the most popular beer in Austria?

Austrians drink as much beer per capita as do their German neighbors—roughly 1,00 l per year. The Austrians and Germans are surpassed only by the leading Czechs. The most popular beer style in Austria is “Austrian Märzen,” a filtered lager that holds about 60% market share.

What is the local beer in Austria?

There are many small breweries across the country, although a few large breweries dominate the market. The most common beer is Märzen.

What beer do they drink in Vienna?

The biggest brands in Vienna include Ottakringer, Stiegl, Zipfer and Gösser, but you find plenty of small and private breweries and specialty beers, too, none of which should disappoint the discerning beer palate.

What is the most popular drink in Austria?

Generally speaking, beer and wine are the most popular alcoholic drinks in Austria. That said, each region has its own preference. Lower Austria, for instance, is home to the country's biggest wine territory and produces a variety of different wines.

Austria's Pale Marzen Beer Style

What is Austria's national drink?

Today, Almdudler has established itself as Austria's national drink. The original beverage is a sweetened drink made out of grape and apple juice concentrates and is flavored with 32 natural herbs. To some extent its taste can be compared to the taste of Ginger Ale but with a fruitier and sweeter flavor.

Are Austrians beer drinkers?

Austrians are avid beer drinkers: more than half, namely 58.4 percent, regularly drink beer. Only one in six of these prefer non-alcoholic beer. These are the findings of online market and opinion research institute Marketagent.com, who interviewed 1,700 people aged 16 to 69 years about their beer consumption.

What is an Austrian lager?

Vienna-Style Lager. Vienna Lager ranges from copper to reddish brown in color. The beer is characterized by malty aroma and slight malt sweetness. The malt aroma and flavor should have a notable degree of toasted and/or slightly roasted malt character. Hop bitterness is low to medium-low.

What do Austrians drink after dinner?

A post-meal Stamperl, i.e. a shot of schnapps, can also be ordered as a digestif if required. Mostly different kinds of fruit schnapps. Anyone looking for a particularly refreshing option – whether at a wine tavern or elsewhere – should ask for a “Weisser Spritzer”, which is half white wine, half carbonated water.

Why is Austrian beer so good?

The excellent quality of water that Austria is cherished with has a significant influence on the quality and taste of the beer. With one brewery per 56.860 inhabitants, Austria has the biggest density of breweries in Europe. Our more than 140 smaller and bigger breweries produce more than 600 different beers.

Which is the no. 1 beer?

There's no single "number one beer" as it depends on the region and metric (sales, popularity, ratings), but globally, Snow Beer (China) leads by volume due to sheer population, while in the US, Modelo Especial is often cited as the top seller by value, and in the UK, Stella Artois or Birra Moretti compete for top sales, with Guinness being hugely popular. For ratings, craft beers dominate, like those found on BeerAdvocate. 

What beer should I get in Austria?

The most popular Austrian beer brands include:

• Gösser (Leoben, Styria)
• Ottakringer (Vienna)
• Schloss Eggenberg (Vorchdorf, Upper Austria)
• Stiegl (Salzburg)

Is Vienna more expensive than the UK?

IS IT CHEAPER TO LIVE IN VIENNA THAN IN LONDON? Yes, definitely Vienna is cheaper. With a low cost of living and high quality of life, No. 1 Vienna is the last truly affordable city in Europe.

What is the no. 1 selling beer?

The "number one selling beer" depends on the region, but recently Michelob Ultra became the top-selling beer in the U.S. by volume, dethroning Modelo Especial, while Tsingtao leads in China by volume, and Stella Artois or Carling are often top sellers in the UK. Global sales are complex, with large markets in China and the U.S., but local favorites dominate. 

What is the 1/2/3 rule for drinking?

The 1-2-3 drinking rule is a moderation guideline: no more than 1 drink per hour, 2 drinks per occasion, and 3 alcohol-free days per week, helping to pace consumption and reduce risk, though it's important to know that no level of alcohol is completely risk-free, and other guidelines (like the 0-1-2-3 rule or official dietary recommendations) also exist. A "standard drink" is key: 12 oz regular beer, 5 oz wine, or 1.5 oz spirits, and it's crucial to avoid mixing alcohol with medications or while driving.
 

What do Austrians typically eat for breakfast?

Breakfast is of the "continental" type, usually consisting of bread rolls with either jam or cold meats and cheese, accompanied by coffee, tea or juice.

What do Austrians say before eating?

When having a meal as a group, it is polite to wish one another 'Guten Appetit' or 'Mahlzeit'. Mahlzeit literally means 'mealtime' and is also used as a general greeting around midday, when one can assume that most people are about to have lunch.

How to ask for a beer in Austria?

Ordering “ein großes Bier” will usually mean a half litre (slightly less than an Imperial pint, but more than a US pint), and this measure is also locally referred to as a Krügerl. The other most frequent measure is that of a small beer “ein kleines Bier” – known as a Seidl – 0.3l.

What is the difference between a pilsner and a Vienna lager?

While many lagers tend to be malt-forward with subtle hop presence—like American pale lagers, Vienna lagers, or dark lagers—pilsners are distinct because they emphasize a noticeable hop bitterness and floral, spicy aromas, typically from noble hop varieties like Saaz or Hallertau.

Can you walk with beer in Austria?

In Austria, the possession and consumption of open containers of alcohol is legal throughout the country by people of the legal drinking age.

What country is the heaviest drinker?

Men in Romania are, by and large, the heaviest drinkers on the planet. The average Romanian male drinks 27.3 liters, roughly seven and a half gallons, per year. It's not just the men in Romania that boast such high numbers.

Is alcoholism a problem in Austria?

The Risk of Addiction

There is no “safe” level of drinking. In fact, the only safe level of drinking is to simply not drink at all. In Austria, the prevalence of alcohol dependence is quite high. About 8.8% of men ages 15 and up are dependent on alcohol, as are 3% of women ages 15 and up.

What is the main religion in Austria?

Catholic Church

Catholicism is the largest religion in Austria, representing 49.6% of the total population in 2024.