My wife and I really enjoyed visiting Shiner brewery. Compared to the micro breweries we have visited, Shiner is a huge operation that bottles 24/7. You start by entering a gift shop area that is really crammed with people. They give you 4 tokens to sample 4 beers of your choice. The samples are really small, probably about 4 to 5 ounces. But hey, the tour and sampling was free so I am grateful. The room was compact and there really was not much order. People were standing everywhere. Every 10 minutes or so a new tour would begin and everyone would shuffle through all the people to the front door of the gift shop. They would only take the first 20 or so people. The town is very small and there isn't anything there to do other than the brewery tour. They are building on to the factory and the new wing is opening Jan 1 of 2015, a must see. read more

This summer was my second time here, first time that I was of legal age to drink. In the gift shop they give you 5 tokens to sample the beer selections. I had the peach one which was delicious. I'm not a beer drinker so I drank the lemonade, which is really good. The tour is really neat. I've never toured a distillery or brewery before so I didn't know what to expect. The tour guide is quite knowledgeable about the history of the family and brewery. We went as my dad is a huge fan of Shiner. We're from the Chicago area and have family in Texas which is how my dad was introduced to the beer. It's definitely worth the trip. Shiner is a cool small town to see as well. read more

We happen to find this brewery by chance and we could not believe our luck! Our tour guide was awesome. She not only gave us facts about the brewery but she was entertaining and knowledgeable. At the end we stopped at the company store where we tasted different beers and they did not skimped on their samples. We had lots of fun!!! read more

Definitely worth the trip out! Free beer at the tasting room gift shop and some cool Shiner stuff! Great picnic areas and very clean. Loved it! read more

A Texas treasure. Here, two of my favorite words are combined to form the most perfect phrase known to man: free beer. Enjoy your brewery fresh suds at one of the picnic tables under the old Live Oak. Make sure to stop at Howard's afterwards for some ammo and enjoy a $2 pint on the back patio. It don't git no bedder'n this! read more

This Brewery is nothing like the rest of this neo-conservative and morally corrupt state of Texas! You get 4 free mini-beers, and tour the gift shop at the same time (I won't spoil the surprises you see inside the gift shop). The tour is quite dismal because it takes about 20 minutes and the majority of the tour takes place on the same floor of the fermentation tanks. What is really cool is you get to observe the brewmasters formulating a recipe; and you will know they are a brew master because they are wearing a white-lab coat with a thermometer in their lapel pocket! If you want to lounge on the grounds of the brewery, be sure to go on the day of the Shiner G.A.S.P. (it's a 100-mile bike ride from South Austin to the Spotzel Brewery, and all of the money raised goes to charity!) in May! The Brewery hooks you up with Brats, Burgers, fixings and sides (vegetarian friendly, too) and free beer! You will also get a free tour and listen to live music! Fun for the whole family and be sure to take cash! read more

Traditional Germans styles are rarely done right here in the U.S. and this place is going in the right direction - Hefeweizen, Bock, Blonde, Czech Pils, Black lager, Smokehaus, Spezial Leicht.... all fairly good stuff. Maybe none are world famous but all are good quality craft beers. read more

Do not bother coming here! We drove for over 2 hours each way to visit this place on a Saturday and although the gift shop was open, the actual brewery was closed... This meant NO BATHROOMS!! Is that even legal?? You can not buy any beer, but you can sample 5 small sample cups of their brews. 10 minutes later we hit the road to drive home. Such a waste of a road trip! :( read more

I am "geeked" as they say that I get to review the Spoetzl Brewery, home of Shinerbock, first! First off, the tour here is very pleasant. The tour guides are knowledgable, and the setting is pretty. You get several tokens for tastes of beer, and at the end, you get several tastings. They have all Shiner varieties on-tap, sometimes including a seasonal variety you can't yet get in a store. Also, Shiner beer is just so good. Some folks try to downplay it, but it is just a drinkable delight. Thankfully they distribute up in NoCal so I haven't had to lose my Shiner. Now here is my story of visiting this place. When I was a Sr. at UT, I was in an environmental sampling and analysis class (fellow Yelper Sharon S was also on this tour... she got blasted as I recall and hit on a beer vat. just kidding.). We went to the brewery to collect a sample from their discharge pipe. We were to analyze it for Total Organic Content, BOD, and probably other stuff. Afterwards we started to head back to Austin. On the way back, it started getting really, really cold. By the time we got there, it was snowing alittle (snow happens about 2 times a year in Austin, usually, only a couple of dustings). I got straight in my car and headed back home. I thought I'd be clever and avoid the highways, so I got on Lamar (which is probably an obvious mistake, in retrospect...). Lamar was horrendous. It took 2 hours to get from Campus to my apt, located near Lamar and Parmer Ln. When I got into my apt., the temperature on my thermostat (the heater was turned off) was 38 degree farenheit. Over that evening, it snowed, quickly turned to ice (ah yes Texas winters...), and Austin was shut down for the next three days. I went and saw Old School at the Alamo Drafthouse Village one of those days... read more

The free tour (with includes four small beers) is great! The gift shop is also worth checking out - it is filled with unique items.

We had a great time touring and learning the history of Spoetzl Brewery. We also enjoyed trying four samples including their current seasonal, Oktoberfest. We also learned that some of the other reviewers were correct, the prices of merchandise are also quite reasonable. I highly recommend the trip to Shiner if you're in the area. read more

Tours are as good as it gets. The price: free!!! 4 free beers!!! And all that good stuff.

I loved my time at the Spoetzl Brewery! The tour guide was awesome! She gave us a recipe for margaritas and one for brownies using Shiner beer! She was very knowledgeable and very fun! My favorite was of course the end when you get to sample the beer! So goooood! They have a gift store with all sorts of goodies. Make sure to bring some $$$ to buy a souvenir or get that someone you know a gift from Shiner. read more

You know, there are other breweries around, but you won't find a better little small beer brewery here in the state. Sure, there's microbreweries, but if you think about it, we've been microbrewing for 100 years now. (I don't work at the brewery, but many of my relatives have thru the years.) Yet the folks at Spoetzl have maintained the original idea of creating a beer for the locals who were farming all day. Lots of history here, with shiny new facilities...visit the hospitality room, learn about the history of the brewery, have some samples and buy some Shiner stuff...and...enjoy your time here in Shiner. read more

A great brewery tour from a great craft brewery. Get to see how the beer is made and learn about their history. The samples taste great and the whole tour is free. Once construction is complete, it'll only be better. If your in the area or even if you're not, it's a great place to stop. read more

Stopped in for an impromptu date and it was so much fun! The staff were very friendly and eager to share information about the brewery and its history. Sampled lots of beer, the tour was very informative and I came away with a whole new respect of Shiner Beer. I Will be back soon! read more

Great Beer's and a great variety of Beer's. One of the great Texas Beer's, plane and simple.

If you've tasted Shiner brews I don't need to say anything. Great story...worth the trip...stop at Antiques, Art, & Beer on your way out of town. read more

Shiner Beer should be enjoyed from a customer perspective after a tour and in draft form at the October Fest held in Schulenberg, TX. Held every year. The stands are just far enough apart to get to the next beer. Enough german sausage to prevent alcohol poisoning. The community event is a great big ball of fun and beer! read more

Very nice place. Tour was over in about 20 minutes which I was expecting more but still very nice! Love the Shiner story, it has came a long way! Proud it's Texan. I wish the gift shop was a little bigger but it's in the original brewery so it may not be able to expand. But I really enjoyed my time here. read more

I visited the brewery at the end of the Shiner GASP. The GASP was a 102-mile bicycle ride from Austin to the brewery. It was SUPPOSED to be a 101.2-mile ride (don't think that I didn't notice!!!). Anyway, the entire event went-off flawlessly. I toured the brewery while waiting for a fellow cyclist to finish. I have nothing but nice things to say about the ride organizers, the reception we received at the brewery, and the superb event management skills these folks displayed. Color me impressed. Alas, I'm not the biggest fan of all of the brewery's liquid offerings (some are pretty good... others, well, I'll reserve my calorie allotment for other beers). So, give these people your money (for they do give back to the community), do the brewery tour, and drink their beer! Be "all civic" and $#1t. read more

Please America, do yourself a favor and never drive out to this brewery (especially on weekends). It's in the middle of nowhere, you can buy their beer anywhere in Texas if you want it, and they don't even have a bathroom for customers on Saturdays. The beer is decent, but do yourself a favor and never ever drive to the brewery, it's a glorified gift shop in a town with nothing to do and nothing to eat. read more

It's all been said. These are very good beers. Drop in and try them. Complimentary (free!). What a wonderful community of people, some who regulatly dwell at the hospitality bar and tell tall stories. Get a mild buzz going and you'll not want the talk to end. 20 south of I-10. Take the detour. You'll feel so good for it. Shiner Bock, brewed right there, is now available in PA. read more

I drove the hour-plus from Austin to tour the brewery while on a recent vacation. It was well worth the drive! Anne Raabe, the brewery's PR director, gave the tour. She is knowledgeable, personable and, at times, funny. The brewery itself is small, clean and modern. Pointing to the well-polished copper cooking kettles, she quipped, "This is where the magic happens." Walking backwards while not missing a beat in her spiel, she noted, "Who do you think taught Michael Jackson to moonwalk?" The brewery and its small gift shop with Shiner merch were charming, as was Anne. And you get four small sample cups of whatever Shiner beers are currently on tap, including the flagship brew, Shiner Bock. If he were still alive, the brewery's founder and original brewmaster, Kosmos Spoetzl, would be proud to see how his brainchild has grown. And he'd be both amazed to learn that Shiner Bock is available in 49 states, and working to find a way to distribute the ballyhooed brew to the Aloha State, where I live and eagerly await my first locally-bought case. read more

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I've been to quite a few brewery tours and this was just ok, I'm not from Texas and other than their Ruby Red Bird and their Black Bohemian Lager, not that impressed with their beer, but I'm a beer snob. We came from San Antonio and if you're doing so, give yourself at least two hours to be safe, the tour started at 2:30 and we pulled into the parking lot at 2:32 and was stressing 'bout it! The tour is free. Again, we were late, but there were no signs or anything telling you where the tour was or what the procedure was. We were lucky enough to get good advice from another guy who took the tour before us or we would have been lost. The tours doesn't start at the gift shop, it's to the right of it. There were a bunch of people there, I felt a bit like cattle and honestly, the tour guide wasn't that nice. I felt like I was at work, being barked at for not following orders properly, not terribly endearing, but I've got authority issues, so maybe it's me. Most brewery tours are very hospitable and gracious and welcoming, not so this one, felt more corporate and punitive, an odd mix for a brewery. Tour took maybe 20 minutes or so, it was interesting hearing about the history and expansion of the brewery, really took off in 1989 and is now distributed in 43 states and 3 nations. After the tour, had to go back down to the gift shop/beer hall to get your samples. They give you four tokens for free, but for each token, you have to get back at the end of line. The folks pouring beers were very patient and nice, good ambassadors for the brewery. The gift shop had a ton of shirts and signs and they were quite sharp and nice, I'm just not that big a fan of their beer to get one, although my lady did get a Ruby Red Bird pint glass. One last note, our tour guide did give us a nice recipe for what's called a Beerita, their version mixing a margarita and Ruby Red Bird. Have to give that a try. read more

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Awesome beer at the oldest brewery in Texas! You get to sample 5 beers FOR FREE. Cool gift shop too! The brewery itself is a beer lover heaven( if you're into the beer making process). The sheer quantity of beer they produce for the entire U.S in THAT facility is astounding. At the time I visited in fall of 2015 they were still remodeling to make it more tour friendly with more viewable areas for visitors. Prost! read more

I love, love, love this place. Awesome beer with Free Samples! After all the trips I've tried to make their, I never thought to leave a review on Yelp. Definitely a relaxing place to hang out, learn about Shiner, visit an awesome little city, and drink some beer. I love Shiner! read more

I can't believe the tours here are free! A great tour and wonderful piece of Texas history. Tour guide was very friendly and knowledgeable. I especially loved hearing about the German and Czech brewers' association - another great example of immigrants contributing to our nation's history and development. Thank you, Shiner! read more

Great little town. The brewery has lots of history and the friendly staff to tell it over some tasty samples. I highly recommend Howard's Landing for a few more Shiners and such. read more

The mecca for anyone who has ever sampled Shiner beer. You can enjoy Shiner Bock, Hefeweizen, Lite, Summer, etc. It's an interesting tour and a magical place. It's also an hour and a half waaaay outside of Austin, but well worth the ride. read more

Bought a 12 pack of you new "ruby redbird". Not sure at 1st what it would taste like. After the 1st taste, there was not doubt, I love it. Keep it coming. Frank Stile read more

Going here was like a field trip for alcohol. It was Friday morning and with no plans and a desire to skip class, my friends and I set out on a trip to Mardi Gras in New Orleans. About 30 minutes into our 9 hour sponaneous road trip we saw a sign for Shiner, Texas and with a bs "Ya, its along the way" we stopped at the Spoetzl brewery for a tour of America's beer (becauseits Texas's beer but Texas is the most American place on Earth). Not only will the tour make you appreciate drinking Shiner and the work that goes into making it, you'll be amazed at how efficient the place runs and the quality control that goes into every Shiner beer. At the end you get 3 tokens to exchange for beer. The beer on tap there tastes better and is more pure than any other beer I've ever had. Simply amazing. If you ever decide to take a spur of the moment road trip, just tell the driver its on the way, regardless of your direction. read more

The tour started earlier then they said and did not let anyone know. The tour guide talked way to much about the city rather then the actual brew. It felt like local business were advertising to us instead of a tour. The tour felt really rushed. I was disappointed we couldn't try more then the 4 small samples of their beer. Most brewery's have a biergarten where you can sit and have a pint Shiner did not. The gift shop was also so unorganized. It is to small to have a gift shop and taps in the same location. The service was horrible and everything seemed rushed and robotic. read more

I like taking tours but I love taking tours where beer is involved! The tours are at 11:00am and 1:30pm and it's free! It was a great time and I met a lot of interesting folks! *Sigh*, I need to work here...everybody just look so darn happy making beer! read more

Great experience from start to finish. Who wouldn't start a tour with 4 free beers?! Informative and friendly. Cheers!

I was really excited to come to the brewery. I have wanted to visit for a long time and it lived up to the expectation. When you first get to the brewery you enter the gift shop which has everything with the Shiner beer logo that you could ever imagine. Hates, shirts, footballs, patches, stickers, coolers, etc. You name it, there is something with a Shiner logo on it there. While you are looking in the gift shop you get 4 free samples of beer from the back bar. All on draft and usually has all of their beers you can try. The only thing I would say is a problem is that they don't do brewery tours on the weekend. I am glad I looked it up before my friends and I traveled there from Austin. We took off of work on a Friday and was able to make it to the last tour of the day. I would recommend going on some other day of the week though because we were the last tour of the week and nothing was happening in the factory. Apparently it was their cleaning day. Also be aware that the tour is about 45 minutes long. I really enjoyed it though. If you are ever going through/near Shiner, you should stop at this brewery! read more

tour was fun, but free beer is great!

This is our third year going to Shiner for the tour. It is an awesome place to visit. They staff are so friendly and so is the town. I recommend this for anyone! read more

Had high hopes for the brewery but it was kinda lame. They only give you small cups of beer which you can drink in 2 sips. The tour guide was brand new and she didn't know her stuff which was embarrassing. Oh well. Been there done that. read more

I live in SD and for years, since I was no longer able to get a particular strawberry blonde beer anymore, I have been watching for something similar. This past week I came across Shiner Strawberry Blonde. My heart skipped 2 beats and I grabbed the six-pack and prayed that this wouldn't be another disappointment. I have found so many flavored beers go too strong with the flavor, but this is absolutely perfect! I love the aroma of strawberry and I love that there is just a hint of the strawberries in the flavor. This summer, I plan to buy out the inventory at the store, so that I don't run out (not that I drink a lot!) but I don't want to drink ANY OTHER BEER! Have I made myself clear? I like the label on the bottle and I love when breweries write a little story about how the beer came about. I also love the names of the two towns-Shiner and Poteet. Who doesn't like to say Po-teet? And Shiner? It sounds "shiny" - a bright shiny little town in TX :) Thanks so much! read more