Style: Vienna Lager
All StylesStyle Profile based on 852 recipes
BU:GU
0.45
Hops
3.6 g/L
Mash pH
5.51
Description
A moderate-strength amber lager with a soft, smooth maltiness and moderate bitterness, yet finishing relatively dry. The malt flavor is clean, bready-rich, and somewhat toasty, with an elegant impression derived from quality base malts and process, not specialty malts and adjuncts. History: Developed by Anton Dreher in Vienna in 1841, became popular in the mid-late 1800s. Now nearly extinct in its area of origin, the style continues in Mexico where it was brought by Santiago Graf and other Austrian immigrant brewers in the late 1800s. Authentic examples are increasingly hard to find (except perhaps in the craft beer industry) as formerly good examples become sweeter and use more adjuncts. Style Comparison: Lighter malt character, slightly less body, and slightly more bitter in the balance than a Märzen, yet with many of the same malt-derived flavors. The malt character is similar to a Märzen, but less intense and more balanced. Lower in alcohol than Märzen or Festbier. Less rich, less malty and less hop-centered compared to Czech Amber Lager.
Examples: Cuauhtémoc Noche Buena, Chuckanut Vienna Lager, Devils Backbone Vienna Lager, Figueroa Mountain Danish-style Red Lager, Heavy Seas Cutlass Amber Lager, Schell’s Firebrick
- 90% Toast (72%)
- 65% Crystal (6%)
- 45% Pilsner (33%)
- 43% Pale (22%)
% of Vienna Lager recipes using each malt category (addition % in brackets)
g/L · median with IQR range
- 23% Saaz (CZ)
- 23% Hallertau Mittelfrüh
- 14% Tettnanger
- 11% Magnum (GR)
- 10% Hallertauer Hersbrucker
- 9% Cascade
- 7% Hallertau Taurus
- 6% Southern Brewer
- 5% Perle (GR)
- 4% Hallertau (US)
% of Vienna Lager recipes using each hop
g/L · median with IQR range
dated Vienna Lager recipes with at least one dry-hop addition
- 18% Vienna Malt
- 16% German - Vienna
- 9% Munich Malt
- 8% American - Vienna
- 7% Pilsner (2 Row) Ger
- 7% Weyermann - Vienna Malt
- 6% Vienna Malt (Weyermann)
- 5% German - Pilsner
- 4% German - Melanoidin
- 4% Flaked Corn
Colour = malt category · bar = % of recipes
- 26% Saflager Lager (W-34/70) Fermentis
- 5% German Lager Yeast (WLP830) White Labs
- 4% Mexican Lager Yeast (WLP940) White Labs
- 4% German Bock Lager Yeast (WLP833) White Labs
- 3% LalBrew Diamond Lager Lallemand
- 3% SafLager West European Lager (S-23) Fermentis
- 3% Southern German Lager Yeast (WLP838) White Labs
- 3% Bavarian Lager (2206) Wyeast Labs
- 3% Munich Lager (2308) Wyeast Labs
- 2% Bohemian Lager Yeast (M84) Mangrove Jack's
% of Vienna Lager recipes using each strain
- 59% Single Infusion
- 34% Step Mash
- 7% Decoction
152 recipes with mash data
- 60 ppm Ca²⁺
- 7 ppm Mg²⁺
- 11 ppm Na⁺
- 71 ppm Cl⁻
- 55 ppm SO₄²⁻
- 100 ppm HCO₃⁻
median across recipes with a declared water profile
Similar Styles
Ranked by similarity across OG, IBU, ABV, hop rate, and grist composition.