Radler Cocktail Recipe
Beer cut half and half with lemonade — barely alcoholic, and built for drinking in daylight.
- Category: Popular
- Glass: Highball glass
- ABV: 3%
- Difficulty: Easy
- Prep time: ~3 min
Ingredients
- Beer180 ml (6.1 oz)
- Lemonade180 ml (6.1 oz)
How to Make It
- Chill both the beer and the lemonade thoroughly.
- Pour the lemonade into a tall glass first.
- Add the beer slowly down the side of the glass to keep the head small.
- Garnish with a lemon slice.
Garnish
Lemon slice
What it tastes like
It smells of lemon and lime peel, it is carbonated, it drinks cool and easy and it is low in alcohol.
The technique
Built in the glass. Ice goes into the serving glass, the ingredients go on top, and you stir once if at all. Anything carbonated goes in LAST and never gets stirred; every turn of the spoon costs you bubbles. Fill the glass to the rim with ice: less ice melts faster, not slower.
Glass and ice
A tall, narrow highball. The narrowness does real work — less surface area means the carbonation lasts longer and the ice melts more slowly.
Ingredient notes and substitutes
- Beer
- A plain, light lager works best; hoppy or very bitter beers fight the lemonade. It has to be cold, because this mix is not diluted with ice.
- Lemonade
- This means fizzy lemonade — lemon soda, not still. If you use homemade lemonade, the fizz has to come from sparkling water, or the drink falls flat.
The Story
A Bavarian innkeeper is said to have invented it in 1922 when thousands of cyclists arrived and he was running out of beer; Radler means cyclist.
Frequently asked questions
- How is a Radler mixed?
- It is built in the glass and served in a highball glass.
- How strong is a Radler?
- Roughly 3% ABV as served — lighter than a beer — a long-conversation drink that takes a second round.
- Can a Radler be made without alcohol?
- Simply leaving the spirit out does not work — the body and the bitterness go with it. The 86 alcohol-free recipes in the catalogue are built to hit that balance from the start.
- Is a Radler hard to make?
- Easy. No bar kit required — a measure, ice and a jar will do.
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Alcoholic drink recipes are intended for those aged 18 and over. Please drink responsibly.