I know I diss Texas a lot- quite a lot, actually. Yeah, there aren’t a lot of things I miss about the Lone Star State, but living there for 10 years did have an impact on me. Every now and again, I’m reminded just how true that is. And the things I do miss, I REALLY miss: Tex-Mex, music, Austin…and Shiner Bock, which people here in Portland Beervana must think borderline heretical.
Last week, a couple friends from Seabrook were in Portland. In return for my playing tour guide, which I would have done for nothing, Mark and Amanda brought me three bottles of Shiner Bock (Bless you, my children….). For those of you beer virgins, which would be anyone who’s never had a beer in Texas, Shiner Bock is, IMHO, only THE BEST BEER EVER. The only problem is that it’s brewed in the relatively small Spoetzl Brewery in Shiner and sold only in Texas. This is a problem, seeing as how I live in Portland, Oregon. It’s been four years since I last had a Shiner Bock, so last night was a special moment. A friend came over for dinner, and we shared one of the bottles. Never having been to Texas, she had to have been wondering why I would wax rhapsodic over a beer, but once I poured it I think she began to understand. My apologies to beer snobs here in Beervana, but ain’t nothin’ here that even comes close…and there’s some pretty good beer in this here town, knowhutimean?
I’m not even much of a beer drinker, but I do love me some Shiner Bock. Though I’m far from remembering my 3722 days (not that I was counting) in Texas fondly, there actually are some things I miss. If I’m honest, and I like to think I am, I’d admit that living in the Lone Star State did have a much bigger impact on me than I’m sometimes willing to admit. And it kinda makes me wonder what I’m going to do once my remaining two bottles of Shiner Bock are empty.
Oh, the humanity….
