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It looks... proper: a clear gold. There's a delicious weighty sweetness, starting me thinking of helles, but quickly after the early candyfloss and golden syrup there's a harder spinach and dry tin. It's not quite a balancing act; more a seesaw: the two very different characteristics taking turns to run the flavour. Overall, though, it's a jolly decent pilsner with plenty to offer the fan of malt-forward German lager while also bringing just enough noble hops to keep the other tribe happy. And all for just over a euro can. Can't say fairer than.
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Expecting yellow I was immediately surprised by how brown it was, a clear garnet-copper. It does present like a soft drink, being bubbly but headless. And yes it tastes of lemonade: a sugary fruit concentrate with just a sprinkle of spiced ginger. There's a sizeable layer of lemon tea in the taste: dry and quenching. The problem is all the sugar stays in charge while there's no sign of the beer: nothing of the hop or the malt about it at all. I can see why the pre-mix shandies of my youth used an ale. It offers a much better base to work from.
This doesn't have the bright zing of a good radler yet lacks the depth of a old-school English shandy. There are much better options out there, even if you have to pay a little extra for them.
Is it just me or does the branding of the Rheinsbacher make it look like a shandy too?
ReplyDeleteCan't say that occurred to me. They seem to be going for the Krombacher look.
DeleteAh....Shandy Bass, drank loads of that as a kid.
ReplyDeleteMore of a Top Deck man, meself, which was far less transgressive as it didn't look like a beer.
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