Spoetzl Brewery (originally Shiner Brewing Association) is a brewery located in Shiner, Texas, United States. It produces a diverse line of Shiner beers, including their flagship Shiner Bock, a dark lager that is now distributed throughout the US. The brewery is owned by the Gambrinus Company, a family-owned company based in San Antonio, which also owns Trumer Brewery in Berkeley, California.

History

The Spoetzl Brewery started in 1909. It was originally named The Shiner Brewing Association (SBA) and was founded by German and Czech immigrants who had settled around the central Texas town of Shiner. Unable to find the type of beer they had known in their home countries, they decided to brew their own. It is the oldest independent brewery in Texas, The leaders of the SBA named Herman Weiss of Galveston as the company's first brewmaster.

Shiner's bock beer was originally available only in the spring per the German Lent tradition (Lentenbock).

As the brewery gained popularity in the area, the SBA began to look for a trained professional brewmaster. They found one in Bavarian-born Kosmos Spoetzl, Following Prohibition, Spoetzl kept things small and simple, never going more than for business. As of 2012, it is the fourth-largest craft brewery in the United States.

Products

Spoetzl currently produces 9 Shiner beers year-round and four Shiner seasonal brews per year.

Active beers

  • Shiner Bock – Spoetzl's flagship beer,
  • Shiner Light Blonde – A light beer with 99 calories, it was introduced in 2011.
  • Shiner Ruby Redbird – A lager brewed with Texas Ruby Red grapefruit and ginger, it originated as a summer seasonal in 2011. Popular demand led the brewery to introduce it year-round in 2015. This beer uses Munich malt and Mt Hood, Citra, and Cascade hops and it is 4.01% ABV. A repackaging as of late 2018 highlights the beer as a 95-calorie offering per 12-ounce serving.
  • Shiner Órale – A Mexican-style cerveza, it was introduced in 2022.

Seasonal beers

  • Holiday Cheer – Cheer is an "Old World Dunkelweizen" brewed with Texas peaches and pecans. Malted barley and wheat are used. Holiday Cheer replaced Shiner Dunkelweizen as the brewery's winter seasonal.
  • Shiner Oktoberfest – A Märzen-style seasonal beer, it has a deep amber color and a slightly toasted flavor. It was first introduced as the 96th-anniversary brew.
  • Shiner Birthday Beer – A stout brewed with chocolate malt and real cocoa, in 2015, Birthday Beer honored the brewery's anniversary and served as Shiner's spring seasonal beer. Although the name will stay the same, the style will change each year.
  • Shiner Prickly Pear – A light lager, it is brewed with the fruit of prickly pear cactus, which is common in Texas and actually grows on the brewery grounds. Prickly Pear was previously available in the Family Reunion packages.
  • Shiner Strawberry Blonde – A summer seasonal beer brewed with strawberries, it combines pale and wheat ales with strawberries grown in Poteet, Texas.
  • Shiner Sea Salt & Lime Summer Lager – A light lager brewed with sea salt and lime peel, it was introduced in 2018 as a standalone product and as part of the rotating flavors in the company's seasonal "Texas Heat Wave" assortment pack
  • Shiner Weisse 'N' Easy – An unfiltered wheat beer, in the tradition of Berliner Weisse, it is brewed with Texas-grown dewberries and introduced in 2020.

Previously offered beers

  • Dortmunder – A spring ale in the Dortmunder style, it has the malt profile of a Helles and the hop character of a Pils, but is slightly stronger than both. The brew is a renamed version of Shiner Fröst, and was released as the new spring seasonal in 2011. In 2010, the company created the "Shiner Beer Local Stage", which featured a two-day lineup of local bands performing on a custom stage constructed under two billboards near Zilker Park. In 2012, a beer garden, complete with a replica of the Spoetzl brewery facade, was added.

In 2012, country artist Jason Aldean changed a reference to Shiner Bock a few weeks after releasing the song "Take a Little Ride". The original lyric, "grab a little Shiner Bock" was replaced with "grab a couple Rocky Tops" when Aldean signed a sponsorship contract with Coors Brewing Company.

Images

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File:ShinerHospitality.JPG|The main patron entrance is through the hospitality room and gift shop.

File:ShinerBrewhouse.JPG|New brewhouse

File:ShinerBrewKettle.JPG|Closeup of new brew kettles

File:ShinerMarker.JPG|A Texas historic marker was placed on the site in 1971.

  • Gambrinus.com – Parent company's official site
  • "Spoetzl Brewery," Handbook of Texas Online
  • TexasBreweries.com – Unofficial history