Shiner Holiday Cheer

I was certain I would hate this beer.

I still had some residual annoyance toward Spoetzl Brewing for canceling one of my very favorite summer beers, Shiner Kolsch, when I received word that they were also killing off a winter beer I liked, Shiner Dunkelweizen. Their replacement as their winter seasonal, they announced, would be a new dunkelweizen flavored with peaches and pecans named Holiday Cheer.

Great, I thought, just what the world needs — another crappy fruit beer.

But you know what? I'm man enough to admit when I was wrong. I've tried it. And tried it again. And again. This stuff is great.

At least, that's what I think. You may completely disagree. Thus far, I have yet to find anyone who is apathetic toward this beer. People either react like me with a "wow," or they do like my wife and make a yuck face.

On the one hand, I feel like I should have known I would like this. Peaches are my very favorite fruit, especially Texas Hill Country peaches. (Of course, I love raspberries and blueberries too, but that doesn't mean many a good beer hasn't been ruined by them.) And I love Texas pecans, although the peach flavor here completely overwhelms any taste of the pecan.

On the other hand, I ought to hate this. On those rare occasions that I do like a fruit beer, it's when the flavor is subtle. Holiday Cheer's peach is not restrained — it smacks your tastebuds pretty hard. You won't have to search your palate too hard to find it.

Eh, I'm not going to overthink it. The bottom line is, I find this peachy flavor addictive, and it keeps showing up in my beer fridge. I'm not sure it's a taste that immediately says "Christmas" (or whatever winter holiday you prefer) but it's definitely says Texas, and I'm good with that.