Spoetzl Brewery: Off the Beaten Path, but Worth a Visit
Written: Jun 27 '08
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Product Rating:
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Pros: Friendly people; Modern facility; Plenty of souvenirs to buy
Cons: Far away from anything; Small tasting area
The Bottom Line: Spoetzl Brewery is a modern brewing operation that could be better with a larger tasting area and weekend tours, but it's still a rich piece of Texas history.
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| Bryan_Carey's Full Review: Spoetzl Brewery |
Today is Friday and it is one of the few days during the year that I don’t have to work. Sitting in the driver’s seat of my minivan with family in tow, I am heading west on Interstate 10. It is a typical day in south central Texas, with a partly cloudy sky and temperatures in the low 90’s. I am surrounded by flat plains and farmland as far as the eye can see.
This may not seem like an exciting way to spend a day off from work, but something interesting is brewing up ahead. In just a few more minutes, I will arrive at a facility that many know by name and/or by the products it manufactures, yet one that very few have visited due to its somewhat remote location. The place I am about to visit for the first time is Spoetzl Brewery, home of Shiner malt beverage products and one of the more successful craft brewing operations in the United States.
“That looks like the building up ahead”, says the wife and navigator.
Sure enough, I can see the name “K. Spoetzl Brewery” on the front of the building. The next tour starts at 1:30pm, so there is little time to waste. Follow along, and let’s learn a few things about this famous Texas brewery:
Spoetzl Brewery Facts:
Spoetzl Brewery has a long history dating back to early 1900’s when Kosmos Spoetzl, a German immigrant and resident of San Antonio, learned about a brewing association in the city of Shiner and decided he wanted to be part of this business. He traveled to Shiner and partnered with other brewers to lease the brewing facility that was already opened and functioning. Spoetzl had been trained as a brewmaster in his native Germany and he certainly knew a thing or two about brewing beer. He wanted to put his expertise into action and brew his Bavarian lager recipe that he brought with him from his native land.
Kosmos Spoetzl began to brew his specialty product much to the delight of locals and residents of Texas in cities where the beer was sold. One stumbling block that Spoetzl had to overcome a short time later was prohibition, but Spoetzl Brewery survived this ugly chapter in American history by selling non- alcoholic malt beverages and ice. Once prohibition ended, the brewery was back in full swing, but it remained a Texas operation exclusively with no beer sold outside of the Lone Star State. After Kosmos Spoetzl’s death in 1950, the brewery remained in family hands until 1966 when ownership was handed over to William Bigler. In the 1980’s the brewery was purchased by a group of individuals, and then later sold to Carlos Alvarez in 1989. It was during the 1990’s that Spoetzl Brewing and its Shiner lineup of beer products exploded in popularity. The brewery produced 36,000 barrels of beer in 1990; 100,000 barrels in 1994; and nearly 300,000 barrels in 2004.
Today, Spoetzl Brewing makes many different products but Shiner Bock is the best selling of all. It accounts for roughly 87 percent of Spoetzl sales and it ranks as the most popular craft beer in the state of Texas and the fourth best- selling craft beer in the United States.
Facilities and Tour:
Spoetzl Brewery is a single brewing operation located in the small town of Shiner, Texas. Shiner is located about halfway between San Antonio and Houston, approximately 19 miles south of Interstate 10, on the west side of Texas State Route 95, north of downtown Shiner. There are no other breweries that make Shiner beer. All Shiner products are produced at this single facility.
Considering that Shiner is the most popular specialty beer in Texas and the fourth most popular specialty beer in the United States, one would assume that this facility is quite large and possibly covers several blocks. But in fact, the Spoetzl Brewery is modest in size. It is certainly larger than many other microbreweries and its outside appearance is unmistakably that of a brewery. But it isn’t the huge facility that many might expect. This means that quite a large amount of beer is brewed, packaged, and shipped in a relatively small space by a relatively small workforce. And this is pretty much the case: The brewery employs only about 50 people, working tirelessly to manufacture and ship the beer that has grown so popular in the past fifteen to twenty years.
Approaching the building, Spoetzl Brewery makes a positive first impression. The building is constructed from brick and painted white. An American flag and Texas state flag wave proudly from tall flagpoles in front of the main entrance to the brewery. This main entrance (with “K. Spoetzl Brewery” above the door) is actually the entry to the gift shop and tasting area. The brewing operation is directly to the right of this main entrance.
Tours are held at Shiner Brewery through the week (but not on weekends) and they begin informally inside the gift shop. There is no charge for a tour, and it includes four small (about 6 oz.) plastic glassfuls of Shiner beer. Before the tour begins, tourists are welcome to approach the taps and enjoy a few glasses of beer. The beer cannot be consumed when the tour commences, but visitors can return to the gift shop and tasting area after the tour in order to sample more beer, if they like, and purchase some souvenirs.
Once it is time for the tour, a Shiner employee walks the visitors from the gift shop to the brewery entrance. On the first level, there are pictures on the walls and the tour guide offers some history of the brewery and its namesake, Kosmos Spoetzl. Next, the tour proceeds to the brewing operations on the second level. Visitors can either climb the steps or take an elevator to the second level, to a room with large copper brewing vessels. Here, the tour guide discusses the brewing process and a few facts about the brewing of Shiner beers in particular.
After learning about Shiner’s brewing process, it is time to walk a short distance to the bottling and packaging facility. Glass windows allow visitors to view the bottling in process by looking down to the level below. The beer is bottled one style at a time, with the bottles filling up at high speed before they are transferred to the capping machine, followed by the labeler, and then the end of the line where they are packaged in crates or boxes and shipped across the United States for sale.
Once the visitors learn about the bottling and some more history, they are then escorted back to the gift shop. The tour is now officially over, and guests are free to sample more beer, purchase gifts, or watch a continuous- play video in a small room just inside the entrance to the gift ship. This video includes more information about the history of Spoetzl and the brewery as it exists today, with a complete rundown of the different beer products manufactured at this “Little Texas Brewery”.
Final Thoughts:
Spoetzl Brewing is a craft- brewing operation known by most beer drinkers in the United States for its production of Shiner Bock; Spoetzl’s best selling and most widely distributed beer. This brewing business has grown to several times its original size and continues to gain new adherents each year. As ownership has passed hands, Spoetzl Brewing continues to grow and its latest marriage with Gambrinus Brewing of San Antonio will likely help to continue this trend.
Spoetzl Brewing is best known for Shiner Bock but there are many other products in the Shiner lineup; a family of beers that includes about five regular brews (Bock, Blonde, Hefeweizen, Light, and Black Lager) and a few seasonal brews (dunkelweizen, summer ale, Kolsch, and others). I have sampled them all and I have found that only a couple of the products are noteworthy; namely the Dunkelweizen and Black Lager. Most of Shiner’s others brews (Bock included) are okay, but nothing to get excited over. It is surprising how many people swear by Shiner Bock, even though its taste is far from ranking among the world’s best bock beers. But Shiner Bock and other Shiner products are respectable efforts and they have helped introduce many new legions of beer drinkers to the joys of craft beer. In this regard, Spoetzl Brewing and its Shiner lineup have certainly served their purpose.
Judging the Spoetzl Brewery facility and its tour, Spoetzl earns some recommendation points while losing a few others. The brewery itself offers some modern equipment and a full brewing operation and I like the outside appearance of the white- painted brick building. The tour itself is mostly historical in nature with only a few mentions of the modern brewery and its present- day success. The tour guides are ready to answer any questions about Shiner and its products, but their knowledge about the brewing industry in general is somewhat limited. So, it is wise to ask questions only related to Shiner. Throw them a curve and there will likely be a called strike.
I like the gift shop at Spoetzl Brewing because it offers more things for sale than other breweries. A typical microbrewery might offer a few different t- shirts and maybe some pint glasses, but the extent of the merchandise usually ends right there. At Spoetzl Brewing, the merchandise is much more extensive and there are some goods offered here that I have not seen at other microbreweries I have visited. One example is an inflatable raft with the Shiner logo. Another is a rolling cooler bearing the Shiner name on the side. Spoetzl wants the tourist to leave with something, so the gift shop offers many different things for sale at prices ranging from $3.00 to more than $300.00.
About five or six styles of Shiner beers are on tap in the tasting area at any given time. The five regular brews are always present, along with seasonal offerings that change depending on the time of year. My personal favorite Shiner product is Shiner Dunkelweizen, but it is sold only during the winter season so it was not available when I visited. However, Shiner Black Lager (now a regular offering) was flowing from the tap, so I used most of my tokens on this dark, schwarzbier product.
One aspect of the Spoetzl Brewery experience that needs to be improved is the tasting area. The gift shop actually doubles as the tasting area, and there is little elbow room. Walking into the gift shop, the taps are located on the far end, with gifts on each side and in the middle. This makes for precious little space to move around and it is common for a long line to form as visitors await their chance to sample a glass of beer. The three large pillars in the middle of the room make it even smaller still. It would be a good idea if Spoetzl built a separate area for tasting, complete with tables and chairs for comfort. With the exception of the benches in the video viewing room, there is no place to sit inside the air conditioned gift shop/tasting area. Visitors are forced to stand with beer in hand, browsing at gifts or talking to each other, while they sample the products. The samples are not very large, either (only about 6 ounces), so a few sips is all you get before it’s time to re- enter the waiting line for your second, third, and fourth helping.
Spoetzl Brewing is somewhat off the beaten path. It takes about two hours to get here from Houston or San Antonio and visitors need to beware of the lack of amenities in the small towns leading up to Shiner and in Shiner itself. Once you take the exit from I-10 and head south, you will not see any fast- food restaurants, large grocery store chains, or anything else resembling civilization. Make sure you already have what you need before you exit the interstate highway. You may not be able to find what you need in Shiner or any of the other small towns as you head south on Texas State Route 95.
Overall, Spoetzl Brewing is an interesting piece of Texas history and it ranks as one of the largest “small” breweries in the United States when measured by the barrels of beer produced. It would be nice if Spoetzl offered tours on weekends and it would be even nicer still if Spoetzl built a separate tasting area where thirsty visitors could sit down, relax, and enjoy their beer without bumping into others. But regardless of its drawbacks, Spoetzl Brewery is still an enjoyable brewing experience. Nearly one- hundred years of brewing history exists at this facility, and it has grown to become one of the most recognized craft brewing operations in the United States.
Spoetzl Brewing is a little out of the way, but I recommend a visit if you happen to be in the area. It is a brewery rich in history and tradition and locals take great pride in their “Little Brewery in Shiner, Texas”. If you enjoy beer and appreciate the craft brewing industry, pay a visit to the small city of Shiner and see for yourself what small town pride is all about. You’ll be glad you made the trip.
Recommended:
Yes
Brewery Name: Spoetzl Brewery
Date Visited: June 27, 2008
Tours Offered: Yes
Brewery Rating: Something special
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