Austin, TX. In addition to good golf, central Texas has two more things going for it. First is the best BBQ in the world. For that, a drive a half-hour south of Auston to Lockhart is mandatory.

Second, you can down your beef brisket with Texas's own Shiner Bock, from the Spoetzl Brewery. It's one of the first things we do after arriving in Texas: belly-up to the bar and grab a cold one. It's a dark beer with a light taste. It's not filling, and has just the right sweetness. It's classified as a dark lager, which is fitting, since it's very reminiscent of Czech dark beers.

The brewery has been making beers for 99 years, and it claims to trace its roots to German and Czech immigrants in the 1800s, and those who started the Shiner brewery in 1909. It's a great success story, as the brewery only had a 1% market share twenty years ago, but has been growing strong. It's now owned by San Antonio's own Gambrinus Company (named after the patron saint of brewing and owners of some awesome beers like Pete's Wicked Ale, and Portland, Oregon's Bridgeport).

Also deserving of mention is a copy-cat from A-B: the Ziegen Bock. Worth a try...if you can't get a Shiner.