radler

There are several theories about the origin of the cyclist. One of them says that the innkeeper Franz Xaver Kugler invented the shandy when he almost ran out of beer on a particularly warm and crowded day on his alpine pasture in Oberhaching, Bavaria. To avoid the shame of empty beer glasses, he mixed his beer with water or lemonade and used this trick to stretch his supply. Another legend assumes that the cyclist was invented by bicycle clubs. Because beer itself is too rich to do vigorous sport afterwards, the resourceful cyclists created the beer of the same name, which, thanks to the added lemonade, only has half as much percentage.

It will probably never be possible to say with absolute certainty who penned the shandy, but you can definitely treat yourself to a bottle or two while you do your research. And a cool shandy is really refreshing in other ways too.

The Greif brewery in Forchheim has two fine specimens in its range: the purple-colored Kirschradler Cherry and a classic version with sparkling lemonade. The latter consists of 50% tasty full beer, which is refined with a sparkling lemonade made from sun-ripened lemons. The shandy tastes best at the right temperature on a sunny, warm summer day.