Beer Sommelier National Champion 2026: "I don’t have a favorite beer"

Reinhard Feigl is actually a project manager in an IT company. Around ten years ago he started brewing beer with friends. The hobby turned into a real passion. Feigl trained to become a beer sommelier and completed it with a diploma.

Today he brews his own beer professionally – as a guest brewer he works in breweries that have free capacity. His main brewery: The Leopoldau Brewery in Vienna. A few years ago, Feigl tried it for the first time and competed in the Austrian Beer Sommelier National Championships.

A good beer must have a clear taste and be easy to drink. You have to be able to sell your beer, otherwise the best sommelier won’t help.

Reinhard Feigl, national sommelier champion

“From competition to competition, I analyzed what I could do better,” he tells the KURIER. It worked on the third attempt. Last week, at the 7th Austrian Beer Sommelier National Championships in Vorarlberg, Feigl won the title and at the same time secured a ticket for the Beer Sommelier World Championships in 2027. The World Cup takes place every two years – this time it is even a home game. “At the last World Cup, Austria won the team title. The minimum goal must be to defend this title,” says Feigl.

What is the biggest challenge for a beer sommelier? “To make people understand that beer is much more than Austrian Märzen.” If Feigl could wish for something, it would be more beer accompaniments to the course menu in the restaurant. By the way, he doesn’t have a favorite beer. It can be “hoppy and bitter” or “nicely sour”.