What is Your Favorite Shiner Beer?

Everyone will be happy to know that the restaurant critic is taking a break. I won't bore everyone with any more restaurant reviews - at least for a while. The restaurant blog was actually fun to write. I didn't think it would be, but it was.

I'm starting to realize that there are going to be some uniquely Texas places, vegetation and events that I'm going to miss. After all, except for a 7 year hiatus in New Orleans, we have lived in Texas since we drove across the Red River in August of 1972. We drove into Houston at rush hour in the August heat that summer at the ripe old age of 21. I particularly remember the 610West/I-59 South interchange. I'd never seen or experienced anything like THAT. I always say that once you've driven in the summer in Houston during rush hour (where your AC overheats every time), you can drive anywhere.

While Houston freeway traffic may be memorable, I'm really starting to visit some iconic Texas places. One day this past week, we drove to Shiner, Texas. I'm sure everyone realizes that the ONLY reason a sane person would make a special trip to Shiner is to tour the Spoetzel Brewery. Now, Shiner beer has become a great beer. I can remember when, if offered Lone Star, Dixie or Shiner - take anything except a Shiner which was actually green if you held it just right up to the light. It also tasted awful. It languished as a 'family owned' brewery until the late '80's when it was bought by Mexican beer makers. They revamped the beer, smartened up the brand, and really became a full fledged micro brewery before that term became common knowledge.

One of the most intriguing things about the Brewery was that it is still a very, very local operation. The current brewmaster has been there for more than 30 years. The beer has dramatically improved, but most of the people are the same. Their signature beer is Shiner Bock, and it's no longer green. Shiner also makes an anniversary beer every year. They make it for a limited amount of time, and it's different every year. Only the 1996 anniversary beer continues to be made today: Now, it's called Shiner Black, and it's the smoothest dark beer you've ever, ever drank. This is the 101st anniversary of the brewery, and you should run right out and buy a six pack of Shiner 101. It's a very tasty pilsner (you know, the yellow beer). Unless there's a big public outcry for them to keep making it, this 101 beer will only be made this year.

Yes, they do have a tasting room. They give you 4 wooden tokens - you give them a token, and they give you a beer. I think there were several 'locals' taking the tour the day we were there. I got the feeling that as long as you didn't really abuse the free beer in the tasting room too much, you could drop by a couple of times a month and get 4 cups of beer. The new beer this summer is really interesting: It's Shiner Smoky Mesquite - and yep, it has a smoky mesquite flavor that is just going to go like gangbusters with BBQ and burgers. Surprisingly, the tour was actually quite interesting, snappy, and not too long. After all, EVERYBODY came to drink free beer - DUH.

Naturally, Shiner (the cleanest little town in Texas) - their slogan, not mine, revolves around the brewery. I mean, after all, this is a town of 2000. It is a Czech town, and I asked the tour guide (Shiner native) where were the best kolaches in town. For the uninitiated: kolaches are what I consider to be a Czech delicacy. It is yeasty bread, shaped like a parker house dinner roll, with a dimple of filling in the center - usually some type of fruit (apricot is my favorite). The other kolache variation is like a pig in the blanket - which is so inadequate of a description. Think handmade sausage with/without cheese (and sometimes with jalapenos and/or sauerkraut along with the sausage ) with that yummy yeasty bread wrapped around it. The very, very best kolaches are in another Czech community known as West, Texas (Exit 353, I-35) at Gerik's Bakery which is just north of the freeway. BUT - if you are in Shiner, Texas, the best kolaches are at the Short Stop Convenience Store. Ok, Ok - I know I promised no more food reviews, but hey, I can make a case for kolaches. Actually, I could eat a case of kolaches.

Back to my original premise: Shiner is quintessentially Texas. It's especially central Texas with its Czech roots that stretch back to the 1840's. That's the reason there's a brewery there. When Germans, Czechs, Poles, etc. left Europe and immigrated to Texas, they organized themselves just like in the old country - the farmers, the cabinet makers, the sausage makers and the beer brewer all just continued their jobs when they arrived in Texas. Several Texas towns in the Hill Country have used their roots to create a tourist atmosphere - think Fredricksburg or New Braunfels. (Incidentally, one of my next visits is going to be to this superb furniture museum in New Braunfels.)

A bonus on the drive to Shiner was Chapter 2 of the Spring wildflowers. Now that the bluebonnets have faded to seed and the indian paintbrush are quickly following them, it's time for the indian blankets and the black eyed susans. They were breathtaking seas of yellow along great stretches of the drive to Shiner. It is really a banner crop of wildflowers this year. Just driving between Bastrop and Austin is a visual treat.

In the interest of not making this blog a zillion pages long, I'm going to close this chapter, but you can look forward to blogs about The Texas State History Museum, the Fayetteville Chamber Music Festival, and the Texas Girls Roller Derby Matches. I know you all can hardly wait! I certainly can't.