-The old "Premium" style has been renamed Blonde, presumably for marketing purposes. It's an unremarkable light lager in the American Standard vein. Mostly tasteless, with a vague, but underexpressed hoppiness
-Shiner's main brew, it's not a true Bock (surprise, surprise), however it does have a somewhat malty taste, with a lightly hopped character. It's dark amber in color, and tends to have a pearly white head, with little head retention. Some people complain of a pronounced 'corn taste'. Shiner does taste thin and a bit corny, but I wouldn't classify it as predominantly 'corn' tasting.
-A new offering from the brewery; passed off as a Hefe-Weizen, it is nothing of the sort. Sweet in the worst way with a strangely citrusy overall flavor profile. Cloudy yellow in color. Completely lacking in the classic bannana and clove phenolic flavors of the Hefe Weizen style.
Kosmos
-This Shiner product (named after the first name of their founder) has at last reached general distribution around the state (in both keg and bottle form), and, I assume, elsewhere. I recently sampled the brew at the Texas Brewers Festival. It didn't much impress me. It was underhopped and really little different from "Premium" except that it did sport a bit more maltiness, an alcoholic aspect, and a darker color.
Summer Stock
-A summer only offering. Labeled as a "Kolsch," which strikes me as a bit odd. Who in
the general population of America has ever had a real Kolsch (or even heard of one, for that matter...)
The beer is pretty good, though. I might be convinced to rate it as Shiner's best.
Clear golden and sporting a lagerish crispness and hints of sweetness, it could pass for
a cream ale. However, it has no corn in it (unlike most cream ales). Nothing offensive about
the beer, I imagine they'll sell quite a bit of it. Apparantly the product of 16 hour triple decoctions.
I can't believe they go to all that trouble and end up with a relatively uncomplex beer.
Sports a groovy label with a horned toad featured prominently.
-The winter only counterpart to "Summer Stock." Labeled as a "dunkelweizen" on the neck, this beer is anything but that. More in the bock category (strange, since their flagship brew couldn't be further from that style...) It does have a high wheat content (40%) but is not at all like a traditional dunkel. Clear and medium to deep amber, the taste is malty with a pronounced alcohol content. Drinkable overall, but nothing spectacular.
