Salzburg is a historic little Austrian city where several hundreds of years ago, old bearded monks kicked off a brewing tradition that continues to this day with great pride. It is also a city of young, non-traditional brewers whose bold experimentation strengthens Austria’s reputation as a great beer nation.
Salzburg is filled with delightful breweries that will undoubtedly leave you yearning for more. It is a big enough city to have a horde of options for good food and beer yet it is a city that is unspoiled in so many ways and includes a great number of traditional restaurants and breweries that will serve you some of their best local specialties.
When we are traveling, we always stick to the local food and beer. We find that it’s the best way to dive into the country’s culture – eat and drink like a local!
So, without further ado, here are some of our favorite places to go to in Salzburg for delicious local food and beer. Craft beer lovers – do not despair, there’s plenty of that good, hoppy stuff in Salzburg too.
Augustiner Bräustübl
This monastery turned brewery is a unique experience and a must-visit. It is different than most traditional beer halls in Germany as well.
Brewing in the Augustine abbey in Salzburg is said to have started in the early 17th century. This brewery may actually be connected to the renowned Augustiner brewery in Munich – the story goes that the brewmaster of the Salzburg brewery was trained by the brewmaster of the Munich brewery. Now, whether this story has any merits to it is debatable but one thing that is certain is this brewery in Salzburg is well worth a visit!
In many ways, our experience at the Augustiner Bräustübl was quite unlike our experience at the German beer halls where we just about managed to squeeze a tiny little spot for ourselves in one of the hundreds of tables that are always packed to the brim. Despite having at least 4 large rooms and a biergarten, the Augustiner in Salzburg was incredibly crowded as well but somehow it was easier to grab a spot here. It must have been partly because the food and beer is self-served. They’ve got a bunch of food stalls just outside these halls and you pick up your food and beer, and make your way to the halls. A bit more work but if it saves you a spot to sit then it’s well worth it!
We did the short hike up the hill to get to the monastery. The place looked packed with plenty of cars parked on the outside. We made our way thru the main gate and fumbled around looking for the entrance to the brewery. We came across a little hallway that looked eerily deserted with shut doors.. we tried the nearest one and met this long flight of empty stairs.
We wondered where everybody was. Did we get to the wrong section? It is a fairly big monastery…
But then, there was the unmistakable whiff of schnitzels and the hum of chatter as we made our way to the bottom of the stairs. We walked past delightful-looking food stalls that roused our appetite but we first needed a chug of that frothy goodness.
The beer serving area was packed and there were two counters from which you could buy tokens for your beer. There’s only one beer that’ll be served at any point in time.. Through most of the year, the Märzen bier is on tap and they serve festival specials around Christmas and the Lent period before Easter.
What is especially unique about this brewery is the large washing fountain at the centre where you’ll need to rinse your steins before you go in to get them filled. We barely made it past the thirsty crowds to rinse our steins and get them filled.
We headed towards the halls but they were quite crowded and most of them allow smoking as well (which seemed to be the case in a great number of pubs and restaurants in Salzburg). Although it was a nippy spring evening, we preferred the beer garden and sat at one of the many empty tables enjoying our hoppicilious pints.
Die Weisse
For the weizen loving fans, this place is a little paradise. Plenty of choices with wheat beer and scrumptious local bites, this brewpub makes for a great visit.
They have a few variety of weizens apart from the usual helles (light) and dunkel (dark) weizens. We were especially eager to try their weizen bock – a beer style that brings together the beer types we prefer around these neck of the woods. But, unfortunately, this wasn’t available on tap or bottle when we visited. Apart from the wheat beers, Die Weisse also offers a few other beer styles.
Stern Bräu
On our first night in Salzburg, we visited the Stern Bräu. Ideally located in the centre of the old town, this place has a whole bunch of differently themed restaurants in the same building. From a traditional beer hall to a royal room to a stylish lounge, you can pick whatever suits your fancy. We picked the traditional beer hall of course and absolutely loved the cozy atmosphere. There’s also a variety of cuisines to pick from. We opted for the local food of course and were not disappointed! Incredibly delicious food and there was a good variety of beers on tap as well. We first tried the brewery’s traditional lager – it wasn’t all that distinctive, much like a typical Pils.
Bärenwirt
We visited Bärenwirt on our last day in Salzburg. It’s a lovely place that seems to have retained much of its tradition and decor from the 17th century when it first opened its doors. The food here is great and they primarily serve the Augustiner brews from the Augustiner brewery in Munich. Augustiner is one of Munich’s top breweries – it is the star of the Munich Oktoberfest as well. If you’d like to taste some of their brews while in Austria, you should visit the Bärenwirt.
Stiegl
The Stiegl brewery is Salzburg’s in fact all of Austria’s most popular and prestigious brewery. You’ll find their beers in plenty of places in and around Salzburg. We didn’t actually drink the Stiegl beer in Salzburg but had it on tap at a small brewpub on top of the Zwölferhorn, part of the Austrian alps near St. Gilgen and the Wolfgangsee.
Bottle Shop
Now, no visit would be complete without checking out the craft beer scene. And, much to our surprise, we discovered that Austria has a very promising, burgeoning craft beer culture. In Salzburg, we discovered two places that serve craft beer. One is a pub called the Academy which much to our dismay we couldn’t make a trip to. However, we did visit the other place Bottle Shop – this is a beer store / bar where you can not only buy a great variety of local and international craft beer but they also have a little seating area where you can also drink as much as you’d like right there.
The Bottle Shop is a cozy little underground store/pub that has an amazing variety of craft beer. This place is a must-visit if you are a craft beer enthusiast.
Here are some of the Austrian craft beers we tried (left to right) – Pinzgau, Brew Age, Gusswerk, Bierol, Hofbräu Kaltenhausen, Rieder and Bevog.
Of all of them, we liked the Hofbräu Kaltenhausen’s 1475 Pale Ale and the Bevog brews the best. We loved all of the Bevog brews. They are definitely Austria’s top craft brewery with their bold, well crafted beers. And, their can/bottle art is just rad!
The Bottle Shop was the last place we visited in Salzburg – we always save the best for last! It was the perfect finish to our wonderful beer travels in Salzburg.
Despite being a small city, Salzburg has a great variety of breweries. And, it’s always wonderful to see old, traditional breweries venturing into the craft beer world and Austrian breweries like Stiegl and Hofbräu Kaltenhausen are including a good few craft beer variety to their collection. And, although there are plenty of similarities between Germany and Austria’s brewing culture, there’s a remarkable uniqueness to the Austrian brews that create a lasting impression.
(Of course there’s so much more to Salzburg than just good beer.)
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