Czhilispiel Returning to Its Roots for 50th Year

The 50th annual Flatonia Czhilispiel takes place Oct. 2830. To mark the occasion, organizers are bringing back a blast from the past – Czhilispiel Beer.

Some folks might remember when the Czhilspiel served its own brand of beer during the town festival. It was brewed by the Spoetzel Brewery in Shiner and served in commemorative Czhilispiel cans. “Shiner brewed it and canned it for the first few years of Czhilispiel before we moved to beer distributors and Shiner Beer got really big,” said Abigail Rice, executive director of the Flatonia Chamber of Commerce.

Labels printed on the old beer cans called Flatonia “The Town that Made Beer Famous” – a humorous nod to Schlitz, known as “The Beer that Made Milwaukee Famous.” In addition, the cans claimed that the recipe for “Flatonia’s Private Stock” included “choice Czhili hops, malted barley and the sparkling waters of Buckner Creek.”

That might be a bit of stretch, considering there’s no such thing as “Czhili hops” and the waters of Buckner’s Creek aren’t exactly sparkling. This year’s Czhilispiel brew should please many, though. Organizers teamed up with the award-winning Hound Song Brewing Co. in Columbus to craft the beer. “They got the original recipe from Shiner,” Rice said. “They are going to brew it for us and serve it for us on tap.” Check out this year’s entertainment lineup at the Czhilispiel: Friday, October 28

• Art Hernandez, Angelica & Velvet from 6-7:30 p.m.

• Matt Castillo from 8-9:30 p.m.

• La Calma from 10-11:30 p.m.

Saturday, October 29

• Fritz Hodde & The Fabulous Six from 1:30-4:30 p.m.

• Broken Alibi from 5-6:30 p.m.

• Triston Marez from 7-8:30 p.m.

• Mike Ryan from 9-10:30 p.m.

• Easton Corbin from 11 p.m.-12:30 a.m.

Sunday, October 30

• D’Vine Testament from 10 a.m.-noon

• Blue Denim from noon-1p.m.

• The Emotions from 3-4:30p.m.

• Texas Unlimited Band from 5-8 p.m. There will also be a carnival, haunted house, food vendors and street market all weekend. A 5K race takes place on Saturday. There will also be a Halloween costume contest, barbecue and chili cookoffs, and pie auction on Saturday. The Grand Czhilispiel Parade takes place on Sunday, along with a car and truck show. Also on Sunday, there will be an egg toss contest, jalapeno eating contest, “Back Seat Drivin’ Momma” contest and the always popular “Czhilispiel Got Talent” Registration and tickets are available at czhilispiel.com.