continued from page 7
Draw on University Ave., says Shiner
is more of a “niche” brand, but very
popular.
"Duddley’s was the first place (in
town) to put Shiner on tap,” says
Benning. “And, we do real well with
it.”
With Austin as one of Shiner's big
gest distributors, there has been
some controversy over the brew
ery's decision to stop making retur
nable bottles. A few Austin retailers
have threatened to boycott the beer
because of ecological concerns.
Rose Wilson, a spokesman from
the San Antonio office, says the
company has stopped using retur
nable bottles, but only because con
sumers have been reluctant to return
the bottles.
“Not only has there been a lack of
support," says Wilson, "but, by using
returnable bottles, the brewery uses
a lot more water in the cleaning
process and caustic materials in re
moving labels.”
Wilson says the brewery does use
recycleable bottles.
Originally founded by the Shiner
Brewing Association, a combination
of Germans and Czechoslovakian
farmers and merchants, the first
brewery was a two-story tin building
built by Shiner citizens in 1909.
Unfortunately, the founders
weren’t too familiar with the proper
methods of brewing beer. After sev
eral barrels of sour beer and near
bankruptcy, they sold the brewery to
Kosmos Spoetzl in 1915.
Spoetzl a Bavarian brewmaster,
page 8
brought his “natural old world brew
ing recipe” to Shiner from Cairo,
where he had mastered the art of
good beer-making. This natural for
mula had been in the family for gen
erations.
After 50 years of ownership by the
Spoetzl family, the brewery was
bought by private stockholders, but
retains the “Spoetzl” title.
Now owned by Carlos Alvarez,
president of Gambrinus Importing
Co., the brewery will undergo some
remodeling changes.
Wilson says the bottle itself has
changed as well.
"Labels and bottle shape were
changed a couple of months ago,
just to upgrade the style,” Wilson
says.
Gambrinus Importing Co. also
handles the sales and marketing for
Corona Beer.
Despite the brewery's success,
the atmosphere remains simple and
relaxed. A mural in the hospitality
room stretches over the bar, display
ing the faces of past employees and
old-time Shiner. Located outside the
brewery is the gift shop and mu
seum. The wooden cabin offers all
kinds of Shiner beer paraphernalia,
as well as an impressive collection
of antiques.
Located about two hours outside
of College Station, free tours of the
K. Spoetzl Brewery are available
Monday through Thursday at 11 a.m.
The Hospitality Room is open Mon
day through Friday. For more infor
mation call (512) 594-3852.
Top: Linda Boedecker leads visitors on a tour of the brewery — she has been doing this for fourteen years.
Above: Workers load the finished goods onto pallets to be shipped to their final destinations.
March 21,1991