The Weekly Stat Attack - 26 Austria (17th April 2022)

Regional Forums United Kingdom and Ireland
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Land locked Austria is a beautiful country that gave us edelweiss, Adolf Hitler, The Sound of Music and this guy: Konis Hupen - YouTube.

It has a population of 9 Million and a land area of around 33,000 Square Miles. Scotland is similar in size with 5.5 Million inhabitants, but Austria never seems crowded apart from on a few ski runs when tourists flock to the country.

I was surprised to discover there are 348 breweries in the country with a further 84 closed according to the Ratebeer data base.

There are some serious raters in the country, most of the top 10 are still using the site.

1 Werckmeister 6298
2 Geiserich 5615
3 Sebilinz 4541
4 Goldbarren 4299
5 PowY 3885
6 Saeglopur 3740
7 herrklemann 1279
8 Moretum 932
9 misc 757
10 16erBlech 560

TOP RATERS of AUSTRIAN BEERS

Geiserich 2028
Werckmeister 1159
Beerhunter111 1095
Saeglopur 1063
Goldbarren 1051
Sebilinz 914
Cuso 864
SinH4 747
Koelschtrinker 689
misc 621

To join the top 50 raters of Austrian beers youā€™ll need 153, no Brit is on the list currently (unless I missed them when checking).

OK, letā€™s see what youā€™ve got to say about Austria and itā€™s beers.

<*))))))><

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Just 30 ratings from 18 breweries. Six with a rating above 3.5, a majority from Bevog:

Beer Score
Bevog Hagger Blend 0615 4
Bevog Who Cares Editions Elves Beersley 3.9
Bevog Rudeen Black IPA 3.8
Brew Age Eisknacker 3.8
Raschhofer LebenskĆ¼nstler Witbier 3.6
Bevog Kramah India Pale Ale 3.6

Other than that, driven some very nice mountain roads in Austria during some road trips. And had some nice Wienerschnitzelsā€¦

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Have 26 rates from Austria, my highest rated on 4.1 is Genussbauernhof Distelberger Pyrus Glacialis Eis.birne No. 1

Have only been to Austria the once, visiting Vienna during interrail travels long before being on ratebeer.

There are 50 active cideries in Austria, most listed with 9 entries is shared by Blakstoc (who make some interesting hopped ciders) and Genussbauernhof Distelberger.

The top 5 raters for Austria Cider and Cideries are:

AustriaCider Ratings

SinH4 47
Beerhunter111 39
Koelschtrinker 33
jonas 22
danlo 20

AustriaCideries

SinH4 23
Beerhunter111 17
Koelschtrinker 14
jonas 12
minutemat 11

Managed to do a trade with herrklemann for local ciders before brexit hit which got me a nice selection of ciders to reach the 5th spot for Austria Ciders ratings.

Cheers!

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You missed the bit about Vienna being the centre of the classical music world, drawing in the likes of Mozart and Beethoven (whose gravestones I visited in Vienna) not to mention Schubert, Haydn, Brahms, Mahler plus the opulent opera and theatre housesā€¦

Beer-wise Iā€™ve rated 79 beers and ciders from Austria, from 38 breweries / cideries. Top 10 is:

Brew Age Dunkle Materie 4.3 3.73 10/18/2014
Hofstettner Granitbock Ice 4.3 3.56 5/20/2015
Engelszell Benno Trappistenbier 4.2 3.38 6/21/2014
Stiegl Faux Pas Framboise 4.2 3.54 11/23/2015
Edelweiss Gamsbock 4.2 3.61 2/16/2016
Schloss Eggenberg Samichlaus Classic 4.1 3.59 10/23/2014 5/21/2015
Bevog Who Cares Editions Orange Unicorn Saison 4.1 3.46 12/30/2016
Bevog Rudeen Black IPA 4 3.85 12/3/2015
Loncium India Pale Ale 4 3.42 12/8/2015
Alefried Mikrozirkus 07 Brett IPA 4 3.46 7/30/2017

Really like Austria, been quite a few times and got the impression there is so much more to this country and its varied regions that most of us in the UK are unaware of.

One is the Krampus Klaus tradition in the Austrian Alps, as illustrated in a short film I saw back in 2004 Kranky Klaus by Jamie Cameron. Official description:

ā€œIn the run up to Christmas in small villages across the Austrian Alps, groups of bestial figures roam the streets and threaten the inhabitants. As St Nicholas rewards the good, so Krampus punishes the bad. Jamieā€™s film Kranky Klaus tracks a herd of Krampus as they work their way through the villages mauling and menacing to the very limits of acceptable intimidation. Soundtracks by the cult heavy metal band Melvins emphasise the malevolent darkness of each film.ā€

Indeed, I saw this being screened at The Forum in London with The Melvins playing along live. I think Iā€™d be scarred for life if I was a kid in one of those villages.

Cider and Perry also have a long tradition in Austria, both called ā€˜mostā€™ and a cidery a ā€˜mostereiā€™. Long been a bucket list destination to visit some of these mostereis and sample traditional Perry and cider here.

Standout memory from Austria was having to get from Innsbruck to Birmingham for my brotherā€™s wedding in the middle of a tour. Left at midnight after the show, drove 4 hrs through the Austrian alps to Munich, caught a flight to Frankfurt and another to Birmingham arriving at my brothers at 8:50am in time to get changed to be an usher at the wedding. I flew back to Munich the next morning, hungover, drove 4 hrs to Innsbruck before driving 6 hrs to Prague for the next show.

Another wedding memory was staying at a hotel in a mountain side and being woken at 4am by a traditional brass band which, as per Austrian tradition, meant waking up the groom in the car park outside his room, with a dozen people dragging him out of bed laughing and chanting, until I appeared and threatened to throw a trumpet off the hillside, and its owner with it!

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A country I will explore once, thatā€™s for sure! I have only had a brief visit when we drove from schloss Linderhof to schloss Neuschwanstein in Southern Germany. The only road between these two tourist attractions is via Am Plansee and Reutte in Austria. We only stopped once at a viewpoint by Am Plansee. And, do not forget: at the top of Zugspitze I have walked from Germany to Austria :grinning: I have hardly been to Austria! Beers? 29 (10 from Bevog)

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I love Austria but havenā€™t been since rating beers, so no place reviews. Skied, walked and drank there, plus driven through a few times when going to Italy and back, some serious tunnels and bridges in Austria. My first visit was a school trip in 1969 or 1970, canā€™t remember which. I do however remember the view from the top of the tower here:
image
Thatā€™s the Huber Brewery in St Johann, surrounded by mountains.

44 Beers from 18 breweries, rated @ 3.24

TOP BEERS

Bierol / FrauGruber Black Rabbit 4.1 3.91 5/18/2021
Schloss Eggenberg Samichlaus Classic 4 3.59 4/9/2012
Gusswerk Dies IrƦ 4 3.58 10/13/2014
Schloss Eggenberg Samichlaus Barrique Limited Edition 4 3.47 4/2/2020
Bier.pur Edition 2015 - IPA 3.9 3.38 3/21/2017
Hofstettner Granitbock Ice 3.8 3.56 1/13/2015
Stiegl Weisse NaturtrĆ¼b 3.8 3.17 2/28/2019

Engelszell Benno Trappistenbier 3.7 3.38 12/3/2021

<*))))))><

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I honestly couldnā€™t tell you how many times Iā€™ve been to austria, though iirc only ever stayed overnight thrice and one of those was accidental - a 4 day trip in 2004ish, a night in 2012ish, and in summer 2020 when my train from hungary missed the overnight to Poland the railway company got me a hotel. I have had many a day there though, arriving on one international overnight train and departing on another. Salzburg-Innsbruck-Switzerland ā€˜Albergā€™ and Innsbruck-Bischhofshofen are two of the most scenic journeys Iā€™ve ever made.

105 beers ticked, almost all in the country itself, a mix of new wave craft, trad brewpubs (Wien, Graz, Villach, Salzburg, Linz, Innsbruck, St Polten) and a handful of macro

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Yet another week in which, like so many of my school reports, the summary is ā€œMust try harder.ā€
Of Austrian beers I have had a meagre 6. Far worse, a couple were naff so the average is a depressing 2.97.
Like many out there, I first visited for a school ski trip to Innsbruck. Aged 12, I demonstrated my non-mastery by ending up in a snow drift during the final exam run. I now have relatives who live on the Austria/Italy border so I have reason to visit, but somehow St Candido has yet to yield decent beer. Thereā€™s lots to like about Austria, and I think the EU will do well to follow the model of the Holy Roman Empire (it lasted a bloody long time) and basically take a cut but let the locals get on with it. Certainly, the Austrians like to do things their way. Next time I will look out for Schoss Eggenberg beer. I did grab a Engelszell Benno Trappistenbier on my last visit.

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Austria is my 23rd most rated country with 251 ratings, and a respectable average of 2.97.

Has only done one trip entirely dedicated to Austria - a brewpub crawl in Vienna 2004 - but has stopped plenty of time for some night(s) in various places.Hope to spend some more time on Austrian slopes in a not too distant future. I really like the traditional, malty and low hopped lagerbiers, when well made (unlike anything Brau-Union).

Have quite a few beers scoring above the 4.0 threshold:

My Rating Avg Entered Updated
Hofstettner Granitbock 4.4 3.53 1/26/2015
7 Stern Bamberger Rauchbier 4.3 3.48 1/18/2004
Grieskirchner Jƶrger Weisse HefetrĆ¼b 4.2 3.31 5/14/2002
Nussdorfer Old Whiskey Beer 4.2 2.94 1/19/2004 6/7/2004
SchlƤgl Bio Zwickl 4.2 3.26 1/25/2004
Schloss Eggenberg Urbock 23Ā° 4.1 3.23 2/4/2002 3/10/2003
Schloss Eggenberg Samichlaus Classic Barrique 4.1 3.75 12/27/2011

Given my memory of it, I canā€™t quite figure out why I gave only 3.8 to AugustinerbrƤu Kloster MĆ¼lln MƤrzen . Will definitely need to return for another one or five of thatā€¦

There are quite a few of really high scoring breweries from Austria:

Brauerei Schloss Eggenberg 9 3.72
Brauerei Hofstetten - Krammer 7 3.66
Nussdorfer Brauhaus 6 3.6
Stiftsbrauerei SchlƤgl 10 3.42
Bevog Brewery 9 3.42
7 Stern BrƤu 8 3.41

According to brewver.com, where more countries are split, I have manage to tick all regions

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Only 7 rates for me sadly. I visited Innsbruck once for better part of a day. Went on a bobsled ride (on wheels) and visited a schnapps store where tried lots of flavors and lovely meal of schnitzel at a cafe over looking plaza. One of the countries Iā€™ve visited without a place rate which bugs me. Would love to return for some hiking or other adventures with some beer fun as well.

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I went to Austria a couple of times before I joined RB. The first was to Vienna whilst inter-railing with a friend.- we found it a really dull city, and were quickly persuaded by a passing Hungarian to head off to stay at his ā€œparty hostelā€ in Budapest, which he said was a much better city (we did and it was). Mt second visit was to Salzburg with my wife - I thought that was a beautiful and interesting city and Iā€™d be happy to return.

Iā€™ve only got a paltry two rates from the country - here they are:
Schloss Eggenberg Doppelbock Dunkel 3.6
|Stiegl Columbus 1492 Pale Ale 1.9

Iā€™d definitely like to go back to Austria and see more of the Alpine bits. I remember liking Austrian food whilst I was there, so Iā€™d been keen to have more of that - and of course some more beer rates! Donā€™t know when Iā€™ll get there.

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Only 11 posts (this makes it 12): No Love for Austria it would seem, the lowest number of replies so far on our journey around the beery world.

<*))))))><

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no big beer culture historically and not taken to craft as quickly as some of its neighbours I guess.

Imagine when you get to Albania, Macedonia, etc there wonā€™t be much uptake!

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I donā€™t intend to drag these weekly stats into every country, not a huge amount left really. I will post for each country that has been split into Regions and a few other ā€˜Big Hittersā€™, but not bother with many others, as you say there will be no uptake.

<*))))))><

15

66 beers for me from Austria.

I had a work conference there about 4 years ago, actually really enjoyed some of the beer places there, a couple of brew pubs, and a bit of craft. Fairly thin pickings though.

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Itā€™s just 1 Austrian rate for me, courtesy of a Beer52 box a wee while back - it was a relatively decent pale ale from Stiegl. Iā€™ve only ever been to Austria once, and that was literally a flying visit - the powers that be at work decided that our best option to get to Munich for a conference was to fly EasyJet into Innsbruck and drive through the mountains, probably saved us ā‚¬5 all told - have very little recollection of the countryside to be honest, and the return to the airport was rushed beyond belief (roadworks in Germany, what???), only just made the flight, so zero time to even enjoy a beer there!

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17

Again, getting to these so lateā€¦ sorry everyone (although maybe it brightens someoneā€™s dayā€¦ maybeā€¦) But this will be a very short one.

Poor Austria, I have neglected her. Only 8 beers and I have never visited. But the average is 3.48 and there are some high rates among them:

Engelszell Gregorius Trappistenbier 4.3
Schloss Eggenberg Samichlaus Classic 3.9
Thornbridge / Collabs Burgen 3.6
Engelszell Benno Trappistenbier 3.5

Iā€™d like to try more, but they tend to be hard to find in the UK (although Beautiful Beers and Beers of Europe sometimes carry a few). Iā€™ll have to visit sometime!

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Catching up on these excellent Stat Attacks ever so slowly - Austria Iā€™ve visited twice, back in 2001, inter railing, meeting a Vienna travel mate, great historical city, ate excellent strudel, he insisted we drink Czech pilsners while at a Biergarden set in the woods. I then did try some local beers while visiting Linz, Salzburg & Innsbruck.
Returned for a flying visit while doing a road trip in 2017, outer edge of a big loop coming in from Baden Wurttemberg to Liechtenstein. Had only been in the country 1/4 mile & motorway police had set up a road trap checking motorway permits - painful 120 euros experience!!
Straight after that I continued to Bregenz & Dornbirn vowing to buy every new Austrian beer I could get my hands on as compensation.
34 beers (16th highest) from 23 breweries - average of 3.2. (no idea of regions as Austria didnā€™t get split)

Top -
Schloss Eggenberg Samichlaus Classic 3.7 3.59 3/24/2021
Rieder Schwarzmann 3.6 3.66 7/19/2021
Engelszell Gregorius Trappistenbier 3.6 3.68 7/19/2021
Bierol Mountain Pale Ale 3.6 3.54 7/19/2021
CraftCountry Miyamato 3.5 3.33 3/21/2021
Loncium Carinthipa 3.5 3.33 3/21/2021
Die Weisse Hell 3.5 3.25 5/13/2021
Rieder India Pale Ale (IPA, 6.0%, bottle & tap) 3.5 3.27 7/19/2021
Brew Age Affenkƶnig 3.5 3.57 7/19/2021
MohrenbrƤu Pale Ale 3.4 3.25 4/22/2021
Stiegl Weizengold Hefefein 3.4 3.06 5/13/2021
Gusswerk AAA Austrian Amber Ale 3.4 3.13 7/19/2021
Engelszell Benno Trappistenbier 3.4 3.38 7/19/2021
Schleppe No. 1 3.4 3.32 7/19/2021

2 places visited from 2017 trip -

My Rating Avg Entered Updated
hops & malt 90 86 5/4/2019 5/4/2019
Interspar - Bregenz 74 69 5/4/2019

My wife is keen on a Vienna visit so may well return sometime.

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