Spoetzl Brewery

About the Spoetzl Brewery
The Spoetzl Brewery was founded in 1909 in Shiner, Texas. The original name of the brewery was the Shiner Brewing Association and it was headed by Herman Weiss who was the company’s first brewmaster. As the brewery gained in popularity they searched for a trained professional brewmaster which they found in Kosmos Spoetzl. Kosmos co-leased the brewery in 1914, and bought the brewery outright in 1915, changing the name to Spoetzl. Three years later prohibition would hit, but it didn’t shutter Spoetzl’s doors. They withstood this difficult time by selling ice and making ‘near beer’ (which is basically non-alcoholic beer.) After prohibition, the brewery resumed operations but kept business small. They never produced over 60,000 barrels in a year until the Gambrinus Company purchased the brewery in 1989. By 1994 production had grown to 100,000 barrels and it would triple over the next ten years. As of 2012 Spoetzl was the 4th largest craft brewery in the US.