Better German Beer in Texas or Spain?
Jun. 15th, 2022 06:55 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
canyonwalkerI've written about bock beer (dark lager) the past few entries in my Beer Tasting 2022 project so I'll keep at it. For this round I picked up some Shiner Bock, a German style bock beer created by German immigrants in Texas in the 1800s. I was inspired to add that to my comparisons partly because it's an interesting smaller-production beer that you can find in a lot of places in the US, and partly because I was reminded of it when I was in Texas a few weeks ago.
My first comparison for Shiner can be described as, "Who makes the better German beer, Texas or Spain?"
For the first part of this round I put Shiner head to head— and bock to bock— with Estrella Galicia Reserva Especial 1906, a Spanish bock that blew away a classic German brew in round 10.
Like many of my beer tasting rounds, this one wound up not being exactly head to head, even if it was bock to bock. Shiner and Estrella are different subcategories of bock. Estrella is a helles bock or heller bock, a brew characterized by a slightly hoppier and less malty flavor. Shiner tasted more like a straight-up bock. Just as I preferred Estrella over a straight-up German bock in Round 10, I preferred it over Shiner here.
...Okay, so how about Shiner vs. a German bock next? I figured. I drank a Shiner head-to-head with Hofbräu Dunkel, the runner up in Round 10. Here, surprisingly, I found that Shiner is neither fish nor fowl. Compared to a hellerbock it tastes like a classic bock. Compared to a classic bock it tastes... IDK, just less than.
Ouch, two losses in one round for Shiner. What's it good for? Well, it does match well with some things. It goes well with grilled or roasted meats without overpowering them, like its stronger German cousins tend to do. It also goes well with chocolatey desserts. Part of my trip in Texas had me and a few Texan colleagues eating chocolate chip-pecan pie with bottles of Shiner based on me talking up my beer sophistication... and OMG it was phenomenal. Too bad I don't eat chocolate chip pecan pie on the regular; I have fewer reasons to keep a 6-pack of Shiner on hand.
My first comparison for Shiner can be described as, "Who makes the better German beer, Texas or Spain?"
For the first part of this round I put Shiner head to head— and bock to bock— with Estrella Galicia Reserva Especial 1906, a Spanish bock that blew away a classic German brew in round 10.
Like many of my beer tasting rounds, this one wound up not being exactly head to head, even if it was bock to bock. Shiner and Estrella are different subcategories of bock. Estrella is a helles bock or heller bock, a brew characterized by a slightly hoppier and less malty flavor. Shiner tasted more like a straight-up bock. Just as I preferred Estrella over a straight-up German bock in Round 10, I preferred it over Shiner here.
...Okay, so how about Shiner vs. a German bock next? I figured. I drank a Shiner head-to-head with Hofbräu Dunkel, the runner up in Round 10. Here, surprisingly, I found that Shiner is neither fish nor fowl. Compared to a hellerbock it tastes like a classic bock. Compared to a classic bock it tastes... IDK, just less than.
Ouch, two losses in one round for Shiner. What's it good for? Well, it does match well with some things. It goes well with grilled or roasted meats without overpowering them, like its stronger German cousins tend to do. It also goes well with chocolatey desserts. Part of my trip in Texas had me and a few Texan colleagues eating chocolate chip-pecan pie with bottles of Shiner based on me talking up my beer sophistication... and OMG it was phenomenal. Too bad I don't eat chocolate chip pecan pie on the regular; I have fewer reasons to keep a 6-pack of Shiner on hand.
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Date: 2022-06-16 01:00 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2022-06-16 01:10 am (UTC)