Hop to the Top: Discovering Innsbruck’s Beer Alps Festival

At the beginning of October, the second Beer Alps Festival took place on Innsbruck's market square. But don't you dare say Oktoberfest! Because Innsbruck can do it differently: with a good dozen regional indie breweries that put the spotlight on hobby, craft and - of course - the variety of beers. A short retrospective and: Where else you can find the festival beers (and their friends) in Innsbruck.

No beer tent. No beer mug. Instead, a returnable glass with a stamp pass and countless tasting opportunities. That's all the beer happiness at the Beer Alps Festival 2025 needs. The star guest is introduced in a very similar way: Hops, malt, water. Beer is so simple that anyone can actually brew it. But between the many small Markt-Standln (=market stalls) at the Innsbruck Beer Festival, you can quickly taste that it takes much more to make a real master brew: patience, love, experience, curiosity and sometimes even failure. The showcase brings together 16 regional, independent breweries, passion on tap, and the operators can hardly stop raving.

Right at the start of the afternoon, Bierol from Schwoich waves from the stage as the winners of the very first Beer Alps Competition from the hobby and commercial sectors are announced. Nevertheless, everyone here has their own personal favorite beer. At Standl from Starkenberger young master brewer Julia, for example, presents her very first fine brew from Tarrenz. Right next door, Mike and Ulrich from the beer factory in the Innsbrucker Bögen draw their legendary lager from the barrel while the thirsty queue waits patiently. The nice gentleman behind me has already collected a few more stamps and has already fallen in love a few times today, he confesses. The best one was back there, all blonde with a frothy crown, he smiles and doesn't want to reveal any more.

Maybe it was with Andi from Innsbrucker Bräu - already well known to me from the Wilten Christmas market. He taps me his Helles for a few tokens and is happy to reveal a few brewing details. We talk shop at length, then the delicious Korean aromas finally draw me to the Koi Bar. See you at Wilten, he calls out and winks: "There'll be something special again in winter! At Fusion-Food Truck, host Daniel welcomes me with a selection of small tasting bites: Well, what can I get you, he smiles confidently. A huge portion of Korean Fried Chicken later, I get myself a refill of lager - I forget that I won't get a new stamp for it after the first sip.

At the same time as the festival on the market square, the city also celebrated Shopping Night on Friday. With bands and stages in every nook and cranny of the city center, champagne receptions, snacks and DJs in the stores and special offers until late into the night. I try out a few bargains, catch a circus-ready Pole-Performance in front of the Golden Roof and make it back to the market square to the last bangers of long-haired "ramp sow" Dave Wildheart. Everyone wants Wonderwall, we sing loudly and much more beautifully than Oasis anyway.

The fact that you can also meet the countless star guests of the festival elsewhere in Innsbruck comforts my farewell tour of the market square on Saturday. Visit us in the Bögen (= pubs in the viaduct arches along Ing.-Etzel-Straße), the Bierfabrik invites me to their brewing kettles. This Tribaun refers full-bodied to its constantly changing draught selection of various craft beer treasures from all over the world - on the corner where Treibhaus is also located. And Andi gives me the mischievous advice to just keep asking for real Tyrolean beers wherever I go until I eventually get some. Starkenberger or Zillertal Bier are available in almost every chiller cabinet anyway Tiroler Bier you have to look for it at Spar (= Austrian supermarket chain).

Bierolthe neighbors from the Munich Brew Mafia and other bottled treasures are stored in the BierWelt.Tirol Shop not far from the market square - where you can always get hot insider information about the regional and international art of brewing. People in the know know each other - and in Innsbruck anyway. From the market square, for example, it's just a short walk across the Inn to the Montaguwhere Theresa taps the delicious Bierfabrik Lager and the cellar program is a dream. So until the next Beer Alps Festival, I'll just visit the local beers at home - we've been per Du since last weekend.

Photos: All pictures in the article were blurred by the author himself.

christian Weittenhiller