Shiner Bock

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

Serve in Dimpled mug, Lager glass, Shaker

Draft. Aroma has notes of macro malts, rice, and some metal hops. Dark brown hue with a small off white head that mostly diminished and left little lace. Flavor is lightly sweet and bitter. Palate is watery with average carbonation. Overall a weak macro lager that has a darker hue.

Poured from bottle in the Shiner variety pack (6-pack edition). Didn’t want to head up, but the aggressive pour got it to go finally. Thick bubble, receding head. Smell is disgusting skunky metal--wow, that’s bad. I don’t remember this being so offensive. Strongly bland (is that even possible?) cardboard flavor. Taste is not nearly as bad as the smell; it’s just not very prominent. Super light hops, touch of malt character, nothing too special. Drinkable beer, just aroma-challenged, apparently.

12 oz bottle. Pours amber in colour. Aroma and taste are slightly ’beefier’ than a typical american lager. Drinkable.

Slight sweet malt, not very pronounced. Color is clear copy with off-white head that does not last long. Thin-medium mouthfeel that slides over the tongue. There is not much malt here and not very complex.

Pours a nice deep amber color out of the bottle. The head is small and white in color. It has a nice pleasant and sweet aroma that smells of grains and is the slightest malty and hoppy scent. Tastes like an average lager. Consistantly smooth and not in the least bit bitter. This is Spoetzl Brewery’s flagship beer. Nothing but average, but is often a pick of mine if my pockets aren’t feeling too deep and this is the style of beer I want to drink.

12oz bottle, best by Dec 11, 2010. Pours clear amber with a small white head that quickly fades to a wispy cap and ring, little to no lacing. Aroma is sweet adjunct-smelling grains, bread, a bit of caramel, some grassy hops. Moderate strength. Flavor follows suit with sweet grains, bread, a touch of caramel and some grassy/herbal notes, fairly watery, with an odd medicinal note on the finish. Mouthfeel is thin to medium bodied, oily and slick, medium carbonation. Average lager at best, but at $8.50 a sixer around here one can do much better.

Not an unpleasant beer. Aroma of malt, some caramel, and a bad background adjunct character. Flavour is crisper, sweet dark sugar. Passable if had from the bottle.

12 ounce bottle. Served in a pint glass, the beer pours a clear amber/brown color with about an inch off-white head that went away quickly. Pretty much no lacing, either. Aroma is bready and caramel malt. Taste is the same as the aroma, it’s all bready and caramel malt. I don’t notice any hops at all. Both the taste and aroma are light, but not bad. Mouthfeel/body is light, it’s a bit thin with moderate carbonation. Drinkability is decent, it’s certainly not hard to drink at all. It’s not the best beer, but there are worse ones out there.