Shiner 97 Bohemian Black Lager

Brewed by Spoetzl Brewery (Gambrinus Company)
Style: Schwarzbier
Shiner, Texas USA

Bottle. Pours a brownish black with a small off white head. Sweet aroma full of roasted malt, and chocolate. Flavor is very tasty. I was pleasantly surprised. A nutty roasted malt flavor with sweet cocoa in the mix. I would have no problem going through a few of these in an evening.

A throw back to the old world brews. Pours very dark and forms a large dark brown head. Has a strong taste without any bitterness. Goes down very smoothly and makes you want another.

Enjoyed from a 12oz bottle in a pub glass. The beer pours a deep brown to black, with a small white head that lasts throughout the product’s consumption. The aroma brings a pleasing note of caramel. The palate again shows caramel, along with a grainy pilsner malt-derived note, and a good, if sublte, hop balance. This is easily the best Shiner beer I’ve sampled.

Pours a clear very dark brown with minimal bubbly offwhite head that quickly dissapates. Aroma is slightly roasty, dark chocolate covered cherries, and some sour creaminess almost like milk that is about to go bad. Flavor not up to par with aroma but still decent for shiner standards. Dry roasted malts, slight bitter coffee, tad black licorice, and a lot of corny watery sweetness. Overall, worth a try, good for a shiner.

12oz. bottle served in a shaker pint. Poured a deep brown/black with a couple of fingers of tan head. Malty aroma with cocoa, some noble hops and a little black patent. Starts out with some malty sweetness. Light to medium bodied and fairly drinkable. Lingering dry finish of chocolate. This was decent, not up to the standards of say a Kostritzer.

Bottle. Dark brown/black color with a surprisingly full and milky head with moderate retention and a little lacing. Nose is carafa, initially, followed by a slightly corn- or adjunct-like maltiness. Flavor has a little malt, a little hops, and initially a little roast but quickly leads into an underlying sourish and slightly vegetal flavor throughout and into the aftertaste. Could be worse, I guess.

Deep dark brown coloured body with a frothy tan head and about a 50% opaque body. Aroma of roasted malt, oatmeal, prunes, plums and a bit of nuts. Light to Medium-bodied; Deep roasted malt flavour with some smoke and a touch of nuts thrown in the mix. Aftertaste shows caramel, nuts, a touch of tobacco and mostly roasted bitter malt. Overall, a decent beer - I was honestly expecting much worse. Not a horrible representation of the style, and for a beer that a lot of the central south part of America sees - not a horrible way to get people to drink a style that a lot of people don’t understand. I sampled this twelve ounce bottle purchased from Chevy Chase Wine & Spirits in Washington, DC on 25-July-2009, sampled at home here six days later on 31-July-2009.

Dark brown beer with a small tan head. Chocolate malt aroma. A bit too thin for style and little finish. It just needs to be thicker and more flavorful.