Shiner Brewery - Home for the Holidays Review

Christmas is about gathering with all your favorite people to celebrate the past, present, and future. Well, Shiner brought back twelve of their favorites and wrapped them tightly for all us drinkers. So raise a glass to the past, present, and future with these twelve Shiner favorites. Here are our thoughts about each one.

Kosmos Reserve

Pours golden and clear and is topped with a cream-colored head that diminishes quickly. Bready and crisp on the nose. A nicely hopped lager with notes of stone-fruit (apricot) flavor. Mild in bitterness, it is smooth with a medium body and it coats the mouth as it goes down. Very good hoppy lager.

Shiner 101

A Czech-style Pilsner, 101 pours a hazy golden with little head formation. Malty and light, it has that distinct Pilsner aroma. It has a great bite on the tongue and a bright and spicy flavor from the Saaz hops offering an almost cider-like flavor. Fantastic and sessionable.

Shiner Kolsch

Pours a clear straw to golden color and forms very little head. Bright, fresh aroma. Crisp and refreshing flavor with a hop spiciness. Sessionale and light, as a Kolsch should be.

Bavarian-style Amber

Clear and golden pour. Light hop aroma mingles with a crisp, lightly roasted malt. Caramel flavor balances well with the floral hop flavor. This amber is medium-bodied, effervescent, and smooth. It is lighter in roastiness than many ambers, but is really fun to drink with great balance and festbier flavor.

Frost

Shiner gives us a Dortmunder-style beer that pours golden and slightly hazy. Frost has a malty aroma with a touch of hop spice. It is crisp on the tongue with caramel malt sweetness and floral and spice hop flavor. Tastes somewhere between a Festbier and Marzen. Wonderfully easy to drink with a full mouthfeel and body. I can see myself drinking a lot of these.

Golden Ale

Light golden in color, clear, and topped with a pure white head. Malty with a spiced, almost bubblegum, aroma. On first sip it coats the mouth and leaves a gentle malt and spiced fruitiness. Reminds me of a gentler Belgian-style blond. Golden Ale is light and well balanced, medium-bodied, mildly bitter, and finishes dry. Great beer.

Hefeweizen

Pours golden and hazy with little head formation. Orange zest and lemon in the mouth-watering aroma. The citrus is bright in the flavor, meshing well with the wheat malt. This Hefeweizen is smooth and full-bodied. It offers a floral hop flavor that blends well with the bright citrus. A gentle, easy Hefeweizen to please many.

Dunkelweizen

I don’t drink many Dunkels so I was excited to try this one. It is dark amber, hazy, and topped with a beige head. Roasted malt aroma with a touch of Noble hop character. On first sip, this Dunkel coats the mouth with chocolate and roasted malt flavor. A touch of wheat comes through with a pinch of sweet caramel. The real winner here is the roasted malt and Noble hop flavors.

Homespun

Homespun is a cream ale that pours hazy and golden. It has a full body and mouthfeel while remaining sessionable with a definite wheat backbone, a floral hop flavor, and a pleasant bitterness. Homespun is smooth and creamy as advertised. A great ale for spring and summer.

Birthday Beer

Dark as can be. Sweet, chocolate aroma. Wonderful chocolate depth from aroma to flavor. Tastes fudgy, but remains surprisingly easy to drink. Birthday Beer is full-bodied, rich, and sweet. A chocolate stout decadent enough to replace the cake at a birthday party.

Candied Pecan

Dark as night, and topped with a beige head. No doubt about it, this beer is the embodiment of candied pecans. The aroma is rich, sweet, and roasted. The flavor is much the same with bits and pieces of caramel, milk chocolate, and roasted pecans coming through. It’s approachable, smooth, and full-bodied. This dense, dark ale is an applaud to the wonderful Texas pecan.

Holiday Cheer

Brewed with peaches and pecans, Holiday Cheer pours amber and clear. It tastes like peaches and cream topped with pecans. I was worried it might be too sweet with the peaches, but Holiday Cheer is well balanced between all the prominent flavors. It is still sweet with little hop flavor, but the adjuncts aren’t oppressive, just unique and inviting. Holiday cheer is a festive, easy drinker that can be sippable or sessionable depending on the kind of holiday party you’re at.

Cheers!

Mr. Brew