603 East Brewery St.
Shiner, TX 77984
361-594-4294
Spoetzl was founded in 1909, and is the oldest independent brewery inTexas. A group of businessmen incorporated Shiner Brewing Association and placed Herman Weiss in as the company’s first brewmaster. In 1914 a German immigrant brewer named Kosmas (or Kosmos) Spoetzl co-leased with Oswald Petzold with an option to buy in 1915. Spoetzl had attended brewmaster’s school and apprenticed for three years inGermany, worked for eight years at the Pyramids Brewery inCairo,Egypt, and then worked inCanada. He moved toSan Antonioin search of a better climate for his health, bringing with him a family recipe for a Bavarian beer made from malted barley and hops.
During Prohibition, Kosmas Spoetzl kept the brewery afloat by selling ice and making near beer. After Prohibition only five of the original 13Texasbreweries were still intact. When the Prohibition laws were repealed larger beer plants, such as Anheuser-Busch, moved to Texas making life harder on the smaller independent breweries, but Spoetzl kept things small and simple never going more than 70 miles for business.
In the 1970s and 1980s the brewery’s Shiner Beer and Shiner Bock had less than 1 percent of theTexasmarket. In 1983 Spoetzl produced 60,000 barrels of beer; in 1990 only 36,000. Sales improved after Carlos Alvarez ofSan Antonioacquired the brewery in 1989: Production grew to 100,000 barrels in 1994, and over the next ten years, production nearly tripled.
As of 2011, it was the fourth-largest craft brewery and tenth-largest overall brewery in the United States.
Shiner Bock; 4.4% ABV
Shiner Blonde; 4.4% ABV
Shiner Bohemian Black Lager; 4.9% ABV
Shiner Hefeweizen; 5.4% ABV
Shiner Light Blonde; 4.4% ABV
Shiner Dortmunder; 5.5% ABV
Shiner 102; 6.2% ABV
Shiner Holiday Cheer; 5.4% ABV
Shiner Wild Hare Pale Ale; 5.5% ABV
Shiner 100 Commemorator; 6.7% ABV
Shiner 101 Czech-Style Pilsner;
Shiner Ruby Red Bird
Shiner Frost; 5.5% ABV
Shiner Kosmos Reserve
Shiner Oktoberfest
Shiner Smokehaus
