Shiner beer launched in New York City

They don’t seem to rush things down in Texas. Although the Gambrinus Company ranks fourth among U.S. craft brewers in terms of volume, it has up till now avoided selling its Shiner beers in New York City.

Finally, in mid-April its Texan beer brand Shiner was hit by the city’s limelight – not literally, hopefully.

The Northeast was one of the few remaining parts of the U.S. without distribution of Shiner or other products by Spoetzl Brewery. The six New England states do not have Shiner but will soon, according to the brewery.

Shiner is a bit of an anomaly among the U.S. craft beers as the Spoetzl brewery celebrated its 100th birthday a few years ago. But as in Texas things move at a different pace to the rest of the country, it could be argued that Shiner has always been “craft” – before “craft beer” was even invented. Therefore, it’s more than just a nice a nice touch that on its website the brewery lists all its brewmasters to date. It has only had six in its 104 year long history, with Jimmy Maurice, the current one, appointed in 2003. Actually, Jimmy is a local boy from Shiner. This proves to show that at the Spoetzl brewery they take their traditions seriously.

Still, more likely, the Gambrinus people prefer to wait until the time is right before they take their beer places. Especially if the destination is snotty New York City.

Shiner is distributed by Manhattan Beer Distributors, one of the country’s largest beer wholesalers. The new additions should strengthen a portfolio of craft offerings that includes large brands like Boston Beer Company and F.X. Matt, it was reported.

Manhattan Beer sold about 1.5 million cases of craft beer in 2012, media say. This year sales of craft beers could surpass 2 million cases. Manhattan Beer also sells MillerCoors and Grupo Modelo products, which help to bring its overall case count to about 35 million.