My lovely bride could tell you that I've been suffering from an odd fascination this summer: The label design of Shiner Spezial Leicht.

Now I drink a wide variety of beers, and Shiner Bock is my default in limited or unsure territory. It's the Texas version of Bud (in ubiquity, not flavor). And while I've never been a huge fan of Shiner Light, when I first saw the Shiner Spezial Leicht, I was curiously drawn to it. I got a sixpack, but before I even opened it, I found myself reading and re-reading the label, studying it as if it were a painting.

I don't know exactly what it is: Perhaps its the color mix, brighter than most Shiner beers, yet still understated. Maybe it's the mix of serif logo an art-deco san-serif fonts. I know that the friendly, but openly propagandistic copy helps too. (Serve 'em often! Serve 'em cold!... Made for every true Lover of Life!)

Brad and I made a little Austin trip this week, and among others, we found ourselves visiting with the folks at McGarrah Jessee, the agency for Shiner. They were indeed the designers of this Shiner label (and presumably the others).

They had blowups of the art and boxes of the beer all over the place. The guy who did the label wasn't around, but they told us it had been a polarizing love-it-or-hate it among Shiner fans. They also fed my fear, based on the "Summertime De-Light" language on the label, that this one might disappear come fall.

I hope not, 'cause damned if it isn't my favorite beer right now. I want to believe that's because the brewmasters of Spoetzl have analyzed my taste buds and produced the perfect concoction. But it might just be the label. I guess I'll find out in a couple months when that's all I have.

(NB: On my monitor at least, the orange on the image above is way brighter and gaudier than on the real thing.)