WILK Friday BeerBuzz – 21 Sep 2012 – Shiner Wild Hare w/Jimmy Mauric

There’s a special little town just outside of Houston TX where very special beer has been brewed for over 100 years.  Dating back to 1909 when

the Shiner Brewing Association started brewing Bavarian-style beers for the families of fellow immigrants, the brewing traditions run deep in Shiner, TX.  In 1914 Kosmos Spoetzl was appointed brewmaster and the Spoetzl Brewery was born…and while many people may not be familiar with the name “Spoetzl,” beer lovers worldwide are very familiar with Shiner Beer.

Throughout the south, Shiner is known for their best selling Bock, and also for their classic Bavarian lagers, and whether it is a Dark Lager or a light Helles, Shiner has made a name brewing classic-styled lagers.  Of course on the Friday BeerBuzz we love featuring the best breweries & brewmasters, but we also like mixing things up a bit.  In that name I chose a unique Shiner beer that is NOT a lager, and is in fact their very first Pale Ale.

Shiner Wild Hare Pale Ale is a classic American Pale Ale and a really easy-drinking beer.  At 5.5% ABV and 32 IBU, Wild Hare carries the malt-heart of a Pale Ale with the hoppy nose and taste of a hop-forward Pale Ale.  The malt bill includes Munich & caramel malts, and they are balanced with Bravo and US Goldings hops for a clean, crisp fresh hop balanced flavor.  This is a perfect beer to celebrate the breweries 103rd anniversary and it’s a beer you should try for yourself.

We were also lucky enough to be joined by Spoetzl Brewmaster Jimmy Mauric to help us sample Wild Hare.  Jimmy has been working at Spoetzl Brewery since 1978 and after attending Seibel Institute, he took the Brewmaster helm in 2005.  It was fun hearing about the history of Spoetzl Brewery from someone who has been a part of the brewery for so long…and even more fun hearing what the future holds for Spoetzl Brewery.  Having personally tried almost every beer coming out of the little town of Shiner, I can tell you that Jimmy knows his stuff and all of the Shiner beers are first class…especially Wild Hare.  Stay tuned as Shiner beers work their way closer and closer to NEPA and be sure to try Wild Hare (and the others) when they do.

Thank you to Jimmy Mauric from Spoetzl Brewery

, Joe, LA & Bosco for yet another fun Friday.

The Friday BeerBuzz…bringing good beers and good people together.

As always you can check out the video on-line at the WILK Friday BeerBuzz page by clicking HERE