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Salzburg Coat of ArmsSalzburg, the home of Mozart, and a UNESCO Cultural Heritage site, might seem like an unlikely place for a beer weekend, but is a beautiful city of manageable size. There is plenty to see; beautiful architecture, things Mozart-related, “Sound of Music” locations, the castle (Hohensalzburg), all-in-all it’s just a pretty place, divided by the river and great to walk around. The pubs in Salzburg never seem to offer a great range of beers to try, and many seem to be as much restaurants as pubs, but they are well run and often very atmospheric.

One place of special interest to mention here is Brauwelt (Brew World). It purports to be “Europe’s largest exhibition of beers” and claims “everything you ever wanted to know about beer”. It was closed for renovations in 2006, and I have never heard from anyone who visited it, so I cannot comment on its content. It is venture by the Steigl Brewery and so may favour their brews.

 

 

Venues

 

Bio Wirtshaus Hirschenwirt, St Julienstrasse 23, A-5020 Salzburg.

This rustic restaurant and bar is part of the hotel Achat Plaza Zum Hirschen, where I have stayed. It has an organic ethos, and this includes the beer. It has pretty decent food

Augustiner Bräu Kloster Mülln, Augustinergasse 4, A-5020 Salzburg.

This is a pretty amazing place, and must not be missed. This is not because of its range of beer (they usually only have one, although they brew Augustiner Bockbier in winter), but because it is just such an atmospheric location in which to drink beer. Depending on the entrance you came in by, you may pass through ancient corridors with stalls selling cheese, snacks, cold meats, bratwurst etc. You are free to bring whatever food you purchase into the beer halls. You then find the “point of sale” for the beer, pay in advance, select your earthenware Steiner from the shelf and take it to the Zapfmeister. He fills it and you take it away to one of the halls or in summer, you may choose the beer garden. I can’t really say enough of its atmosphere, but it is quite special. I have not been to Munich, but I am told that this place compares very well to anything that Munich has to offer, only without the hordes of tourists. No photograph could do this place justice, so I have not included one.

 

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Gablerbrau, Linzergasse 9, A-5020 Salzburg.

I really liked this place. It is predominantly a solid restaurant, but offers some nice accompanying brews. It was formerly a brewery as the name suggests, but not any more.

Sternbrau, Griesgasse 23, A-5020 Salzburg.

This is a fairly amazing place that can get very busy around lunchtime. It is centrally located with entrances from several different streets, featuring restaurant and drinking rooms and serves a great keller beer (unfiltered). The buzz in here is fairly special. It is also a great spot for a few late night beers, being fairly quite.

Die Weisse, Rupertgasse 10, A-5020 Salzburg.

This is a brewpub, with a very modern design, so it offers quite a contrast to most of the other venues. It offers a nice range of their brews and reasonable food.

 

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Zipfer Bierhaus, Sigmund Haffnergasse 12, A-5020 Salzburg.

I have had bottled Zipfer from my local off licence in Dublin, and I was not very impressed. However, this place has such a nice relaxed feel to it, with its décor and vaulted ceilings, that the beer just tastes so much better! There are entrances from two different streets.

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Zum Fidelen Affen, Priesterhausgasse 8, A-5020 Salzburg.

This is a nice pub that’s serves Trummer pilsen and weiss. It can get quite busy but is a very attractive place with a nice buzz to it.

Pitter Keller, Auerspergstrasse, A-5020 Salzburg.

This is a cellar bar, with some decent bottled beers, and also has Steigl on draught.

 

Stieglbrau

This is a famous brewery turned hotel that I did not manage to visit, so I will not comment on it. Maybe on your visit, you can tell us about it!

 

Logistics:

Fly Dublin to Salzburg (W. A. Mozart airport) with Ryanair or Aer Lingus. You can take the local bus (No. 2) from outside the airport to the Hauptbahnhof (train station) for €1.80. Otherwise take a taxi to wherever your hotel is located. The only hotel I have stayed at was Achat Plaza Zum Hirschen, near the station and it was excellent.

 

Links:

Salzburg tourism information:

http://www2.salzburg.info/

Brauwelt:

http://www.brauwelt.at

Die Weiss:

http://www.dieweiss.at

John Stephens (April 2007)

 

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