Back in the winter, the Spoetzl Brewery teased the coming arrival of its 101st anniversary beer with a streaming promo piece dubbed entirely in Czech, which gave beer-savvy Web surfers a pretty good idea of what kind of beer brewers at the revered Texas-based brewery might be pursuing. The mystery beer, revealed early this spring, is Shiner 101, a pilsner crafted in the Czech style.
Rich gold in color, this lager is nothing if not expressive in its aroma, offering a fragrant, almost perfumey floral nose backed by notes of off-dry caramel. Light to medium bodied, it hits the palate with a bit of caramelly sweetness before faintly tannic, dried-leaf and mildly bitter hop notes arrive to guide the flavor through to its dry, gently hoppy finish. Served cold but not frozen, this is both a great refresher and a fine accompaniment to grilled pork or hamburgers, or even Texas barbecue brisket.
