Vienna beer brands in the usual sense means the stuff in supermarkets and in a lot of bars: Ottakringer, Gösser, Stiegl, Schwechater, and the like. They’re Austrian, they’re fine, but they’re not what we mean when we talk about Vienna beer culture. The interesting bit is the places that don’t sell a “brand”—they brew their own. House beer at a Brauhaus isn’t a brand you can buy in a bottle; it’s the beer that defines that place.
What beer is Vienna known for?
If you ask "what beer is Vienna known for," the answer is lager: Vienna lager (Wiener Lager), Märzen, Helles, Dunkles, and Zwickl. Vienna's famous beer is the stuff you get in Brauhäuser—malty, clean, drinkable—not the industrial brands in the supermarket. The vienna famous beer and vienna national beer identity is tied to that tradition: house-brewed, on-site, served with food. Our what is Vienna lager page has more on the style.
What you’ll see around town
In most pubs and restaurants you’ll get one or two of the big Austrian breweries on tap. Nothing wrong with that. But if you want to taste what beer in Vienna Austria is really about—the tradition of gasthaus breweries, fresh lager from the same building—you need to go where they brew on-site. Our Vienna Brewery Guide and where to drink beer in Vienna spell that out.
House beer: the “brand” that isn’t
At a place like Fischerbräu in Döbling, the “brand” is just Fischerbräu. Helles, Dunkles, seasonal Weihnachtsbock—all brewed there, served there. You won’t find it in a shop. That’s the Vienna beer experience we care about: one brewery, one building, no industrial pipeline. For the full picture, see best brewery in Vienna and best beer in Vienna Austria.
Try house beer, not a brand
Fischerbräu, Billrothstraße 17. Their own Helles, Dunkles, seasonal beers. Since 1985.