Shiner Winter Ale
Spoetzl Brewery

Shiner Winter AleShiner Winter Ale
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From:
Spoetzl Brewery
 
Texas, United States
Style:
American Dark Wheat Beer
ABV:
5.3%
Score:
78
Avg:
3.31 | pDev: 12.08%
Reviews:
32
Ratings:
42
Status:
Retired
Rated:
Feb 01, 2016
Added:
Nov 26, 2001
Wants:
  1
Gots:
  1
No description / notes.
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Ratings by Sammy:
Photo of Sammy
Reviewed by Sammy from Canada (ON)

3.22/5  rDev -2.7%
look: 3 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3 | feel: 3 | overall: 3.5
Aggressively carbonated punch of cloves and chocolate malts. Some mid sip sugar, then sour afteraste. On dark side. Cheers for #10 at Doug Shoemaker party. An experiment on a German beer with spice , malts, and wheat. Syrup in there. Avoidable, but worth 3 ounces.
Dec 14, 2004
More User Ratings:
 
Rated: 3 by Jaydee01 from Canada (QC)

Feb 01, 2016
 
Rated: 3 by Hellpop65 from Kansas

Jul 13, 2014
 
Rated: 3 by DOCRW from Kentucky

Feb 22, 2014
 
Rated: 3.75 by TheDrunkGnoll from Texas

Jan 13, 2013
 
Rated: 2.75 by ChaosKittyXJ9 from Texas

Jan 13, 2013
 
Rated: 3.5 by LocalPoke from Oklahoma

Nov 14, 2012
 
Rated: 3 by Danobold from Texas

Feb 26, 2012
 
Rated: 3.5 by Stoffel from Texas

Jan 07, 2012
 
Rated: 4 by klmcmachen from Texas

Jan 03, 2012
 
Rated: 3 by valkyre65 from Texas

Dec 13, 2011
Photo of AlexJ
Reviewed by AlexJ from North Carolina

2.9/5  rDev -12.4%
look: 3 | smell: 3 | taste: 3 | feel: 3 | overall: 2.5
Sampled after the Shiner dunkleweizen, the two beers could easily be mistaken for eachother. Medium brown pour puffs up 2 fingers of tan fluff that quickly falls, leaving tiny whisps of lace.

Aroma is caramel, toasted bread, sour rotten wood, and earthy, grassy hops. Only a slight trace of anything wheaty.

Flavor not quite as good as the nose and that's being nice. Bready, caramel malts, light roasty notes, dry minerality that borders on sour, and an earthy, dirty hops finish just doesn't do the trick for me.

Body medium, carbonation excessive, mouthfeel dry and chalky. Pass.
Feb 11, 2006
Photo of allengarvin
Reviewed by allengarvin from Texas

3.32/5  rDev +0.3%
look: 3 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3 | overall: 3
Pours out a dark, woody brown color. Malty aroma, with some low wheat notes. Flavor is moderately wheaty and malty, but not much else. No off flavors, and a clean finish. Moderate body and carbonation.

A disappointing beer that completely fails to stand out. There's nothing intrinsically bad here, but nothing worth seeking out.
Dec 03, 2005
Photo of beerdiablo
Reviewed by beerdiablo from Texas

3.5/5  rDev +5.7%
look: 3.5 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3.5
The Shiner brand is practically a state heirloom with each generation of Texans introducing it to the next. While other brands have taken the “artistic” road in their line of offerings, our friends at Spoetzl Brewing have stayed to the middle of the Devil’s Backbone.

Shiner’s Winter Ale claims to be a Dunkelweizen and some people classify it as American Dark Wheat Ale but it’s a decent macro-esque dark beer offering.

This release features a bit more alcohol but the bite is lessened by a pronounced malt presence with hints of roasted coffee which comes across in the mouth feel.
Nov 08, 2005
Photo of mushroomcloud
Reviewed by mushroomcloud from Texas

3.15/5  rDev -4.8%
look: 3.5 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3 | feel: 3 | overall: 3
Appearance -- Good garnet color with a 1/4" off-white head. Alot of carbonation. Head falls to a cap in less tham 30 seconds and stays at a cap. No lace.

Aroma -- Faint sour wheat. Nice toffee. Some tangy hops.

Taste -- No taste evident to mark this as a dunkelweizen. Earthy with just a hint of spice. Some malt. Butter?

Mouthfeel -- Medium mouthfeel. Good carbonation. Sticky sweet aftertaste.

Drinkability -- This is an OK beer. Not a dunkelweizen in the traditional sense, or in the sense that I recognize a dunkelweizen. I kept waiting for this beer to "open up" and it never did. Unfortunately, not much for me to come back for.
Oct 09, 2005
Photo of OatherS
Reviewed by OatherS from Kansas

2.89/5  rDev -12.7%
look: 2.5 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 2.5 | feel: 3 | overall: 3
Bottle has white label with a horned animal on it flying through the air, maybe a reindeer??

Appearance: Amber in color, not very characteristic of a dunkelweizen as it preports. Absolutely NO head.

Smell: Slight banana odor which should be present.

Taste: No wheat flavor present as there should be. Somewhat of a burnt flavor.

Mouthfeel: Average.

Drinkability: From a mix a six, so not that dissapointed.
May 15, 2005
Photo of GCBrewingCo
Reviewed by GCBrewingCo from North Carolina

3.48/5  rDev +5.1%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4 | taste: 3 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3.5
The beer poured crystal clear deep amber brown with a slightly tan head which rose exceptionally tall and fell very slowly to lace the glass.

The aroma was grainy and deeply malty with caramel maltiness leading the charge. Dark wheat aroma with some dark fruit aroma to boot.

The flavor was malty, but not as complex as the aroma would lead one to believe. The flavor was slightly roasty and slightly wheat with some chocolate.

The finish was dry with lasting slight chocolate and lasting wheat which becomes slightly acidic in the aftertaste. The body was medium. The flavor was really lacking in this beer, the aroma is pretty nice however.

12 ounce bottle. The label says the beer is krausened and the label also says the beer is a Bavarian Style Dunkelweizen. There was no sediment in the bottle whatsoever, so krausening didn't happen and there was no banana or close so Bavarian is out as well.
May 05, 2005
Photo of kosmoraios
Reviewed by kosmoraios from Washington

3.3/5  rDev -0.3%
look: 3 | smell: 3 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3 | overall: 3.5
This ale is not bad, and it's cheap. It is, in my opinion, more of a dopplebock than a dunkelweizen, but has characteristics of both. Pours a deep mahogany color with a white 1-finger head that lingers for a bit but leaves no lacing. Aroma is of caramel, chestnuts and toasted (not roasted) malts. Taste has some caramel sweetness with some nutty flavors. Wheat flavor is not prevalent. Whatever hoppy bitterness is there is cancelled by the malts. There is a bit of citrus, perhaps some very sweet, dark orange. The mouthfeel is smooth and phenolic, oily with a bit less carbonation than is needed. Pretty drinkable, though, just enough body to qualify as a winter ale, but should be classified as a bock in my opinion.
Apr 25, 2005
Photo of karst
Reviewed by karst from Missouri

3.03/5  rDev -8.5%
look: 3.5 | smell: 3 | taste: 3 | feel: 3 | overall: 3
From the Floresville HEB with ten pounds of fresh shrimp.

Pours dark amber with brief tan head. Some hints of grain and malt aroma.
The taste is strong grain flavor. Lightly hopped, it finishes dry with a lingering bitterness. Medium- mouthfeel. A little bit on thin side. First bottle is drinkable but you hesitate to unscrew a second.

Something to drink while your heating up the potatos and corn for the shrimp gumbo but I wasn't taking a chance on drinking it with the meal.

Now what do you think goes with shrimp and is easily available in S. Texas.
Apr 17, 2005
Photo of 67cuda
Reviewed by 67cuda from Colorado

3.78/5  rDev +14.2%
look: 4 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 4 | feel: 3 | overall: 4
Pours a dark amber, with about 2 fingers of light tan head... Seems to be quite carbonated... It smells rather malty, and kind of sweet, with a somewhat tart note, if that makes sense, hard to explain... As for the taste, it was very malty, much like the smell, it seemed to have a sort of molasses or oatmeal type flavor, and was mildly bitter, but mostly sweet. This beer seemed to be very thick, and its mouthfeel kind of reminded me of pudding or something.. Not bad, but not great either... I found this beer to be very drinkable, though I think it goes down sort of heavy, and would likely be best enjoyed with a meal.
Mar 17, 2005
Shiner Winter Ale from Spoetzl Brewery
Beer rating: 78 out of 100 with 42 ratings