Shiner 102 Double Wheat

Today's review is the first "Double" Wheat to be featured on GULP! Spoetzel Brewery, based in Shiner, Texas, has been in operation since the very early 1900's. Their specialty beer is the Shiner Bock, a brew that's been around since 1913. The unique thing about today's review, the 102 Double, is that it's a filtered wheat. Typically wheat beers are left un-filtered, which is historically the "way to do it", and is known as a Hefeweizen. Those that are filtered are known as kristallweizen. Obviously both "ways" are quite German.

Pour! A very light gold color, actually almost like a lager. The carbonation levels are pretty obvious after the pouring. Not sure how I feel about this one.

Drink! Typically with the wheat beers, you can expect a more fruity flavor than other styles. Well, being a "hybrid" wheat, in between a "bright wheat beer and wheat wine ale", the flavors are a bit different than a non-hybrid. There's quite a tangy taste all the way through, with a very incredibly light scent. I'm not sure if the tang is from hops or what, but it's not what I was expecting... not really in a good way.

Thoughts! The Shiner 102, for celebrating 102 years of Shiner-ness, is just alright. I'm not too excited about it. If you zip over to Beer Advocate, you'll see that most folks there feel the same way. The tang back-end really doesn't do it for me. Like I said, you expect a certain thing with wheat's, I'm not sure the 102 delivered. Sorry Texas, not this time...