Nestled in the Austrian Alpine village of Eisenerz, lies a new brewery serving delicious, home-made Austrian beer. Having opened during my month long residence in Eisenerz, the town’s newest pub was conveniently located next to our apartment. The lovely owners of this brewery welcomed myself and the four Chinese men with whom I traveled, with open arms to serve us litres of freshly brewed beers for  a mere 3.50 Euros (per liter). Upon our final return to Eisenerz, to premier the documentary film that had been produced for the Chinese artist, Liu Xiaodong’s newest project, we stopped at Erzberg Braü for a delicious meal centered around the key ingredient of, what else but beer! Whether in the form of beer bread sticks wrapped in proscuitto, a beer foam to accompany our lamb leg entree, or a beer sorbet served with a scoop of vanilla ice cream and drizzled with fresh berries, the mild beer taste certainly enhanced and juxtaposed the flavor of each course in a unique manner.

Started as a side project, the brewery is currently only open during the weekend. Although given the town’s rather quite and small Alpine village feel, the citizens certainly enjoy catching up with friends over a weekend beer, as given our apartment’s proximity, I was able to hear the jovial laughs well into the weekend evenings.

Beautifully decorated with natural wood panels and copper brew tanks left in open for the public to see, the walls are filled with memorabilia of old (and current) Austrian beer companies as well as advertising plaques from soda makers in the 1950s. Surprisingly, several of these ‘pop’ makers still produce their sweet and fizzy drinks that were available at the Braü as a delicious and refreshing alternative to the ‘adult soda.’

So next time, you’re driving through the Austrian countryside and would like a tasty snack + beverage, stop by Erzberg Braü.

Raw barley ready to be cooked

Cooked barley

Beautiful coper-topped brewers

Adding hops to the beer

Empty bottles ready to be filled with fresh beer