La Grange, Texas
December 16, 2019
I made a journey to Shiner, Texas yesterday, population of just over 2,000 folks. Pretty little town that it is the home of Shiner Beer. You may have had a Shiner Bock which is their most popular and nationally distributed beer. They make 14 others, including Shiner Premium, which is where this story begins - eventually.
As you might know, I worked in Dallas in the late 80s as a consultant. I'd fly in on Monday mornings and fly home on Friday evenings. Every week. It was fun work - working with a lot of great young folks and doing God's work justifying why a two-unit nuclear power plant cost north of $12 billion (originally estimate under $1 billion). Came across my dad's name in some documents as he had been involved in the licensing of the plant back in the early 1970s. That was a "Whoa" experience.
It was during that time that I was introduced to Shiner Premium, and I may have had one or two while I was in Dallas. I grew to like it so much that I wanted to take some back to Virginia with me. And this is where Wendy comes into the story. Wendy lived in Dallas, and since I did not have a car there, I was a daft prick and asked her if she would be willing to bring a couple of cases to work one Friday so I could stick the 48 bottles in my luggage and shlep it in my checked luggage. Of course she was, and one Friday morning before work, I met her outside our office building and took delivery of the two cases. I proceeded to carry them into the building, onto the elevator and into my office. Later that day the 48 bottles arrived safe and sound at my home in Virginia, no questions asked.
The next week, I was back in Dallas and I got a call from my boss in Virginia. Had I carried two cases of beer into my office building the previous week? Being the naive person that I was, I assumed he was calling to tell me what a great idea that was, so I eagerly said that it certainly was me. Oops. Not the reason for the call. Turned out a couple of executives of the utility I was working with were on the elevator with me that Friday morning. The utility had a no-alcohol-in-the-building policy. The utility wanted me banned from the project but my boss was able to negotiate an "internal discipline" for me. As only bosses can do, he said I was suspended without pay for three days but that I should look at at the bright side as it was a chance not to have to travel the next week. Oh, yeah, why didn't I think of that? By far the most expensive beers I've ever bought!
So, there was an overriding reason for me to go to Shiner yesterday and buy my two cases of Shiner Premium - which it turns out is not real easy to find in some parts of Texas. In some small way, I feel as though I've gotten back at the Man. No? I may not drink much beer these days, but I promise you THESE 48 beers are going to taste really good.
Here's a slideshow (of course) from my trip to Shiner. I went on the brewery tour which cost $5. That got me the tour, two 12 ounce beers and two seven ounce beers. I believe it was one of the best tours I have ever been on. Unfortunately, I'd had 31 ounces of beer just before going on it so my attention span was shorter than usual. I'm pretty sure there were no ducks.
The soundtrack is by Pat Green - "I LIke Texas" which includes a refrain that he drinks Shiner Bock.