BEER REVIEW - SPOETZL BREWERY SHINER HOLIDAY CHEER

Continuing with my review series of holiday beers, I thought I'd review a "dark horse" favorite this year. A dark wheat beer brewed by Spoetzl Brewery in Shiner, Texas.

This holiday offering pours a rich, dark ruby-tinged brown color with a bubbly head of light cocoa foam about two-fingers high. Active carbonation bubbles and spotty lacing in the glass. Poor head retention.

The nose is like liquid peaches - very fruity, with hints of pear, honey and very subtle spices. The nose reminds me of the syrup in canned fruit more than anything.

The palate offers a very fruity punch right up front, but isn't as sweet as the nose would have you believe. There is a rather nice balance of peachy sweetness and nutty dryness going on here. I detect ever-so-slight hop bitterness and a subtle roasted malt character that counters the fruitiness of this beer rather well.

This is a medium bodied wheat beer with very ample carbonation - maybe slightly over-attenuated - and a dry, slightly bitter finish.

A very drinkable holiday beer, and a nice change of pace from the heavier "barley-based" beers of winter. I would have liked to have seen a bit more spice in the beer and just a bit less carbonation. Having said that, though, this beer exceeded my expectations quite a bit.