So just back and I had lots of Veltliner and less beer. The Schweizerhaus is huge, but I learned you need a reservation on a Saturday night, so no beer was had. Did not make it to 1516, but heard it was good from a colleague.
Had dinner at 7Stern, it was excellent.
They have a beer vending machine for bottle purchases in their entry way, if you just want to grab one to try. The dunkles was my favorite.
1516 is excellent. Been there on both my trips to Vienna. A
Schweizerhaus, 1516 and 7SternBrau are all execllent. I have enjoyed them on two previous trips to Vienna…working on a third.
If you’re into more traditional Viennese brewing and want something a bit less touristy than Schweizerhaus, I’d recommend checking out Fischerbräu in the 19th district.
It’s a proper local brewery where they brew on site, very relaxed atmosphere, lots of regulars, and usually a few rotating beers on tap. The Märzen and the dark beer are classics.
It’s not right in the city center, but that’s kind of the charm – feels much more like “real Vienna”.
Just another local tip, you can thanks me later 
I’m just back from Vienna with a few beer observations/notes. The Prater is as fun as ever, with Schweizerhaus leading the way as a beer destination, but the other restaurants at the Prater have a variety of Austrian beers such as Murauer and Schladminger. Another place to go to try a variety of beers is the Naschmarkt, which has many small pubs/restaurants in a compact space. Schremser beer is not well known outside of Austria but is worth a try, I think it’s outstanding. I also saw Augustiner, Budvar, Pilsner Urquell, Gösser, Stiegl, Trumer, and a few others at Naschmarkt places. A new place I found on this trip is a pub called FreyBier, which features the beers of the Hirter brewery in Carinthia. Their house beer is Hirter Privat Pils, which is one of the best beers in Austria imo, and as of my recent trip they are only charging 3.90E for a half liter, a tremendous bargain in Vienna. The other Hirter beers are slightly higher at 4.30E which is still cheap for Vienna. They offer a couple of snack food options but no kitchen, but if you’re in the mood for some of Austria’s best beer at good prices, it’s a great stop.
Thanks, going in December on a Christmas Market tour. Will mark these on Maps. It will be our first time in Vienna, Bucharest, and Budapest. Prague is on the itinerary too, but we were there in 1999.
