Brewery gives update on new cocktail bar and lounge

  • Pictured is the Spoetzl Brewery’s new cocktail bar and lounge. The brewery recently put up new roof trusses on the building. Photo by Tom Fiorenzi.
    Pictured is the Spoetzl Brewery’s new cocktail bar and lounge. The brewery recently put up new roof trusses on the building. Photo by Tom Fiorenzi.

    The Spoetzl Brewery has been making some headway on their brand-new cocktail bar and lounge. 
    “We just recently completed all the roof trusses,” Brewery and Distillery Operations Director Tom Fiorenzi said. “The project is ongoing. 
    When you get the top structure in, you get the chance to see the outline of the building. We’re still on schedule for our grand opening being Oct. 25.”
    One of the things that inspired the decision for the new tasting room is so the brewery can showcase their new spirits. 
    “We want to showcase everything we’re doing on the distillery side of our operation,” Fiorenzi said. 
    “The Brewery has been around for 116 years and in the last two years, we’ve been also making spirits. We wanted to allow everyone to see all of our spirits.”
    The new space is 10,000 square feet. Fiorenzi said the atmosphere for the tasting room will be all about Texas.
    “It will showcase our history and the history of Texas,” Fiorenzi said.
    “All the woods inside from the mesquite woods to the barrels that we’ll be showcasing is really going to reflect the history of Texas along with the history of Shiner.”
    There will be outside seating and a patio area all along the south side of the building. Fiorenzi said this building will be hospitality for the City of Shiner. 
    “From our business standpoint, this will be marketing our spirits,” Fiorenzi said. “In the distillery, we’ll have a full restaurant and that restaurant will be showcasing beer and spirit pairing. In other words, we’ll be cooking with our spirits and our beers. We’ll share our recipes with tourists and locals. 
    We’ll really enhance the food and spirits excitement. It’s something for everybody in the community to enjoy. This will be open seven days a week. 
    One of the foods we’ll be making is a peach cobbler with our cinnamon shine spirit. We’re going to do anything we possibly can with these foods. 
    That includes making ribs with our Shiner Bock. We’ll also have pizza and burgers available. It’ll be very Americana but it’ll also be showcasing the spirits and the beer.”
    The Brewery will be hiring new staff for the tasting room. That will start in early August. 
    “There will be a number of job openings for the local community,” Fiorenzi said.
    Tours for the distillery will start and stop at the tasting room. 
    “The beer tours will remain the same as they are today, but the distillery tours will change and part of that tour will be the tasting room,” Fiorenzi said. “We’ll have samples in there for people to taste.”
    Fiorenzi said the City of Shiner and the community have been really supportive about this new tasting room. 
    “The City Council all came out for the groundbreaking and they’re extremely excited about the whole thing,” Fiorenzi said. 
    “They have always supported us in everything we’ve done. We really appreciate the community and everybody coming out and seeing it. 
    We’ve chosen to contract with a local contractor so that locals benefit as much as possible. We’re really looking forward to enhancing the overall experience in the area.”