Good beer for a radler style ale.

[msa8967]

I am looking for suggestion on a recipe to brew in order to make a radler style ale where the beer will be mixed with lemonade in a 2:1 ratio. I know that lighter styles work well for this but I want to know if anyone has a more specific recipe or type of beer that was good for this project.

 

[brewbama]

In Germany, I thought they always use Pils. But any Helles or Blonde Lager should suffice.

 

[msa8967]

I should have mentioned that I was looking more into brewing an ale instead of a lager. I don't really have the space set up for doing lagers.

 

[drchris83]

Pale ale, C-hops, if you're planning on using a lemon type soda pop. Maybe a sort of wit with orange peel and coriander - I've had succes with brewing up something witlike but using champagne yeast, almost made adding soda superfluous.

 

[MaxStout]

If you don't want to brew a pils or helles, and do an ale, you could get similar results from a Kölsch.

 

[drchris83]

Unintentional double post.

 

[MaxStout]

Is there an echo in here?

 

[msa8967]

I plan on using lemonade to mix with the ale. The last time I did this was with 1/2 of keg of left over summer shandy.

 

[drchris83]

Are you using lemonade as in pink lemonade or the like, or are you using a sparkling beverage, like sprite or something like it? In case of the former, I got nothing. In case of the latter (which is what's being done here in German-speaking Europe), I recommend you either brew up a pale ale with subdued hop aroma (preferably C-hops as I imagine they meld well with the lemonade, and there is one commercial Austrian brewery that uses Cascade for their NA-Zwickel which makes a decent Radler) and a neutral ale yeast at low temps. Or you take a more daring approach and brew a relatively lightweight Wit-like concoction using Orange peel and coriander and either a white wine or champagne yeast, which is something I have done in the past. Mixed very well with Fanta or Sprite (traditional soda pop choices for making Radler) or Almdudler (a herb based soda pop not entirely unlike ginger ale). This didn't give me Radler in the conventional sense, but it was a marvellously refreshing beverage for hot summer days and yardwork.

 

[CanAusBrewer]

I would recommend the Lemon Lime Hefeweizen. The refreshing lime flavour would go great with lemonade. This is a very refreshing summer beer.

https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f70/lemon-lime-hefe-weizen-255659/

 

[JayDubWill]

You'll want something fairly light, Cream of Three Crops cream ale fits the bill nicely. If you want to keep it german go for the Kolsch but keep the IBU's on the lower side. Pale Ale would be 'out of style' for this drink, weissbier and wits are unusual but interesting options.

 

[drchris83]

Cream of Three Crops is excellent advice. As Helles (traditional Bavarian choice) and Märzen/Octoberfest (traditional Austrian choice) do have bready characteristics, you may want to sub in some Vienna, maybe even some Munich (albeit in smallish amounts) to create some more character.

 

[Brauer]

I lived in Germany for about 5 years and have drank my fair share of radlers. In my experience it is usually made with pilsner and a lemon/lime flavored soda at a ratio of 1:1 although 1:1 is a little on the sweet side. I prefer 2 parts pils 1 part soda. You could use sprite, 7up, sierra mist, lemon fanta or even squirt. I would find a pilsner recipe and use tettnager, hallertau,....or any other noble hop. Make it as an Ale with a neutral yeast maybe cal ale(wlp001) or US-05 and cold crash it for a good 5 days. Prost!

 

[msa8967]

I am going to try two 3 gallon batches using 3 gallons of beer to 2 gallons of lemonade. First one will be Cream of the Crops using some pilsen malt with some Vienna added. After this one I will try the lemon-lime hefe for the really hot weather in July and August. Thanks for the feedback everyone and I will post how these results come out.

 

[JayDubWill]

Just remember the yeast will ferment any sugar in the lemonade. Radlers are usually mixed on the spot and drank right away.

 

[msa8967]

Just remember the yeast will ferment any sugar in the lemonade. Radlers are usually mixed on the spot and drank right away.

What I did last time was ferment the beer for 3 weeks and then cold crash it for a week. Transfer to a keg and then add the lemonade. Force carb for 2-3 weeks prior to drinking. Does this seem OK?

 

[JayDubWill]

The cold will inhibit fermentation but not necessarily prevent it. In the short term it will more than likely be fine, just don't let the beer warm up in the keg for any length of time or the yeast will "reactivate."

 

[Schumed]

I do Radlers all the time I do 3-4% cream ale fermented with Kolsch Yeast