Don't let the ridiculously long name of the beer (or the brewery) fool you, the idea behind this beer is pretty simple- mixing beer and soda. While that might sound a little weird, I experienced beer mixed with soda a few years back in Berlin and absolutely loved it. While I'm usually not a fan of mixing beer with anything, something about the beer + soda idea that the Germans have been using just works. This definitely won't work for most styles of beer, but it's a tasty concoction when done right. It's also a tasty concoction that I had never seen on this side of the Atlantic until a few weeks ago.
Stiegl Radler (I'm too lazy too type the whole thing, sue me) pours a clear honey color with a very thin white head. Within a matter of seconds, the head was totally gone, leaving a thick and syrupy looking substance in the glass. The lemon in the smell was pretty strong and smelled more like a lemon syrup or liquor than a freshly squeezed lemon. Somewhere in the background of the smell was a bit of rosemary and something that smelled like perfume.
The taste was pretty similar to the smell, with a ton of lemon jumping out right away. The flavor reminded me of the taste of a lemonhead after you get past the sour coating. The taste began to change a bit as the beer warmed and the base beer (which tasted like a light lager) began to come out a bit more. While the taste was really sweet (I mean REALLY sweet), the carbonation saved this one. When a beer gets as sweet as this one, it's very easy for it to taste syrupy. While this one got close, the carbonation was just prickly enough to keep the sweetness from sticking for too long. In the end, while this wasn't quite as good as the versions I had in Berlin, this is a fantastic light beer and a great beer for the summer.
Final Grade: B
Top 100 Beers Tasted: 24
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