This hot week we’ve been having has gotten me set to go through more of the light, summer beers I’ve bought for reviewing purposes. Part of that is due to the fact that the basement root cellar that serves as my beer cellar keeps my beer at a friendly 40°F in the winter, but goes to 70° and up in the summer. So I want to get these lighter beers opened while they’re still good.
Burnt City Brewing is the former Atlas Brewing, which started as a brewpub with a bowling alley on Lincoln Avenue. They ran into a trademark issue with a brewer in Washington, DC, using the Atlas name, so they rebranded last year to Burnt City Brewing and opened a production brewery in the former Jay’s potato chip factory on the South Side, which produced canned beers available through the area.
(In fact, their brewpub had on display signs and other breweriana from Chicago’s Atlas Prager brewer, which operated on Blue Island Ave. from 1891 until it was bought out by Drewry’s in 1962. But possession of merch does not count toward trademarking.)
Retrofit is their summer seasonal, a Radler, or a mix of beer with juice or soda. The mix here is described as:
Our own twist on a German tradition, this refreshing session beer was made with delicious key lime juice. Fruity and tart, with a hint of malty sweetness for balance. 3.6% ABV
So for those who are about to bike in the 90° weather, let’s pop the can and make an observation.
The smell from the first pour does have strong lime to it, more of a fresh sliced key lime than a sweet limeade. The body is an attractive brassy color under a brief head. It certainly looks more filling than some “shandies” that seem diluted. After the glass has aired for a minute, the nose gains more of a sweet limeade impression.
The taste puts key lime up front, and demonstrates the fruit’s stronger aromatics and extra tartness. The strong lime taste makes it a little difficult to just slam it down and get back on the trail. Instead, it’s got a relationship with a Berliner Weiss, a soured beer that’s sometimes cut with a bit of sweet syrup. The key lime taste is present through the entire beer, and may not be to everybody’s liking.
If I try to pick a food pairing for it, I might suggest a light snack food, like a crispbread, regular or baked tortilla chips. I would also suggest that even though most Radlers appear to have a light alcohol count, those made with the addition of juice will have had more sugar added, so the calorie count may be higher than a regular beer.
