A Vienna lager is an amber to copper-coloured lager with a toasty, bready malt character and a clean, dryish finish. Not too heavy, not too bitter—the kind of beer you can drink a few of with lunch. It’s named after Vienna because that’s where the style was born (Anton Dreher, Schwechat, 19th century). These days you’ll find it under different names—Wiener Lager, sometimes just “amber lager”—but the idea’s the same.
The one-sentence definition
Vienna lager = malt-forward amber lager, toasty and bready, with enough hop to keep it clean. Usually around 4.5–5.5% ABV. If you’ve had a Märzen or an amber lager in Austria or Bavaria, you’re in the same ballpark. More detail in our Viennese lager guide and the Vienna Brewery Guide.
Why Vienna?
Dreher perfected a way to kiln malt so it came out lighter and more aromatic—that “Vienna malt” gave the beer its colour and flavour. Breweries in Vienna and across the empire picked it up, and the style stuck. A lot of what’s still served in traditional Brauhäuser in Vienna is in that lineage. So when someone asks “what is a Vienna lager,” the honest answer is: the beer that defined Vienna’s place in brewing history, and that you can still drink there today.
Where to drink one in Vienna
Best bet: a place that brews on-site. You get it fresh, often alongside a Zwickl or a Dunkles. Fischerbräu in Döbling (Billrothstraße 17) has been doing house-brewed Helles, Dunkles, and seasonal lagers since 1985—no better spot to taste what a Vienna lager is in practice.
Try a Vienna lager at Fischerbräu
House-brewed lagers in Döbling. Billrothstraße 17. Open from 4pm weekdays, noon at weekends.