h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

In certain parts in Austria it is common to shortly touch the glass to the table after clinking glasses with everyone before actually drinking. If you still forget after beeing reminded, your friends may impose onto you to pay the next round. It's tradition, so make your hosts happy and do it

On the other hand, if you're having a beer in Austria, it rarely occurs that someone asks you to drink up in a hurry; you normally can get drunk in your own pace. Hard drinks (especially rounds of schnaps) are a different thing.

Another thing that may be strange to you at first (depending on your cultural background): If the "just one beer" (a common saying even when embarking on an epic visit-all-the-bars-in-the-city journey - you have been warned!) is getting many one beers, your Austrian hosts may exhibit a strange behavior: They may call out something like "zomzomzomzomzom" (which is a short for "zusammen" -> "together") and clink all their glasses together, changing the call to a raising "uuuoooiiii" or similar in spirit and raising their glasses and drink. Don't act confused, just take part. And don't worry about how to explain at home afterwards. If you reached that point in time at any "one beer" night, you'll probably keep per instinct to austrian tradition and keep drinking until you *really* have some things to be embarassed about in the weeks to come...

The tradition of touching the table after clinking glasses is common in The Czech Republic too. I suppose it comes from the Austrian influence on the region throughout history.