Last Saturday, we celebrated a birthday with crabs, poppers, and beer. Forgoing the usual Natty Boh with crabs, I picked up a 12-pack of Leinenkugel’s Shandy Sampler. That’s 12 cans of 3 each: Grapefruit, Orange, Summer, and Watermelon Shandies. 

The Chippewa Falls, Wisconsin Leinenkugel Brewing Co. was established in 1867. They advertise six generations of family brewing, pretty impressive. In 1988, Miller Brewing (now MillerCoors) purchased Leinenkugel, so they are definitely not a craft beer; don’t tell anybody, but I still like these very sweet beers, especially while eating crabs.

Traditionally, a shandy is a beer mixed with juice. The juice is usually lemonade and the beer is often a lighter style beer, (i.e. weiss beer or hefeweizen). Leinenkugel Shandies or Leinies are weiss beers with lemonade (Summer Shandy), grapefruit, orange, or watermelon juice. BTW, a weiss beer is defined by BJCP as a mild wheat beer smelling of clove and banana.

My friend, Katie, inquired about beers to drink with crabs. I mentioned Leinies and she made a face, she’s not a fan. Apparently, her husband and his family are from Wisconsin and all adore Leinenkugel. I guess it’s a Wisconsin pride thing.

Of the Leinies, my personal favorite flavor is grapefruit. The citrus/grapefruit counters the sweetness nicely. The rest in order of preference are watermelon, summer (or lemonade) and orange. I found the orange shandy much too artificial in flavor for my taste.

Overall, I enjoy an occasional Leinie in the summer and they are usually a hit for the newbie beer drinker.  I try to keep a few in the fridge during the warm months.

Cheers!

Warren