Vienna Lager Survives In Mexico

In the late 19th century, Vienna Lager survived and developed further in Mexico after declining in its original Central European context. The BJCP describes Vienna Lager as nearly extinct in its area of origin but continuing in Mexico, where Santiago Graf and other immigrant brewers brought the style in the late 1800s. Mexico became an important second home for Vienna-style amber lager. Beer-history accounts connect this survival to brewers trained in German-speaking lager traditions, to Santiago Graf’s work in Toluca, and to the broader influence of Austrian and Central European brewing culture in Mexico. The result was not a museum-like preservation of Dreher’s original beer, but a Mexican continuation and reinterpretation of the Vienna Lager family.