Shiner

[Rabies]

I've got the Holiday Variety Box from Shiner of Shiner, Texas. In order of faves; Bock, Hefeweizen, Blonde, Kolsch, Light. Shiner 98 is also good and I put it before Light, but it doesn't come in the Holiday Variety Box. Those are all the Shiners I've had. They're all great. I left my old standby fave, MGD, for them.

Bock is a dark lager that doesn't taste like burnt nuts. It's a tad crisp, or maybe, tingly.

Hefeweizen is a wheat beer. It's cloudy pale in color and has a sweet wheat taste.

Blonde, Light and 98 are, best I can describe, yellow American beers, in a very good way. Very good.

Kolsch is a bit bitter and hoppy. It's a little green, even.

[darylM]

Originally posted by Rabies
Those are all the Shiners I've had. They're all great. I left my old standby fave, MGD, for them.


I was a Shiner man for a long time. Glad you made the jump.

Bock is a dark lager that doesn't taste like burnt nuts. It's a tad crisp, or maybe, tingly.

Its not a true bock, its a vienna style lager. I am telling you this in case you want to start trying other beers and you are interested in another "bock."


Hefeweizen is a wheat beer. It's cloudy pale in color and has a sweet wheat taste.

Thier hefe is really good


Blonde, Light and 98 are, best I can describe, yellow American beers, in a very good way. Very good.

I could drink them but i wasn't happy with them. I can't say that for the 98.


Kolsch is a bit bitter and hoppy. It's a little green, even.

Then they changed the recipe. I found it to be a wonderful light beer.

[skahtboi]

The recipe on Shiner Kolsch hasn't changed, still tastes the same. I don't know where the "green" reference comes from. It is a golden, kolsch style beer. The label is green. That's about it.

As far as Shiner beers go, I actually find the Blonde and the Hefe to be their best beers by far. While it isn't Prima Pils or PU or Czechvar (or even Moretti or Peroni), Blonde is a very drinkable, crisp and clean example of a Pilsner, IMO. When I can't locate these other Pils, Blonde always fills the bill. There is a local cajun restaurant that has extremely good food, but in beer basically offer the BMC group, Dixie and Shiner Bock on tap. However, the proprieters are nice enough to keep a stash of the Shiner Blonde for me and their son, since we both think it works well with their food.

[Rabies]

Not crayon green or anything, but when I poured it in a glass, cause I wanted to see what it looked like, usually I just drink out the bottle, it had a slight greenish tint.

I just poured one to check, I'm seeing green.

[Seymour]

The 98 was really good; I drank a lot of it in the early summer. The 97 last year (a schwarzbier) was outstanding. I can hardly wait for the 99 to come out.

I drink a lot of the Kolsch in the summer. It's refreshing and, IMO, pretty close to spot-on for the style.

[skahtboi]

I personally the the 97 was the best beer they have ever brewed at Spoetzl.

[skahtboi]

Thread hijack here:

Seymour, I noticed your signature, and couldn't help but ask the obvious. Did the Great Filling Station hold up cost you two good years?

[Seymour]

Yup:D .

So...Who's gonna steal the peanut butter?

[skahtboi]

I dunno, but I got the can of sardines.

[Seymour]

:p

Hey, we never take more than we can eat.

I was at the local HEB this morning and saw Shiner Black Lager on sale. Being too lazy to peruse their website, I ask: are they putting out the schwarzbier as a seasonal? Or better yet, year-round?

[skahtboi]

Was it actually called a Black Lager? Or was it the red label Dunkelweizen? If it was the latter, it used to be their winter beer. But I have noticed it on the shelves year round, now, so I am assuming that maybe they are brewing it year round. However, I must admit that I am not a fan of Shiner's version.

[Seymour]

No, it was in a black box, and side-by-side with the dunkel (which was in a red box). I woulda bought a sixer, but blue laws alas prevent here before noon.

[darylM]

Originally posted by Rabies
Not crayon green or anything, but when I poured it in a glass, cause I wanted to see what it looked like, usually I just drink out the bottle, it had a slight greenish tint.

I just poured one to check, I'm seeing green.

i thought you meant green as in an immature beer

[Le Ray]

I'm a fan of Shiner! I've enjoyed all the beers I've had from them.

[skahtboi]

Originally posted by Seymour
No, it was in a black box, and side-by-side with the dunkel (which was in a red box). I woulda bought a sixer, but blue laws alas prevent here before noon.

Two friends of mine have called me since this post telling me that they have found that around here. Apparently the Shiner 97 was a big enough hit that Shiner decided to start brewing a black lager full time. If this one is a good as the 97 was, I can't wait to get my hands on some.

[BrewDog]

I'm thinking the Schwarzbier style is catching on in a good way. I just found the Sam Adams Black Lager in the grocery store here. With all the craft beer available here, Sam is usually ignored. The only SA beers we find up here normally are the SABL and SA Light.

I haven't seen any from Shiner, but it wouldn't surprise me if it starts to show up here from more than just SA (to include being introduced by some west coast breweries). Given the hop shortage, Schwarzbier seems a great way for the breweries to provide flavorful, lightly-hoppy, low-ish gravity (ie, not "thick") beers far more cheaply than they'd be able to pushing IPA, APA, or other non-hoppy bigger beers like Maerzen/Octo, which still seem to be "reserved for the fall season" anyway.

What I'm getting at here is they must be selling a lot of Schwarzbier for them to be pushing it all the way out here. Part of that might be that it might be pretty cost effective for them to make a good Schwarz compared to other styles in their lineup.

[BigBadChris]

I tried the 99 over the weekend and it was pretty good.

[Seymour]

Actually about to crack one of the 99s open right now, BBC. My wife--good woman that she is--bought me a sixer last evening.