Malt & Grain

What malt goes into Shiner Bock? The brewery keeps exact recipes under wraps, but the color gives it away: a dark lager like this needs dark-kilned or roasted malt alongside a pale base malt. Malt is barley that's been germinated and then dried—the kilning process. The longer and hotter the kilning, the darker and breadier the flavor.

Barley barely grows in the Hill Country. In the US, brewing barley mostly comes from cooler northern states like Idaho and Montana, shipped from large malthouses there. Texas is a land of consumers, not barley fields. For brewers, that means choosing from what the maltsters offer, just like brewers elsewhere. Shipping distances of several thousand miles are part of the deal.

Munich malt is kilned darker than pilsner malt and tastes of bread crust. Caramel malt adds sweetness and a reddish-brown hue. These two types define the classic dark lager that German immigrants brought with them. Pale pilsner malt, by contrast, is the starting point for Hans' Pils and other light beers.

In American lagers, corn or rice often replaces part of the malt, making the beer lighter and brighter in flavor. Craft brewers in the Hill Country tend to favor pure barley malt instead, supplemented with wheat, oats, or rye when the style calls for it. Wheat makes beer fuller and hazier, oats lend it softness. Which blend a given brand uses is usually only found on its own website.