100 Years of Shiner: This is Anniversary Beer Week at TCM

If you know me, you know that I’m a fan of Shiner’s Black Lager and Bock beers.  Like Guinness’s 250 Anniversary Stout, I got excited about its existence, so I pretty much grabbed Shiner’s 100 Year Commemorator as soon as I saw it.

I think that this beer marks my first review of a doppelbock.  Commemorator is a good place to start if you’re going to go on a doppelbok tour: it seems to hit all the points that a solid one should.  It pours a deep copper-ish, reddish color and has a reasonable head that seemed to dissipate pretty quickly.  Your first whiff of the beer will tell you that this beer is pretty much a malt bomb: it sorta smells like a slightly over-proofed bread which, for beer, isn’t the worst thing in the world.  Despite its subtle overtones of alcohol in the nose, you don’t really get that so much in the flavor of the beer.

Speaking of that, there’s a lot going on in Commemorator, but it’s simultaneously not particularly complex.  It’s heavy in pretty much every way imaginable–there’s a thick, almost syrupy mouthfeel to the beer, and it sits on your tongue for some time after swallowing.

Too, the taste is heavy.  Right up front is a fruity, prune-like taste that is at once pleasant and almost a bit much, but then it’s quickly replaced by a roasted caramel-like flavor that has a nutty sort of overtone to it.  Commemorator moves through flavors in a way similar to the way that perhaps a wine does–and the finish, like I said, sits on the tongue in a nice combination of all the flavors.

If this is what’s considered a good, accessible doppelbock, consider me a fan.  Shiner 100 Commemorator is a solid example of the category, and I’d definitely drink it again.  On TCM’s “Crap to Superb” scale, Shiner scores an “Excellent.”  You should be able to find it at just about anyplace you can find anything nicer than Miller Lite.

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2. Christian Moerlein + Abraham Lincoln = Emancipator Doppelbock: A Beer Review
3. Breakfast in a Bottle: Anderson Valley Brewing Company Barney Flats Oatmeal Stout
4. Vinnie Barbarossa–I’m Sorry, I Had To.
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