The History of Radler

When cycling became a popular pastime in Germany in the 1920s, innkeeper Franz Kugler created a bike trail through a forest that led directly from Munich to his watering hole, Kugler Alm, in the town of Deisenhofen (You can still go there today!).

One day in June of 1922, Kugler almost ran out of beer when some 13,000 cyclists came by that day. To avoid running out of beer, it dawned on him that he could combine a clear lemon soda from his cellar with the beer at a 50/50 ratio. The day was saved, and everyone loved Franz' refreshing new creation.

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From that point on, Kugler claimed to have invented a thirst-quenching beverage for the beer-loving cyclist which he called the Radlermass (Radler meaning ‘cyclist’ and Mass meaning ‘liter’). Cyclists began requesting at pubs all over Germany and the popular drink quickly took hold across the country.

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Today, radlers are founds all over the world in various styles and colors. Typically blended with lemonade or lemon soda. We decided to mix things up with our Radler and blended a perfect combination of grapefruit and tangerine in our original blend and then other great pairings as we launched new flavors.

 

Did you know that when radlers are traditionally mixed with 50/50 beer and soda, you also cut the alcohol content in half? That is where we saved the day in our own way. Instead of the 2.0 - 3.0% ABV of traditional radlers, we brew our high-alcohol base beer that, when mixed by traditional radler standards with 50% soda, lands at a perfect ABV of 4.7%.

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All this, combined with the tangy fruit blends, makes for a perfect drink to quench your thirst all year round.

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