By Jon Abernathy

The last few weeks of summer call for light, easy-drinking brews that are refreshing warm weather thirst quenchers. There are a number of beer styles that fit the bill, but for something whimsically fun and a little different, why not revisit shandy and radler?

They are more akin to beer cocktails than strictly beer styles, as they are the result of blending a (usually lighter) base beer with fruit juice or a soft drink. They differ mainly in origin and there are a number of variations.

Both Deschutes Brewery (https://deschutesbrewery.com/) and Worthy Brewing Company (https://www.worthybrewing.com/) currently have examples of each available, offering up an opportunity to compare and contrast approaches.

Shandy

Broadly speaking, a shandy is a fifty-fifty mix of beer with a lemon flavored drink, typically lemonade. British in origin, the beer component is commonly a lager, although bitter is used as well. Shandy traces its roots to Victorian England and shandygaff, originally a mix of ale and ginger beer.

Perhaps the best known examples come from the Jacob Leinenkugel Brewing Company (https://www.leinie.com/) of Wisconsin. The brewery features a seasonal Shandy lineup which starts with its traditional weiss (wheat) beer blended with various flavors, starting with lemonade in its Summer Shandy, and includes grapefruit, watermelon, pumpkin pie spices, and more.

Deschutes introduced its Anytime Lemonade Shandy (https://deschutesbrewery.com/collections/all-beer/products/anytime-lemonade-shandy) this summer as a seasonal specialty. The brewery didn’t specify the beer style that underpins Anytime — I suspect it’s a lager — and it was brewed with real lemonade to recreate the style.

It’s 5% alcohol by volume and available both in bottles and cans and on draft. I found it fragrant with aromas of lemon juice and lemonade, with hints of lemon zest and a lightly earthy note such as you’d find in fresh lemon juice.

The flavor brings a bright citrus acidity that speaks to tart lemonade, and there’s a noticeable hop character that emphasizes the citrus with notes of lemongrass and pine needle. It’s sessionable and easy to drink with a medium-light body, and a slightly bitter lemon oil finish.

Radler

Radler has German roots, and is customarily composed of a pilsner or wheat ale blended with a lemon- or citrus-flavored soft drink. The beverage is attributed to Munich innkeeper Franz Kugler, who is said to have invented it in the 1920s, when one day he was inundated with bicyclists. Running short on beer, he cut it with lemonade to serve to them, and thus radler (which is German for cyclist) was born.

Two of the best-known radlers are from Austria and Germany, Stiegl Radler (https://www.stiegl.at/en/produkt/stiegl-radler-naturtrueb-grapefruit/) and Schöfferhofer Grapefruit (https://www.schoefferhofer.com/en-us/wheat-beer-mix/), respectively. Both beers incorporate grapefruit juice or soda for a characteristic flavor, and notably both are under 3% ABV. American examples of the style tend to be stronger, usually four or more percent.

Worthy’s take on the style, Adult Lemonade, starts with its Abiqua Creek Kölsch and is blended with lemon puree. With 5% ABV it’s available on tap at the company’s two locations (eastside and downtown).

It’s not as aromatic as Deschutes’ Anytime, but it does have a light lemonade character along with a touch of granola in the aroma; otherwise it’s fairly clean with a mild citrus flourish. I found this impression of lemonade increased as I drank a pint.

On the palate it’s quite mellow and easily drinkable, with the grainy elements of the Kölsch and a nice crisp spritz of lemon that has more of a lemon zest than juice flavor. There’s a light pithy bitterness along with some citrusy hops, leading to a bit of lemon peel in the finish and a mouthfeel that is light and zesty overall.

Roll your own

If you want to try your hand at creating your own versions of each, the recipes are quite simple and open to experimentation.

For a shandy, start with a lager such as a pilsner or helles lager, or alternatively, a sessionable pale ale. Then add lemonade, starting with a half and half mixture. Adjust the proportions to your taste.

To create a radler, I suggest starting with a wheat ale or hefeweizen, and blending it with a lemon lime soda such as Sprite or Squirt. Like shandy, the proportions are typically equal though you can adjust to your preference.

Whether you mix your own or try one or both of Deschutes’ and Worthy’s lemonade blends, shandies and radlers are fun, refreshing options to enjoy for the tail end of summer.

Jon Abernathy is a beer writer and blogger and launched The Brew Site (https://www.thebrewsite.com) in 2004. He can be reached at jon@thebrewsite.com.