Shiner Brewery in Shiner, Texas

1978 - 1982 were the years of college for me.  In that time, having joined a fraternity, we were treated (due to a drinking age of 18 and then 19) to visits from distributors.  For us in Seguin, the distributor was a man named Schroeder who dealt in beers such as Miller Lite (growing in popularity at that time), Lone Star (made at that time in San Antonio), and other beers as well.  Schroeder was a great guy who gave us beer routinely, held events at the distributorship, and even took us on a road trip in a distribution van to San Antonio for a personal tour of the Lone Star Brewery (he may have regretted that at the end of the day but that is another story).

Shiner was not in our vocabulary, and there was some disagreement between Texas Tim and me about why that was.  I seem to recall having read somewhere that Shiner was not a popular beer until it began to offer the Bock brand to people as a "craft beer."  Bock is clearly its most popularly produced brand.  Tim says it was not popular because it was cheap and lumped in with other cheap (inexpensive) beers, but that would have made it popular to college students who were not out to drink beer because they had refined tastes.  The dispute stood between Tim and I, and we did not allow it to darken the day.

Shiner must be very popular now, distributed throughout the US in various markets, and the Bock brand is its most popular.  The brewery was completing a production expansion as we visited and was building a new visitor's center.  Since Monday was a holiday, the tourist crowd and the college crowd, clearly off for the day, were in force interfering with the retired "out on holiday" crowd.  The number clearly threw the tour guide off as she barked orders for us to assemble correctly (you are given a "label" from one of Shiner's beers and are to go on the tour with the same group with that label - birds of a feather kind of thing).  It clearly rankled her that some of us may not be in the correct group, so she made it her mission during our time there to rectify who was to tour with which guide.

As for the tour and Shiner Brewery - On the bright side, it is free and they do give you four free beers.  On the down side, it takes longer to organize the group than it does to take the tour and the beers are about four ounces in size.  While it is cool going to Shiner, and while it is cool to say you've been to the brewery, you really are not enlightened about the beer, its composition, or that kind of thing because you view the brewery from a platform and are informed about all phases of the brew process - from start to finish - from that platform.  In the middle of our tour, Texas Tim looked at me and confessed, "It really isn't a very good tour."  Timing is everything in Texana Tours, so this fact, stated deep into the tour, was a moot point.  However, had I known that at the start, I still would have gone.

In short, go.  In short, shop at the brewery gift store.  There is much to see in Shiner, including the brewery, but don't go to the brewery expecting to buy a glass and have them fill that instead of the small cup (St Arnold's style where a purchased mug becomes your glass for the free beer) or go to a place where you can buy the product (winery and distillery style).  I was disappointed but can say I've been, and I do enjoy Shiner Bock (bock meaning ram in German but I learned that before the tour).

The picture below is of my tour guides you've read about - Jeff and Tim from left to right - at the Piano Bridge.  They are a couple of good guys really, and it was good to be with old friends.  Not pictured was David from Hallettsville.  He has a furniture store to run in Hallettsville - named Ehler's there on the town square.  He's also good for a story or two, although Texas Tim owns that department, and he will tell you where there is some good local cuisine in the area.