lemon shandy

Ssoooo. I read some threads about making a shandy. And they claim adding lemonade will cause them to over carbonate. are they priming with sugar and lemonade, couldnt you just substitute the priming sugar with an equivelant amount of lemonade? Figure out how much lemonade would be equivelant to the priming sugar? Would the amount of lemonade it would take to make a proper shandy be too much sugar?

That's why I use crystal light.

sfrisby said:

That's why I use crystal light.

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What base recipe do you use? and do you just add one packet of Lemonade Crystal Light when you keg?

I've done it in an amber and a kolsch. 1.5 packets per 5 gallons.

Edit: Looking at my notes, since I like it sweeter than many, I would suggest dissolving one packet in a little water and adding after primary fermentation. Then taste the FG sample. If you want more, add another 1/2 packet with priming sugar at bottling.

Another thought to OP, why not add the regular lemonade that you want and let the sugar ferment out prior to bottling/kegging?

I'd probably kill the yeast with campden and then mix the lemonade. I think it is around 50/50 mix.

Slipgate said:

I'd probably kill the yeast with campden and then mix the lemonade. I think it is around 50/50 mix.

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Im bottling and need yeast to carbonate. But couldnt i just use the lemenade as my primng sugar?

Technically yes. But I think it's tougher to have exact measurements. I might suggest adding lemonade, let it ferment out, then add priming sugar to the bottling bucket in predictable amounts.

I think the final product needs to have sugar in it (the commercial shandy), and this won't happen if the yeast is still active. I don't think you are going to be able to naturally carb this unless you plan on adding the lemonade after, which will cut your carbonation in half, and you will still need to kill the yeast. Yes I do suppose you could use sugar free lemonade and it would probably come out "ok". That is probably the only way to make this without using sugar. You don't want your sugar to ferment out as you won't get the proper flavor.

I do plan on making this very soon to have for the summer. My plan was to make a very light Belgian wheat to completion (carb'd and fermented), then experiment with lemonade levels to see what works. When I get the right taste, I'll kill the yeast, make the mix and recarb the total beer in the kegerator. I'll put this at a high carbonation level like 15 psi.

I was planning on making homemade lemonade with lemons and real sugar and NOT to use any store bought stuff.