Shiner 97 Black Lager

Time for a taste of anther Texas home grown brew. This time with the largest distributed brewery in Texas.
The Style: Dark lager or in German Schwarzbier is quite a unique beer. A Bohemian style of beer from the East German town of Bad Kostriz this beer is so dark it resembles an Irish Stout. Not something that usually comes to mind when one thinks of lagers. They are known for being opaque with little to any light showing through. Full of snappy bitterness, dry coffee flavors and a light to medium body that conflicts with its dark nature.
The Brewery: This beer is brewed in Shiner Texas at the Spoetzl brewery. The oldest brewery in Texas is no longer a small family run business, but a brewery that distributes across the country. While I am not a huge fan of many of their beers, especially their ubiquitous Shiner Bock, there are some other's that I quite enjoy. Their Dunkelweisse is very nice as is their summer beer Shiner Kolsch. While I wish they would increase their quality across the board they make enough interesting beers to keep me coming back and checking them out.
The Beer: As advertised this beer pours a rich deep opaque black in the glass with a thick thick tannish head, that slowly dissipated over the course of my drinking it down, but leaving plenty of lacing. The nose is full of malt, roasted and caramel, hints of esspresso bitterness. The mouth shines with those same malty flavors with more pronounced esspresso and burnt coffee notes and a slight chocolatey note. This is VERY nice, I really did enjoy it. Here is what the folks over at BA had to say.