You’ve probably been reminded by your parents a few times this summer that it’s been the hottest since ‘76. And yes Mum, it has been quite a summer. Not only because of the seemingly unyielding heatwave, but due to an astonishing England World Cup run along with what I like to call “the redemption of Gareth Southgate”, it’s been a very pleasant season indeed. Perfect beer drinking weather, in fact.
So, as fate would dictate, the moment a can of shandy lands on my desk to review, it starts tipping it down with rain. Typical. Well, technically the beer isn’t quite a shandy, but
a radler.
Coming from the German word for cyclist, the radler is typically a German-style wheat beer blended with fruit juice as opposed to lemonade. In the case of this effort from Frankfurt’s Schöfferhofer, this beverage is a 50/50 blend of its classic Hefeweizen with grapefruit juice. And it’s delicious.
It feels a little silly reviewing this beer, considering some of the other absolute corkers we’ve had on over the past few months. But it’s no less deserving of the same praise, purely because it so effortlessly fills a low-ABV gap when so many similar efforts often leave me feeling a little hollow. It’s the perfect beer for when you don’t need a beer, but you absolutely want a beer. Whether you’re basking in the hot sun or fancy swapping out your mimosa for something beer related over brunch, the radler is there for you.
In Germany the radler is celebrated for its isotonic properties (hence the name being derived from the word for cyclist), so it found its place in my life after a particularly strenuous run (OK, I won’t lie, they’re all strenuous). The one advantage of the rain bringing some cooler temperatures was the chance to enjoy some light exercise without fear of sweating out my own pelvis. And what better restorative than to crush a beverage such as this to celebrate crushing a few kms — straight from the can of course.
You can find more from beer writer Matthew Curtis as UK editor of Good Beer Hunting and on Twitter @totalcurtis. Pick up a can of The Schoff in store or online any time of the year.