Beer in Austria
The article Beer in Austria provides information about beer production and consumption in Austria and the importance of beer there.
history
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In the Middle Ages, in addition to the monastery breweries, the first "non-clerical" breweries were built. The Upper Austrian brewery Hofstetten , first mentioned in the 13th century (1229), is considered the oldest still producing brewery in Austria, the Carinthian Hirt brewery as the second oldest (1270). In 1841, a new type of beer, “lager Viennese style”, was created in the Kleinschendung brewery in Lower Austria. The Schwechat brewer Anton Dreher (1810–1863) converted his brewery to bottom-fermented beer, thus introducing the history of lager beer. From an industrial point of view, Austria is the cradle of bottom-fermented lager beer and thus of the brewing industry. In 1850 the Schwechat Brewery was the largest brewery on the European mainland.
The Austrian food book "Codex Alimentarius Austriacus" appears in its first edition in 1911. The Codex documents the general public opinion on the quality of food and regulates beer in Chapter B13. Beer is therefore a yeast-fermented, alcoholic and carbonated drink made from cereals, hops and drinking water through mashing and boiling. The Codex does not have the status of a law or an ordinance, but has the legal significance of an objectified expert opinion. Resolutions of the Codex Commission (representatives of the federal ministries and social partners) are announced as decrees by the responsible federal ministry.
The first beer sommelier world championship in 2009 was won by Karl Schiffner from Aigen-Schlägl, a qualified beer sommelier from Upper Austria. The current national champion of beer sommeliers is Michael Kolarik-Leingartner.
Brewery industry
In 2018 beer was brewed in 298 Austrian breweries. Of these, 267 breweries had an output of less than 20,000 hectoliters in 2018. Only seven breweries are large breweries with an annual output of over 500,000 hectoliters each. The Brau Union , which belongs to Heineken, is the largest brewery group in Austria. As of the beginning of November 2019, the Association of Austrian Breweries has 314 breweries (188 breweries and 126 home breweries). With 81 breweries, Lower Austria ranks first in the federal states ahead of Upper Austria with 60 breweries and Styria with 48 breweries.
In 2018, 9,827,000 hectoliters of beer were produced in Austria, of which 1,265,000 hectoliters were exported. In the same year, 868,000 hectoliters of beer were imported.
Approx. 3,800 employees work in the Austrian breweries.
The beer tax is according to Section 3 (1) of the Beer Tax Act € 2.00 per hectolitre per degree of Plato original wort. This tax rate is reduced to 60% to 90% for small independent breweries depending on the total annual production (exception: licensed beer).
In terms of population, Austria has the highest density of beer sommeliers in the world. Several breweries offer training in 3 training levels (young beer sommelier, beer sommelier, certified beer sommelier).
Products
The most popular type of beer in Austria is lager or Märzen beer . It is malty with a relatively small proportion of hops and has a golden yellow color. The alcohol content of the bottom-fermented beer is between 5 and 5.5 percent. Anton Dreher senior , the owner of the Schwechater brewery , is considered to be the inventor of today's lager beer, which he produced from 1840/41. He called it Märzenbier back then. He could store it in ice cellars until summer. His brewery near the city of Vienna developed among his heirs around 1900 to become the largest in Europe.
Over 60% of the beer sold in Austria belongs to this type of beer.
The popular brands Gösser , Puntigamer and Murauer are among the Styrian breweries in southern Austria . The “ Hirter ” brand is produced in Carinthia, Austria's southernmost state . It is named after the location of the brewery, the town of Hirt . In addition, two other well-known beer brands are produced and sold in Carinthia, namely the so-called Schleppe beer , which is brewed in the city of Klagenfurt, and the " Villacher beer ", which was named after the location of the brewery, the city of Villach. Egger , Zwettler , Schwechater , Kaiser and Wieselburger dominate in Lower Austria . Ottakringer is brewed in Vienna .
Zipfer in Upper Austria comes from the western parts of Austria . Upper Austria is also home to Freistadt beer . The organization of the brewery is unique in that the brewery is organized as a commune and run by those who own a house within the city walls, hence the name of the town of Freistadt . Further to the west lies Salzburg with Stiegl , Augustiner Bräu (not related to the German). Wheat beer is a popular type of beer in this region. Falkenstein , Frastanzer , Mohrenbräu , Starkenberger , Zillertaler, Huber Bräu, Tyrolean beer, Fohrenburger and Der Wilde come from Tyrol and Vorarlberg . The brands Mohrenbräu and Fohrenburger dominate in Vorarlberg.
consumption
In 2011, 9.1 million hectoliters of beer were drunk in Austria . That corresponded to the average consumption of more than 100 liters per head of the population. In terms of per capita consumption, Austria was in second place behind the Czech Republic . In 2016, domestic consumption fell to 9.03 million hectoliters. In 2018, beer consumption reached an average per capita consumption of 104.0 liters.
The typical name for the volume measure 0.5 l is the “half” in the western federal states and the “Krügerl” in the eastern federal states. The name for 0.33 l is the "Seidl" . Other expressions such as Seiterl, Seidel or Seitl are often used colloquially.
The Interest Group for Beer (BierIG) invites every year to the "Austrian Beer Challenge". Beers submitted in various categories are evaluated and the respective national championship titles are awarded. The craft beer movement is presented at the “Craft Beer Festival Vienna”. Handcrafted beer specialties from domestic and international creative breweries can be tasted. The “Wiener Bierfest” offers a cross-section of the Austrian art of brewing. Beer connoisseurs appreciate the “Beer Tasting Event” in the city of Salzburg. The focus of the “Craft Beer Fest Linz” is on the creative art of brewing.
The traditional brewing New Year's Eve is celebrated on the “Austrian Beer Day” on September 30th. In the past, brewing was only allowed from Michaelmas (29 September) to Georgi (23 April). Since there were no corresponding technical cooling options, it was not possible to brew because of the higher temperatures in the summer months. With the start of the brewing season, this beer holiday established itself.
Beer in culture
A vocabulary of its own has developed in Austria around the long tradition of brewing beer.
For example, the Hansl or Bierhansl is the stale, stale leftover in the beer barrel or beer glass. This is enjoyed by the beer tipplers , who, as habitual but unemployed drinkers, had to accept the leftover beer left over by the other guests. The fact that residues always remain in the keg is thanks to the beer pip , the tap that regulates the beer delivery without producing too much foam.
The expression Bierversilberer is common throughout the German-speaking area, but has found an embodiment in Johann Nestroy's posse Der Talisman im Bierversilberer Spund , which evokes his activities to this day. His job was to distribute and sell beer. Most of the time, he was also responsible for filling bottles, transporting them with horse-drawn vehicles to the respective inns and also for cooling the beer stocks with ice. In earlier centuries, he used the ice ponds that were frozen in winter and the ice cellars in which the ice could be stored until summer to extract the ice.
The Austrian composer Johann Strauss Sohn composed a waltz (Opus 97) called "Gambrinius Dances". This was premiered in Dengler's beer hall in the 5th district of Vienna in 1851.
literature
- Conrad Seidl : Hurray! Beer!. Trips to Austria's breweries. Österreichischer Bundesverlag, Vienna 1990, ISBN 3-215-07509-1 .
Web links
- Brewery Guide. Accessed January 31, 2018 .
Individual evidence
- ↑ a b bierland-oesterreich.at annual report 2019
- ↑ Brewery Guide . Accessed January 31, 2018 .
- ↑ Statistics 2010–2016 . Brewers of Europe, November 2017, accessed February 1, 2018.
- ↑ We Upper Austrians: From Hansl to Bierversilberer . OÖ Nachrichten of March 19, 2008, accessed on January 31, 2018.
- ↑ F. Kral: Historical photo of a beer silver filling a bottle, around 1905. Austria Forum, IMAGNO / Archive Lunzer, accessed on January 31, 2018.