DailyDirt: If You're Into Weird Beers...

from the urls-we-dig-up dept

Fri, Dec 5th 2014 5:00pm — Michael Ho

There are thousands of different beers in the world, so it would take a while to try all of them. And at some point in a hypothetical exhaustive test taste, you'll run into the problem of how to define what a beer really is. If you're not too picky, here are a few kinds of beer-like beverages that you might want to try.

Heineken has diluted beer with lemonade and introduced this concoction to 23 markets. Adding a lime wedge to a Corona isn't too strange for Americans, but a 50-50 mix of lemon soda and beer strays pretty far from beer. [url]
If you've ever wanted to "just add water" to beer concentrate to get a beer, you can buy such a thing from Pat's Backcountry Beverages. Pat's BCB sells a portable carbonator and a couple of different beer mixes that take a few minutes to turn into 16oz bottles of freshly-made beer. [url]
Starbucks is testing a beer-like beverage (without alcohol) called the Dark Barrel Latte. Supposedly, it mimics the dark, malty flavors of a Guinness... but you can get it with whipped cream and a caramel drizzle. Uh, yum? [url]

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Filed Under: alcohol, beer, beverages, corona, drinks, food, lemonade, reinheitsgebot
Companies: guinness, heineken, pat's backcountry beverages, starbucks

14 Comments

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Anonymous Coward, 5 Dec 2014 @ 5:06pm

Hey mike, don't wanna rain on your parade here, but lemonade with beer in is nothing new. It's called a shandy, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shandy, and done right, it's delicious.

Heck, it might even make Heineken drinkable, and that's QUITE a feat.
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JC Carter, 5 Dec 2014 @ 5:16pm

Re: beersie
and a shandy is roughly equivalent to a german style called Radler. A generic name that was captured and trademarked by a local NZ arm of Heinekin, DB breweries who owns Monteiths. The NZ court allowed this, as they always favour the big guys.
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Anonymous Coward, 5 Dec 2014 @ 5:18pm

Lager shandy would be Heinekin or similar with lemonade. (Since in the right-thinking world Lager such as Heinekin is not beer).

Bitter shandy is left as an exercise to the reader.

Always with salted peanuts and cheese & onion crisps (chips?).
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Anonymous Coward, 5 Dec 2014 @ 5:50pm

As has been pointed out above, beer and lemonade is known either as Radler or Alsterwasser (depending on the region) in Germany. Beer and cola is called Diesel and is equally common.

The real difference between this classic mixed drink and the American 'innovation' is that American beer is basically water already, so I can understand that the thought of diluting it further is off-putting to you Bud Lite and Miller Genuine Piss swiggers.
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Anonymous Coward, 5 Dec 2014 @ 5:52pm

Re:
Forgot: But what can one expect in terms of Beer-drinking culture from a country that serves Hefeweizen ice-cold in plastic cups with a lime wedge?
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Anonymous Coward, 5 Dec 2014 @ 7:07pm

Re:
What does American beer have in common with sex in a canoe?
It's fucking close to water.
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Anonymous Coward, 5 Dec 2014 @ 7:10pm

There are recipes for 'ancient' beers out there that will brew some high gravity drinks. We're talking, higher ABV than wine.
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Anonymous Coward, 5 Dec 2014 @ 7:17pm

Re:
Hey now, while Murican mass produced piss-water is mass produced piss-water, the US actually has a very thriving craft-brew industry. We make a fucking ton of awesome beers. We just also happen to make a lot of shitty beer too. And heck, even our piss-water is pretty remarkable in its consistency. I brew beer, mead, and some non-grape wines, and it astounds me how every single batch of our piss-water turns out exactly the same as the last.
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Anonymous Coward, 5 Dec 2014 @ 8:37pm

Re:
I don't know of Shandy and I assume it is good.

My experience with similar styled packaged beers is that they are very disgusting, tending towards third rate undrinkable soda.
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Anonymous Coward, 5 Dec 2014 @ 8:46pm

Re: Re:
Yap. But the easiest to export is the cheap pee-pee water which is why people from abroad come to associate bad quality beer with the country. Homebrewing has had a renaissance the last 15 years and the quality has increased significantly on those products. Too bad they aren't produced in large enough quantities and at prices where the costs and hassle of exporting is not more demanding than producing it.
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Andrew D. Todd, 6 Dec 2014 @ 5:44am

Beer Concentrate = Grog
That is what both the Royal Navy and the United States Navy have always called "Grog." You take spirits (traditionally rum or brandy, rather than whiskey), and mix them with water, down to 3.2 beer strength, so that the sailors cannot get drunk, even if they trade around or save up their rations. Unlike beer, the spirits do not go bad when stored for an indefinite period.
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Anonymous Coward, 6 Dec 2014 @ 11:05am

Re: Re:
When I was a kid and visiting the UK, I asked for a lemonade and got shandy... it was quite a surprise, and not like the lemonade I was used to drinking :)

Shandy can be good if done well, otherwise it tastes like really weak beer with a strong sugary lemon bite.

Similar to how iced tea can be done well or badly (with or without alcohol).
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Sheriff Fatman, 8 Dec 2014 @ 2:33am

Re:
Is your gripe with the idea that lager in general is a type of beer, or with the idea that Heineken in particular could ever be considered as beer (or indeed, as a drink)?
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Anonymous Coward, 8 Dec 2014 @ 9:30am

Re: Re: beersie
Nothing like a radler/shandy on a hot summer day! Throw in some brats and sauerkraut, and you have one heck of a meal.
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