Schloss Eggenberg

Schloss Eggenberg

Brauerei Schloss Eggenberg is one of the most traditional, historically significant and fascinating private breweries in Austria – located in Vorchdorf in Upper Austria in the Salzkammergut region, where the eponymous Schloss Eggenberg was first established around the year 971 and where beer has been demonstrably brewed since the 14th century. Commercial brewing began in 1681 under Michael Weismann, and since 1803 the brewery has been in the private ownership of the Forstinger/Stöhr family – today already in its eighth generation of independent and autonomous management, making Schloss Eggenberg one of the rare and precious examples of how a centuries-old brewing tradition can be kept alive and unadulterated across generations. With an annual output of around 160,000 hectolitres and over 1,200 hospitality customers, Schloss Eggenberg is today the largest private brewery in Upper Austria – and as a founding member of the «Association of Independent Private Breweries of Austria» established in 2021, a powerful symbol for the preservation of Austrian brewing culture.

What has made Brauerei Schloss Eggenberg world-famous and unmistakable is its extraordinary range of strong beer and bock beer specialities, which rank among the strongest and most acclaimed beers in the world – above all the legendary Samichlaus Bier, which held the Guinness World Record as the strongest lager in the world until 1994 and which after a break has been brewed again in Eggenberg since 2000, as well as the Urbock 23°, whose 2004 vintage was awarded the gold medal in the «Aged Beers» category at the World Beer Cup 2012 in San Diego. All specialities of the brewery are brewed according to the German Reinheitsgebot of 1516 from domestic raw materials and with the crystal-clear spring water of the Salzkammergut.

The range of Brauerei Schloss Eggenberg today encompasses 14 different beer varieties – from the alcohol-free Birell through the pale golden, finely bitter Hopfenkönig and the refreshing Classic Märzen to the world-famous bock beer and strong beer specialities Samichlaus and Urbock 23°. Positioning itself as «the beer of the Salzkammergut», Schloss Eggenberg stands as an unmistakable flagship of Upper Austrian brewing culture and as living proof that independence, family tradition, artisanal care and an uncompromising commitment to quality are the foundation of every great and enduring brewing story.