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The Biggest Beer Hall in Austria: Augustiner Bräu

Beer drawn from wooden barrels, stone steins, a “Schmankerlgang” (delicatessen arcade) of food options, and communal seating in a traditional beer hall!

Yes, that might just be a sentence fragment/list of things, but it’s a grand list and an experience to be had. Also, “stein” means “stone” in German, so how’s that for for the redundant?

A couple of souvenir steins (wow A 5L stein!). I've also never seen a top for beer bottles like that!
A couple of souvenir steins (Wow ,a 5L stein!). I’ve also never seen a top for beer bottles like that!

Though we were purposefully seeking out the Augustine Beer Hall and Brewery we accidentally found ourselves entering through the back. We had just walked a gorgeous pathway along Mönchsberg, a large hill-ish thing overlooking Salzburg.

view-before-augustine
The view before we found the brewery.

We walked through the halls of food and seating before finding the long line for beer and a wall of steins. Grab a size, pay (cash only), and someone will fill it for you straight from the barrel.

This automatic fountain thing is to rinse out your stein before it gets filled. It wasn't working when we were there, but we saw person after person try to use it.
This automatic fountain thing is to rinse out your stein before it gets filled. It wasn’t working when we were there, but we saw person after person try to use it.

beersteins

The halls had food on both sides. Vendors usually specialized in one thing, like say BBQ/meat, bread, salads (think potato/kraut), or simply, spiral cut turnip.
The halls had food on both sides. Vendors usually specialized in one thing, like say BBQ/meat, bread, salads (think potato/kraut), or simply, spiral cut turnip.

deliWe opted for BBQ ribs and kraut, as well as some cured cheese ham from the meat stand. We asked for a “small slice.” Apparently an inch thick is small!

Our meal + freshly shaved turnip with a bit of salt on top.
Our meal + freshly shaved turnip with a bit of salt on top.

A bretzel and roll from a bakery stand went well with the meal. We saw many folks carrying small plates of shaved turnips to accompany their beer or meal. Since they knew what they were doing, we figured we should follow suit and seek out the turnip.

It all satisfied. The meat on the ribs was tender and fell right off the bone. The cured cheese ham was just like you would imagine ham/cheese tastes like. The turnip has a fresh crunch and its flavor has an edge of spice, but in the sharp way of horseradish. A compliment to the beer and heavy meats.

I also appreciated how all the dishes and cutlery were paper/wood materials—no plastic in sight.

Left: The beer hall when we arrived at 3pm. Right: It was packed as we left.
Left: The beer hall when we arrived at 3pm. Right: It was packed as we left.

I’m learning there’s a whole new world of beer, with more options that I find I like than I could have imagined! This beer had a particularly appealing flavor, light with a tiny sprinkle of hops (nowhere near IPAs), and bit of a sweet flavor. Not too fizzy, and not as much head as many pours in the area—lately we’ve been getting 1-2 inches of it! These stone steins (I did it again!) were fantabulous at keeping our beer cold, especially as the room we were in was heated to a comfortable temperature (read: very warm).

If this is what a Beer Hall is, I’m all about it!

Will be looking out for these as we travel through Germany.

2 Comments

  1. red red

    The “Schmankerlgang” sounds and looks like an awesome place!

    • It was! My first beer hall experience, and definitely not my last.

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