Bavaria Russ'
Eder & Heylands Brauerei

Picked this up in a grocery store in Novosibirsk. It comes in a tall, tapered brown half liter bottle with the very colorful label featuring a Weizenglas and the "Bavaria" statue from Munich. The back label says this drink was invented when some Russians went to Munich in 1919 and mixed lemonade with their beer in order for the kegs to last longer. Thus, supposedly, Radler was born. Ingredients conform to the purity law - plus the lemonade. Best before 7/4/04, I opened it on 4/2/04.

Very pale clear yellow under a mountainous white head that lingers well and leaves a bit of lace. The nose is lemony, with little of the wheat beer in evidence. The mouth is tartly sweet and very well carbonated. The taste is not bad, if you like this sort of thing. There's much more lemon here than wheat or yeast or anything else associated with the underlying Weizenbier. The beer adds some consistency and smoothes things out a bit. The malt also serves to mellow the sour from the lemon. Sure, it's drinkable. Personally, I'd rather drink a pure beer, but that's just me.