Shiner Old-Time Alt Beer
January 20, 2012
Shiner Old-Time Alt Beer is the first beer that I tried from the famous Texas beer-makers at Spoetzl Brewery. From what I understand, their beers are referred to as “Shiner”, which is the town in Texas that the brewery is located, rather than the name of the brewery itself. So this is Shiner Old-Time Alt and not Spoetzl Alt, but I suppose its one in the same.
I always heard of ‘Shiner Bock’, but it wasn’t until recently that their Texas-brewed suds were being distributed way up here in Jersey. So, when I was this ‘Family Reunion’ six pack which had a variety of Shiner beers, including the Shiner Bock, I thought what better way to acquaint myself with some of their offerings than a little variety pack! One bottle of each gives me six different Shiner beers to try. Hard to beat.
So, this beer review is about the “Old Time Alt” beer, which is a beer style that originates from Dusseldorf, Germany. Its also Shiner’s first ‘Berwer’s Pride’ selection, which means its a small-batch beer available for a limited time and I think might only be available in this variety pack.
As you can see, this beer spawned a huge head! I think I might have let the pour get away a little bit, but this thing was something of a force of nature and I’m glad I used an over-sized glass. Its a very nice, clear dark-amber color that is quite nice to look at overall.
The aroma finds me thinking of bread in a big way, and perhaps some sweetness too like caramel malt, but its definitely a ‘bready’ smelling beer. I’m not able to really pinpoint the other aspects of the beer’s smell, but I do find something off-putting about it that I just can’t finger that I don’t recall noticing in the other alt biers I’ve tried from Otter Creek and Long Trail.
The taste, I found, is pretty close to the aroma. Bready-tasting malts, some roasty-sweetness like caramel or toffee, but overall I’m just not thrilled so far by this beer’s taste.
Its got good body, that I’d say is medium, and it wasn’t overly carbonated either. At 4.2% ABV, its certainly a drinkable ale, sessionable even, but there’s just something about the style that doesn’t excite me.
So, I’d say that the Old-Time Alt is a good beer if you like the Alt Bier style. It doesn’t happen to be one of my favorite beer styles, and I think that reflects in my underwhelming reaction to it. I’m not, however, going to necessarily let that get in the way of trying the rest of the 5 varieties of Shiner beers that came in the Family Reunion six-pack.
Rating: 
Related Posts:
Posted in 2 Star Reviews, Ales, American Beers
Subscribe Here!
January 20th, 2012 at 11:35 am
It can get tricky trying to be objective when you’re reviewing beers when you’re not particularly fond of the beer style, but heck, it’s a dirty job, but someone has to do it.
And there are five others to compensate.
January 20th, 2012 at 11:52 am
Yeah, they can’t all be winners! Its another one ‘under the belt’ though.
January 20th, 2012 at 4:55 pm
Scott, I, too, was under whelmed by Shiners Bock offering. There are so many good bocks and double bocks out there though. Makes it fun to try them all.
January 20th, 2012 at 10:10 pm
@Mike – fortunately, you’re right! I didn’t really care for any of the beers in that variety pack which is unusual for me. Usually there’s one gem, but not here.
January 31st, 2012 at 11:12 pm
I’d heard of Shiner Bock even before I began to drink beer. But once I tried it I was really disappointed. Just not much to it. Since it’s from Texas I think the old Texas saying “It’s all hat, no cattle” applies….
January 31st, 2012 at 11:58 pm
Y’all are yankees, what the hell do you know!
February 1st, 2012 at 12:17 am
@Steve – All hat, no cattle! LOL!
@Texan – LOL!