Sunday Night Suds - Saranac Shandy

This week's Sunday Night Suds looks at Saranac Shandy.

I will be he first to admit that there are some styles of beer that I am just not a big fan of. I like my IPAs, APAs, Stouts, Porters, Bocks and Dopplebocks. I occasionally try other styles of beers which are not among my favorites (or as one of my bosses would say, they are not in my wheelhouse). While these would not be styles of beer that I would want to stock up on, I can still appreciate when a particular beer maintains the proper characteristics of its beer style.

But then there is this stepchild called the Shandy or German Rader. Its not truly a beer style, its a mad science experiment which people drink when they are really looking to spike their beer with something to eradicate the beer flavor. Or at least that is the way that it seems to me.

The folks at BA did not define the Radler style of beer, so I had to go to the fount of all knowledge --wikipedia (hey if its online, it must be true) which defines Radler as:

a Biermischgetränk (beer-based mixed drink) with a long history in German-speaking regions. Consisting of a 50%/50% or 60%/40% mixture of various types of beer and German-style soda pop or lemonade, the invention of the Radler has been widely attributed to the Munich gastronomer Franz Xaver Kugler in 1922. However the recipe for the Radler had been mentioned as early as 1912. Nowadays, the Radler is drunk not only in Bavaria but across Germany, Austria, Bulgaria, Czech Republic, Croatia, Hungary, Lithuania, Slovenia, Northern Italy and Republic of Macedonia. During the summer months, Radler is very popular due to its reputation of being a thirst-quencher. The product is now being offered by various breweries in bottles and cans.

Try as I might, I just can't get past the first through sips of a Shandy, even when it is produced by a quality brewery like Saranac. The Saranac Shandy had a sugar, ginger and lemon flavor that hit me in the face like mountain dew on steroids. The sugar content is so high that I could feel it on my teeth. I can't tell you about successive sips, because I really couldn't get past the first few.

Saranac Shandy is under the Kosher Supervision of the Va'ad of Detroit as is every other beer produced at the Matt Brewery plant in Utica, NY. To see what the experts on Beer Advocate think about the Summer Brew, please follow this link - www.beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/99/80668.

As always, please remember to drink responsibly and to never waste good beer unless there is no designated driver.

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