Shiner brewery reveals new beer for 100th Anniversary

[TexasRed]

:mrgreen:


SAN ANTONIO – Next year, the not-so-little brewery in Shiner will celebrate its 100th anniversary, and there has been a good bit of speculation about just what style the Spoetzl Brewery would go with for Shiner 100.

For those well-versed in beer tradition, the name alone will give it away: Commemorator.

The "ator" designation at the end of a German beer name indicates a dopplebock, or more precisely in some brewing circles, a starkbier. The best known in America are the Paulaner Salvator from Munich and the Ayinger Celebrator – complete with plastic goat hanging around the neck of each bottle – from the town of Aying just south of Munich.

An eagle-eyed beer enthusiast picked up on the label-approval filing by the brewery with the Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau of the U.S. Treasury Department.

There are still some regulatory hoops to jump through state by state, but expect Commemorator, aka Shiner 100, to debut with much fanfare in January.

The Spoetzl Brewery in Shiner and its San Antonio-based parent company, The Gambrinus Co., have been doing special beers celebrating the brewery's German and Czech heritage since 2005 with Shiner 96.

That was an Oktoberfest, or Marzen-style lager. That was followed by Shiner 97 Bohemian Black Lager, Shiner 98 Bavarian-style Amber and this year's Shiner 99 Helles.

The black lager, or schwarzbier, was well-received and put into the regular Shiner lineup last year as Bohemian Black.

"The 100th year had to have gravitas," said Jaime Jurado, director of brewing operations for Gambrinus, which also owns craft brewer Bridgeport Brewing Co. in Portland, Ore., and the U.S. brewery of Austrian-born brew Trumer Pils.

It also had to be something Kosmos Spoetzl, who became brewer and owner in 1914 "would recognize as a style" that German and Czech immigrants would have known at the time of the brewery's founding, Mr. Jurado said.

Led by Spoetzl's head brewer, Jimmy Mauric, the team shot for creating something more reminiscent of the German Weihenstephaner Korbinian than the better-known Paulaner Salvator.

Until January, Shiner fans can make themselves merry with Shiner Cheer. The special brew, available through December, is basically Shiner's Dunkel Weizen, or dark wheat beer, brewed with Stonewall peaches from the Texas Hill Country and pecans.

A few thousand pounds of the peaches were harvested for the brewery at their peak the second week of August, pitted and pureed by Austin's Gourmet Resources and then put in the freezer.

The peach flavor is the high point, while the caramel-like brewer's toffee provides a top note and the pecans add a subtle saltiness.

Mr. Jurado said Cheer has been well-received and the brewery keeps making more batches. The good news is that rather than 450 pounds of frozen peaches left at the end of the year, Jurado expects there to be only 45 pounds left out of thousands. That will be made into ice cream for brewery employees.

[FATboy05]

Lots of big names, hope it taste good :grin:

[Blackpearlultra]

Originally Posted by FATboy05

Lots of big names, hope it taste good :grin:

I know I enjoyed the Shiner we had at your place this summer! Maybe we will have to come back and try the others when they are out!!
No bar to far you know!! EH :smile:

[shell]

I've never drank a Shiner. Just another reason to visit Texas