I got a sample sixer of this year's Shiner Holiday Cheer and didn't get a chance to try it right away. Gotta admit: I figgered, ho-hum, another damned spice beer, what's the rush. The retro labeling (the cap, in script: "To: You -- From: Shiner." Very nice) Shiner has been using lately, along with the red and green and cream color scheme, was luring me on, though, and I finally succumbed last night.I poured it without reading a thing about it, brought it up to my nose, and whoa! There was a strong aroma of ripe peaches, and something else underneath, a kind of cookie-nuttiness and spice. What the hell was this stuff? I took a sip, and the mouth was full of peach -- my second favorite fruit, after pears -- and that cookie thing humming in the background.
What the hell is this beast? I finally got the label and the letter and looked. It's a German-style dunkelweizen, flavored with Texas peaches and roasted pecans. Well, I'll be dipped. As my mom said, it's not something I'd drink all night, but it does make a delicious change of pace. Bet it would be great with duck or goose, too. Cheers, Shiner!
By the way...in case anyone was wondering, I messed with the photo to try to get it to look like the early 1960s snapshots I remember from my parents' photo albums of when my sister and I were growing up. Upped the flash, did a B&W wash on the background, and fuzzed it just a bit. What do you think?
12 comments:
Nice photo, I've got albums with the same lighting. I think I'll pass on the Shiner though, too many other Christmas beers to try already.
To bilking, pass on a Christmas beer? Scrooge! I agree with Lew at least give it a try.
Nice photo. Is this one coming to PA? Sounds tasty.
Excellent job on the photo, Lew.
And that beer sounds so crazy that it just might work.
I don't think Shiner's in PA yet, pretty sure it isn't. Dunno why. I have a friend in Shiner who sends me the good stuff.
Company Christmas party tomorrow night my table will be tasting 750's of Delerium Noel, Dupont Avec les Bons Voeux and hopefully as good as advertised the Scaldis Noel. A trip today to State Line should add Stille Nachte to the list. I'll be dragging a few sixes of SN Celebration Ale also. Should be a good night. And we will be drinking them out of those red plastic cups, makes the beer sooooo yummy. So thbeer, get a job at my company really quickly and have a seat.
Nice. Takes me back to my first "company" Christmas party in 1991 -- I'd always worked for the USG before that, and our "holiday" parties were usually pretty slim affairs with fruit punch and cookies -- when we managed to harrass the bar manager into getting a case -- one case -- of Dock Street Amber for 15 people. We drank it all up in 40 minutes, and he had to listen to us ask for more all night long.
Shiner Bock, the "Yuengling Lager of Texas" is available in central PA at micro pricing (i.e. not a deal), but I haven't seen the Christmas version around yet. Sounds good...I'm a peach lover, too.
As for the photo, I thought maybe at first it was an aluminum tree, so you definitely achieved the stated objective!
the picture looks authentic!
Wow. I can't tell you how many people have assigned this as the worst beer of 2008. I thought it was odd but not a total drain pour. To each their own for sure...
Happy Holidays!
So, being a curious beer drinker, I went to Wegmans yesterday and picked up a six of Cheer. It is much as you described, but the peach seemed to be a bit pronounced to me, and upon further investigation of the admittedly attractive retro label, I read the following..."natural flavors and caramel color" right there.
To my mind, this product is a disappointment because of the brewery's inability to create the desired flavor profile and appearance without adjuncts. A "dunkelweizen" shouldn't need caramel color (though I guess I give them credit for even mentioning its existence)to be a dunkel, and why bother using Texas peaches at all when you're going to put peach concentrate in the beer to make it taste peachy?
Nice attempt, Spoetzel, but go the distance next time. I could have had Penn St. Nickolaus for another buck.
That's why they make more than vanilla... "Worst beer of 2008"? Seems a bit over the top, but hey, I'll take the hit. I had another last night, too.
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