Prelude to a Drink: Vienna
New job, new city. The two combined have left me precious little time to write. I know, I know. Tough life living in Vienna. Until the remnants of summer stop beckoning me to every nook and cranny of this fine town, my time at the keyboard will be sporadic at best. Do check back regularly, though. Eventually I’ll settle into a rhythm, even if I’ll never tire of taking the tram to random areas of the city.
For now, a visual taste, as it were, of things to come.
As any regular reader of Tempest knows, I’m fond of lagers. I could sum up the first few weeks here thus: In Pursuit of the Holy Grail, or, Vienna One Lager at a Time. 
To my chagrin, the quality of Vienna’s lagers is uneven at best, be it the usual mass-market suspects like Gösser, or, more surprisingly, the beers issuing forth from the many small breweries that dot the city. I was beginning to lose faith.
But a craft beer renaissance in Austria is stirring, and its Viennese epicenter in terms of bottle selection is the unlikely neighbourhood of Meidling. Nestled in the vibrant Meidling Market is Malefitz,
a convivial gathering place for local imbibers with an emphasis on Austrian craft brews. In the same vein but with a nod to beer beyond Austria’s borders, Beer Store Vienna is a mere hop, skip, and a few stone’s throws away. And they carry homebrew supplies.
Let’s not forget the urban scenery. (A five-year-old could take decent photos here.)
After all that walking, you might be in the mood for some food. The iconic Schnitzel pairs excellently with beer, and does well with both red and white wines to boot. Whatever you choose to eat, you won’t go hungry. Case in point: this hearty dish of pan-fried potatoes, blood sausage, and fresh horse radish smothered with onions. In Viennese German: Blunzengeröstl mit Kren und grünem Salat. You’ll need that salad, trust me.
Tired from all that walking around? A few too many steins of beer or glasses of Sturm? In every neighbourhood you’ll find at least one elegant café that’ll perk you up for your next round.
Till then, Prost!
Related Tempest Posts
Drinking Lager in an Age of Extreme Taste
Let Us Now Praise Famous Lagers: Your Saturday Six-Pack (Vol.3)
All images by F.D. Hofer.
© F.D. Hofer and A Tempest in a Tankard. All Rights Reserved.
Franz,
Glad to see that you getting settled in. I had to chuckle when I saw the beer list – “Snappy Pacific Ale”?
Hope all is well.
Mac
Mac,
Getting settled in slowly but surely. Not that I mind the pace, though. It often takes me 3+ hours to get home from work because I find yet another scenic route on the way.
The Snappy Ale: I found the name rather amusing myself. It’s one of the offerings from a brewpub (Lichtenthaler Bräu) just around the corner from me. The “Pacific” refers not to the West Coast of the U.S., but rather to Australia. “Why snappy?” asks the beer description on the menu. “Aside from the fact that it sounds good, ‘snappy’ refers to the hoppy ‘bite’ of the beer.” So there you have it. Tasty beer, but unfortunately the server wasn’t able to tell me what hop varieties went into the beer. My guess is that there’s some Galaxy in there, and I wouldn’t be surprised if a New Zealand variety or two made it into the kettle or fermenter.
So when are you coming to visit?