Beyond the Pint

Austria is not only the land of wines, but it also has a firmly established beer culture.Beer is always served with a generous head and good waiters take time to achieve a compact 'look' by letting the foam settle and topping it up various times.

This is as much a question of taste as of aestethics and doesn't mean that you get less for your money: Austrian beer glasses are designed to hold up to two inches of foam, without decreasing the size of your serving. The most common glass sizes are: extra-small (Pfiff) 0,2 l, small (Seidel/Seitel/kleines Bier) 0,3l, and large (Krügerl/großes Bier) 0,5 l. The super-sized Mass (1l) is a Bavarian import and only served at a handful of regional folk festivals.

In summer, Radler (shandy) is a popular choice, usually a mixture of lager and Almdudler, a lemonade made from alpine herbs. A perfectly chilled, foamy-headed, gold tinged glass of beer, served in a shady beer garden or comfy tavern is one of the most emblematic symbols of Austrian hospitality and folksiness. Prost!