Shiner Hefeweizen Beer Review

Shiner Hefeweizen

Review Date 6/5/2002

Try? Re-buy?

The Germans are gonna have a fit. Somebody in Texas threw out the Reinheitsgebot, or German purity law, and tossed a bunch of stuff into their hefeweizen. The culprits are to be found at the Spoetzl Brewery in Shiner, Texas, and they’re wanted by the Bierpolizei. Or so I hear. You can’t do this kind of thing in Germany, the land where hefeweizen originated. Fortunately, Shiner is brewed in Texas, not Germany, and its safe to toss a few extras into your beer without worrying about Walker, Texas Ranger showing up at your doorstep there.

A few things must be explained before we go any further. Shiner Hefeweizen is not your average hefeweizen. What is your average hefeweizen? Well, the classic Bavarian example is a cloudy, tart wheat ale that is bottle conditioned and displays notes of clove, banana, and perhaps vanilla.

Since the nineteen eighties, the beer world has seen the emergence of what could fairly be called American Hefeweizen, which is in fact a cloudy wheat beer but does not display the aforementioned clove or banana flavors. Instead, the brew is relatively clean but still tart and usually with a cracker-like wheat flavor.

Examples of the style include Widmer Hefeweizen, Nor’Wester Hefeweizen, Pyramid Hefeweizen and Redhook Hefeweizen. In a sense, Shiner Hefeweizen is one too, though it is a bit different from the aforementioned brews. How is it different? It is a spiced brew, made with the addition of honey, orange, and lemon peel.

Indeed, until recently this beer was called Shiner Honey Wheat. The label is different too. It features a decidedly unhappy looking character on the front. If you turn the bottle upside down, however, he’s smiling: a symbol of Spoetzel’s desire that you drink this beer from a glass (the cap warns you of same: Pour in a Glass it says. The Or Else is merely implied.)

They even give you instructions on the back:

1. Pour half the bottle into a glass.

2. Rouse the yeast by swirling the bottle and pouring what’s left into the glass.

3. Enjoy this unfiltered brew with a generous wedge of lemon.

All of the above are recommended except for the lemon wedge. It will definitely detract from the spicy nuances imparted by the honey and orange.

Shiner Hefeweizen pours to a cloudy yellow color with a thick rocky head formation and a vibrant orangey nose. The palate is crisp and tart from the wheat, citric from the orange and lemon peel, and spicy from the honey. There’s a little peppery hop character too that accents the beer nicely. The finish is fairly well balanced; perhaps slightly tart but the citric flavors mask that. Those citric flavors also make this a wonderfully quenching summer refresher.

Tonight, a glass washed down a few grilled bratwurst on potato rolls and slathered with coarse and spicy Boar’s Head mustard quite nicely. It’s fine on its own too, and I enjoyed a few more bottles after dinner. Highly recommended.

And remember, try a new beer today, and drink outside the box.

*Pricing data accurate at time of review or latest update. For reference only, based on actual price paid by reviewer.

(B)=Bottled

(D)=Draft

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