Unsweetened Homemade Shandy!

Just over forty 40 years ago, I drank some shandy in Paris and enjoyed it. Then, after that I never had it. That is until a few months ago, when someone gave me a bottled Israeli version. I pretty much spit it out. It was totally awful, just too sweet and no beer taste at all.

That is until the other night...

I had a partially full (ok, almost empty) bottle of this Emek Ha'ela Irish Red Ale sitting in the fridge, because my attempt to drink it a couple of weeks before had been sabotaged by its hyperactive bubbly foam/head. And then when I tried to finish it a week or so later, it was disappointing, so there was still some left in the bottle.

It cost too much to spill down the drain, and I haven't  recently made potted beef which probably would have been a good companion. So, I decided to try something much more radical, and possibly medicinal. I had it with freshly squeezed lemon juice and even left the lemon in the mug.

The lemon added a bit more life to it, and it didn't bother me at all that the beer was totally flat, no foam at all. I'm not a great fan of carbonation and sodas. And it certainly was not sweet. OK some of you beer mavins may be groaning in disgust, as if this is sacrilegious, but I liked it!