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Beer Reviews

Summer Shandy

Other reviews for this beer:
Nigel Tanner		read it ›

Jacob Leinenkugel Brewing Company
Chippewa Falls, WI
USA
http://www.leinies.com

Style: Fruit Beer
ABV: 4.2%

Jill’s Rating:
   (Recommended)


Comments:
I know Nigel hated this beer, so I was determined to find a place that sold it in single bottles because I wanted to see for myself what was wrong with it (and I didn’t want to get stuck with an entire six pack if it did turn out to be a one-mugger). After all, if it’s fruit and beer, I’m there!

Although I’d never had a shandy before, I have enjoyed a few radlers, the German take on this style. Take a helles and pour in a little lemonade, and you’ve got one Hell of a refreshing drink! Now, I’ll admit that I wasn’t quite sure Leinie’s could match good beer out of Munich, but you never know.

Right out of the bottle, this stuff looks like golden sunshine. The scent is a bit malty, but it’s not really that strong. You do get a nice whiff of lemon in here as well.

The taste is two-tiered. You get a lemon-like taste at the top of your mouth, and the bottom is a light wheat taste. Make that very light on the wheat taste. In fact, it really doesn’t taste much like beer at all (and I mean that in a good way, Nigel)—the lemon refreshes it and gives it some flavor, and the whole concoction goes down a little too smoothly. It was probably a good thing I didn’t have a whole six-pack because I could’ve easily downed it all, and well, Eddie Glick doesn’t like it when I drink copious amounts of fruit beer around the office. Something about me getting a little too giddy and trying to add fruit to his IPAs when he’s not looking.

Anyway, I did find Leinie’s Summer Shandy a perfectly acceptable beer, though I will agree that Leinie’s needs to start adding real fruit instead of fruit juice to their beer … you do get a bit of that lemon cleaner taste, but after a couple of swigs you’ll probably overlook it.

Reviewed by Jill Jaracz on November 30, 2007.

Drinkin’ And Thinkin’

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