Shiner Bock

Brewed by Spoetzl Brewery (Gambrinus Company)
Style: American Dark Lager
Shiner, Texas USA

Serve in Dimpled mug, Lager glass, Shaker

On Tap at Blue Moon Tequila Bar, Terminal D Dallas/Fort Worth Airport 20/09/2010 Malt aroma. Mid brown coloured a little rich on the palate and fruity. A little sweet on the palate with a hint of dryness in a malt finish.

12oz bottle pours dark amber. Aroma is faint slight maltyness and some crisp hop. Flavor is mild very malty but still slightly bitter. Resembles a macro brew just more appropriate flavors and style. I like this beer good beer to drink out at a bar

The Review: It pours with an average sized head that disappears almost immediately. Not a problem for me. I want my bock to be refreshing. It needn’t be heady. The colour is a deep amber brown. It’s almost the exact colour of a coke. The smell is of wet grains left sitting out. It tastes nice and malty, but refreshing at the same time. It is a wonderful bock. It tastes like there’s probably some adjunct in it. I taste no hops in this beer. It’s all about the malt and it’s a somewhat nice malt flavour too. Light, with a bit of a macro-brew bad beer taste, but clearly a step above. There’s something special about this beer. A certain je ne sais quoi that makes it the standard in affordable bocks. It’s a bit sweet, but not too sweet with a little bit of a corn adjunct flavour. Light enough to be refreshing, but with just enough flavour to be a little interesting. It’s a step ahead of Anheuser-Busch’s Ziegenbock and generally costs only a few extra cents. Thank you Shiner, TX for this affordable, well-balanced beer. I’ve got to say, though, it tastes like it could cost a bit less. The ingredients don’t taste very expensive and at 4.4% alcohol, it didn’t take much yeast or brewing technology to make. In conclusion, it tastes a bit better than cheaper bocks, but costs a bit more as well. It’s not necessarily worth it since it tastes sort of similar to the better malt liquors out there (OE for example). For those budget-buyers out there, this is a good choice if you’re wanting something a bit drier, more balanced, and less corny than an Olde English and have the extra dough to spend. Although with an eerily similar flavour, I wouldn’t usually spend that extra money since it is a pretty notable price difference. The Golden Standard: This is the standard in bocks in my opinion. It’s available at a middle-of-the-road price, it’s brewed in Texas (home of many great American-made German-style beers), and it’s got a goat on the bottle. What more can you want? This is the beer I will compare all other bocks against. That doesn’t mean it’s the best bock out there, it’s just good common ground and it’s a very good choice for its price. I also like how well it competes with the macro-brewed and slightly cheaper Ziegenbock. Not that I have a prejudice against macro-brews. If their product is truly better, fine. That doesn’t bother me. But I like it when the little guy has a better product AND can compete with macro-brews, despite being at a disadvantage. The Main Point: Not worth the price.

The sinuses are tempted by the promise of hops in the first few whiffs. There is also a malty follow up there. The head is very thin and disappears quickly. The brew looks like a watered down cola, though that is not to say that it is unappealing. With regards to its appearance it is somehwere between a cream soda and a root beer. In taste, it is an utter disappointment. Obliterated by monstrous carbonation, the hops and malts are mere hints at what they might have become. There is an almost immediate sourness invoked upon one’s tastebuds even before the carbonation burn has gone. This is something to give to guests that you wish to be rid of quickly.

The beer pours a dark brown with a medium white head, ok retention poor lacing. The aroma is light hops with chocolate. The taste is light nothing special. It has a pretty heavy mouthfeel but there is a weird after taste that makes it hard to drink more than a couple

Dark, clear copper-brown color with an off-white head. Aroma smells faintly of caramel and bready malt, and not really anything else. Taste is slightly sweet and bready, and watery. Body is watery. It really isn’t very good at all, but, as people who rated it before me agree, when you’re out at a family or work function, ballgame, etc., it’s usually going to be the best option available.

The bock that’s not really a bock...how have I not rated this yet? Anyway, fairly boring aroma, simple cereal grain. Not too exciting on the palate, but better than some of the other widely distributed beers available. Little hop presence, straightforward cereal grain character.

From a party: Pours a brownish color with an off-white head. Aroma is pretty much the same as would be for any pale lager. Does have more qualities of the pale beer than it does of bocks, but still does have some dark beer qualities. Does taste kind of cheap, but still is pretty drinkable. I think that this beer gets more hate than it really should. It is a classic American beer than survived the big three takeovers and continued making beer in the old style, even if the old style was not that great.