Shiner Holiday Cheer - Spoetzl Brewery

ForWhatAlesYou

Minnesota

3.03/5  rDev -13.4%
look: 3.5 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3 | feel: 3 | overall: 2.5

12 oz bottle poured into a pint glass

A: Head disappears quickly, lacing doesn't last for very long. Brown mahogany with red tones

S: Peaches, sweet tea.

T: Exactly as it smells. I tastes like canned peaches and tea. Hop aftertaste lingers nicely.

M: Unremarkable except the sugars I get that coat the mouth throughout.

D: Strange...not wintery at all but I could see drinking it on my porch after mowing the lawn. I don't quite understand the idea of labeling a beer "winter" unless it tastes like winter.

Serving type: bottle

12-21-2010 06:26:41 | More by ForWhatAlesYou

nukem5

Pennsylvania

3.03/5  rDev -13.4%
look: 3.5 | smell: 3 | taste: 3 | feel: 3 | overall: 3

A: Pours a brownish red color with very little head at all.

S: The aroma is of sweet malts and some light hops.

T: Taste is not what I hoped but a bit metalic and some malt tatse but hops are covered up by metalic taste.

M: Thin and watery and also not what I expected.

O: Overall a sad letdown as to what I hoped it would be the name sounded festive and like haveing a good time, but sadly that was not the case here.

Serving type: on-tap

12-17-2011 03:17:56 | More by nukem5

vdread

Texas

3/5  rDev -14.3%
look: 4 | smell: 3 | taste: 3 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 2.5

Shiner Holiday Cheer pours a dark coppery color with a good sized head.

smells strongly of peaches and pecans. there's that twinge of artificiality that i don't care for in my beer, but it comes across as good.

wow, the taste is much different than the smell. much stronger in the peach especially, but the pecan also comes through. the malt is slighlty roasted and grainy, and the earthy hops are slightly bitter. it's a bomb of artificial peachy-nuttyness.

mouthfeel medium-full, strongly carbonated. easy to drink, but not really for me. it's the overwhelming taste of peaches that turns me off to it.

Serving type: bottle

10-21-2010 05:33:42 | More by vdread

rtepiak

Poland

2.98/5  rDev -14.9%
look: 2.5 | smell: 3 | taste: 3 | feel: 3 | overall: 3

bottle states a bavarian style dark wheat deer.

pours is copper lager clear. with as small head that doesn't stick around long. nose is that initial cereal i've found in other shiners... after it sits a very prominent strawberry. palate is sweet. not much wheat character. not much of anything besides the fruit citrus of a strawberry then a overly hoppy. and i'm not saying its actually a hoppy beer but no balance at all as for malt character interaction. quite plain. might have been decent if it wasn't clear... crisp, not bready dense. not as misplaced yeast as some of the other shiners. definitely not a dukelweizen so don't try if that's what you're hoping for.

Serving type: bottle

12-06-2009 04:00:13 | More by rtepiak

seand

California

2.98/5  rDev -14.9%
look: 3.5 | smell: 3 | taste: 3 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 2

A: Pours a dark red amber with a finger or two of thick tan head. Looks quite nice, really, until the head dissipates, which happens fairly quickly, resulting in not much lacing.

S: Strong peach with a background of nuttiness. Like a a sugary peach drink and almonds. Strange.

T: Sweet peach again, finishing slightly dry.

M: Medium carbonation, fairly smooth, medium to light body.

D: It's too weird to be drinkable for me. I guess if you like the peach-beer characteristic it would be quite drinkable, given the fairly low ABV and nice mouthfeel.

Quite an odd beer. Probably worth trying for the experience if you can split a single bottle with someone else - a full 12oz bottle was a bit much of this for me, and I have no desire to get more.

Serving type: bottle

12-13-2009 00:25:17 | More by seand

bashiba

Iowa

2.95/5  rDev -15.7%
look: 3 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3 | feel: 2.5 | overall: 2.5

Poured a nice dark amber with bright copper highlights and a lingering tan head with some mild lacing.

Smell like a bowl of peaches and cream.

Taste like a very muted peach with just a hint of caramel malt and with a bit of a coppery metallic finish. Typical fruit beer to much fruit not enough beer.

The mouthfeel is light and thin.

Another boring fruit beer, where is all the Dunkelweizen goodness.

Serving type: bottle

01-20-2009 02:39:51 | More by bashiba

mikesgroove

South Carolina

2.95/5  rDev -15.7%
look: 3.5 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 2.5 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3

So I decided to pop this one open last night. Really not that big of a fan of their lineup but hey I will give it a whirl.

Poured out a medium amber with a smooth hea of white that faded quickly and left behind only small lacing, ehh. Aroma is overspiced. Like candy with nutmeg, cinnamon, tons of weird candy like aromas and flavor. Really just off to me and not befitting the style at all. This carried right over into the flavor which was sickingly a mess and just way over the top with the spices and no hint of deep caramel malts.

Overall no way its a dopplebock and no way would I do it again

Serving type: bottle

12-22-2010 20:07:40 | More by mikesgroove

soju6

Missouri

2.95/5  rDev -15.7%
look: 3 | smell: 3 | taste: 3 | feel: 2.5 | overall: 3

A: Pours a dark amber color with a decent head that fades to some lacing.

S: Aroma of citrus, fruit which is mostly peaches with some grain and nuts in the background.

T: has a fruity sweet flavor dominated by peach with some grain and nuts. There is a nice bitterness in the background and a slightly sticky finish.

F: Light body, smooth, but too sweet.

O: Not what I enjoy in a holiday beer, but a good novelty beer for non-craft beer drinkers.

Serving type: bottle

01-15-2012 15:15:13 | More by soju6

froghop

Washington

2.93/5  rDev -16.3%
look: 2.5 | smell: 3 | taste: 3 | feel: 2.5 | overall: 3

pours a clear ruby-brown with lots of carbonation and a small beige head, not much lacing.

smell of malt, spice, prunes, raisins, some nuts, and cherries.

taste is somewhat watery, tangy, dark fruit, some cherry, malt, and spice, flatting out quite quickly, end is slightly dry.

Serving type: bottle

12-31-2008 02:56:42 | More by froghop

bump8628

Oklahoma

2.9/5  rDev -17.1%
look: 3.5 | smell: 4 | taste: 2.5 | feel: 3 | overall: 2.5

12 oz bottle poured into a pilsener glass.

It pours up with 2 fingers of light tan foam that settles into a fizzle of lace that holds on to the copper/brown body.

The aroma is pleasing with a dominant smell of overripe peaches backed by toasty malt and pecans.

After the aroma the taste is quite a letdown. The artificial-tasting peach completely overrides the other aspects of the beer. The pecan is barely perceptible followed by some grainy wheat. Some hop bitterness hangs around on the back of the palate. The more I drink it the more muddled the flavors become. It's pretty sweet and the non-beer flavors that abound in this beer severely hurt the drinkability.

I must admit, peach isn't a flavor I'm fond of in beer. I'm glad I only bought a single bottle of this. I applaud the creative spin on a holiday beer, but it's just not my bag.

Serving type: bottle

11-02-2009 18:02:39 | More by bump8628

rmcnealy

Illinois

2.9/5  rDev -17.1%
look: 3.5 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 2.5 | feel: 3 | overall: 3

Served chilled in a traditional pint glass.

Poured a dark copper that was translucent and very filtered. The ivory white head was robust and consistent, fading to a small sudsy layer. First smells are overwhelmingly peach. It definitely has some carbonation to it. I'm not sensing pecans but after the peach fleets there is a slight maltiness. As the beer is consumed, the head is very uneven and looks quite unusual. Appears to be continents drifting apart as seen from the space shuttle (I know.. crazy). It finishes up with a slight cream mouthfeel. This is the first beer in awhile that I actually really don't care for. The tastes are not robust. The taste is overwhelmed by peach. Not sure how peaches even play into the winter holidays. Unfortunately I have 5 left.

Serving type: bottle

11-17-2011 00:54:23 | More by rmcnealy

SolipsismalCat

Pennsylvania

2.9/5  rDev -17.1%
look: 3.5 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 2.5 | feel: 3 | overall: 3

Poured into a pint glass. Reviewed alongside Scuttlebutt 10 Degrees Below. Not a Dunkelweizen, but the closest thing I had.

A: Clear dark amber with one-finger, off-white, creamy head that lasted a couple of minutes. Okay lacing.

S: Smells like sweet fruit-punch. Not necessarily a bad thing, unless it tastes that way too.

T: Wow, peach (bad). Solid sweetness and light bitterness. The malt character comes through a bit.

M: Light to medium bodied with fizzy carbonation.

O: Eh, smells way to sweet and tastes almost as sweet. I guess this is good for holiday parties...or something. I won't compare to the Scuttlebutt since they were less similar than I had hoped they would be.

Serving type: bottle

12-15-2011 04:02:16 | More by SolipsismalCat

devilben02

North Carolina

2.88/5  rDev -17.7%
look: 4 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 2.5 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 2.5

My wife was trying to do something nice and picked this one up for me. Although she could have done better, she also could have done much worse.

The beers pours a great garnet-tinted brown color, but there is nearly no head, making the beer look visually "flat." The aroma is more consistently good, with the peaches coming through for a pleasant, bright sweetness on top of a light, bready malt base. The flavor does not stand up, however, as the peaches are more artificially sugary, and although there is some additional complexity of a light, nutty earthiness, there is also a somewhat unpleasant astringency. Texturally, the beer is a bit thin, but it is generally pleasant.

Overall, although this beer is light and drinkable, the gimmicky, candy-sweet fruitiness is not something to come back to.

Serving type: bottle

01-05-2012 16:15:40 | More by devilben02

TheSarge

Illinois

2.85/5  rDev -18.6%
look: 4 | smell: 2 | taste: 3 | feel: 3 | overall: 3

This brew pours well for a strong two finger thick light tan head. The body is dark ruby red in color, and is not hazy at all.

In the aroma and taste, there are spices, cherry, and light hints of vanilla. There is an odd sour milk like note here too.

Feel wise it's medium in body, with a slight crisp wetting to the palate type of quality.

Wrongfully labeled a dunkelweizen, this beer would not hold up to that style. Anyhow, I read they placed peach juice and pecans into this brew after the review. I think the peach juice is what kind of gives off the sour milk aroma and taste. I'd say take the crap out and see how this brew tastes then.

Serving type: bottle

12-12-2010 21:33:52 | More by TheSarge

cdizinno

South Carolina

2.85/5  rDev -18.6%
look: 4.5 | smell: 3 | taste: 2.5 | feel: 3 | overall: 3

A: Clear, darker reddish-amber. Decent light tan head that leaves moderate lacing.

S: SWEETNESS. Caramel, sweet tea and some fruitiness.

T&M: Peaches and pecans. That's what the beer is brewed with and they are prominent flavors. Mild carbonation with an odd mild roughness.
Sweetness all the way through. Like a pecan-peach pie.

Definitely different. If you like pecan or mild peach, this might be the beer for you. Not either of my favorites though.

Serving type: bottle

12-28-2010 18:46:12 | More by cdizinno

CHSLBrew

Minnesota

2.83/5  rDev -19.1%
look: 3.5 | smell: 2.5 | taste: 3 | feel: 3 | overall: 2.5

Poured into a pint glass.

A-Poured a thick, light-tan head with appropriate weizen retention. Pristine copper beer.

S-Overwhelimingly of peaches, sweet and fruity. One-dimensional.

T-The peaches are very prominent. Some malts were under there somewhere... When malts did poke through the peach, they tended toward bready and caramelly. Some nuances of the added pecans also appeared subtley. No bitterness. This brew was sweet and peachy.

M-Moderate-high carbonation. Medium body. The sweetness adds a lot of perceived fullness to the body.

D-Low. This beer is overly fruity, making a beer that's a bit too one-dimensional, focusing on the fruit while seemingly leaving the rest of the beer behind.

Serving type: bottle

12-29-2008 15:54:11 | More by CHSLBrew

NicholasCasber

Iowa

2.83/5  rDev -19.1%
look: 3.5 | smell: 2.5 | taste: 3 | feel: 3 | overall: 2.5

A: Dark amber, and copper coloring. Slight head, but not overly so.

S: Smells of dried apricots and a slight nuttiness.

T: The rich flavor of the apricots that are brewed in are heavy on the toungue with a smooth finish that makes you want more.

M: The overall mouth feel is supurb. This probably one of my favorite holiday beers as it is full bodied, but somewhat lighter than I expected.

D: I'd rate fairly high if it wasn't so seasonally oriented.

Overall, I'd suggest this beer to any of my friends. Cheers.

Serving type: bottle

12-08-2009 21:07:48 | More by NicholasCasber

harrymel

Washington

2.8/5  rDev -20%
look: 3.5 | smell: 1.5 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 2.5 | overall: 2.5

Bottled: unk

A: Hazelnut brown with a finger of off-white foam which falls quickly to a torn sheet of the same. Excellent clarity. No lace.
S: Smells of plastic and some astringent malts. Not like.
T: Tastes sweet and like it has pecans. Some brown sugar tones. Taste far exceeds nose here.
M: Creamy. Thin. Absentee finish.
O: Well, it's okay. I would suggest to a novice to craft.

Serving type: bottle

11-19-2011 04:27:19 | More by harrymel

falloutsnow

Illinois

2.8/5  rDev -20%
look: 3 | smell: 2.5 | taste: 3 | feel: 3 | overall: 2.5

Bottled purchased from Hyvee in Omaha, NE.
No bottled on date.
Poured into a Weihenstephaner weizen glass.

Pours a fairly large (>4cm) head of light tan bubbles that quickly fades to a thin cap atop the beer. Leaves some modest lacing along sides of the glass. Body is a dark amber color out of the light, fiery reddish-orange with orange highlights when held up to the lamp. The beer is completely clear, so I guess it's a kristalldunkelweizen? Fairly minimal, sluggish carbonation. Minus points for being clear and calling itself a dunkelweiss, which isn't.

Aroma of very uprfront, "punchy" sweetness and canned peaches, maybe candied peaches. Slight bready character if inhaled deeply. Did they even use a German yeast with this one, because there are no banana, clove/allspice, bubblegum, or wheat malt scents.

Taste predominantly of sugary sweet peaches, a bit of clove or other phenol, and some brown malt. This continues until the back of the tongue picks up an aftertaste of some brown or toasted malt characters. As in the aroma, no detectable banana, citrus, bubblegum, or wheat malt flavors. Peach flavor is slightly cloying to me.

Mouthfeel is medium-light with a bit of wateriness around the edges. Carbonation starts fairly low and decreases so that by the end of sipping, this is almost a bit flat. Smooth, a bit creamy, finish is semi-dry. Not too far off from a dunkelweiss.

Is this a gateway beer for macrolager drinkers, as some have suggested? Only if they really want to drink artificially sweet, candy flavored beer that mocks its supposed progenitor. I don't need a beer with "natural flavors added" or "caramel color added," and this one has both. Essentially cloying, no need to revisit.

Serving type: bottle

12-12-2011 06:21:55 | More by falloutsnow

ChainGangGuy

Georgia

2.78/5  rDev -20.6%
look: 4 | smell: 3 | taste: 2.5 | feel: 2.5 | overall: 3

Appearance: Pours a clear, deep, dark amber body with a smallish, frothy, off-white head.

Smell: The aroma is almost fully dominated by the scent of peach.

Taste: Bready, toasty malts with a light sweetness. There's the anticipated peach flavor, though, thankfully, it doesn't overwhelm everything else like it did in the nose. Vague nuttiness. No more than a light hop bitterness. Drying, peachy finish.

Mouthfeel: Medium-thin body. Medium carbonation.

Drinkability: I don't get it. The union of peaches and pecans alongside a dunkelweizen (which is as much a proper dunkelweizen as Shiner Bock is a bock) is totally lost on me. This just isn't what I'm looking for in a fruit beer, winter beer, or dunkelweizen.

Serving type: bottle

03-25-2009 17:19:54 | More by ChainGangGuy

mugglesandhops

California

2.78/5  rDev -20.6%
look: 4 | smell: 3 | taste: 2.5 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 2.5

Poured a Clear fizzy amber color with a creamy off white head and good lacing. Smells of artificial peaches, nutty, bready. Taste is about as it smells, Huge peach flavor but not in a good way. It taste way too artificial and sweet. Light to medium oily body. One is definably enough to drink in one sitting. I don't believe I will drink this again to tell you the truth.

Serving type: bottle

07-07-2009 17:56:58 | More by mugglesandhops

Bills453

Ohio

2.78/5  rDev -20.6%
look: 3 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 2.5 | feel: 3 | overall: 2.5

Appearance - dark brown/copper color. No head, but growler was opened yesterday evening.

Smell - smells sweet and fruity. Some hops.

Taste - a little too sweet for my liking. Tastes like the aftertaste of a sour juice.

Mouthfeel - average

Overall - a bit below average. Probably wouldn't buy this one again...

Serving type: growler

12-16-2012 21:53:43 | More by Bills453

Labeorphile

Texas

2.73/5  rDev -22%
look: 2 | smell: 3 | taste: 2.5 | feel: 3 | overall: 3

Poured from bottle into pint glass. Minimal head that quickly disappears. Artificial coloring per the label. Seriously? Dark amber color I guess.

Aroma is complicated. Lots of sweetness, a lot of peach. Flavor is much the same. Not a bad drink, but it doesn't taste like beer. Overwhelmingly peach, but tastes like artificial peach flavoring.

Mouthfeel is probably about right, but overall I feel like Shiner is just doing a bit with this and I can't take it seriously.

Serving type: bottle

12-23-2012 03:19:45 | More by Labeorphile

Metalmonk

North Carolina

2.7/5  rDev -22.9%
look: 3.5 | smell: 2.5 | taste: 2.5 | feel: 3 | overall: 3

Pours a dark ruby red/brown color, with an off-white head that crackles and pops its way down to nothing in no time. Nice color, but this is my fourth bottle in a week and I've never been able to achieve much of a head on this beer. And life's too short to worry about THAT.

If this were fruit juice or soda, it would smell just fine, but I'm pretty close to being put off by the smell. It's peachy, because I've been told peaches are in this beer, but moreover I feel like I'm smelling a just-opened bottle of Juicy Juice fruit juice, if you're familiar with that stuff. Cherry, grape, peach...it's like a punch in here. The pecans this beer was also brewed with are indiscernible in the nose, as is any real beer-like quality.

Each bottle I've had has been less and less impressive to me, taste-wise. I get some pecans here, and that's nice, but there's a kind of burnt-sugar character that is unpleasant, and the peach flavor borders on nasty, not to mention overpowering, and the overall sweetness is very soda-like. A spiciness like that in various US winter warmers tries to peek through (are these the "natural flavors"?) and I don't get much "Bavarian-style dark wheat" character as promised by the label. Again: soda-like. There's a good beer in here somewhere, I swear, but as is I wouldn't ever buy another 6-pack. Finishes bitter and plastic-y and just really messy.

And again soda-like with the texture/feel...quite spritzy and tingly, also it avoids being harsh with an element of smoothness and slickness.

Dunkelweizen? Really? I wish it had struck me more like a dunkelweizen, I like a good DW. This Shiner Cheer just isn't for me.

Serving type: bottle

11-29-2010 23:09:56 | More by Metalmonk

JMBSH

Colorado

2.68/5  rDev -23.4%
look: 4 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 2.5 | feel: 2.5 | overall: 2

A - Nice clear, amber color with a lot of head after a hard pour. The off white head slowly shrinks to a thin coating but leaves a great deal of foam on all sides of the glass (enough that saying lcaing doesn't seem to describe the amount).

S - No hiding the peach scent. Smells like a fruit cocktail, heavy on the peach.

T - Up front the peach again comes forward. But then a thickness seems to come forward and take over. Don't really get any pecan flavor. A very sweet beer.

M - Thin, watery.

D - I still can't over how much peach flavor was in this beer. Even after some time of having a sip, the flavor still sits, very sweetly, in my mouth. I can't see having more then one at a sitting.

Serving type: bottle

01-01-2009 06:11:47 | More by JMBSH