Spoetzl Brewery, Texas' Oldest Independent Brewery, Launches Packaging Redesign; 96 year-old icon gets a face-lift

The "little brewery" in Shiner, which produces the award-winning Shiner portfolio of products, today announced new packaging that is rolling out of the 96-year old brewery and into retail outlets.

The "little brewery" in Shiner, which produces the award-winning Shiner portfolio of products, today announced new packaging that is rolling out of the 96-year old brewery and into retail outlets. The much anticipated packaging launch creates a consistent, more uniform look across the six Shiner Specialty Beers, including Shiner Bock, Shiner Blonde, Shiner Light, Shiner Hefeweizen, Shiner Kolsch (formerly Shiner Summer Stock(R)), and Shiner Dunkleweizen (formerly Shiner Winter Ale). The packaging plays up the Shiner's specialty beer pedigree, nearly century-old brewing heritage, and hand-crafted quality. The new design is integral in the brands' maintaining its small town roots, independent personality, and mythical place in American beer culture. Year-to-date Shiner sales are up 5% versus same period year ago. Since 1909 Shiner has been brewing beer in small batches with great pride and doing its own thing with a self-assured indifference to industry trends. That independent spirit has resonated with such high-profile fans such as Willie Nelson, Kris Kristofferson, Matthew McConaughey and Lance Armstrong, one of the world's most popular athletes known for his confident yet self-contained approach to winning six straight Tour d' France races. "Shiner's new packaging launch represents a significant portion of our 2005 marketing investment," said Shamus Hanlon, Brand Group Director for Gambrinus. "It's also being backed by an aggressive advertising campaign and point of sale support that includes case cards, banners, neck hangs, posters and pole toppers to name a few of the available displays." Designed by Tom, Dick & Harry Advertising in Chicago, Shiner's new packaging gives the product line a consistent approach. The new layout includes such design elements as brand name, style of beer, product icons, Shiner brewing credentials, brewery heritage and appetite appeal - "full, rich, easy drinking flavor." Each style in the portfolio is marked by a distinctive color to create a billboard effect at retail outlets.