Author Topic: Clean streets and cold beer is a winning combination for a small Texas town  (Read 710 times)

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Offline Elderberry

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Houston Chronicle by  Joe Holley July 19, 2019

SHINER - Let’s say you’re one of the beer aficionados from around the world who has made a pilgrimage to this pleasant German-Czech town nestled among rolling hills about halfway between Houston and San Antonio. Let’s say you’ve used up your quota of complimentary draws of beer - that would be four — in the tasting room of the state’s oldest independent brewery. To make sure you don’t leave town still thirsty, former Houstonian Beverly Sanders is happy to offer a quick guide to the distinctive personalities of the town’s three watering holes. She’s the owner of one of them, the quirky Antiques, Art & Beer.

Maybe the best known of the three is Howard’s, a convenience store on the edge of town where you can buy gas, groceries and ammo, rent DVDs and drink beer. The owner is Beverly’s friend Howard Gloor, a former dentist who quit molding crowns and filling teeth, he told me, “because I just needed to be in a place where people were happier to see me.”

The Shiner native, of Swiss descent, bought the convenience store in 1984, built a covered patio with picnic tables in 1999 and, until recently, featured live music. These days, folks still gather on the patio to drink beer and visit, but the music’s only a memory. Licensing fees got to be a hassle, so Howard stopped engaging bands. A lifelong musician himself, he still plays guitar with a band called Los Kolaches, just not at Howard’s.

“Local alcoholics go to Howard’s,” Beverly says in her cheeky, irreverent way. “They get there early in the morning, and they’re still there late at night. He even leaves his patio open, so they can sit there and drink after the store closes.”

That’s not exactly how Howard sees it. The store, he says, is Shiner’s “Cheers.” “I wanted to have a place where people wanted to drop by and visit,” he told me. “Like a big family.” His wife Carol calls it “the Shiner Country Club.”

And then there’s SOS, Shiner on Sixth. The town’s only dive bar, SOS is “the loud music, pool tables, smoke, spit-on-the-floor kind of bar,” Beverly says.

Her own place, Antiques, Art & Beer, is a bit harder to categorize. Crammed into a narrow, dimly lit downtown building more than a century old are bottles of beer and wine from around the world, a confectionary counter with several types of fudge made on site, Shiner souvenirs and gift cards, antiques, original art pieces, Tiffany-style lamps, various kinds of soap, peanuts, popcorn and more of who knows what than I was able to take in. Her clientele, she says, is older and more refined than SOS regulars. They’re connoisseurs of fine wine and distinguished cheeses. Maybe they’ve driven in from the city to sample 387 different types of beer she has available, 285 different wines.

“It’s become a destination place,” she says. “People come here for beers they can’t get in Houston and Austin.”

More: https://www.houstonchronicle.com/news/columnists/native-texan/article/Clean-streets-and-cold-beer-is-a-winning-14106421.php


Offline Sanguine

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I have never been to Shiner.  A terrible omission on my part obviously.

Offline Elderberry

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18 Things You Didn't Know About Shiner Beer

https://www.wideopencountry.com/18-things-about-shiner-beer/

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Before I ever stepped foot inside the boundaries of the Lone Star State, I heard myths and legends of one yellow-labeled beer that I just had to try. People called it Shiner, and when I said I was moving to Texas, they would literally sigh and say how much they missed three things: barbecue (obviously), Whataburger, and Shiner.

And it makes sense because though Lone Stars are every college student's dream beer (cheap as hell), Shiner Bock beer is like Lone Star's big brother. The dark lager knows what's up. He had a man bun before man buns were in, and he shaved his hair off when they were cool. He doesn't like to leave Texas because he knows it's just better here. So, here are 18 facts about the great American Shiner brand, the Bock and other flavors, because like everything you love, you should know a thing or two about it.

18. Spoetzl Brewery, where Shiner is made, is Texas' oldest independent brewery, born on Jan. 19, 1909. The little brewery grew into a big attraction for the tiny town of Shiner. Although, it's not the oldest craft brewery in the United States.

17. Spoetzl wasn't always its name, though, as it began as the Shiner Brewing Association in the legendary community of Shiner, Texas.

16. The Shiner Brewing Association was created because the German and Czech immigrants were just so damn homesick for the kind of beer they drank at home, they decided to make it themselves. Thank goodness they did, too.

15. In 1915, with a co-buyer, Kosmos Spoetzl, a brewmaster trained in Germany, bought the brewery and gave it his last name, but he still remained true to Shiner and kept the beers named after their precious town.

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Offline IsailedawayfromFR

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I have never been to Shiner.  A terrible omission on my part obviously.
I bet you have frequented that other little German town that has a Wurstfest, though.
No punishment, in my opinion, is too great, for the man who can build his greatness upon his country's ruin~  George Washington

Offline Sanguine

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I bet you have frequented that other little German town that has a Wurstfest, though.

Could just be.... :beer:

Offline Elderberry

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 8 Best Texas Oktoberfest Celebrations By Danno Wise 05/27/19

https://www.tripsavvy.com/texas-oktoberfest-celebrations-1656790

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  01 of 08 WurstFest

 02 of 08 Fredericksburg Oktoberfest

 03 of 08 Beethoven Halle Oktoberfest

 04 of 08 Texas Renaissance Festival

 05 of 08 Austin Oktoberfest

 06 of 08 Southlake Oktoberfest

 07 of 08 Addison Oktoberfest

 08 of 08 Surftoberfest

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Offline dfwgator

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It's a winning combination for any town.