Without a doubt, one of the most popular beers in Texas has got to be Shiner beer. There are a number of little-known facts about this famous beer that you may find interesting......

1. Spoetzl Brewery, where Shiner is made, is Texas’ oldest independent brewery, born on Jan. 19, 1909.

2. The brewing company name began as the Shiner Brewing Association in the legendary community of Shiner, Texas. The name was later changed to the Spoetzl Brewing Company.

3. The Shiner Brewing Association was created because the German and Czech immigrants missed for the kind of beer they drank in their homeland before coming to America. Therefore they decided to make it themselves.

4. In 1915, with a co-buyer, Kosmos Spoetzl, a brewmaster trained in Germany, bought the brewery and gave it his last name, but he still remained true to Shiner and kept the beers named after the town.

5. Spoetzl Brewery survived Prohibition by making something known as near-beer, which is basically a low-alcohol malt beverage that kept the brewery from closing down, something that very few breweries managed to do.

6. Spoetzl still keeps it simple, brewing a limited variety, while adding seasonal beers annually. Their most popular beer by far is Shiner Bock.

7. At first, Shiner Bock was only made during Lent for its first few years, produced seasonally. The demand was so high to be able to enjoy Bock whenever people wanted, year-round production started and of course continues today.

8. Despite its history of brewing great beer for well over 100 years, There have only been six brewmasters at Spoetzl & each one has run the brewery to perfection.

9. For its first 82 years, if you didn’t live in Texas, you couldn't get Shiner Beer. Spoetzl started distributing Shiner Bock nationally in 1991. Today, the company distributes to every state except Hawaii.

10. At Austin City Limits in 2008, Spoetzl was shunned and Heineken was chosen as the official sponsor. So the famous Texas brewery did what any excellent company would, and made koozies that looked like Shiner Bock labels for customers to slip right over those pesky Heinekens.

Now I'm thirsty for an ice cold Shiner Bock. Catch you later!

 

More From 103.1 KKCN