AMMUTSØN Craft Beer Dive. Opening Weekend
March 23-24, 2018
Misho has been running Innsbruck’s beer institution Tribaun for 4 years and has now expanded to Vienna. It was time for the capital city! My friends and I were pretty much the very first customers there, when we arrived at 2pm – 2 hours before they intended to officially open up. The staff was still fine-tuning the place and constructing the last bits and pieces, yet we were already let in and had our first beers poured. The draught selection is exquisitely and extraordinary. They offer beers from breweries that you probably would not find on tap anywhere else in the city, such as FuerstWiacek and Frau Gruber from Germany, Dry & Bitter from Denmark or Hammer amongst quite a few other Italian brewing companies. A very strong focus is put on their fellow Tryrolean countrymen from Bierol which is one of the finest domestic breweries. Altogether, there are 12 different beers floating from the taps. I chose four 0.1l samples to start with, Bierol’s Pop A Woody (a Honey Triple IPA with a solid 9.8%), the Gose With Raspberries by the Lithuanian brewing company Sakiškių, the New Zealand IPA by the Italian brewery CRAK from Padua and another Bierol brew, a cacao and coconut imperial stout called Bomboclaat. All of them were extremely beautiful, but the one I liked the very most of these starters was the Woody, which would also be one of my favorites of the whole two evenings. Although being quite strong, you could not really taste the high amount of alcohol – certainly a bit of a dangerous beer :). It is very easy drinking and rich in flavor with a slight, non-overwhelming honey note. Highly recommendable. After roughly an hour all beers displayed on the menu were in the pipes and amongst them there was the one I had probably been looking forward to the most – FuerstWiacek’s New England style Hazy IPA. I’ve been familiar with these wizards from Berlin ever since my two visits to the city last year, but have been unable to find them in Austria - until now, that is. Man, this beer is so good. It lives up to its name. It already looks extremely beautiful, almost like a milkshake and it is probably the haziest beer I have seen. It is a full-bodied beer with an explosion of fruity flavors and a surprising and interesting peppery aftertaste (a short video of the Hazy IPA can be viewed on FuerstWiacek's Facebook). Other favorites of mine were the Wave Runner an India Pale Ale by Hammer Italian Craft Beer, Dry & Bitter’s Imperial IPA Great Gig In The Sky or FrauGruber ‘s and – again – Bierol’s collab Fruits On Dope, a wonderfully smooth, yet strong NE Double IPA.
At 5 or 6 six o’clock the place was already packed. It seemed like many beer enthusiasts have been waiting for this weekend. Besides easy-chatting guest and extremely friendly personnel there were also some of the brewers themselves present. Bierol was there, as well as Hammer and Birrificio Retha. The latter had a fantastic Grape Ale on tap. Wild Side, as it was called, is pretty much a mixture of beer and sparkling wine, a beersecco so-to-say, with a slight sour taste. I really loved that there is a very decent amount of Italian brews on tap. Normally, only Birra del Borgo, Birra Antoniana and to some extent Birrificio del Ducato are common in Austria. The Italian craft beer scene is huge though and it is awesome that AmmutsØn makes people familiar with other beers than the usual suspects. At one point, Misho gave us and some others a free tour to the pounding heart of AmmutsØn, the basement laboratory, where all the barrels are connected to the taps. To make it short, it is a freaking science running a tap room like this. Everything is set up individually for each and every beer, something which is maybe not unique in Vienna, but I am sure does not occur very often, either. I was especially impressed, when he explained the accuracy that needs to be behind the two nitro taps that the bar is offering.
The pub is located very centrally right off Mariahilfer Straße – the country’s biggest shopping mile. Though being in a smaller cobble-stoned side street, it is off the stress that these shopping streets naturally come along with. This will be even more enjoyable in the warmer days, when you want to drink your beers at one of the tables or the barrels at the big guest garden just outside the place. The interior pays tribute to the Tyrolean-Egyptian heritage. Elements of a traditional farmhouse such as dark timber beams with cracks in them go hand in hand with a modern-style bar. Abstract interpretations of the three fierce creatures of Ammut are placed on bright white walls. After entering the pub, you stand in front of the bar itself, with a few stools to sit on. A small little detail that I really love is that the handles of the taps are filled with various types of grains. At the left hand side, the two logos of AmmutsØn and Tribaun are largely, but not intrusively, displayed next to each other. A screen tells you which beers currently are in the lines and which ones will be tapping soon. Another great feature is that the pub is part of the DigitalPour community, by downloading the app you can view the live tap menu on your phone. AmmutsØn is spread across two rooms, a larger room in the front and a smaller room in the back. The tables vary between different sizes from small to very large making it attractive for both bigger and smaller groups alike to drink there.
I had two mindblowing days/evenings at AmmutsØn’s opening weekend. The beers were fantastic, atmosphere was super relaxed and the people were in a great mood. I highly encourage everyone who hasn’t been there yet to check it out. It is a place not only for craft beer lovers, but also for craft beer newbies, who probably will be craft beer lovers afterwards. A friend of mine who has never been much into beer said that AmmutsØn woke up her interest in beer and that she would certainly be back. I already know that I will be spending quite many evenings there in the future.
BEERS I RECOMMEND. So far these were my favorites from the opening weekend. There will be new ones on tap regularly. Bierol - Pop A Woody, Bierol - Bomboclaat, Frau Gruber x Bierol - Fruits On Dope, FuerstWiacek - Hard To Explain, Hammer Italian Craft Beer - Wave Runner, Dry & Bitter - Great Gig In The Sky, Alefried - Funky NEIPA (Brett), Birrificio Rethia - Wild Side, Edge Brewing - Pure Imagination (Stout)
FOOD. They only offered some pretzels for the time being, but paninis, sandwhiches and more snacks will be on the menu in the near future.
OPENING HOURS. Mon: 4pm - 1am. Tue-Wed: 4pm - 2am. Thu-Sat: 4pm - 4am. Sun 2pm - midnight.
NEAREST SUBWAY STOPS. U3 Neubaugasse
ADDRESS. Barnabitengasse 10, 1060 Vienna