Spoetzl Brewery

Pros: Friendly people; Modern facility; Plenty of souvenirs to buy
Cons: Far away from anything; Small tasting area

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 ...

Pros: Great traditional regional brewery with some great local brews
Cons: Hefeweizen is a light, fairly ordinary American wheat beer

If I were a betting man, I'd lay down money that your average Texan would not recognize the name "Spoetzl Brewery" if you asked him. Maybe not even in the brewery's home town of Shiner, Texas. But ask for the Shiner Brewery, and everybody...

Pros: Amazingly technologically advanced brewery, real friendly people.
Cons: Miles and miles from any damned place that's civilized.

She pulls back onto Main Street,
in her new Mercedes-Benz.
The road goes on forever,
and the party never ends!

You really oughta get to the Shiner Bocktoberfest some year. You and 30,000 other people, right?...

Pros: Great taste-smooth and satisfying
Cons: Hard to find outside of Texas-so visit Texas

My husband and I were introduced to Shiner Bock beer 15 years ago by our three sons, one of who was living in New Braunfels, Texas at the time. We visited the many beer gardens and each serving pitchers of Shiner Bock beer. It reminded us so much of our...

Pros: Excellent beer and quaint surroundings
Cons: A little out of the way and nothing real close

This past Memorial day, my wife and had the opportunity to visit the small town of Shiner, Texas. Shiner is a small town in between and about 1 1/2 hour from both Houston and San Antonio. Their true and only claim to fame is the Spoeztl brewery.
...