Celis and Shiner: A Look Back at Texas Craft Brewing

I just stumbled across this article in Texas Monthly's online archives. I'm sure it was interesting reading in 1996, when it was originally printed; 14 years later, it's even more interesting. The thrust of the article — written by Patrick Earvolino, who also used to do a lot of writing for us at The Austin Chronicle — was whether it's a good thing for small breweries to get bought out by big companies, with the focus on Spoetzl (Shiner) and Celis.

Of course, we can read the article today with hindsight — Spoetzl got saved from near-certain death by Gambrinus, while Miller's buyout of Celis turned out exactly the opposite, with the bigger brewer driving Celis into near-extinction.

One thing that's really interesting about it — reading the names of beers I'd long forgotten. Anyone remember Shiner Honey Wheat or Pecan Street Brewing?

Give it a read. (You have to register to read the full article, but it's free.)