The radler and shandy trend is ready for liftoff
The trend for lengthening beers into a shandy or a radler has been assisted by the rise of the no-and low category. Jessica Mason reports.
While many people are already familiar with what a shandy is, with lager being frequently topped with a serve of lemonade, radlers are lesser known in common parlance.
The beer style, which often showcases a lager diluted with a sparkling citrus juice gets its name from the German word for ‘cyclist’ reflecting how people could go to a bar and drink them and still get on their bicycles and cycle home. But how have the trends for these beer styles developed of late and what is it about them that makes them appealing to a drinker in 2025? The answer has a lot to do with changing consumption patterns when it comes to alcohol.
Speaking to the drinks business, Reading-based Siren Craft Brew head of marketing Andy Nowlan said: “There has been some really good innovation around infusing fruit into beer and we’re taking a lot of pitches in that area. We have actually just brewed a Radler with Newbarns in Edinburgh. It’s an area that can be a good fit for people looking to cut down their alcohol consumption and we can see it being a popular area across the summer.”
Nowlan explained that for brewers, taprooms and consumers alike “i’s an opportunity to have some fun – especially at events” and revealed that Siren has already served up “lageritas at Taste of London as well as Lumina Shandies at Endure24”.
Devonshire-based Utopian Brewing co-founder and managing director Richard Archer agreed that radlers and shandies are answering a need and yet highlighted how quality was still paramount.
Archer told db: “They definitely tick the drink-less-alcohol box and, done well, they can be great.”
Edinburgh’s Days Brewing co-founder Mike Gammell signalled how “as interest in lager grows—particularly more modern, lighter, and alcohol-free styles—radlers and fruit beers feel perfectly placed to ride that wave because they offer refreshment, flavour, and a laid-back feel that fits everything from summer BBQs to post-run pints”.
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According to Gammell: “There’s also huge potential in the alcohol-free space, where people are looking for new formats that feel fun and social but still align with their lifestyle” and suggested that very soon “radlers and fruit beers could become a go-to choice for a new generation of mindful drinkers”.
Yorkshire’s Vocation Brewery marketing manager Chris Mitchell agreed that “Fruit-led and lower-ABV lager styles like radlers and shandies are gaining momentum, and that growth doesn’t seem to be slowing down”. In fact, he observed how “more brands entering the space can only be a good thing – it encourages innovation, raises the bar on quality and helps to premiumise what was once seen as a more niche part of the category”.
There are other trends such as the fruit beer trend that the style is aligned against as well, as Manchester-based beer importer Morgenrot highlighted.
Morgenrot head of beer Matthew Stout pointed out, “Morgenrot has decided to align its Spanish Radler more closely with the trend for fruit beers of around the same ABV by offering it as ‘Limon’.”
Lager drinkers can also get in on the trend too, while those looking at finding something refreshing that is low in alcohol are primarily the consumers leading the charge.
Bristol’s Lost & Grounded co-founder Alex Troncoso insisted: “I think radlers and shandies are almost a beast of their own which are fuelled by people drinking lower ABV products, as well as flavoured drinks.”
In essence, the popularity of the beer style has grown also because of the fact that it straddles so many attributes of drinks people are currently on the lookout for when they visit bars and supermarkets. The ABV doesn’t terrify them and yet the beer still pack in a lot of flavour.
Wrexham Lager Beer Co operations manager Tom Cottrill added that “these formats appeal to a broad audience looking for flavourful, lower-alcohol alternatives that still deliver on taste” and, as such the trend answers these needs perfectly.
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