Ottakringer

The brewery began as Planksche Brauerei after Plank obtained a brewing licence from the diocese of Klosterneuburg. In 1850, cousins Ignaz and Jakob Kuffner purchased it; Ignaz was later awarded a hereditary title by Emperor Franz Joseph I in 1878. During the Nazi regime, the Kuffner family were forced to flee and the brewery was sold under compulsion; ownership was restored after World War II. The Wenckheim family assumed control in 1962, listed the business on the Vienna Stock Exchange in 1986, and Christiane Wenckheim has served as CEO since 2015.

Today Ottakringer produces around 420,000 hectolitres of beer annually, employs approximately 180 people, and recorded a turnover of roughly €60 million as of 2021. The site draws on its own in-house well for brewing water, and the landmark Kiln Tower remains a recognised feature of the brewery's historical industrial architecture. Approximately 250,000 visitors pass through each year for tours, concerts, and cultural events.

In 2014, Ottakringer launched a dedicated craft sub-brewery, originally named BrauWerk and since rebranded Beer Base Vienna, producing IPAs, porters, and Vienna pales alongside its core lager range. The brewery also initiated a joint partnership in 2007 to establish an AF beer production facility in Tehran. Ottakringer's AF offering draws a natural audience among sober-curious drinkers, backed by nearly two centuries of continuous brewing in the same district of Vienna.