Shiner Hops Forward with Wild Hare

It used to be that you could order a Shiner and everyone knew what you were talking about. But the craft-beer explosion of the last decade forced the Texas-based Spoetzl Brewery to offer more than just bock to stay competitive. Several Shiner varieties later, we have Wild Hare Pale Ale. The beer, Shiner’s first ale, was recently rolled out, and with it a series of Internet commercials that Nick Rallo of the Dallas Observer noted had a “Wes Andersony, mock-documentary feel.”

Here’s one of the three: 

McGarrah Jessee, the Austin ad agency behind the creative (Full Disclosure: TEXAS MONTHLY has worked with the agency), is well regarded for its Whataburger commercials but may have missed the mark here, as too much time is spent trying to be clever and not enough time is spent conveying what the beer tastes like. That’s where Nicholas L. Hall of the Houston Press, a veteran Shiner drinker, comes in. “I must admit, the first whiff I got was kind of exciting,” Hall wrote. “I actually wrote ‘whoa’ on my tasting notes.”