Fruit and Spice Beer: The thin line between delicious and disgusting

Pumpkin beer is sadly coming to close before we actually hit Halloween, so be warned. Go out and get some before it's all gone. In the style of Fruit and Spice Beers, it's not the best thing you can add to beer, but I'll never turn a good pumpkin beer down.

Some types of fruit beers don't fair so well. Last weekend I had the honor of trying an Austrian Radler (which has nothing to do with snakes). Radler is a half-beer half-lemonade mixture popularized in Germany and Austria by thirsty cyclists apparently more concerned about hydration than most of the ones I know.

Typically, this sort of drink is mixed at a bar, but Austrian brewery Stiegl, who generally makes respectable beer, released a bottled radler. If there was any lemonade - or even a lemon derivative - used in this beer, it'd be news to me. It's the product of light beer and lemon-flavored syrup. I've really only tried one other Radler, which I've pasted my review in below, but lemons and beer are a dubious at best combination.

Stiegl Gaudi Radler Shandy (Lemon)
Stieglbrauerei zu Salzburg GmbH
Fruit Beer | 2.50% ABV

C+ / 3.05
look: 3 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3 | feel: 2.5 | drink: 3
rDev: +2%

Thanks to Sue and Meg for sharing their case of Shandy. This is an old sub-style (lemonade+beer) I've wanted to try for a while. This one however, is more just an ultra-light lager with lemon syrup added. Instead of juice, the lemon tastes more like Lemon Drops and candy. The light lager is pleasant and clean, but this beer is too sweet. However, if you dig the thicker, sweeter fruit lambics, this might be up your alley.


Leinenkugel's Summer Shandy
Jacob Leinenkugel Brewing Company
Fruit Beer | 4.20% ABV

C+ / 3.2
look: 3.5 | smell: 3 | taste: 3 | feel: 3.5 | drink: 3.5

I think this one should be filed under fruit beer. There's a big, tart lemonade flavor up front with a bit of wheat flavor following. The aroma has a bit of lemon. It's kind of like they took a very pale wheat beer and dumped Country Time lemonade mix into it. If you love lemons and NEED them in beer, go for this otherwise, its not much more than lawnmower beer.