Leinenkugel Summer Shandy Review

Seasonal beer products are a welcome event and I often anticipate the change of seasons for this reason (okay, we don't really change seasons much in Houston, but you get the idea). I like winter brews most of all, but the other seasons are not without their share of memorable drinking moments. One seasonal that is pretty interesting and quite refreshing is Leinenkugel Summer Shandy, a beer made for the summer season.

Beer Commentary:

Leinenkugel Summer Shandy pours to a cloudy yellow/gold color with very little foam. The nose of this beer is unmistakably lemony, with the scent of cereal grains in the background.
This summer brew is lemony more than anything, with a taste that reminds me of lemon zest along with the faint taste of wheat malt in the background. Summer Shandy leans toward the sweet side end of the spectrum, but not by much. There are some sour notes and the slight taste of honey blended with the citrus. There is little or no discernable hop character to this product. The alcohol content of this beer is 4.2 percent by volume and a 12 oz. serving contains 130 calories.

Summer seasonal beer products can usually be counted on for refreshment character and Leinenkugel Summer Shandy is no exception. It tastes more like lemonade than beer and, under ordinary circumstances, I would not recommend it for that reason alone. But there are some qualities that make Leinenkugel Summer Shandy different from many other fruit beers and elevate it to a level of acceptability. First, the fruit is not syrupy, wine- like, or excessively sweet. It is made with lemonade so, as expected, there is a certain sour character to this beer as well. The taste of lemon is obvious, but Leinenkugel Summer Shandy doesn't taste like alcoholic Mountain Dew. It still has characteristics of beer, even though the lemon taste dominates. The flavor progresses from wheat up- front, to honey, to lemon in the finish and the overall taste is actually fairly well balanced between sweet and tart.
 

Bottom Line Viewpoint:

Overall, Leinenkugel Summer Shandy is good fruit beer with enough redeeming qualities and great refreshment to make it worthy of a recommendation. It isn't excessively sweet and while I would like it more if the wheat flavor was more pronounced, Leinenkugel Summer Shandy is still a decent beer and one I recommend for a hot summer day.