Look at me, coming in under the wire to get my second bock post up before the calendar turns to April. Kudos to me, all around.

Like I mentioned briefly in my last post, this spring seems to be a weird drought for the bock, a seasonal style I always anticipate. I only found one truly seasonal offering of it (that'd be MadTree's Guten Bock). The other beer I picked up was originally a seasonal beer but, due to fan outcry, has long since been made a core offering. That lager is, of course, Shiner Bock.

We're finally nearing the end of summer. Weird as the season's been, and, man, it's been super weird, I'll be glad to see it gone.

What better way to spirit this awful, hot season away than to usher in Oktoberfest season on the blog? I can't think of one either! So, today we have the first Oktoberfest beer (of five!) that I'll be discussing:  Spoetzl's Shiner Oktoberfest. Let's get to it.

This beer and I go back. During my undergrad (and I guess my the first year of my master's at Ohio University), this was my go-to Christmas ale. Why? Because I was a broke college kid. Most Christmas beers would run $11 or $12 a sixer, but Shiner's Holiday Cheer was only around $9 or $10, which seemed much more appropriate for my budget.


Here's some realtalk: I haven't had this beer since my collegiate days. That means that while, yes, I have technically had this ale before, this is, for all intents and purposes, a blind review. So, please come along with me and let's see if I can still find some holiday cheer in Holiday Cheer.