Tag Archives: spoetzl brewery
Year of Beer Paintings – Day 227
The featured beer painting of the day is of Shiner Ruby Redbird from Spoetzl Brewing Company in Shiner, Texas. The directions on the can are, “Serve ice cold on hot days.” Unfortunately, it is raining today here in Anchorage, which is typical for August. Well, I have never been that good at following directions anyway. This beer tastes great in the rain to me! I can imagine how good it would be after a big day of yard work, that’s pulling stumps and removing fire danger brush for me.
The Ruby Redbird is a great beer, recommended to me by a local Texan who summers in McCarthy. Thanks, John! I brew a ginger beer here in my kitchen in Anchorage, and I shared a few around the campfire and heard good things about this hard-to-get, amazing summer shandy called Ruby Redbird. So, I got a few and haven’t regretted it. Sweet and fruity, with a nice sharp, tart bite, this beer is unique. I am glad they can it now, as I believe it is fresher that way, and inherently easier to carry around in a backpack. At 4.01%, you can easily use this as a hydration beer on a hike, or bike ride. I am a fan! Great work, Spoetzl!
Cheers to the Ruby Redbird, an easy-drinking summer brew that surprisingly tastes great even in the rain!
You can purchase this painting, or a limited-edition print at my Etsy shop.
View the complete Year of Beer Paintings gallery.
Year of Beer Paintings – Day 65
Today’s Year of Beer painting is of Spoetzl Brewing Company’s Shiner Bock. I have always liked the dark lager style known as bock. Bock is a rich malty sweet beer that Germans traditionally brew in the winter, often reaching near 7% abv. Spoetzl Brewery has been producing an all-malt Bock true to Czech-German style since 1913, almost as long as the brewery has been in existence, even if it does come in a little weaker at 4.4% abv. Looks like we just missed the centennial of this amazing Texan brew. Kosmos Spoetzl, a German-Czech American immigrant started the brewery after studying brewing for three years in Germany and then running the Pyramid Brewery in Cairo, Egypt. He matriculated to Texas looking for a better place for his health. The community of Shiner, Texas consists largely of German-Czech American immigrants and his brewery was a much needed oasis of Eastern German culture. During Prohibition Spoetzl kept the brewery open by selling ice and non-alcohol beer. Times were tough and didn’t get any easier when Anheuser Busch moved to Texas right after Prohibition. But Shiner Bock’s fans stayed loyal to the classic taste, and now it is not only the oldest brewery in Texas but is also the largest producer of craft brews as well. It is the tenth largest craft brewery in America.
To Texas! The second largest state (hehe)! A state full of western history, yet open minded enough to love an Eastern German style beer!