Today on the show, we are tasting a beer style that usually has a little less alcohol in it.  However, true to form for lovers of beer, over time, this beer style has evolved from a lower alcohol beer, to a lower alcohol beer with a little bit more alcohol included (sometimes referred to as a normal strength beer by people who want to be picky about it!)

Our two beers to-day are both Radlers.  A ‘Radler’ is a beer mixed with a fruit juice or soft drink.  In England, the term ‘shandy’ was more commonly used – radler coming from Germany.  Nowadays, a range of names are used to describe the style for various different reasons.

The beers that we are tasting to-day are Lech Ice Shandy and Moose Light Radler.

Small Beer, Shandies and Radler –

Contrary to popular belief, generally we are drinking less now than we were historically.  While there is much concern (often rightly so) about binge drinking, and the negative effects of excessive consumption of alcohol, two things are often lost when arguments against alcohol are being proposed.  These two important points are – (1) Beer drunk in moderation is healthy, and (2) A person who does not drink alcohol has a shorter life expectancy than a person who drinks in moderation.  It is true to say that the potential for doing damage through excessive consumption of alcohol is greater now (it was hard – though not impossible – to do damage drink driving when all that existed were horses and carts, for example).  Given what can go wrong when people drink to excess, it is entirely right and correct that such behaviour be discouraged.  However, the key message that needs to be communicated is one of the importance of moderation.  The 13 year experiment that was Prohibition in the U.S. was shown not to work.  History has shown us that trying to control these things by absolute prevention is not accepted by society, and there will always be those who try to get around restrictions.  Encouraging moderation and personal responsibility, ultimately, is probably the best initiative to make things better in the long run.

During the Middle Ages, people drank beer instead of water as it was known (though not fully understood) that drinking beer was safer, and drinking water came with it the potential to contract diseases such as Plague.  It was not unusual for people to drink beer throughout the day as a way to refresh themselves and quench their thirst.  Different types of beer evolved.  In the U.S. ‘Small beer’ referred to beer with a low alcohol content – one of the purposes of which was to allow people to drink it while working.  Moderation was understood – simply as a matter of necessity – and beer was an integral part of culture.

One way of exercising moderation is to drink less beer.  A second is to drink a beer of lower alcohol strength.  One of the difficulties with reducing the alcohol strength of a beer is the effect on flavour.  Alcohol carries flavour – removing alcohol not only removes flavour, but it also removes a key ingredient that helps carry other flavours in the beer.  Adding a non-alcoholic drink (a soft-drink or a fruit juice, for example) is an effective way to both reduce the average alcohol content in the drink, and also to introduce another flavour to the beer, balancing the flavour that could be lost.

Across Europe, the practise of mixing regular strength beer with a soft drink has been popular for quite some time.  In England, the term ‘shandy’ refers to a drink that consists of a 50:50 mix of beer (usually lager, but also ale) and lemonade.  ‘Lager Top’ is another term sometimes used for the same thing where lager is the base drink, but only a dash of lemonade is used – the result is a drink that is a touch stronger than a regular shandy, as the alcohol is diluted out less, with a little less of the lemonade flavour coming through.  ‘Shandygaff’ is an older British name for beer mixed with ginger beer or ginger ale.

In Germany, the term ‘radler’ evolved.  ‘Radler’ means ‘cyclist’ in German, and it is a little easier to say than the German term for ‘beer-based mixed drinks’ – ‘Biermischgetranke’.  In Berlin and Eastern Germany, ‘Potsdamer’ is a popular drink – soda and beer mixed with a shot or raspberry syrup.  ‘Whizz Peach’ is made with Kristal Weiss beer (filtered weiss beer) and peach flavoured lemonade.  Many will add a shot of flavoured syrup to the sour wheat beer Berliner Weiss to give a ‘Grun’ (mixed with green syrup – a woodruff-flavoured syrup), ‘Gelb’ (yellow – lemon syrup) or ‘Rot’ (red – raspberry syrup).  Where the base beer is a sour, there are two effects – the ‘shock of the sour is balanced quite effectively to make the beer more appealing to those not used to sour beers, and the combination of sour with fruit flavours has long been shown to be an effective combination.  Northern Germany uses the term ‘Alster’ (short for ‘Alsterwasser’) in place of ‘radler’.

The use of the term ‘radler’ has been complicated in New Zealand.  A large multi-national brewery has trademarked the term for one of their beers, and as a result, its use by other breweries in New Zealand is restricted.  As a result, some breweries use the term ‘reldar’ (‘Radler’ spelled backwards) or ‘cyclist’ to describe this beer style.

The French sometimes enjoy a ‘demi-peche’ (French beer with a shot of peach syrup), or a ‘panache’ (beer and lemonade, typically less than 1% a.b.v.)  A panache with a shot of Grenadine is called a ‘Monaco’.

Continental Europe uses the term ‘diesel’ for a draught beer mixed with Cola.  However, this term is a little bit more varied in its use.  For example, Slovenia exchanges the lemonade for a local soda called ‘Cockta’, and England causes severe confusion by using the term ‘Diesel’ as an alternative name for a ‘snakebite’ – half lager, half cider.  Where Diesel is sometimes used to refer to a drink that should be lower in alcohol content, this alternative use is one that could be negative.

Over time, there has been a blurring of the lines when it comes to ‘radlers’ or ‘shandies’  While in the past, it was usual that the drink was made as a mix of beer and soft drink at the point of serving, many breweries have adopted ‘radler’ as a term to apply to a beer with a fruit flavouring.  As a consequence, the style guidelines for a ‘radler’ can vary from 1% to 3% a.b.v. to 1% to 5.5% a.b.v. depending on who you are talking to.  With ‘light’ beer, often people assume that ‘light’ refers to low in alcohol – sometimes it does, but other times it refers to low in calories, and the beer may be full strength.  So too with ‘radlers’ it is no longer safe to assume that the beer is low in alcohol – if it is important to you, check the label!!

Lech Ice Shandy –

Beer Style                   -  Shandy (radler)

Alcohol by Volume     -  2% a.b.v.

Brewed by                  -  Kompania Piwowarska

Brewed in                   -  Poland

Taste preferences in Eastern Europe can sometimes tend towards slightly sweeter drinks.  It is probably not surprising, therefore, that one of Poland’s most popular lagers – Lech – would brew a variant of a radler.  In keeping with the origins of radlers, Lech Ice Shandy is 2% a.b.v.

Lech Ice Shandy pours with a full, and quite tight, white head, and presents with a classic pale straw colour and bright (filtered – not always the case for the style) appearance.  The aroma of lemon/lemonade predominates, with the suggestion of beery aromas in the background.  One of the dangers with a beer that is lower in alcohol is that it can sometimes have a thin mouthfeel.  Lech Ice Shandy side-steps this cleverly, with the sugar sweetness of the lemonade providing body, and supplementing the mouthfeel of the beer.  The most interesting result is that the beer tastes as if it has more alcohol than it has, while at the same time, not disguising the distinct presence of lemonade in the mix.

On taste, the classic lemonade / lager flavour is in evidence as one would expect.  Citric acidity is balanced with sugar sweetness, and the beer provides a base of malt to support and enhance these flavours.  While normally this drink would be drunk cold, varying the temperature of Lech Ice Shandy is an interesting experiment.  Drinking at a cold temperature most definitely enhances the refreshment of the beer, and protects the tingle of carbonation on the palate.  However, one of the dangers in drinking a cold beer is that the warmth of the environment might warm the beer over time.  With some beers, the results are not what would be desired.  However, Lech Ice Shandy manages to retain its drinkability and balance as the temperature rises – still an enjoyable and drinkable beer even when the temperature is above the level that one might ideally drink it at.

Moose Light Radler –

Beer Style                   -  Radler

Alcohol by Volume     -  4% a.b.v.

Brewed by                  -  Moosehead Breweries

Brewed in                   -  St. John, New Brunswick, Canada

The radler style has been embraced by some breweries as a style to celebrate fruit flavours in beer rather than as a low-alcohol beer variant.  Some radlers are what would be considered ‘normal strength’ – 4% to 5.5% a.b.v. – and are true to the style in the fact that they contain fruit flavours rather than being a drink with only half of the normal strength of beer.

Moosehead Breweries in Canada have brought out ‘Moose Light Radler’ and have gone to town on the fruits used in the beer.  Not content with just the flavour of lemon, the guys at Moosehead have brought to their Radler grape and grapefruit to complement the lemon that is more normally associated with the style.  The result is a cross between a Sauvignon Blanc, and a spritzer, with the unmistakeable base of beer as a foundation.

Moose Light Radler presents with a pale straw colour, that is heading in the direction of witbier colour.  The cloudiness of Moose Light Radler contributes to this pale straw / white colour.  The head is pale white, and tight.

The balance of fruit flavours is noticeably different with Moose Light Radler.  While lemon is in evidence, the more bitter citric character of the grapefruit comes through, and is balanced by the softer sweetness of white grapes.  Each of these flavours combine in the aroma, and the flavours on the palate blend to provide a complex, slightly sweet, but bitter balanced complexity of fruitiness.  Sweetness starts, followed by crisp acidity, a mildly bitter acidity, followed by grape sweetness, and rounded out in the finish with the memory of white grapes balanced by grapefruit character.  The mouthfeel has the luscious character associated with fruit juice, balanced by the crisp refreshing acidity of citrus.

While many craft beer officionados often enjoy the rich flavours of India Pale Ales, Barley Wines or Imperial Stouts, there is no doubt that sometimes the occasion calls for something lighter, more fruity, and simply fun.  Radlers such as Moose Light Radler fit the bill to perfection – providing a complexity of fruit character, while still retaining a superb drinkability and refreshing character.

 Beers Available –