Shiner - Pride of Texas

On the way to the San Antonio Marathon, The Boy, our best friends and I stopped in Shiner, Texas to visit the Spoetzl Brewery, home of Shiner Beer.

We love factory tours. Shiner, like many great factories, offers a free tour of the facilities. It's fascinating to learn how things are made, whether you like the product or not.

What amazed me (other than the fact that over 100 people drove to Shiner for a Friday early afternoon tour!) was the incredible growth that the company has experienced in the last two decades. The beer was distributed only in a 75 mile radius of Shiner, Texas, in the late 1980s. Now it's shipped to 40 states and multiple international countries today.

But one note for future visitors, please. While adults of legal drinking age are welcome to four small samples of the beers on tap, it is not appropriate to share the samples with your children.