🥃 Pregler

Pregler (Osttiroler Pregler) is a fruit spirit made by fermenting apples and pears grown in the Lienz district of East Tyrol, Austria. Apples always make up the larger share, and pears at least 25%. Its strength is at least 40% ABV. The name has been protected under EU law since 2022.

Raw material. Fruit is mostly grown on high, sunny slopes. A producer who can prove the tradition may also add plums, up to 25% of the alcohol, and this must be stated on the label. No other additives are allowed; up to 4 g of sugar per litre may be added for balance, and the spirit is diluted with drinking water to bottling strength.

How it is made. The fruit is crushed and the mash ferments for two to six weeks, mostly with cultured yeast. It is distilled once or twice in batch pot stills below 86% ABV; more and more often in copper stills with plates, where one distillation is enough. Continuous distillation is banned. The spirit then rests at least four weeks in glass or steel, never in wood.

Name and history. The word comes from the dialect verb "pregeln", meaning to roast, boil or simmer, which is how distilling schnapps was described. Distilling here goes back at least to the time of Maria Theresa, when each farm could make 300 litres a year. In 1991 twenty distillers founded the Osttiroler Preglerbauern in Dölsach, and in 2012 the spirit entered the Austrian Food Codex.

Why it matters to you. Pregler is clear and smooth, with notes of apple skin and pear, but it is at least 40% ABV. The name guarantees fruit and distilling from East Tyrol, not safety: do not drive after drinking it. The WHO reminds us that no level of alcohol consumption is safe.