Hey Shiner 101, NICE

Still in Houston and I'm out with old friends Allison, Andrew, Mark, Monica, Shaddix and Sheila. This wasn't going to be my beer of the day, but I spied the tap in the corner and knew Jebus had brought me to this dive to drink a Shiner I never even knew about, the SHINER 101.

To celebrate the number of years the brewery has been open, Shiner started making limited release beers somewhere around the mid 90's. The Black Bohemian Lager (now in wide distribution) was originally the '97 anniversary beer. So the 101 is the 2010 anniversary batch. It's a Pilsner, a departure from their usual family and made according to the German Purity Laws. It pours a darker hue than other Pilsners like the Urquell and the aroma is vanilla. It's a very malty, smooth beer and bordering on creamy, like a Boddington's. It's also sweet - not like a belgian but nonetheless sweet. I love how different this is from the Bock and I could easily drink a sixer of this. TRANSFORMERS rating.