Rí-freshment

I reported on Rí-Rá Lager a year ago, and now the Wicklow brewer has released a second beer. Well, sort of. Rí-Rá Lager Shandy is presumably based on the original, but cut down to 2.8% ABV with the addition of pineapple and grapefruit fizz, for a "totally tropical taste"™. There aren't many Irish radlers in circulation, so I was genuinely pleased to find this one: a very low-alcohol option that doesn't have the problems of non-alcoholic beers. Or at least shouldn't have.

However, it turned out that it's not really a substitute for proper beer any more than they are. The fruit syrup is laid on... generously, making it taste far more like the soft drink it's trying to ape than a lager. On the aroma that's rather artificial, with an almost metallic tang. This effect shows up in the aftertaste as well. The main flavour is quite tasty, as long as you have a good tolerance for sweetness. Pineapple is dominant, although there is a minor countermelody of citrus, albeit not identifiable as grapefruit specifically. I guess the colour has been affected by the additives as well: it's the pale gold of a glass of white wine, something that you just don't get from malt.

In fairness to the brewery, they make no claims for this other than it's refreshing, and it is. Drink it cold enough and the cloying syrup doesn't get a chance to kick in properly. I'd be wary of following it with a second, any more than I'd drink Lilt or Fanta by the litre. I give it a cautious welcome, but Schöfferhofer and Stiegl do this kind of thing better.