Malt & Grain

Malt is what gives Vienna Lager its copper color. Using English technology, Dreher produced a malt that was paler than the brown malt of his time, yet darker than the later Pilsner malt. This became Vienna Malt, which still gives the beer its character today.

Malt is made by moistening barley, letting it germinate, and then drying it. In the kiln, the heated drying chamber of the malthouse, temperature determines color. Vienna Malt is kilned somewhat hotter than pale Pilsner malt, but noticeably milder than Munich malt. The result tastes of toasted bread and crust, not yet of caramel or coffee.

By style guidelines, the beer sits at 18 to 30 EBC. EBC is the European color scale, on which a Pilsner sits at around 4 to 8. Vienna Lager, then, sits between gold and mahogany.

Brewing barley grows mainly in eastern Austria, in Lower Austria around Vienna. Breweries source their malt partly from their own and partly from outside malthouses, and the lager needs no sugar or malt other than barley malt.

Anyone brewing a Vienna Lager at home uses Vienna Malt as the base and often blends in a little Munich malt. Nothing more is needed; the recipe is deliberately kept simple so the crust note in the flavor isn't drowned out.

With Schwechater and Ottakringer, malt is the centerpiece of the flavor. So when you drink a Krügerl of Lager in a Beisl, you taste the bread note first, and only afterward notice whether the beer finishes sweet or dry. That sets it apart from many Pilsners, where hops shape the first impression.