# A question for bicycling beer drinkers **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Tags:** beer\ **Created:** [May 17, 2022, 7:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-question-for-bicycling-beer-drinkers/964571 "2022-05-17T19:50:21Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Son\_of\_a\_Rich](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/son_of_a_rich/32/5439_2.png) [@Son\_of\_a\_Rich](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Son_of_a_Rich)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2022, 7:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-question-for-bicycling-beer-drinkers/964571/1 "2022-05-17T19:50:21Z")
There’s a Lite beer commercial that depicts a guy struggling up a mountain road. He gets to the top, and celebrates by pulling out a Lite, and dousing himself with it. That wouldn’t be particularly refreshing would it? Do people actually do this? Wouldn’t it make the rest of your ride sticky and stinky? ---
**Author:** ![What\_Exit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/what_exit/32/10652_2.png) [@What\_Exit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/What_Exit)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2022, 7:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-question-for-bicycling-beer-drinkers/964571/2 "2022-05-17T19:58:35Z")
You missed the point of the commercial. They were implying that the light beer might as well be water. The idea they were playing on was cooling off by pouring a bottle of water over themselves. I think they were mocking Michelob Ultra or Coors Light. Notoriously low taste watery beers. Also I am going to move this to the Café. ---
**Author:** ![EinsteinsHund](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/einsteinshund/32/8400_2.png) [@EinsteinsHund](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EinsteinsHund)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2022, 8:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-question-for-bicycling-beer-drinkers/964571/3 "2022-05-17T20:13:39Z")
I’m confused: I’ve always thought that the stuff Americans call light beer is alcohol-_reduced_, not alcohol-free. If I’m right in that regard, I’d be dazzled, because here an ad combining cycling with drinking alcohol wouldn’t fly at all. Biking drunk is almost as illegal as driving drunk, though the threshold is a bit higher, and you can lose your driver’s licence for cars biking intoxicated. ---
**Author:** ![AlsoNamedBort](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alsonamedbort/32/3213_2.png) [@AlsoNamedBort](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AlsoNamedBort)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2022, 8:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-question-for-bicycling-beer-drinkers/964571/4 "2022-05-17T20:16:14Z")
> [@EinsteinsHund](#): > > I’ve always thought that the stuff Americans call light beer is alcohol- _reduced_ , not alcohol-free. Light beer is fewer calories, not less alcohol particularly. But yeah, the joke in the commercial is someone using light beer like it’s water, because it has no taste. It’s an anti-light beer commercial. ---
**Author:** ![EinsteinsHund](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/einsteinshund/32/8400_2.png) [@EinsteinsHund](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EinsteinsHund)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2022, 8:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-question-for-bicycling-beer-drinkers/964571/5 "2022-05-17T20:17:14Z")
Ok, that puts it in a different perspective. I thought the ad was shilling the beer as a refreshment for bikers. ---
**Author:** ![Treppenwitz](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/treppenwitz/32/3445_2.png) [@Treppenwitz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Treppenwitz)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2022, 8:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-question-for-bicycling-beer-drinkers/964571/6 "2022-05-17T20:32:33Z")
Puts me in mind of the old Hobgoblin Brewery tag line: “What’s the matter Lager Boy, afraid you might taste something?” j ---
**Author:** ![kenobi\_65](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kenobi_65/32/13178_2.png) [@kenobi\_65](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kenobi_65)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2022, 8:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-question-for-bicycling-beer-drinkers/964571/7 "2022-05-17T20:37:00Z")
> [@AlsoNamedBort](#): > > But yeah, the joke in the commercial is someone using light beer like it’s water, because it has no taste. It’s an anti-light beer commercial. Sort of. It is, indeed, an ad for a light beer (Miller Lite, specifically), saying that _other_ light beers taste like water, unlike Miller Lite, which they claim has more flavor. Here’s the ad in question: [![]( " - YouTube") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VaGvsHUKvbk) ---
**Author:** ![What\_Exit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/what_exit/32/10652_2.png) [@What\_Exit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/What_Exit)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2022, 8:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-question-for-bicycling-beer-drinkers/964571/8 "2022-05-17T20:39:16Z")
Except it is an ad for Miller Lite I believe. So they’re trying to position themselves as the lite beer that has taste. It isn’t true, but that is the aim of their ad. ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2022, 8:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-question-for-bicycling-beer-drinkers/964571/9 "2022-05-17T20:40:12Z")
Obligatory Monty Python reference [NSFW language]: [Monty Python: American Beer like making love in a canoe - YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JbxfFOdp-bY) ---
**Author:** ![kenobi\_65](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kenobi_65/32/13178_2.png) [@kenobi\_65](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kenobi_65)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2022, 8:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-question-for-bicycling-beer-drinkers/964571/10 "2022-05-17T20:42:12Z")
> [@Johnny\_L.A](#): > > Obligatory Monty Python reference [NSFW language]: Still one of my favorite jokes. ---
**Author:** ![RitterSport](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rittersport/32/6326_2.png) [@RitterSport](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RitterSport)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2022, 8:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-question-for-bicycling-beer-drinkers/964571/11 "2022-05-17T20:58:27Z")
I never knew that line came from Monty Python. ---
**Author:** ![What\_Exit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/what_exit/32/10652_2.png) [@What\_Exit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/What_Exit)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2022, 9:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-question-for-bicycling-beer-drinkers/964571/12 "2022-05-17T21:02:04Z")
So what lite beers actually have Taste? I remember Amstel Light wasn’t terrible and ice cold a Yuengling Light is pretty good. Are there others? ---
**Author:** ![kenobi\_65](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kenobi_65/32/13178_2.png) [@kenobi\_65](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kenobi_65)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2022, 9:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-question-for-bicycling-beer-drinkers/964571/13 "2022-05-17T21:18:20Z")
> [@What\_Exit](#): > > So what lite beers actually have Taste? My answer, for what it’s worth: Guinness isn’t a “light beer,” but it only has 125 calories in a 12-ounce serving, just 15 calories more than a Bud Light. So, rather than a watery “canoe beer,” have a Guinness. 😃 > **[Guinness Calories and Other Facts About the Beer](https://time.com/25145/guiness-calories-alcohol-content/)** > > Some healthy reasons to sip this stout on St. Patrick's Day ---
**Author:** ![DPRK](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/4491bb/32.png) [@DPRK](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DPRK)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2022, 9:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-question-for-bicycling-beer-drinkers/964571/14 "2022-05-17T21:18:43Z")
Interestingly, Wikipedia describes the composition of a “Radler” as a shandy consisting of 50% beer and 50% lemon soda. That said, I know someone who was nailed by the cops in America for bicycling drunk, and it did affect his automobile driver’s license, even though he was not driving an automobile at the time. It is totally illegal. ---
**Author:** ![Richard\_Pearse](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/richard_pearse/32/13144_2.png) [@Richard\_Pearse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Richard_Pearse)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2022, 9:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-question-for-bicycling-beer-drinkers/964571/15 "2022-05-17T21:28:52Z")
I think that ad wouldn’t be allowed here. Linking alcohol with operating a vehicle would be frowned upon. ---
**Author:** ![EinsteinsHund](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/einsteinshund/32/8400_2.png) [@EinsteinsHund](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EinsteinsHund)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2022, 9:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-question-for-bicycling-beer-drinkers/964571/16 "2022-05-17T21:31:09Z")
> [@DPRK](#): > > Interestingly, Wikipedia describes the composition of a “Radler” as a shandy consisting of 50% beer and 50% lemon soda. That’s true, and though I don’t know the etymology of the word “Radler” (cyclist) for the drink, I know that it’s rather old and from a time when the DUI laws for cyclists were still lenient or non-existent, respectively, so cyclists who didn’t want to get too drunk had a radler rather than a beer. ---
**Author:** ![DavidNRockies](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/davidnrockies/32/6279_2.png) [@DavidNRockies](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DavidNRockies)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2022, 9:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-question-for-bicycling-beer-drinkers/964571/17 "2022-05-17T21:32:38Z")
> [@DPRK](#): > > That said, I know someone who was nailed by the cops in America for bicycling drunk, and it did affect his automobile driver’s license, even though he was not driving an automobile at the time. It is totally illegal. It’s generally written up as public intoxication: > **[Can You Get a DUI While Riding a Bicycle?](https://alcohol.org/dui/riding-bicycle/)** > > Yes, you can get stopped for riding a bicycle if you are suspected of being under the influence of alcohol in all states. I’ve gone wine tasting – pedaling from winery to winery – on more than a few occasions. I checked before embarking 😉 But in some of the wine country areas, there are a fair number of miles between wineries, and/or you don’t have to hit every single one (blasphemy, I know), so there is a tendency to sober up, if only a little, as you pedal. We did lose a man once. Hilly terrain. Hot day. Maybe too much hooch. Who can remember ?? ---
**Author:** ![Inigo\_Montoya](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/inigo_montoya/32/124_2.png) [@Inigo\_Montoya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Inigo_Montoya)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2022, 10:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-question-for-bicycling-beer-drinkers/964571/18 "2022-05-17T22:43:17Z")
> [@kenobi\_65](#): > > …_other_ light beers taste like water, unlike Miller Lite, which they claim has more flavor. As I recall, Miller Lite does have more of its peculiar flavor than even a modestly discerning palate can actually _enjoy_. ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2022, 11:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-question-for-bicycling-beer-drinkers/964571/19 "2022-05-17T23:58:15Z")
> [@EinsteinsHund](#): > > I don’t know the etymology of the word “Radler” (cyclist) for the drink Obviously, a Radler is someone who rides a bicycle. For the drink, I found this: > **[Radler - Germanfoods.org](https://germanfoods.org/recipes/radler/)** > > Combine the flavors of dark beer and lemon to make your own version of the Radler, an extremely popular German summer drink. > The story goes that a group of cyclists arrived at the Kugler-Arm Gasthof in Bavaria one hot day in 1922 to find that the owner didn’t have enough beer to go around. The ingenious owner Franz Xaver Kugler mixed together half dark beer and half lemon soda and created a refreshing, low-alcohol drink that he named after the cyclists (Radler). This page offers: [https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/Radler](https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/Radler) > There are several theories about the origin of the beverage and its naming, but they are all dated in the 19th century, when the beverage became a popular thirst quencher with lower alcoholic content than beer within the emerging movement of recreational cycling among the working class. [This page](https://nitabeer.com/pages/18099-history-of-the-radler) has the same story as the first link. ---
**Author:** ![Peter\_Morris](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/peter_morris/32/359_2.png) [@Peter\_Morris](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Peter_Morris)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2022, 12:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-question-for-bicycling-beer-drinkers/964571/20 "2022-05-18T00:45:05Z")
> [@RitterSport](#): > > I never knew that line came from Monty Python. it doesn’t. There are examples of the joke dating back to 1952. > **[Rationale of the Dirty Joke](https://www.google.co.uk/books/edition/Rationale_of_the_Dirty_Joke/nNO1AAAAIAAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1&bsq=%22fucking%2Bclose%2Bto%2Bwater%22&dq=%22fucking%2Bclose%2Bto%2Bwater%22&printsec=frontcover)** [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-question-for-bicycling-beer-drinkers/964571.md?page=2)