Why Drink A Radler When I Could Just Drink A Lager? Photography courtesy of least here in the U.S., there is a stigma against radlers because of the additive element. Untappd’s All-Time Top-Rated Imperial Stouts While Kugler initially spiked his pilsner just to keep the taps flowing, today, that eureka! moment is more about lowering alcohol content to give consumers a tasty, easy-drinking libation. If are looking for something a little lower ABV … it gives you those options, and it’s also super refreshing,” says Bullen. A radler is a delicious, lighter option of which you can drink more than one in a single sitting. Not everyone at the pub wants to drink until they can’t stand up. In Germany, a massive beer-drinking culture, having something that can lighten up the beer makes it more appealing to certain people.” “To me, I think work somewhere in between. Jay Bullen, founder and head of brewhouse operations for Brewery Silvaticus in Amesbury, MA, agrees. The flavor is actually a secondary consideration. You’re out there and having four, five, or six pints.” According to Dredge, softening even a beer as easygoing as a lager with lemonade “extends the social circumstance.” “The history of going to the pub, and maybe finishing work and going for beers, was that you would go for beers all night,” explains Mark Dredge, a beer, food, and travel writer and owner of BeerDredge, based in Eastbourne, East Sussex, England. Since there are only so many beers you can drink at 6.0% ABV, the radler is a perfect alternative. But getting publicly blotto is considered a party foul. Generally speaking, heading to the pub in European drinking culture means you’re in for a long night of pints. Since radlers are essentially ‘lagers cut by lemonade,’ they typically only hit around 4.0% ABV or under. What Is the Number One Reason People Drink Radlers? Photography courtesy of Bier StationĪ radler lightens up a beer. A radler tastes great, but that’s not the number one reason why people drink them. After all, if adding lemonade to beer made the beer taste horrible, nobody would do it. Cutting these beers with lemonade adds a touch of sweetness that people enjoy. But let’s consider the pros.įirst, lagers, by nature, are light and refreshing. This is a prototypical American reaction to the radler. Wait, Why Would I Even Bother Mixing Lemonade and Lager? Photography courtesy of Easy peasy lemon (or, again, grapefruit) squeezy. Or, if you’re lazy, you can buy canned radlers from a brewery. That’s all there is to it! If you’re enterprising, you can easily make your own radler at home or have your favorite bartender make one for you. That’s a radler: half beer, half lemonade (or exchange the lemon for grapefruit), and all delicious. To make a radler, mix equal parts lager and citrus-flavored soda. If the saga of Franz Kugler is too vague, let’s simplify things. A drink that has endured for almost 100 years is worth adding to your drinking rotation.Īfter all, why drink a regular lager when you can drink a radler? So What’s A Radler, Anyway? Photography courtesy of Derrick Lin | Packaging of the World There’s never a wrong time to reach for a radler, but there’s no better time than now. Though this drink is more prevalent in its homeland of Germany than the United States, it’s appreciated in the land of NEIPAs and pastry sours nonetheless. It’s a testament to the radler that people still go about blending lemonade and lager even today. Photography courtesy of The Garden BreweryĪnd nearly a century later, we’re still talking about and drinking Radlermass, which literally translates to cyclist’s liter in English.īesides, whether we know the radler’s true origins, it’s still a humble drink that’s damn delicious in the heat of summertime (or even winter, if you prefer). While some of these details may seem unbelievable, and even though no official records support or refute this narrative, it’s certainly a story worth repeating. Kugler cut his pilsner with overstocked lemon soda. Overloaded with thirsty patrons, Kugler quickly began to run out of beer. One beautiful day in June, 13,000 cyclists wound their way to his establishment, looking to quench their thirst. As the tale goes, Kugler, an innkeeper in Deisenhofen, Germany, capitalized on the country’s biking craze by creating a trail from nearby Munich to his tavern. While history can neither confirm nor deny this fact, the story is worth telling. According to local legend, Franz Xaver Kugler invented the radler in June 1922.
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