Beer love
Shiner gets a Wild Hare: Texas' century-old Spoetzl Brewery launches first-everPale Ale
It’s a great time to be a beer lover, with hundreds of new craft brews popping up this past year. And now not-exactly-craft-brew brewer Spoetzl Brewery is introducing Shiner Wild Hare Pale Ale to the Shiner family on Feb. 3. Breaking from its tradition of brewing German-style lagers, Shiner Wild Hare is the first-ever pale ale made by the brewery in its 103-year history.
Best known for its wildly popular Texas staple, Shiner Bock, Spoetzl has a hefty line-up of beers, with seven in its active roster and five brews in its seasonal line-up. Each year the Texas brewery introduces a new beer to its anniversary series. Shiner Wild Hare celebrates the 103rd anniversary, following Pilsner, Munich Helles, and Shwarzbier styles from past years. Like the other anniversary brews, Shiner Wild Hare has its anniversary year printed on the neck band.
True to the Shiner style, this Pale Ale has a slight sweetness derived from Munich and Caramel malts blended with two-row barley. US Golding and Bravo hops give it floral fragrance and zippy bitterness. Shiner says they load Wild Hare up with more than a pound of hops in each barrel, but it certainly is no hop monster. It’s light and approachable and not as bold as American pale ale from brewers like Sierra Nevada or Stone.
- Look: Ruddy copper with elegantly streaming bubbles billowing into a creamy bone white head that persisted for several minutes.
- Smell: It has an attractive scent of dried pine needles and toast that makes me hoppy (sorry).
- Taste: The Wild Hare has a smooth, caramel-y taste followed by perky hops, banana peel and cedar sap (not that I go around sucking on tree branches).
Shiner is releasing Wild Hare just in time for the Super Bowl. If you are a fan of Shiner’s other beers or normally drink one of the big domestic beers, pick up a six-pack of Wild Hare to kick it up a notch at your Super Bowl party.