Wieden Bräu

Review

Brew without beer

When a hotel manager founded Wieden Bräu in 1991, the standards for beer in Vienna were comparatively low: liquid, yellow, alcoholic, not too bitter. The tolerance threshold was similarly high when it came to the menu and restaurant furnishings: if there was bread topped with cheese, everything was fine. Wieden Bräu, which actually looked like a wine tavern with a brewery, got by quite well for years, with mediocre beer, mediocre food, mediocre design and a great guest garden. 15 years ago, however, perceptions changed: beer should no longer just get you drunk, it should taste like something. Wieden Bräu reacted to this and hired a young, talented master brewer from Bavaria. Then came Igor Nesterenko, who had taken over or opened many large Viennese pubs in just a few years. He also took a sniff at Wieden Bräu, gave it a somewhat more contemporary look - and two years ago he went off with bombs and grenades. Wieden Bräu has been empty ever since, and now another multi-restaurateur has acquired it: Gerald Schedl, who started out in Vienna with the Gösser Bräu in the Ottakringer tobacco factory, then took over the Haas-Beisl and the huge Gösser-Schlössl in Mauer. So a professional, very good. And obviously someone who knows that a good story is often more important than the hard facts, which is why there is a display case with all kinds of Wieden-Bräu bottles in the entrance area, the brewing equipment flashes cheerfully and the logo says: "We are passionate about brewing." But the house beer is from Schwechater. The other open beers are Schladminger Zwickl and Starobrno, in other words all Heineken. Will that change? Allegedly at the end of November, "it's all very complicated", we are told. Not really, and even if it were complicated, you could still tap a few more interesting corporate beers, the Gösser Spezial for example, the Gösser Märzen from the Falkensteiner brewery in Lienz or, if you like, the Wiener Lager from Schwechat.
A similar picture at dinner, a harmless menu, schnitzel, onion roast, a huge block of fridge-cold, briefly grilled goat's cheese on rocket, served on a black slate stone, awesome (€ 9.80). And a cordon bleu filled with smoked meat, onions and lots of beer cheese. No, beer cheese has nothing to do with beer, but the idea is original (€ 15.90). What are they trying to tell us here, what is the real story of the new Wieden Bräu, why would you want to go there? Some beer with some food? Incidentally, the beautiful garden remains closed for the time being ... Wieden Bräu has always been a story full of misunderstandings. And it seems to be staying true to this tradition.

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