Beer Styles

Vienna Lager is a bottom-fermented beer with an amber to copper color. The name points to Vienna, where the style originated, but what you taste in the glass is mainly malt: toasted bread, crust, a light sweetness that doesn't cling. The body is soft, the finish dry, and hop bitterness stays restrained.

The distance to Pilsner is large. Pilsner is golden yellow, hoppy, and noticeably more bitter, while Vienna Lager is darker and softer. Against a Helles it stands out through its color and the crust note in the flavor, since Helles is straw-colored and tastes of fresh bread.

Märzen is also related. Josef Sedlmayr of Spaten brought an "Ur-Märzen" in the Vienna style to Munich's Wiesn in 1872, stronger than Vienna Lager and with higher original gravity. Original gravity is the sugar content of the wort before fermentation, and the more of it, the more alcohol results later.

In Austria itself, things look different. There, "Märzen" is usually the ordinary pale standard beer poured from the tap in every tavern, while the copper-colored Vienna Lager is more the exception. You'll find it at a few individual breweries, including Schwechater, as a distinct variety.

How much alcohol does a Vienna Lager have? By style guidelines, 4.7 to 5.5 percent, roughly the same as a Pilsner or a Helles. It's not stronger than these beers; it just feels fuller because the malt comes through more. The figures below come from the BJCP competition guidelines; individual brands may vary.