Critical Mass: Ein Radler Bitte!

At the Paragon Bar and Café of the Claremont, departing housemate HZ ordered a "Radler," or "bicyclist" auf Deutsch. In his honor, I decided to go along and order the same thing. A Radler is a beer-based concoction made by blending equal parts beer (choose a light and refreshing one, like a pilsner), with lemonade or a lemon/lime soda. In French it has a slightly sassier name, panaché! In German, it is also known as a type of Biergemischgetränke. Remember that word for your next beer pop quiz, kids. There are many theories, reasons, and stories behind this beverage. One of them, according to professor of Beer and music, "pa" (aka Dr. Clare G. Rayner) is as follows:

"On a hot summer afternoon in June of 1922, Franz Xaver Kugler, the owner of a Gasthaus high in the Deisenhofner Kugler-Alm in Bavaria realized that he did not have enough beer to accomodate all of his guests for the day, both bicyclists as well as mountain hikers. Hence, he decided to offer his remaining beer, interestingly a dark beer, as a mixture of beer and lemon-lime soda of which he had an ample supply, and thus he nick-named his newly-found drink after the bicyclists--hence a RADLER!"

Or, if you ask HZ, it's the source of a conundrum: "it's good because it's only have the alcohol, but it's so good it makes you drink twice as much."

HZ goes for the pour 

In any case, the combination of two thirst quenching drinks only makes things more thirst quenching. Think of it as a grownup lemonade with a bit of the bitters and the malt. Mix up a Trumer Pils with a freshly made lemonade, and say Prost! to a perfect afternoon of sippin' in the sun.

The musical pairing: "Tour de France," by the German electronic music group, Kraftwerk. Other bicycle songs can be found on this list of 10 Best Songs About Bicycles, shared to me by a local Carillonist. 

 ***BONUS TIME!***
"He was a hardworking farm boy. She was an Italian supermodel. He knew he would have just one chance..." to say, cin cin! The Alternative Whisky Academy can teach you how to say "cheers" in many, many languages.

Iechyd da! (Welsh)

Congrats, and good luck, HZ and CL!