Brewed By: Jacob Leinenkugel Brewing Company in Chippewa Falls, Wisconsin
Purchased: 12oz CAN (fuck yeah!) from a 12-pack bought at Jewel in IL; 2012
Style/ABV: Fruit Beer, 4.20%
Continuing with the summer trend...tonight I'm reviewing a true summer beer. A summer shandy from the folks at Leinenkugels.
The Jacob Leinenkugel Brewing Company is an interesting company. First...the company is owened by MillerCoors LLC, which is owned by SABMiller. That makes this company a micro-macro brewery, kind of like Goose Island. As I understand it, Leinenkugel still brews ther own shit (or at least some of it). But every time you buy a Leinenkugel beer, proceeds go to Miller. In fact, recently, MillerCoors LLC announced their new craft beer company, "Tenth and Black Beer Co," which was named after the 10th Street Brewery in Milwaukee that brews Leinenkugel and Blue Moon beers.
I don't want to totally shaft Leinenkugel just because they are owned by SABMiller. There is a whole history of the brewery on their Heritage Page, and it's actually nicely done so I recommend checking it out. The brewery was founded in Chippewa Falls, Wisconsin, back in May 1867 by Jacob Leinenkugel and his business partner, John Miller (who, according to Wikipedia, sold his company shares in 1884). During prohibition, Leinenkugel brewed non-alcoholic "non-beer" called Leino. Unsurprisingly, the stuff wasn't popular, so the brewery started making and selling soda water instead. When prohibition ended, Leinenkugel was the largest bottler of soda water in the area. The brewery continued to expand, post-prohibition, and Leinenkugel expanded into Minnesota, Michigan, and Chicago. The brewery was purchased by the Miller Brewing Company in 1988. In 1995, the 10th Street Brewery was opened to help accommodate the growth and brew Leinenkugel beers.
Leinenkugel has two breweries: the original one in Chippewa Falls, and the 10th Street Brewery in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. According to Wikipedia, 95% of the Leinenkugel's sales by volume are brewed in Chippewa Falls. The 10th Street Brewery brews the Leinenkugel's Auburn Ale, Berry Weiss, Creamy Dark, Hefeweizen, Honey Weiss and the Original pale lager.
If you check out the Summer Shandy page...you get some bare-bone info about this beer. The beer is described as a traditional take on the German radler. It is described as crisp, refreshing, and brewed with natural lemonade flavor. Clocking in at 13.5 IBUs, packing 130 calories per bottle, and punching 4.20% ABV...this is a mild beer. Brewed with Cluster hops, Pale and Wheat malt, this sort of sounds like a lighter beer. And that's exactly what a Shandy is. More specifically, a "German radler" is a Biermischgetränke ("beer-based mixed drinks") that consists of a 50:50 or 60:40 mixture of beer and sparkling lemon soda. So tonight's beer sounds about right. The can states that this is a Weiss beer brewed with honey and natural "lemonade flavor." With all that said, let's crack a can open and get on with this review.
I'm actually really impressed by the pour (admittedly: I had low expectations, like a kid with an alcoholic dad waiting to play catch in the yard). This thing pours with 4 to 5 fingers of super foamy, cloudy, Hefeweizen-looking head. And the head is hanging around. In low-light, the beer has a super hazy, pale/yellow/lemonade/condensed juice/piss color. In bright light, this beer is a super hazy yellow color, with hints of orange coming off it. The head is super white, and as it is receding it is leaving some lacing. There is about a finger's worth of head sustaining, which is cool. I can't see the carbonation due to the haze, but this is soda and beer. Of course it's carbonated. I rarely give this beer glass treatment...but it doesn't look so bad in a glass.
As far as the aroma goes, there's not a lot to discuss here. I'm getting huge lemon, lemon soda, graininess, lemon drop candies, Lemon Heads, and sugary esters. You get a hint of adjunct in the nose as well: maybe corn?
The taste is like the nose. I'm getting lemon, grain, and a bit of an adjuncty note in the back. There's a hint of wheat in here as well. The lemon is nice, but maybe a touch subdued even. I'm getting lemon zest, fresh squeezed lemon, lemonade, 7up, sprite, lemon soda, and seltzer water.
This is a light Average for me. This drinks like soda with beer qualities, and that's how I would drink this beer. This is a beer meant to be consumed in the sun on a hot summer day. If you are looking for developed flavors, or a beer that can stand on its own, look somewhere else. What I think makes this beer worth checking out are the big lemon-soda notes, and the session-ability. You can drink 12 of these in an afternoon if you wanted to. And you'll feel like a champ doing it. This beer makes me wish I had a beach, or a pool. I'm going to go get my garden hose and pretend I'm not white trash. So until next time folks, don't drink and break the German beer purity laws.
Continuing with the summer trend...tonight I'm reviewing a true summer beer. A summer shandy from the folks at Leinenkugels.
The Jacob Leinenkugel Brewing Company is an interesting company. First...the company is owened by MillerCoors LLC, which is owned by SABMiller. That makes this company a micro-macro brewery, kind of like Goose Island. As I understand it, Leinenkugel still brews ther own shit (or at least some of it). But every time you buy a Leinenkugel beer, proceeds go to Miller. In fact, recently, MillerCoors LLC announced their new craft beer company, "Tenth and Black Beer Co," which was named after the 10th Street Brewery in Milwaukee that brews Leinenkugel and Blue Moon beers.
I don't want to totally shaft Leinenkugel just because they are owned by SABMiller. There is a whole history of the brewery on their Heritage Page, and it's actually nicely done so I recommend checking it out. The brewery was founded in Chippewa Falls, Wisconsin, back in May 1867 by Jacob Leinenkugel and his business partner, John Miller (who, according to Wikipedia, sold his company shares in 1884). During prohibition, Leinenkugel brewed non-alcoholic "non-beer" called Leino. Unsurprisingly, the stuff wasn't popular, so the brewery started making and selling soda water instead. When prohibition ended, Leinenkugel was the largest bottler of soda water in the area. The brewery continued to expand, post-prohibition, and Leinenkugel expanded into Minnesota, Michigan, and Chicago. The brewery was purchased by the Miller Brewing Company in 1988. In 1995, the 10th Street Brewery was opened to help accommodate the growth and brew Leinenkugel beers.
Leinenkugel has two breweries: the original one in Chippewa Falls, and the 10th Street Brewery in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. According to Wikipedia, 95% of the Leinenkugel's sales by volume are brewed in Chippewa Falls. The 10th Street Brewery brews the Leinenkugel's Auburn Ale, Berry Weiss, Creamy Dark, Hefeweizen, Honey Weiss and the Original pale lager.
If you check out the Summer Shandy page...you get some bare-bone info about this beer. The beer is described as a traditional take on the German radler. It is described as crisp, refreshing, and brewed with natural lemonade flavor. Clocking in at 13.5 IBUs, packing 130 calories per bottle, and punching 4.20% ABV...this is a mild beer. Brewed with Cluster hops, Pale and Wheat malt, this sort of sounds like a lighter beer. And that's exactly what a Shandy is. More specifically, a "German radler" is a Biermischgetränke ("beer-based mixed drinks") that consists of a 50:50 or 60:40 mixture of beer and sparkling lemon soda. So tonight's beer sounds about right. The can states that this is a Weiss beer brewed with honey and natural "lemonade flavor." With all that said, let's crack a can open and get on with this review.
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| Leinenkugels Summer Shandy |
As far as the aroma goes, there's not a lot to discuss here. I'm getting huge lemon, lemon soda, graininess, lemon drop candies, Lemon Heads, and sugary esters. You get a hint of adjunct in the nose as well: maybe corn?
The taste is like the nose. I'm getting lemon, grain, and a bit of an adjuncty note in the back. There's a hint of wheat in here as well. The lemon is nice, but maybe a touch subdued even. I'm getting lemon zest, fresh squeezed lemon, lemonade, 7up, sprite, lemon soda, and seltzer water.
This is super light with supportive, but moderate-high carbonation. At 4.20% ABV, this beer is drinkable, and refreshing like water on a hot summer day. You could seriously pound a 12-pack of this if you wanted to. Not that I advise that, wink, wink. Palate depth is okay, if not a touch watery. I wish there was more of that soda-lemon kick. But there's plenty of soda notes in here. Complexity is like broken dreams. Dad: why didn't you play catch with me? Why were you too busy drinking 12 Summer Shandys. Up front it's all like lemon and grain; the middle is phat lemon; and the back is lingering lemon with some adjuncty-malt notes.
The dilemma: how the fuck do I rate this thing? This is basically soda beer, with some grain/malt notes. This shit is refreshing, and would make any hot day better. I actually like this a lot for what it is, so:
Rating: Average
My band had a big CD party for our second CD. We told the bar to load us up with 8 cases of their best beer. We got Leinenkugel's garbage. All over the place were open bottles with a sip out of them. It was "no one is getting laid tonight" beer. Total garbage.
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