Soft, tart, with a slight bitterness or with a strong foam, dark or light beer in Austria is, without doubt, its special attraction. Do not think that I advocate drinking alcoholic beverages, not at all. But it is a crime not to taste local varieties of this drink there.

The Austrians have their own special drinking culture, which has nothing to do with mindless libations. They like to have a mug of lager in the local pub in the evening, chat and relax.

Schwechat brewery is one of the oldest in the country. It was there that Anton Dreher, a reformer in brewing, began his experiments with malt and hops. In the 19th century, together with the German Zedlmayr, he created new ways of brewing lager. The first type of beer had a dark brown hue. Anton managed to achieve an amber-red color. He was able to achieve this color by mixing malt of different degrees of roasting.

Much later, the same taste and color were recreated by the London brewery Meantime and the Kronenbourg company from France. This red beer was named Viennese by Meantime (5.9% ABV). It is sold in Sainsbury's supermarkets.

The Schwechat brewery, where Dreher experimented, has survived to this day. This is a group of buildings built in the bucolic-baronial style. One of the buildings once belonged to Archduchess Maria Theresa and served as a hunting lodge for her.

Once the Schwechat plant was a huge enterprise, acting on an equal footing with Pilsner Urquell, for example. Alas, the former heyday has given way to stagnation. Dreher's Vienna company went bankrupt. Beer remains only in history. And the current Austrian brewers use Bavarian beer as a reference.

The Schwechat brewery itself belongs to the Briiu AG group of companies. In 2003, it became part of the Dutch Heineken.

However, lagers are still produced here. They can be enjoyed in any restaurant in the city.