The Leinkugel's Summer Sampler

is what my boy brought over today.  It has three bottles each of four Leinie's brews- Summer Shandy, Honey Weiss, Canoe Paddler, and Berry Weiss.  Of these, I did need the Berry and the Canoe paddler- which gives me 13 caps of ten different Leinkugel brews.

Canoe Paddler was our first try.  A Kolsch beer- from Cologne, Gremany, warm fermented and then lagered- it was light and nice.  Then we did the Honey Weiss- while we didn't taste the honey it still was pretty good.  A bit heavier than the CP, with a hint of bitter aftertaste.  Now, from here, I was thinking, this might get really gross, because flavored beer is not my métier.

The Berry was next- and where the CP smelled like beer, and the HW didn't really have a smell, this stuff smelled like cough syrup to me.  Packed with loganberry, blackberry, and elderberry, it tasted to me just like the legendary MD 20/20, "mad dog" wine.  I really thought I wouldn't like it, but it wasn't bad.  KC actually liked it best.

Then came the one he was waiting on, the Summer Shandy.  A shandy is a beer mixed with a soft drink or juice, and this one has been heavily advertised around here, thus KC was anxious to try it.  First sniff had "lemon-fresh Joy" written all over it.  The taste though seemed about a 70-30 lemonade to beer mix.  It wasn't bad, though not what I'd mix with beer.  KC was not impressed, but Scrappy liked it.

Unfortunately, the lay-off has prevented me from getting a new binder, and Berry Weiss took the last spot in Book #4.  Canoe Paddler leads off book #5, which for now is a page from an old photo album without a home.

Okay, I've a Summer Shandy to finish off- eventually- so that's the story from the Summer Sampler taste test.