A History of German & Czech Influence on Texas Beers
Texas is home to a very wide array of different cultures, each with their own storied history and traditions. From the mid-19th century to the early 20th century, waves of Europeans, especially German and Czech immigrants, would mostly settle in Central Texas due to large amounts of land available at low prices. With them, they brought their food, drink, music, and own way of life from back home. We still see elements of their influence around us today. Their brass Polka bands eventually merged with indigenous Hispanic music, creating the subgenres of Tejano and Banda. And we still see places like The Czech Stop in West and Collin Street Bakery (founded in 1896 by German immigrant Gus Weidmann) that provide Czech and German favorites like kolaches (with fruit), klobásníks (with meat), and fruitcakes. Even the Texas staple, Chicken Fried Steak, is practically a beef version of the European staple, Wiener Schnitzel. As of the 2000 U.S. Census, there was an estimated 155,000 Czech Americans in Texas (the most of any state), with over 25,000 in Dallas-Fort Worth alone and another 40,000 in the Houston area. Certain cities in Texas, like West and Shiner, also boast over 30% of their populations as having Czech heritage.
One of their most enjoyable contributions to Texas is their beer. With styles like Pilsner, Kōlsch, Hefeweizen, and Bock, both the German and Czech brewing traditions are rife all over the state. The most popular German/Czech-style brewery in the state is Spoetzl Brewery, makers of Shiner Bock. The Shiner Brewing Association (its original name) was originally founded in 1909 by German and Czech immigrants who could not find the beers they originally enjoyed in their native lands. The eponymous Shiner Bock was originally brewed as a seasonal Lentenbock and was only available in the Spring. It was so popular that they made it year-round. After some initial missteps, the brewery eventually hired a professional brewer, Kosmos Spoetzel, who ended up buying the brewery in 1915 and renaming it after himself. He was formally trained in Bavaria and after a few years brewing in Egypt, moved to Texas, bringing family beer recipes with him.
Even well before Shiner opened, German brewer Adolphus Busch (yes, that Adolphus Busch) started up the original Lone Star Brewery (no, not that Lone Star) in San Antonio in 1883. The brewery was focused on mechanization and the mass production of beer in order to sell it at a lower price, before it was eventually shut down due to Prohibition. The Pearl Brewery was also founded in San Antonio in 1886, also producing German-style lagers. It eventually grew to producing 110,000 BBLs of beer per year (over 3.4 million gallons). Though many breweries did not survive Prohibition, the ones that did mostly did so by selling ice, near beer (non-alcoholic beer), and malted products.
Line up of German-inspired Funky Picnic beers to celebrate Oktoberfest.
After Prohibition was repealed in 1933, most of the breweries that survived in Texas were making mass produced light lagers, a former shell of their original German and Czech heritages. It wasn’t until the craft beer boom of the 1990s that brought us new breweries like Saint Arnold Brewing (1994) in Houston, Real Ale Brewing (1996) in Blanco, and Live Oak Brewing (1997) in Austin. In the late 2000’s, another wave of new Texas breweries started to open.
Just this year was the inaugural Brewers Cup put on by the Texas Craft Brewers Guild, and the most entered category was Pilsner with over 60 entries. Live Oak Gold (Gold), Real Ale Hans Pils (Silver), and Pondeseta Patek Pils (Bronze) each took home medals in the category. Several Texas breweries also won medals at the 2021 Great American Beer Festival, including Fort Worth’s Cowtown Brewing (Silver for Dortmunder Export, High Brau), Meanwhile Brewing (Gold for German-Style Pilsner, Meanwhile Pilsner), Real Ale (Bronze for German-Style Märzen, Oktoberfest), Austin Beer Garden Brewing (Bronze for American Pilsner, Rocket 100), and Pinthouse Pizza (Silver for Hoppy Lager, Timbo Pils). Other popular German- or Czech-style focused breweries in Texas include Franconia Brewing (McKinney), Altstadt Brewery (Fredericksburg), Klaus Brewing (Houston), and Pivovar (Waco).
If you come by Funky Picnic, we always have a wide range of beer styles and traditions on tap, including our year-round German beers like Vibes Kōlsch and Its Called Lovebus Hefeweizen, as well as some of our seasonal beers, like Coasters!!! German-style Pilsner and Prostoberfest Märzen. All of this shows that German and Czech beer roots are alive and well in Texas!
Author: Collin Zreet
Collin is a native Texan and is a founding member and co-owner of Funky Picnic Brewery and Café. He is a Certified Cicerone and Certified BJCP Beer Judge, specializing in beer and food pairings. When he is not thinking about beer, he enjoys spending time with his wife, Taylor, son, Alder, and dog, Rocco.