Food & Beer Culture

What do you eat with a beer from Tyrol? A Kaspressknödel in broth is a classic, as is Tiroler Gröstl made from fried potatoes with bacon and a fried egg. The roasted flavors and the bacon call for a beer with malt body and little bitterness, just what a Märzen or special beer offers.

In Vorarlberg, Käsknöpfle comes to the table—small spätzle with mountain cheese and crispy fried onions, served with a salad. Riebel, a dish made from roasted cornmeal, also belongs to the region. The beer cuts through the cheese, the carbonation refreshes, and the malt character matches the fried onions.

Every year on the first weekend of May, Zell am Ziller celebrates the Gauderfest. It takes its name from the Gauderlehen, the brewery's farm, and is considered, according to Zillertal Bier, Austria's largest spring and traditional-costume festival, with over 30,000 visitors. The festival beer is served there straight from the cask, following old custom.

In Dornbirn, the Mohren Biererlebniswelt shows how beer is made. At Schloss Starkenberg, a roughly 700-meter path leads through 18 rooms, from a panorama room to the brewhouse with its copper kettles to the ice cellar dating back to the 16th century.

And the beer spa? It consists of three pools filled with a mixture of around 12,000 liters of water and 300 liters of beer residue. It's a wellness offering, not a drink, and it's part of the Biererlebniswelt program. Visitors who come just to try it don't have to drink any beer.