Experimental Beer Smagic's Summer Ale (Summer Shandy Inspired)

Smagic's Summer Shandy

7 pounds Wheat Malt (2.0 SRM)
5 Pounds 2 Row

.60 oz Cluster (7%) 60 minutes
zest of 4 lemons (added from 15 minutes left to flame out a little at a time)
Juice of 4 lemons (added at flame out)

After primary fermentation is complete add 1 Simply Lemon bottle

Here is a picture for you!

Hope you enjoy it as much as i did. I live in Wisconsin so Summer Shandy is much appreciated by family and friends. A keg of this did not last very long for a end of summer party.

It's not summer time but I'm going to try this one.

Let me know how it turns out!

This would be okay to bottle right? Ive came across a handful of summer shabdy recipes that were kegging only.

Yes it would be OK to bottle just wait a week or so after adding the lemonade so it ferments out the sugar

ah thanks, is this in beersmith?

I tried to set up a 5g batch based on this information and I got a 1.065SG and 12.9IBUs. This is with Pale Malt 2-row US and German Wheat Malt.

Also, what did you mash at?

chrisisnapping said:

ah thanks, is this in beersmith?

I tried to set up a 5g batch based on this information and I got a 1.065SG and 12.9IBUs. This is with Pale Malt 2-row US and German Wheat Malt.

Also, what did you mash at?

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Let see if this works?


And i just used the numbers that I measured, after I made this recipe multiple times.

View attachment summer Shandy.bsmx

perfect thank you! Summer Shandy is a favorite of mine and a few friends, going to brew up a 2g batch of this for testing and go from there.

Let me know what you think!

Thank you for posting this. Summer Shandy is one of my wife's favorite beers (as well as other members of the family) and being able to reward her with this beer for her patience as I travel down this road of brewing would be great.

BTW: what does the "zest of four lemons" mean?

mongoose33 said:

BTW: what does the "zest of four lemons" mean?

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It is the outer skin of the lemon. I used a kitchen tool made for it (Google zester) mine looked something similar to this [View attachment 1453851704267.jpg

It is all of the yellow on the outside but stop once you get to the white colored part

Smagic what is the format on that attachment you posted I can't open it ?

raven125 said:

Smagic what is the format on that attachment you posted I can't open it ?

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I thought it was a beer Smith file but that's the first time I have shared one so not sure if it worked

it's a beersmith file, i was able to open it using beersmith.

I have beersmith mobile on my phone but still no luck maybe I'll have to get the pc version

Yeah I don't think you can import files on the mobile version .

If any of you make this please let me know how it turned out as this was the result of s lot of trials and tweaking

Brewed a 4 gallon batch of this on Saturday. I'll let it do primary fermentation then on the 19/20th I'll rack it to a secondary and add the simply lemonade and wait a week or so before bottling.

Really looking forward to it.

chrisisnapping said:

Brewed a 4 gallon batch of this on Saturday. I'll let it do primary fermentation then on the 19/20th I'll rack it to a secondary and add the simply lemonade and wait a week or so before bottling.

Really looking forward to it.

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Awesome let me know the results

So 3 weeks in the fermenter, racked it into a carboy and mixed with the simply lemonade for 11 days. Kegged it yesterday, let it cool, forced carbed it this morning and had the first glass this evening. Something tastes off, tastes similar to a saison actually, slightly astringent as well.

I'm going to let it sit under serving pressure for a bit and keep sampling it, it could just be sanitizer in the new beer line perhaps. There were three days in a row where the fermentation temp did get between 68-72 and that may have done it in, may e some of the white stuff went in with the rind. Definitely not the recipe, just something went wrong on my end.

Im really looking forward to brewing this! My one question i have is i want to keg instead of bottling this. Should I cold crash after primary and add the simply lemon right before kegging? Or should i rack to secondary fermentation, add simply lemon, let it ferment out and then keg?

I would do the second option and add to secondary, or even add to primary let it ferment then keg which is how I did it

Any idea on how using the simply raspberry lemonade would be? Looking for a nice, easy drinking lemon/summer beer with a bit of raspberry. I might scale it down to 2.5 gallons and give it a shot!

treacheroustexan said:

Any idea on how using the simply raspberry lemonade would be? Looking for a nice, easy drinking lemon/summer beer with a bit of raspberry. I might scale it down to 2.5 gallons and give it a shot!

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I would assume it would work out great. The amount of raspberry that will come through may be not as much as you may want but it is worth a shot! I may try that as well on my next batch

smagic14 said:

I would assume it would work out great. The amount of raspberry that will come through may be not as much as you may want but it is worth a shot! I may try that as well on my next batch

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Thanks for the response! I'l be brewing it up in two weeks!

What temp did you mash at and what kind of yeast did you use?

jwm1485 said:

What temp did you mash at and what kind of yeast did you use?

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Mashed at 154 and used wyeast 3068

Best/easiest way to juice the lemons?

treacheroustexan said:

Best/easiest way to juice the lemons?

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I just kind of squished them with my hands it was a mid brew decision so whatever works for you

Bought the ingredients today!

treacheroustexan said:

Bought the ingredients today!

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Awesome I hope it works out for you the way it did for me!

smagic14 said:

Awesome I hope it works out for you the way it did for me!

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I hope so! I have 1 minute left in the boil! Only difference is that I'm using store bought lemon juice instead of fresh lemons. Using 1/2 cup of lemon juice at flameout.

Also! From loyalty points I had at a LHBS and a gift certificate I won from a competition, the ingredients for this beer plus some star san only cost me $3. Cheers.

treacheroustexan said:

I hope so! I have 1 minute left in the boil! Only difference is that I'm using store bought lemon juice instead of fresh lemons. Using 1/2 cup of lemon juice at flameout.

Also! From loyalty points I had at a LHBS and a gift certificate I won from a competition, the ingredients for this beer plus some star san only cost me $3. Cheers.

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That's great hope your results match mine!

Smells great so far! I added the lemonade yesterday, and I added the lemon zest with the lemonade instead of during the boil. I soaked the zest in some triple sec and added the whole thing to the fermenter. Hopefully in a week or two when my pale ale keg kicks I can keg this up!

So, this has been on gas a week but I'm taking the first taste test! (And yes I realize it's only 9 am. Girlfriend is gone for the whole day and I have no rules!) The yeast shines through but I definitely can taste the lemonade. The only thing I'm not a fan of is the aroma, but maybe that will improve in a few weeks. Like I said, only been on a gas a week. But definitely going to go down good in the hot sun!

Edit: I don't take hydrometer readings but assuming how I feel after that glass it's pretty strong. haha. How much abv do you think the lemonade adds?

How much psi are you carbing at? I made this recipe awhile back turned out pretty good. But I used carbonation drops in the bottles.

raven125 said:

How much psi are you carbing at? I made this recipe awhile back turned out pretty good. But I used carbonation drops in the bottles.

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9 psi set and forget

Well I hope you guys enjoyed it!

I did I'll definitely be making it again

smagic14 said:

Well I hope you guys enjoyed it!

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Drinking another pint now and it is awesome. Thanks for the recipe!