Brewery: Jacob Leinenkugel Brewing Company
Style: Shandy/Radler ABV: 4.2%
"A shandy is beer mixed with a little something extra like soda, juice or ginger ale. Leinenkugel’s® Summer Shandy® is a traditional wheat beer with refreshing natural lemonade flavor that makes it perfect for the sun-splashed summer months. For a fun and fresh food pairing, try it with lighter, brighter foods like shrimp quesadillas, pan-seared scallops with lemon vinaigrette, or lemon chicken with pasta."
This is certainly not a super crafty beer. As a matter of fact this is probably the least "craft" beer that we've reviewed to date. However, if you're looking for a refreshing beer on a hot summer day; this one may fit the bill.
It pours a pale, somewhat hazy yellow with a white head. The aroma is mostly a soft lemon smell with the slightest hint of wheat. This one is very light and crisp in the mouth with a decent amount of carbonation. As expected the flavor is mostly lemon but you do get some hints of wheat in there. It is a surprisingly well balanced beer.
Summer Shandy will NOT blow away any of your craft beer friends. It may, however, impress your more casual beer drinking friends. Although it won't be at the top of any craft beer lists it does have some redeeming (refreshing) qualities and pairs well with food. As you can see here we paired it with boiled crawfish and it complimented them perfectly.
Bayou Barley Score: 79
