Shiner Smokehaus

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

Dry dark straw color with a taller wispy vanilla tinged, wispy, white head. Hints of smoke rest upon a light unassuming lager (pale malt with grain and corn). I do seem to smell roasted corn. Some iodine and peat also in the scent. LIght start in the flavors. A hint of caramel followed by a peat and light smoke taste. Finish is dry and lightly smokey. A decent mesquite flavor, but not enough malt goodness to back it up. A simple smoke pale lager. I really need to get to Bamberg again.

12oz twist-off bottle. mesquite smoked helles style. Pours clear, pale golden. Aroma of mesquite and dirty grill. Flavor of pale malts, light smoke. Light bodied. Very easy to drink. It is no Aecht Schlenkerla, but it is still good. I’d rather cook with it...

Date: August 05, 2009
Mode: Bottle
Source: Hop City, Atlanta
Appearance: hazy gold, wispy off white head, drippy lace
Aroma: sweet malt aroma, touch of candy sweetness, light smoke
Flavor: sweet malt flavor, robust balancing smokey character
Overall: nice smoke character but the base beer is too light and simple
Aroma: 6/10; Appearance: 7/10; Flavor: 6/10; Palate: 6/10; Overall: 11/20
Rating: 3/5.0
Drinkability: 7/10
Score: *4

12oz. brown bottle served in a shaker pint. Poured a pale gold with a thin white head. Sweet malty aroma with just a hint of smoke. Solid pilsner type base beer with some noble hops. Light bodied. The smoke is very subtle mostly in the finish. I expected a lot more smoke flavor than this. There is nothing really flawed with this beer, it is just boring and safe.

Pours a clear golden color with a white head. Aroma is smokey, woody, and some malty notes. Flavor is honey, and a nice smokey woody finish.

12oz. Pours a clear, filtered light golden color with a small fizzy white head that doesn’t stay around long. Aroma shows Pilsner malt, typical Helles aroma with little to no smoke. Smoke only found if you go digging and if I didn’t know the style I wouldn’t’ve caught it. It smells good if not appropriate. Flavor is light, biscuity and malty with a dry, quick finish. Clean all around. No smoke. This is a fine little Helles without much character. I would have liked some smoke, of course, so it loses points there. Not bad just not what I was expecting.

Bottle. Pours a clear dark gold with a 2 finger white head that receded fast. The nose is malt and liquid smoke. The taste is malt, grain and more liquid smoke in the finish. Medium bodied – not great, mainly for the artificial smoke flavor. Still, there’s nothing offensive about it either.

[Bottle] Pours a golden color with a white head. Aroma of light mesquite smoke and sweet light grains. Taste is lightly smoky (but nothing compared to the German smoked beers). That being said, different woods add different flavors to the malt. Smoked meat and light malts round out the flavor. Palate is a little on the light side. I’m not saying this beer is fantastic, but I think it’s underrated and certainly one of the better beers Shiner makes.