Name: Leinenkugel’s Lemon Berry Shandy

Product of: Jacob Leinenkugel Brewing Co., Chippewa Falls, Wis.

Serving Size: 12 fl oz, 4.2 percent ABV  

Leinenkugel’s has a reputation for crafting quality beers with delightfully unexpected flavor combinations while remaining smooth and drinkable. The company may not claim responsibility for starting the craft-beer craze that’s sweeping the nation of late, but it deserves as much credit as anyone out there.

Like many, my beer preferences were limited to traditional light beers until I tried its signature product, Summer Shandy. I knew the moment the crisp combination of lemonade and wheat hit my tongue that I had crossed a one-way bridge as a beer drinker and my taste preferences would never be the same.  For those who have yet to succumb to the craft-beer craze, let the Lemon Berry Shandy be your gateway beer.

Smell: The aroma is deceptively subtle, betraying only a small preview of the lemon and wheat flavors to follow.  4.2/5

Appearance: Held to the light, the beer is a light orange with a cloudy pink hue reminiscent of grapefruit juice. The glass lacing is lasting and quite impressive for the low viscosity. 4.3/5

Taste: Sweet lemonade coats the tongue and for a fraction of an instant, you expect a muted flavor, then an explosion of blackberry, raspberry, and citrus wash over your palate.  Malty wheat flavors round out the flavors, providing for excellent balance. 4.4/5

The Lemon Berry Shandy is a versatile beer suited for hot days on the golf course or in the midst of cabin fever during the long days of Midwest winters, solidifying its position as my future go-to for converting even the most reluctant and picky of drinkers into craft-beer connoisseurs.  12.9/15