In this week’s forte into the beers of Texas, I report on Shiner Oktoberfest from Spoetzl Brewery.  This is a seasonal beer available from late summer into the fall.  This Okteberfest was first brewed in 1996. 

The Pour

Poured out of a bottle into a pint glass, beautiful deep amber color with no lace.  It is very clear in the glass. The aroma of heavily roasted malts and caramel with a hint of coffee hit the nose right off the bat.

The Taste

Shiner Oktoberfest taste follows the nose.  This beer is nicely balanced. You definitely taste the caramel malt. Pretty dense medium-bodied beer goes down pretty smooth. 

Brewers Description of Shiner Oktoberfest

“Just like the world’s largest beer festival, our little brewery has Bavarian roots and a long tradition of honoring tradition. Which is why we made this märzen-style with German-grown Hallertau tradition. If that doesn’t make you polka dance for joy, we don’t know what will.”

The Brewery

The Spoetzl brewery started in a tin shed in 1909.  The founder Kosmos Spotezl shaw an opportunity to barring the brewing traditions of Bavaria to his new home in Texas.  He took that opportunity to buy the brewery in Shiner Texas and served as the brewmaster there for nearly half a century. I bet he would be amazed by the growth of that operation into the brewing juggernaut it is today.  For many years Shiner had an almost cult-like following outside of Texas. They were what we all thought a brewery should be.  Around Shiner Texas, Kosmos built a local following by leaving a cold bottle of beer sitting on a fence post for local farmers to enjoy at the end of a long hot day.

Opinions of Shiner Oktoberfest

This Oktoberfest beer is good.  It really is what you expect from an Americanized Marzen.  I see this as the best of the “Fall Beers” for the masses.  It is smooth and drinks easy.  Do I think that some of the smaller craft brewers are making better Oktoberfest beers?  Yes, I do.  However, this is still a good one.  Shiner Oktoberfest is priced about $2 cheaper than most of the fest beers from smaller breweries.  This does give it an edge in the mass market.  

By the Numbers

ABV 5.7%

IBU 18

Read about another great Texas Beer here.