MarketBasket: Texas brews land at last

With thousands of exotic brews to choose from already here, it's curious Philadelphia was one of the last markets in America to get the Shiner beers from Spoetzl Brewery in Texas, a southwest regional legend in business since 1909.

Well, they've finally made it to our fridges. And while none I tasted quite blew me away (though I enjoyed the well-known, easy-drinking Bock), I found Shiner's Bohemian Black lager to be most notable, at once dark but not heavy, with distinct notes of fig and coffee.

- Craig LaBan
 
Shiner, $3.25 a bottle at Bottle Bar East (1308 Frankford Ave.) and numerous other stores.