Last Night's Tipple

There are two beers that I think about when I look back nostalgically at college. The first is Pearl. The second is Shiner Bock. Shiner Bock was the first decent beer that I ever had, and throughout college, it was what I and many others reached for when we wanted something other than the boring insipidity of American megabrews like Budweiser or MGD. It had no pretensions to being a gourmet beer or a microbrew but was rather always a simple, flavorful, well-made beer in the best tradition of American regional breweries.

Since that time, the Spoetzl Brewery in Shiner, Texas, which makes Shiner, seems to have decided that their future lies in going the way of craft brewers, or, at least, making it seem that way. Packaging has gotten slicker. Prices have risen. Where previously there were really only two varieties offered (Shiner Bock and Shiner Blonde), those are now joined by a Kolsch, a Hefeweizen, a Dunkelweizen, and a Light. And, in honor of the five years leading up to the Spoetzl Brewery's 100th anniversary in 2009, there have been a series of special-edition beers, a different one each year. This year's is called Shiner 98 and claims to be something called a "Bavarian-style lager". I don't know exactly what that is, but I can tell you that the beer is malty with a goodly kick of hops. It's not heavy, and it's not sweet, despite the maltiness. I enjoyed it, although I can't say that it was worth the $7.49 a six pack I paid for it. I could get any of the Saint Andrew's lineup for less, and I think that Saint Andrew's makes better beer.