For the thirsty Texan who hankered for the cool refreshment of a bona fide local beer in 1973, the options were few: a cold one from Lone Star, Pearl, or Spoetzl, the maker of Shiner. That was it. Which might seem odd: the state’s brewing industry began in the nineteenth century, when San Antonio’s Western Brewery opened in 1855, and the beer business quickly flourished. By 1875 Texas was home to 44 breweries. But the sector was hard-hit by Prohibition and was later overpowered by national outfits such as Anheuser-Busch and Miller. In one form or another, however, the Lone Star, Pearl, and Shiner labels managed to survive. (Dirty little secret: Lone Star and Pearl are both owned by Pabst. Redeeming little secret: Pabst is nowadays…The post The Texas Beer Industry Is Bubbling Over appeared first on Texas Monthly.