Siebensternbräu (7Stern Bräu)

Craft brewery meets town beer hall all smashed into a lively restaurant space. Service was quick for Vienna, and friendly too on that scale. Selection was smaller, 6 taps and some bottles. Beer was solid some good others meh.

Our fist stop in Vienna. I was a bit jetlagged, but this place picked me up!

It is located near the museum campus and the brewery and bar are down a half flight of stairs. Lots of wood and tile and absolutely cool copper brewing equipment. Besides the two main rooms, they also have at least one large room for parties. I would be remiss if i didn't comment on their bathrooms, they are fantastic!

They were brewing on the day I visited, so to me the place smelled fantastic.

8 beers on tap, mainly traditional styles but a few experimental ones as well. My lager and dunkel tasted great.

I had the schnitzel from the lunch menu. Perfect size and very tasty.

Our server was friendly and brought us English menus.

While they have a pretty big bar, no one sat there and it seemed to be more of an order station for the waiters and people buying beer to go.

This was a great way to kickoff my Vienna trip!

I visited Siebenstern (or 7Stern, whichever you want to call it) yesterday while bumming around Vienna with my wife. On my visit they had 8 beers on tap, including helles, dunkles, märzen, hemp pale lager, chili beer, weizen, rauchbier, and bock. Aside from the chili and hemp beers, all pretty classic styles. The menu and signs on the wall suggested they were mostly mainstays, brewed for a long time here, although the rauchbier and bock were "chalkboard beers", as it were. Both the dunkles and helles lagers were very good, and I enjoyed the rauchbier as well, although it was a bit sweet.

The taproom is in a dim basement with brick walls and skylights, and is basically a restaurant / brewery. They've got a copper brewhouse is right behind the bar and it is a thing of beauty. It feels perhaps a bit commercial, but I like the vibe in here - very homey and old-world. I'll admit the service was a bit slow when we got there, but eventually there were enough staff around where it was no trouble to flag someone down.

We didn't really sample much of the menu; I had a pretzel and my wife had apple strudel, but at least both of those items were tasty!

Again - Vienna, Austria. Selection is always the worst thing you can see. Then, once you ask for a beer, even for the centuries-old recipes, everything is far from perfect. What saves you is the beer garden in the back with an awesome vibe.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The beer was okay. Their "strong beer" was 6.2% but still flavorful (Prager Dunkels/Mai-bock).The food and atmosphere were the highlights. The Stern Brau Specialties of mixed meat covered in cheese was a great dish.

If you are looking for a good spot that everyone can enjoy then 7 Stern is for you. If you want some serious beer then hop over to the Kanguruh.

 

Looking at a map it appeared to me that Siebensternbräu would be a fairly long walk from my hotel at Stephansplatz. I was wrong. Wien is a small city, and in actuality the distance was only about a mile. It was a pleasant mile though, with plenty to see. That had been my second misconception; I'd wondered if there was anything of interest beyond the innerestadt, and of course, there is. There are plenty of shops, larger department stores, restaurants, and other things to see. After our visit my wife and I walked just a few steps and had a few more beers at Plutzer Bräu.

So, besides being Austria's first brewpub, it's also an interesting place to look at. From the outside it looks like a classic building, but inside it's not quite as you'd expect. You enter through a hallway and then stairs down into it. It's not new, but it's not old (well, yes, the building is old...). It's cute and comfortable with a nice wooden bar wrapping around the brewhaus area, all set beneath a massive skylight. I'm not sure how to describe the decor. It didn't feel wholly Germanic to me, but more Mediterranean-tinged with yellow walls accented here and there with fake stone wall sections, a terra cotta tiled floor, and, seemingly, as much beer-related paraphernalia as they could find. The inside dining area, which is interestingly divided, and accessible via stairs and corridors to different parts seats 250, and there are 30 seats at the bar. The beer garden in the back holds another 160. It seems like the kind of place that can be very laid-back and fun, OR a frat house disaster!

Beer is, of course, the most important part. There are usually 6 regulars beers and 1 seasonal:
Wiener Helles ,3l/€3,00 ,5l/€3,60 1l/€6,70
Prager Dunkles ,3l/€3,00 ,5l/€3,60 1l/€6,70
Märzen ,3l/€3,20 ,5l/€3,80 1l/€7,10
Hanfbier ,3l/€3,20 ,5l/€3,80 1l/€7,10
Chilli ,3l/€3,20 ,5l/€3,80 1l/€7,10
Bamberger Rauchbier ,3l/€3,20 ,5l/€3,80 1l/€7,10

All of the beers I tasted were very good, but tending towards the malty side. They were unfortunately sold out of their seasonal and one other regular having just celebrated Sylvester (New Year's Eve). I thought the prices were OK, slightly higher than they could be, but not bad.

Overall, I wouldn't call it a "must see", although Conrad Seidl did give them 5 out of 5 Krügerl (mugs) in his 2013 Bier Guide (and just to note, 1516 Brewing Company and Fischerbräu also took 5 Krügerl). I would stop by given the opportunity, but if you don't make it don't feel as if you've missed too much.

 

Stopped in for for dinner one evening while traveling in Vienna. The beers, which I tried a number of, are delicious and creative. Their unfiltered, Rauchbeir was certainly one of the best I have ever had. The Chili beer, although not spicy for my Mexican influenced Western American palate, was delicious as well.
I figured I would keep it simple by ordering their take on goulash. I am partial to anything served in a cast iron skillet, and this certainly did not disappoint.
7 Stern Brau is a relatively affordable choice in an otherwise expensive city. If your traveling in Central Europe, it should not be missed!

 

We go to this place whenever we have company in town visiting. It is a crowd pleaser. It has a nice beergarden and the interior is comfortable with a lot of little alcoves and separate rooms so you don't feel like you're just surrounded by 100 people. It has a very large selection of German and Austrian styles of beer, and the brewers have also started to include an IPA and some Belgian styles on their menu. Great goulash!

Visited late afternoon on a Sunday in August 2012. {This was during the Austrian summer holiday period, so business was likely slower than usual}.

This brew pub is a fairly large, multi-room facility with the kind of decor that serious beer lovers and home brewers will enjoy. There's plenty of visual interest on the walls and elsewhere, mostly related to beer and brewing. Objects of interest start on the passage in from the street where I beer vending machine (flaschenautomat) is located. The rooms vary in size and include an outside courtyard biergarten, The main bar features a glass dome with about 20 seats arranged on 3 sides of a lovely pair of copper brew tanks. The main brewing operation is visible through glass windows on the wall of the rearmost (past the biergarten) dining area. Nice WC. Newspapers are available on sticks, like in many European cafes.

I didn't eat much but did carefully inspect the menu and saw some foods being served to others. My conclusion is that the food is above average in quality, fairly priced, and notably more creative and diverse than one may expect. An English menu is available, although it was not complete. Lunch and daily specials are available.

By Austrian standards, the beer menu is wildly creative. The offerings included a hemp (hanf) beer, a Bamberger rauch beer, a chili beer, a dunkle, a marzen, an IPA and, perhaps, one other beer. Some interesting seasonals (e.g., bocks) were on the menu although not available during my visit. No beer flights available but the server graciously provided small samples of a couple of their beers before I ordered. Beer is available to go in .5L bottles as well as in 1L and 5L containers.

The location is up hill outside the Museum district. By foot, the brewpub is about 8-10 away and well worth the walk. The trip will transport you out of the bustling tourist area into a relaxing haven for food and drink.

Most American beer fans would this place to be a shallow, overly commercialized, version of our own brew pubs (Texans may liken it to Two Rows, Californians may liken it to Gordon Biersch). The beer they brew is not great, but they do brew ales, which is a nice change of pace is you have been traveling Germany, Czechia, Austria or other central/eastern European countries.

The really nice thing about this bar is that, although the beer is not great, they have a comparatively good range of choices. Even better, they have a ton of different, high quality local schnapps (German and Austrian schnapps are to respected, not passed off to your little sister).

One of my top places in vienna (in my opinion better than 1516). visited quite often, usually quite crowded on a friday night. Food is quite good, and the best deals of vienna can be found here from 1-5. From the mittagsmenu, one can get a huge mean for 4.80. Service is quite bad, like much of austria. It took for 10 minute to get a refil.

It has 6 beers that are always on tap: helles, marzen, dunkles, hemp, chili and rauchbier. All are quite good in my opinion with dunkles being the top(by far), followed by the marzen. Definatly worth going to in vienna.

Siebensternbräu is located on the eastern part of the city and is only a short walk from the subway station. As far as driving there appeared to be street parking all around. It is in the museum district and not too difficult to find from the Danube port at all.

The interior is large with multiple levels of seating. The bar is on the main floor with a full view of some of the brewing equipment. Various breweriana adorns the walls as well. It is important to note there is a beer vending machine near the entrance where you deposit euros and get beer. Fantastic.

The beer selection is pretty good. There are 7 beers on draught including a couple specials/seasonals like a chili beer and hemp beer. The rest are of the German persuasion such as Helles, Dunkels and Marzen. Overall the beers were average to above average. Many of the same beers can be found in the aforementioned vending machine as well.

Service on a weekday evening at the bar was good. Despite a language gap the we were able to communicate and order small glasses (called pfiffs) of several of the beers to sample.

The food at 7 Stern is great. My chicken schnitzel and my wife's pork and kraut were huge and enjoyable.

Overall this place is a must visit in Vienna.

(From notes)

I ended up visiting on a very packed evening, and didn't have a chance to meander about the sprawling place too much. I did have a chance to walk by what seemed like the main bar area inside the building. Pretty modern feel, open, and had a pretty interesting layout.

We were seated outside in a temporary shelter area, basically under tarps since the weather was not nice or warm during the time of visit. Must have been overflow seating area given how busy the place was that evening. Otherwise, I'm sure it would have been very lovely outdoor seating in the summer.

Anyway, pretty impressive variety of German leaning brews. I had the chance to try quite a few of them over a bit of a session. Food was definitely solid, and helped carry me through the sampling.

The service was real slow, even relative to how unresponsive Vienna's wait service can be. Had a bit of a problem getting out of there to be quite honest as the server disappeared. The only reason I'm not marking it lower is it seemed to be overwhelmingly busy night.

Beers weren't outstanding, but several were pretty darn good. I would say this should be a definite visit when in Vienna.

We visited this establishment twice on a recent (May 2008) trip to Wien. It's appearence is very well described in Globetrotter's review, so I will only add that it's decor was most agreeable and appropriate for a place that brews it's own quality beers. Nicely decorated with beer memorabilia.

They had Maibock, Dunkles, Marzen, Hanf (hemp), Chilli beer and Bamberger rauchbier. Unfortunately, the India Pale Ale listed on their blackboard had just finished.
On the first occasion we visited, the only free table (shared) was in the "Gallerie" which is a room left and left again when you enter. This room was lacking in the atmosphere provided in the main part of the building. The service was reasonable, even if a mistake was made with size of beers ordered. I tried the Helles and the rauchbier (I had to try it, but maybe my palate needs some more "conditioning!").

For me, our first visit was "unfinished business" as I wanted to try more of their brews and also be seated in the main bar area. So we returned on our last night, and found seats to our liking. As I said the IPA was finished, but the Marzen and the Maibock were fine brews, though the Maibock was a touch sweet.
The downside was that the service was poor. Maybe it was the managers night off, but the waitstaff/bar staff were to be found having frequent cigarette breaks and ignoring customers. This did not only apply to us. I noted several locals unhappy with the (lack of) service.

I will be happy to return and give this place another try; it was one of the reasons we went to Vienna in the first place.

I searched this place out from a guidebook and it was well worth it. Located in a great area, it is definitely worth a trip outside of the tourist city center. It was a family place with lots of Austrians and only a few tourists.

The food was nice hearty, Austrian food and wasnt too expensive at all. They had seven beers to choose from, and they all looked great but I liked the IPA the most. The service was very pleasant and spoke perfect English (they had an English menu as well) and made some great recommendations for food and drink.

I would definitely recommend this place to other that visit Vienna, especially if they are interested in beer.

My favorite place in Vienna not named 1516. Located an easy walk or one tram stop from the center, behind the Museum Quarter. Wood panelled storefront with a hanging sign featuring seven stars (what'd ya think "Siebenstern" stood for?). Once inside go down stairs to the first landing, where there are doors on the right and left leading to the small rooms with tables. Continue down another flight of stairs, through double doors and down five or six more steps to get to the main room. The bar is three quarters of a square built around two brew kettles to the left and under a glass dome decorated with banners displaying the logos of the various beers they brew. Good start. To the right and up four steps is a long and narrow passageway crammed with tables and chairs. To the left past the bar is a threshold that leads to a thinner hallway still crammed with tables and chairs leading back up to the bathrooms and one of the rooms we saw from the first landing. Back beyond the bar are stairs going up to a rather quaint little garden dominated by a huge tree and otherwise crammed with tables and chairs. Yeah, they've got lots of tables and chairs, all made of wood. The floor is red tile, while the ceiling is a mustard-colored plaster. The walls are either this same plaster or red brick. Various etchings on the wall interspersed amongst small chalkboads listing the beers, wines, sweets and specials of the day. The waitstaff is unengaged but reasonably quick. Pop and classic rock plays quietly on the system (Bachman Turner Overdrive and the Bee Gees when I was there last). Excellent Austrian cuisine, even recommended by folks who don't appreciate the beer.

Seven (surprise, surprise) taps. The standards are Helles, Märzen, Dunkles, Hanf (Hemp), Chili and Rauch. The seventh brew is a rotating seasonal. I've seen Pils, Hefeweizen and the Herbstbock on tap right now. IPA is also rumored to be in the rotation come winter. The beers are always in good shape - fresh, well-served, generally in handled and lined mugs with the 7 Stern logo. What more can I say? If you want world-class beers of a wide variety of styles in an international setting, go to 1516. If you want a more quintessential Central European brewpub experience, come to 7 Stern.

Whew... I got lost trying to find this place, and ended up walking around for over an hour, drinking a pint at a nearby "irish" pub, and bitching incessantly. Let me just say... it was worth the trip.

The inside is a little more new-age than most places I've been to here, with the huge copper fermenters taking main stage in the middle of the restaurant. It's very bright and sleek looking, and there's even a nice little courtyard out back.

As for the brews. Both that I had were fantastic examples of the style, though I'm not a tremendous fan of Helles biers in general, but it was one of the best I've ever had. In addition to their own brews, they had several other local bottled beers.

The service was fine...no real complaints (although they wouldn't let me take away a 5L mini-keg of dunkel, which angered me).

The food was fantastic... everyone in the group loved what they got, from bratwurst to spinach gnochi. Fairly priced as well.

If you're even in Wien, this place is a 'must-see'.

was just wandering back towards my hostel and the train station (the WestBahnhof), when I happened upon this place. Looking in the window, I saw a Michael Jackson article proclaiming their Prager Dunkel the best beer in Austria, so I had to go in and try a pint.

Sat down at the bar, and eventually got served (I was never sure what to do while in Europe - it didn't help that I was in a different country with different customs every day). Michael Jackson was right. The Dunkel is bloody great. But what really made it for me (maybe I'm easily impressed, but it WAS cool) was that they had a couple kettles behind the bar. I sat, drank my beer, and watched the brewer brew his beer. He was constantly tweaking controls, and even added hops while I was there. It's just something I've never seen before. There's a glass roof (lots of light), and artwork and memorabilia all around the bar. It's the working kettles that really make the bar, though.

There were five or six of their brews on tap (including a chili beer). I'm afraid I didn't have any food there, though. Still, I loved it.