I will be travelling throughout Austria starting from 23rd of November 2017 and back on the 25th.On the 24th I will be all day long in Vienna, at the Craft Bier Fest Wien. I would be very happy to get tips about Austrian breweries/places on my itinerary (from Villach to Vienna), with a focus on Austrian traditional styles.
Besides of Hirt and Shilling, which are on my list, are there any other worthy-to-visit places?
One or two solid breweries/tap rooms/places would be enough, considering the short time available.
If you have some extra time in Vienna, there’s also Lichtenthaler Bräu, Siebenstern Bräu, 1516 Brewing Company, and Beaver Brewing Company that are quite nice (but not really traditional).
Near to Hirter and Shilling in the Villach area are Malle biermanufaktur and Turmbräu Melcher. Not sure if they are a worth to see/try but they may be next to your route. If you take the fastet route to Vienna near to Leoben is Erzbergbräu with a couple of different styles between traditional and modern. In Lower Austria Raxbräu is also close to your route, but nothings special there to try. In Krumbach you could probably visit Schwarzbräu at Saturday after contacting the brewery. In Vienna visit 7stern Bräu for traditional beers or Beaver Brewing for modern brews (but I think they are at the Craft Bier Fest). Lichtenthaler has lost much of its quality in my opinion after a brewmaster change, 1516 is ok but a quite touristic place (but 7stern is also a touristy place ). For buying bottles in Vienna go to Beer Store Vienna for Austrian beers and Beerlovers for international stuff. Se you at the Craft Bier Fest!
Unfortunately the best breweries in Austria, that brew traditional styles, are in Upper Austria mainly, so not on your route. But you can buy some of them in Vienna: For example Beer Store Vienna or BeerLovers have breweries like Bierschmiede or Hofstettner, which are two of my favourite Austrian breweries for traditional styles.
Not sure about on site visits on your route, as this isn’t a region I travel too often. When I travel in Austria I always take a look at this map, where most of the breweries in Austria are marked, maybe that’s also helpful for you:
Styria has a few nice spots. You could go to Bierbotschaft Herzog south of Graz and, on the way back check in at Handbrauerei Forstner (only open Thursday and Friday 5-11pm). http://www.bierbotschaft.at http://www.forstner-biere.at
You can get Forstner beers in Spar supermarkets all around Graz. The best bottle shops are Bierboutiqe Graz and Dr. Bottle. Interspar Murpark has a big range of Austrian craft, small brewery and macro beers as well. The best pubs for Austrian Craft are probably tiny Vintage Cafe Bar in Jakoministraße, Flann O’Brian’s Irish Pub and Brot & Spiele. The latter have a more international focus though. If you’re in Graz or need help, let me know.
If you’re close to Leoben, take the trip to Eisenerz and visit the brewery there. If you’re on Graz, you canbget some of their beers at Bierboutiqe.
My pleasure! If you’re in the vicinity: A bit south of Bierbotschaft Herzog, which has rather nice food as well, there’s also Flamberger (they have a lot of different beers - some of them quite decent - and a shitty website) and Hengist. The ideal route would probably be Flamberger - Hengist - Herzog - Forstner (around half an hour all in all by car). Between Bruck an der Mur and Graz is Flecks Bier. Kind of an odd take on some styles… You can also buy Flecks beer at Interspar around Graz.
