Archive for the 'Shiner' category
Shiner Hefeweizen
Honestly, we don’t do too much with the folks at Shiner. I mean, I like their Bock – it was one of the earlier good American beers I got into. They also make a decent dunkelweizen. This is the first time I’ve tried out there hefe – during these hot summer months, you really can’t beat a good wheat beer, so I took a few of these to a cook-out recently and saved one for the site.
This one pours a hazy yellowish golden color with a dense white head that is surprisingly healthy and long-lasting for a wheat beer. The aroma is fairly, rich – chock full of clove and banana with some sweeter yeasty tints. In the mouth, I’m surprised at how flavorful this stuff is. There is a lot of yeast, giving this a sweet and syrupy mouthfeel at times. In addition, there is a ton of banana – a trait that some would say indicates an imperfect wheat beer, but I’m liking it. There is a decent amount of spice here, going along with that clove aroma. Also, there’s a good shot of citrus, though it tends to take the back seat here. All in all, it’s a decent wheat beer. It isn’t quite as refined as some, and it honestly reminds me of a couple of homebrew wheats we’ve made here at SevenPack Central. However, for the price and availability, this is a pretty killer summer beer…
Shiner Helles Lager
Shiner is another one of those breweries who, while never really blowing my hair back, always make reasonably tasty beers at reasonable prices. This particular beer, the Helles Lager, was a gift from Linda, who recently took a trip to Texas. She’s been doing a pretty killer job of bringing us out-of-state beers lately. Keep up the good work!
This lager pours a lightish golden color with a thin white head. The aroma of this beer is rather pleasant – it includes a lot of sweet malt with a notable tart sourness almost reminiscent of a saison ale. In the mouth, this is a flavorful but subdued beer. My first sensation is of a bright malt sweetness. This flavor seems to serve as the backbone for the beer throughout the mouth. However, there is also a nice wild sourness that hits around the middle of the mouth. This sourness is unique and difficult to describe, but it adds a sourness and a wildness that make the beer a bit crazier and much more refreshing. This tart flavor shocks the tongue, which reawakens the tastebuds for more of the light malt sweetness towards the back of the mouth. This washes down the throat, leaving us with a clean palate and just some residual sweetness around the back and sides of the mouth. Overall, this is a rather good beer. Lots of flavor here, but not overwhelming. It is refreshing in a way that is reminiscent of a farmhouse ale, but there is a residual lager ‘meatiness’ here that fills it out well. This would be an especially fitting beer for a humid summer day, and one I’d love to drink again.
Shiner Dunkelweizen
Established in 1909, the Spoetzl Brewery brings you this “bavarian-style dark wheat ale” that is as resfreshing as a spring morning, cool and fantastically crisp. If I had to describe this beer I would say it tastes similar to Concord’s grape jelly with a hint of alcohol. Historically it was only used as an adjunct to Bojangle’s famous buttermillk biscuits but recently persons such as the likes of Kevin Kriener have begun pouring it over sausage patties. I’m freaking hungry…
