Radler
A Radler is an alcoholic beverage consisting of equal parts of lager beer and lemonade. In Northern Germany, it is also known as an Alster (short for "Alsterwasser") or Potsdamer. In German, or at least its Bavarian dialect, Radler literally means cyclist. It is also quite common in Austria.
In the German state of Bavaria, a mix of Weißbier (wheat beer) and lemonade is called a Russ. Weißbier mixed with cola is called a "Neger," the German word for Negro.
Similar cocktails of beer and lemonade are known in England as a shandy and in France as panaché.
A New Zealand brewery Monteith's brew a beer called Radler. It has a distinct lemon and lime flavour to it, which makes it easy to drink for those who don't like the bitterness of beer, and often considered more thirst quenching than the average beer.
Radler was invented by the Munich gastronomer Franz Xaver Kugler when in September 1922 approximately 13,000 cyclists visited his tavern. On this particular day his beer started to run out, so he mixed the remaining beer with lemonade and pretended he created the Radler especially for the cyclists so that they could drive home without the risk of falling off their bicycles. During the summer months, Radler is still very popular in Bavaria and the rest of Germany, due to its reputation of being a thirst-quencher.
