Two Saturdays ago, whilst trolling the beverage aisle in the Hnúšťa Tesco, my glance happened to land on a beer bottle that was familiar and yet slightly different. One of the best Slovak beers, in my own generally uninformed estimation, is Zlatý Bažant (that's "Golden Pheasant" in English). Most Zlatý bottles have dark-green foil on the neck and cap, or black for the dark variety or silver for the nonalcoholic; but this one caught my eye because it had more of a yellow-green foil, while the corresponding cans are the same yellow-green color. The label proclaimed that this was Bažant Radler, and featured some lemons. After seeing the beer here in Tisovec, I sent C a message about it, saying I wished he was here to try it and let me know how it was. "Be the test pilot..." was his reply.
I'm a sucker for a two-for-one deal, for any snack food labeled "limited edition," and for non-standard flavor combinations, especially when it comes to sodas and chocolate. Even though I'm usually not interested in beer, this new one appealed to my flavor curiosity. So with only a little encouragement from C, I decided to try it. Even if I hated it, a half-liter bottle only cost 75 euro-cents, so it wasn't a big financial investment.
(And C, "Hungry Eyes" totally came on the radio in the Coop when I was shopping.)
In the bottle, the beer looked a little cloudy, though I poured some into a glass for a better look. (Let us all try to ignore the horror and indignity of there being beer in my Kofola mug.) I was pleasantly surprised to find that this beer is light, and not as bitter as expected. A revelation: I didn't hate it. The reason became apparent when I turned to Google. Turns out Radler is the German equivalent of shandy, a mixture of beer and something from the lemonade family. As a result, it's not as high in alcohol as straight beer. I hope we've all learned something today: about beer, about being adventurous, and about caving to peer pressure: sometimes it turns out okay.
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