Dec 26, 2020
News flash: 2020 has been a tough one. And yet despite the intense challenges, this year has seen several positive developments, even—and maybe especially—in the world of beer. For example, a couple of truly great books on brewing came out in 2020. The beer world has, slowly but surely, continued to address issues of equity, fairness, and representation. And, on a more personal note, quality Lager has continued its renaissance, despite the crucial issues of the past 11 months.
Andreas Krennmair is the author of one of the best beer books of the year, Vienna Lager, a fantastic history of the most famous beer style to originate in his home country of Austria. He also wrote an earlier book, Historic German and Austrian Beers for the Home Brewer, which introduced obscure, often extinct Old World beer styles like Mannheimer Braunbier, Merseburger Bier, and Horner Bier to English-speaking readers, along with recipes for how to brew them.
In this episode, I’m talking with Andreas about the history of Vienna Lager, which includes legendary names from European brewing like Gabriel Sedlmayr of the Spaten brewery in Munich, as well as Anton Dreher of the Klein-Schwechat brewery in Vienna, the inventor of Vienna Lager. (A side note: At one point I misidentify Andreas as being from Vienna himself, when he’s actually from Linz, Austria, as you’ll hear him explain. Apologies to Andreas for the mistake.) For this conversation I’m calling in from my home in Prague, Czech Republic, and Andreas is speaking from where he lives in Berlin, Germany.
Here’s Andreas Krennmair, author of Vienna Lager. Listen in.