Spoetzl Brewery

Last updated
Spoetzl Brewery
Founded1909;115 years ago (1909)
FounderShiner Brewing Association
Headquarters
Shiner, Texas
,
United States
OwnerThe Gambrinus Company
Website www.shiner.com

Spoetzl Brewery (originally Shiner Brewing Association) is a brewery located in Shiner, Texas, United States. It produces a diverse line of Shiner beers, including their flagship Shiner Bock, a dark lager that is now distributed throughout the US. The brewery is owned by the Gambrinus Company, a family-owned company based in San Antonio, which also owns Trumer Brewery in Berkeley, California. [1]

Contents

History

The Spoetzl Brewery started in 1909. [2] It was originally named The Shiner Brewing Association (SBA) and was founded by German and Czech immigrants who had settled around the central Texas town of Shiner. Unable to find the type of beer they had known in their home countries, they decided to brew their own. It is the oldest independent brewery in Texas, [2] and one of the oldest independent breweries in the U.S. [3] [4] The leaders of the SBA named Herman Weiss of Galveston as the company's first brewmaster. [5] Shiner beer was originally available only in the spring per the German Lent tradition (Lentenbock). [6] Bock beers have a long history of being brewed and consumed by Bavarian monks as a source of nutrition during times of fasting. [7]

As the brewery gained popularity in the area, the SBA began to look for a trained professional brewmaster. They found one in Bavarian-born Kosmos Spoetzl, [6] a onetime soldier who had trained as a brewmaster in his native Germany. [5] Part of the package that lured Spoetzl to Shiner was potential ownership of the brewery. In 1914, he co-leased it with Oswald Petzold with an option to buy in 1915, [5] which he did, giving the brewery his own name, but continuing to call the product Shiner Beer. Spoetzl had attended brewmaster's school and apprenticed for three years in Germany, worked for eight years at the Pyramids Brewery in Cairo, Egypt, and then worked in Canada. He had moved to San Antonio in search of a better climate for his health, bringing with him a family recipe for a Bavarian beer made from malted barley and hops. [5]

During Prohibition, Spoetzl kept the brewery afloat by selling ice and making near beer. [5] 13 Texas breweries in total had to close down with Spoetzl being one of a few local breweries that stayed open. [8] Following Prohibition, Spoetzl kept things small and simple, never going more than 100 miles (160 km) for business. [5]

In the 1970s and 1980s, the brewery's Shiner Premium Beer and Shiner Bock accounted for less than 1% of the Texas beer market. In 1983, Spoetzl produced 60,000 US beer barrels (7,000 m3) of beer; in 1990, only 36,000 US beer barrels (4,200 m3). Sales improved after Carlos Alvarez of San Antonio [9] acquired the brewery in 1989. Production grew to 100,000 US beer barrels (12,000 m3) in 1994, and over the next 10 years, production nearly tripled. The company now has 120 employees. [9] As of 2012, it is the fourth-largest craft brewery in the United States. [6]

Products

Spoetzl created "Devil Beer" in 1987, sold to fans of the Arizona State Sun Devils. [5] The brewery also licensed the Boulder Brewery of Colorado to sell its "Boulder Sport" in the late '80s. [5] Spoetzl currently produces 9 Shiner beers year-round and four Shiner seasonal brews per year. [10]

Active beers

Seasonal beers

Previously offered beers

Anniversary celebration

Shiner's Centennial celebration beers ShinerAnniversaryBeers.JPG
Shiner's Centennial celebration beers

In 2005, Spoetzl began producing an annual brew in a progressive, anticipatory celebration of its 2009 centennial anniversary. The centennial program developed and produced one yearly special beer in small batches. The name of each such specialty beer corresponded to the age of the brewery: Shiner 96 was the specialty beer of 2005, Shiner 97 for 2006, etc. For the first two years, Spoetzl brewed Shiner 96 and Shiner 97 only from September through mid-December. In 2007, Shiner 98 was released four months earlier – in May – while Shiner 99 (2008) entered the market another two months earlier, in March.

Shiner 100 had the longest run of all the anniversary beers, seeing production all year long in 2009. After each beer's specified production run has ended, that year's beer is retired. However, Shiner 97 proved to be so popular that in 2008, Spoetzl brought the beer back as Shiner Bohemian Black Lager and made it a permanent offering. The Spoetzl Brewery originally intended to conclude its centennial beer production in 2009, but decided to continue the annual program indefinitely.

For 2009, Spoetzl changed the neck label for all their beers. The labels proclaimed Spoetzl's 100th anniversary and include the tag line "Here's to a century of independent brewing. Prosit!"

The annual brews and their respective styles are:

Marketing

Shine On & a 6-pack of Shiner 100 at the Spoetzl Brewery ShineOn.JPG
Shine On & a 6-pack of Shiner 100 at the Spoetzl Brewery

Shine On is a coffee table book by Dallas author Mike Renfro, which documents the little brewery's history in photos as well as story. The book follows the brewery from 1909 to 2008. In addition to the history on the brewery, Shine On also includes the history of the town, as well as a look at some of the people responsible for making Shiner beer.

Working with their Austin-based advertising agency, McGarrah Jessee, Shiner's guerilla marketing efforts at the Austin City Limits Music Festival have consistently promoted their brand. [16] In 2010, the company created the "Shiner Beer Local Stage", which featured a two-day lineup of local bands performing on a custom stage constructed under two billboards near Zilker Park. In 2012, a beer garden, complete with a replica of the Spoetzl brewery facade, was added. [17]

In 2012, country artist Jason Aldean changed a reference to Shiner Bock a few weeks after releasing the song "Take a Little Ride". The original lyric, "grab a little Shiner Bock" was replaced with "grab a couple Rocky Tops" when Aldean signed a sponsorship contract with Coors Brewing Company. [18]

Images

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References

  1. ↑ Diana J. Kleiner, "Spoetzl Brewery," Handbook of Texas Online, accessed September 17, 2021, https://www.tshaonline.org/handbook/entries/spoetzl-brewery.
  2. 1 2 Gambrinus; Gambrinus company website; accessed June 2016
  3. ↑ Shiner website
  4. ↑ "Shiner Introduces Limited-Edition Shiner 96 Commemorative Brew; Texas' Oldest Independent Brewery(R) Celebrates 96 Years of Brewing Tradition". www.allbusiness.com. Retrieved 2009-08-31.
  5. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 "Spoetzl Brewery"; Handbook of Texas online; accessed June 2016
  6. 1 2 3 4 "Shiner Bock: Texas’ Favorite Beer And Oldest Independent Brewery"; December 21, 2012; Huffington Post; accessed June 2014
  7. ↑ "Doppelbock". German Beer Institute. 2006. Archived from the original on 22 October 2010. Retrieved 7 October 2010.
  8. ↑ Hennech, Michael; Etienne-Gray, Tracé (25 October 2022). "Brewing Industry". Handbook of Texas Online. Retrieved 5 August 2023.
  9. 1 2 Interview with Spoetzl Brewmaster; Drink Nation article;
  10. ↑ Spoetzl Brewery tour. March 20, 2009.
  11. ↑ Gubbins, Teresa (2012-06-22). "New Shiner beer, Prickly Pear, on the Market in Limited Supply". www.pegasusnews.com. Retrieved 2014-02-26.
  12. ↑ Beer description on the label. Spoetzl Brewery. October 26, 2008.
  13. ↑ "Sea Salt & Lime". Shiner. Retrieved 2020-05-31.
  14. ↑ "Weisse N Easy". Shiner. Retrieved 2020-05-31.
  15. ↑ Poling, Travis E. (2010-12-29). "Poling, Travis, ″Bottle & Tap″, San Antonio Current. 12/29/2010". Sacurrent.com. Retrieved 2014-02-26.
  16. ↑ Wheaton, Ken (2008-10-15). "Shiner Outfoxes Heineken at Austin City Limits Music Fest". Ad Age. Retrieved 2014-02-26.
  17. ↑ Gaar, Brian (2010-10-16). "McGarrah-Jessee builds Texas brands with advertising and more". Austin American-Statesman. Retrieved 2014-02-26.
  18. ↑ "Jason Aldean Changes Song Lyrics To Accommodate Beer Sponsorship". CBS News. 2012-07-25. Retrieved 2021-06-21.

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