Robin Shepard
Last summer Wisconsin Brewing Company worked with UW-Madison’s Campus Craft Brewery and Potosi Brewing to create Re:Fresh grapefruit radler. This summer the brewery is expanding the Re:Fresh line to include three versions of radler: cherry-lime, Rio grapefruit and raspberry-lemon. Of the trio, the cherry lime steals the show.
What is it? Re:Fresh cherry lime radler from Wisconsin Brewing Company.
Style: The radler is a mixture of German lager and fruit soda. A radler is sometimes confused with the shandy, which is a British invention and usually involves a wider range of beer mixtures such as lemonade and ginger beer. Radlers and shandies are intended to be light-bodied, low alcohol and thirst-quenching.
Background: WBC calls Re:Fresh a radler; however, it also falls into the trendy description of hard seltzer, which are among the fastest growing beverage niches in the U.S. Hard seltzers are currently only around 1.8 percent of the flavored malt beverage market, however in 2018 their overall sales grew by nearly 170 percent.
“Re:Fresh [as a brand] is evolving,” says Wisconsin Brewing Company’s Kirby Nelson. “There’s so much interest in hard seltzers that we decided to give it a try.” Last summer’s Re:Fresh was based on a light helles lager with added flavor from real grapefruit. Nelson recently decided to adjust the approach by making the beverage lighter by relying more on the effervescence of the soda. The result also reduces the fruity sweetness often found in radlers and shandies.
This time the base beer is a gluten-free lager made with sorghum and rice. The beer is brewed first, then the cherry-lime soda is created in the brew kettle featuring Door County tart cherry concentrate from Cherryland’s Best of Appleton, along with lime concentrate. The juice and water are mixed to make a fruit soda added to the beer following fermentation. Once in the can, it’s pasteurized. Six-packs sell for around $10.
It should appeal to those looking for a light, low-calorie drink. “There are a lot of drinkers who are aware of carbohydrates and sugars. It’s a segment of the market that is growing,” says Nelson. All of this year’s Re:Fresh radlers finish at 4 percent ABV and are approximately 110 calories. They sell individually, and in a mixed six-pack of all three. Later this fall WBC will introduce a fourth radler featuring cranberries and apples.
Tasting notes:
- Aroma: Fruity. A light fruity nose with hints of cherry and lime.
- Appearance: Hazy orange copper. A bubbly light-pink frothy head.
- Texture: Light, with lots of bubbly body.
- Taste: A crisp bubby light semi-sweet cherry flavor. The lime comes in the background.
- Finish/Aftertaste: The crisp and bubbly sharpness of the soda brings out crisp notes of lime.
Glassware: The weizen glass is ideal to show off the beer’s brilliant golden color and gently focus the grapefruit aroma.
Pairs well with: picnic fare such as sandwiches and salads.
The Verdict: Re:Fresh cherry lime radler is bubbly and refreshing. Its crispness comes in part because soda makes up about 60 percent of the liquid, which also allows the fruity notes of cherry and lime to emerge. The beer side of this radler is subdued, less evident than in last summer’s approach made with the helles lager and grapefruit soda. The gluten-free base beer remains light, mild and clean on its own; meaning there’s really no bready-maltiness for the fruit to cling to and therefore what gets noticed most is the crisp clean bubbly soda and the sharp accents of cherry and lime. For hard-core beer fans, this drink is likely to be a little too light and fizzy. However, for summer refreshment, a Re:Fresh cherry lime lives up to its name.
