Spoetzel Brewery's Shiner 101

Pilsner is one of my favorite styles, and Czechs especially, so I can't believe I waited this long to try 101. And I also got busy with work and let this one sit in the bottle and get a little warm on me. That usually makes a pils a little oily feeling, but we'll see how this goes anyway.

Pours deep golden, moreso than most pilsners, with a big frothy white head that slowly recedes. I can smell that awesome pilsner funk smell from here. Smells like a skunk's ass. It's great.

Not oily. Nice and crisp, even when it's a little warmer than it should be. Maltier than most as well, almost to the point of being a German. It's a bit hoppier than a German though, so we'll just call it a malt-forward Czech pilsner. It fades to the standard Shiner malt aftertaste, which is just a variant of the bock. Not bad, just familiar.

This one is right up there with Kosmos as my favorite Shiner beer now. Hope they keep it around for more than a year.