PLEASE HELP!!! i like summer shandy

So I have a problem. I was bought a summer shandy a few weeks ago and I loved it!!!!! only to find out later on that its a miller product and its not that great of a representation of the style. Since Ive never had anything close to compare it too except tangerine by lost coast, i have no base to go by and I have no idea of where to start.


im wondering if there is a better example of a lemon beer or something similar out there that I can try to clone. I want to be able to make a very drinkable session beer with a fruity component since most of my guy friends. There wives usually drink cider.

A) cant handle booze very well :cross:
B) dont like hoppy or malty beers

any suggestions of beers to try and subsequently clone or straight up recipies would be much appreciated

Sam Adams makes Porch Rocker that seems similar.

Brew a nice CAP (classic american pilsner), or any lawnmower beer with rice, wheat and or corn. Mix with lemonaide to taste.

That way you have a classic beer, and a shandy when your heart desires!

I believe this was the traditional way of making a shandy....of course until recently that the marketing geniuses figured they could put it in one bottle...cheers!

The problem you will encounter in homebrewing one of these is that the sugar in the lemonade will ferment out...I think the big boys deal with this in ways that are a bit more complicated....
maybe here...concentrated unsweetend lemonade mix IDK
https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f39/summer-shandy-clone-recipes-393343/

I can't remember the name of the company, but I had their shandy at the beer fest in "The Twin Cities" last summer. probably best shandy I've had. i do remember it was all about fancy waxed mustaches.

found it! http://travelerbeer.com/ it was The Curious Traveler.

Prob the easiest to get ur hands on will be Leinenkugel Summer Shandy or SA Porch Rocker, both are fairly popular this time of year.

And at its core a shandy is just a lighter style beer mixed with lemonade or lemon soda.

Also, u can follow wilserbrewer's advice and just make a nice light hybrid brew and mix some lemonade to taste. Simply lemonade is a good one to use.

You might be able to get a hold of Swill from 10 Barrel wich is a radler (grapefruit infused Berliner-Weisse with soda added).

shoreman said:

Sam Adams makes Porch Rocker that seems similar.

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Ha! This was going to be my first recommendation.

I'd recommend searching for the thread for S-D Slim's Lemon Lime Hef.

Try a hefeweizen. I know in college we used to make radler using Paulaner hefe and lemonade.

i just bottled a 5%abv lemon orange wheat a few days ago that tastes great already

i mashed at 148
4# 2 row
3# white wheat
.5# honey malt
1# flaked wheat

.5 oz sorachi ace @60 min
1 oz sorachi ace @ 15 min
1 oz sorachi ace @ flame out

wlp001 yeast

and soaked the zest of 3 lemons and 2 oranges in 4 oz vodka for 7 days then added it to secondary for 7 days

sfrisby said:

I'd recommend searching for the thread for S-D Slim's Lemon Lime Hef.

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Thats not going to be like a true shandy, it'll have the clove spiciness to it and from what i understand thats not the flavorings of a true shandy.

I did try his recipe, but used US-05 instead of the hefe strain he recommends.

My wife loves the Sam Adams porchrocker but it can be hard to find here. I also enjoyed it quite a bit and found that my cream ale mixed about 60/40 with a good homemade lemonade was just as tasty and refreshing.

My shameless confession is that I discovered I like Limearita. A few of those little 8 oz cans and I'm feeling happy with a slight case of heartburn.

I'm curious about this also. I just tried the porch rocket and the lennie summer shandy. I loved the shandy. I wonder if those little packs of "just lemon" would work in this?

if any of you haven't already, I do suggest the Curious Traveler. maybe contact them for a home brew recipe. their rep was a helluva nice guy.

If you want a good shandy, do it like its supposed to be done. Take a beer and cut it with 50% lemon/lime soda right in the glass and be done with it

Mongrel said:

You might be able to get a hold of Swill from 10 Barrel wich is a radler (grapefruit infused Berliner-Weisse with soda added).

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THAT SOUNDS AMAZING!!!

Pratzie said:

Thats not going to be like a true shandy, it'll have the clove spiciness to it and from what i understand thats not the flavorings of a true shandy.

I did try his recipe, but used US-05 instead of the hefe strain he recommends.

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HOW DID THAT TURN OUT?

im really excited about attempting to make this especcially now that my tap water is just about perfect from the faucet.

goopyquill said:

i just bottled a 5%abv lemon orange wheat a few days ago that tastes great already

i mashed at 148
4# 2 row
3# white wheat
.5# honey malt
1# flaked wheat

.5 oz sorachi ace @60 min
1 oz sorachi ace @ 15 min
1 oz sorachi ace @ flame out

wlp001 yeast

and soaked the zest of 3 lemons and 2 oranges in 4 oz vodka for 7 days then added it to secondary for 7 days

Click to expand...

ill try this too. what sized batch was this for. extra info?

I highly recommend Hoppin Frog Turbo Shandy!

wilserbrewer said:

Brew a nice CAP (classic american pilsner), or any lawnmower beer with rice, wheat and or corn. Mix with lemonaide to taste.

That way you have a classic beer, and a shandy when your heart desires!

I believe this was the traditional way of making a shandy....of course until recently that the marketing geniuses figured they could put it in one bottle...cheers!

The problem you will encounter in homebrewing one of these is that the sugar in the lemonade will ferment out...I think the big boys deal with this in ways that are a bit more complicated....
maybe here...concentrated unsweetend lemonade mix IDK
https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f39/summer-shandy-clone-recipes-393343/

Click to expand...

hmmm. how could i bottle this and not have the yeast eat the sugar in the lemonade? my idea would be to rack from secondary into growlers, pastuerize and then rack to a bottling vessel and add the lemonade at that point. think it would work?

Billy-Klubb said:

found it! http://travelerbeer.com/ it was The Curious Traveler.

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NOT AVAILABLE IN MY AREA !!!!! boo. i like the hop bill though.

Real shandy is a beer cocktail, not a ready mixed drink. Its usually made with lager and mixed anything from 70/30 to 50/50 with lemonade (e.g. 7up). Just make sure you use a full sugar lemonade and not a light version.

Other English beer cocktails to try:

Lager and Lime: Just under a pint of lager mixed with a good dash of strong lime cordial.

Snakebite: Lager or stout mixed 50/50 with hard cider

Snakebite and black: Lager or stout mixed 50/50 with hard cider and a dash of blackcurrant cordial.

Hoptimistic said:

hmmm. how could i bottle this and not have the yeast eat the sugar in the lemonade? my idea would be to rack from secondary into growlers, pastuerize and then rack to a bottling vessel and add the lemonade at that point. think it would work?

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Unsweetened or sugar free lemonade mix will not add fermentables and should be ok to add at bottling time.

Hoptimistic said:

ill try this too. what sized batch was this for. extra info?

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this was a 5.5 gallon batch at 78% efficiency og 1.050 fg 1.011 its still carbing now but warm and flat it has a great fresh lemon flavor with a touch of sweetness from the orange

Here's SD Slim's recipe. It has an all grain and an extract version available. No excuses not to brew this one!

https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f70/lemon-lime-hefe-weizen-255659/

My son brought back some beers from Hoppin' Frog over in Akron. He gave me a couple Turbo Shandies 7 boy,that was good! Better than leini's.
I tried using Trulemon in the priming solution of a pale ale,& it's in my recipes.
But next time I make that one,I'll add a lil zest to bring it out more. This time,I brewed a 2nd batch of Berlin Wheat,a midwest pm kit. I added the trulemon to the priming solution of this one as well. i think the lighter wheat beer will work better with this. Since it was originally a coctail of lemon soda (not 7up,but a German lemon soda) & a light lager,it's hard to brew it together,but a nice facsimile can be had.

Abita has a Lemon Wheat out. I haven't tried it, but it might be close to what you're looking for.

Hoptimistic said:

HOW DID THAT TURN OUT?

im really excited about attempting to make this especcially now that my tap water is just about perfect from the faucet.

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I had some issues with it due to my water having chloramines. When i racked over to the bottling bucket it tasted great, nice and clean flavor with a perfect amount of lime flavor from the Simply Limeade that I used. This particular recipes calls for Sorachi and Moteuka Hops which give it a great tropical citrusy flavor that really works well. Once I bottled though, the band-aid flavor from the chloramines came out and ruined it but I plan on doing it again in the future. Think it would def work well for what ur looking for. Def consider using sorachi and moteuka, they will def add the to the flavor ur looking for.

Hoptimistic said:

NOT AVAILABLE IN MY AREA !!!!! boo. i like the hop bill though.

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I did a search and I gotta drive about 80 miles to find it in a bottle shop.



and as for the whole "a real shandy is something you make, not buy in a bottle" thing, same thing can be said about a lot of things we the masses drink. it's a matter of convenience. nothing more.

Billy-Klubb said:

and as for the whole "a real shandy is something you make, not buy in a bottle" thing, same thing can be said about a lot of things we the masses drink. it's a matter of convenience. nothing more.

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True but how many people buy a premixed Cuba Libra? Mojito? Not many I guess. Sometimes quality is sacrificed for convenience. I would never buy a microwave meal for the same reason, it may be quick but cannot beat homemade.

BadMrFrosty said:

True but how many people buy a premixed Cuba Libra? Mojito? Not many I guess. Sometimes quality is sacrificed for convenience. I would never buy a microwave meal for the same reason, it may be quick but cannot beat homemade.

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I believe if you research pre-made drinks like that you will both find them available, and find that the reason they are not more widespread is the laws surrounding liquor. Things like how much alcohol can be in a prepared drink, the handling of said drink (a Jim Beam and Coke is subject to the same strict laws as Jim Beam), and even where the alcohol comes from are all issues. Starting with an "ultra-filtered malt beverage" (beer) and flavoring that is often how things like Zima are made because beer is subject to different laws.

I did not see this mentioned regarding the OP's question though:

I make my Shandy with whatever beer I happen to have, plus some carbonated Skeeter Pee. It does NOT meet the OP's original intent:

cant handle booze very well

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... because if you mix it half and half even with MBC is turns out to be a 6.5% ABV panty-dropper, but it is very good.

There's also a somewhat "mainstream" cocktail called a "Hop, Skip, and Go Naked" that is very close in character.

BadMrFrosty said:

True but how many people buy a premixed Cuba Libra? Mojito? Not many I guess. Sometimes quality is sacrificed for convenience. I would never buy a microwave meal for the same reason, it may be quick but cannot beat homemade.

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and sometimes quality & convenience can be had thanks to the efforts of those with discerning taste.

I've been in other shandy threads and have run into the same problem (some of the same folks on this thread) that feel it very important to them to put down any attempt at a premixed shandy. Never really understood it. If its not your thing, you have every right to that, so why not choose to not participate in this thread. Like this thread, conversations get derailed by trying to justify what we are doing and not spending time comparing recipe ideas.

Well said. After having Leini's offering & having read about the first/original shandy on the German beer institute site,I decided to give it a try. I posted one recipe that tasted like lemon blossom herb tea in a pale ale. But that'll get updated when I get back to it. Too busy with wheat beers & my new IPa style to get to it atm. But my new twist,my Berlin leomonweisse will be ready for a week's fridge time on 8/1. I figured the lighter wheat beer with it's characteristic organic sweetness might mix better with the Trulemon in the priming solution. I used the same amount (12 packets) of Trulemon in this one for comparison's sake,if nothing else.

sfrisby said:

I've been in other shandy threads and have run into the same problem (some of the same folks on this thread) that feel it very important to them to put down any attempt at a premixed shandy. Never really understood it. If its not your thing, you have every right to that, so why not choose to not participate in this thread. Like this thread, conversations get derailed by trying to justify what we are doing and not spending time comparing recipe ideas.

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I'm not putting anyone down. However being English I grew up ordering a good shandy in the Rugby club after a game, always draught beer mixed with draft lemonade, after a hard game that was a very refreshing experience. I have also bought just about every premixed version of it and nothing comes close.

Since moving to the Czech Republic the German style shandy called Radler has become very popular and is heavily marketed to women here. Thinking that maybe I could get proper shandy in a bottle I tried most brands, again none can come close to a draught Shandy and these are made by some of the most respected Czech breweries.

At the end of the day you might make something that is a reasonable shandy and if that's your thing then good luck. Personally I have never had a professionally made pre mixed shandy that meets my expectations so doubt I could make one. Maybe someone here can but I will be following the KISS principle and mixing in the glass.

Nothing wrong with the original. It'll be hard to brew a "pre-mixed" version that'll compare to it,but it's a bit of fun to try. Gotta get some more Trulemon to continue my experiments. Maybe some wheat malt in a pale ale shock top sort of thing will do? Regular pale ale was darn close to the commercial one according to my son. I guess being the artist,I'm never trully satisfied.

Prob a bit of an unorthodox shandy but something i like to do in the summer time for parties... Make a BIG picture of magaritas and top off my beer with a big splash of margarita mix. Ive heard them called all different things from chelada's to bulldogs (margaritas with a Corona upside down inside).

Whatever you wanna call them they are DAMN GOOD DRINKING!

And here's a pic of how ive been finishing off a case of Bud light Lime a rita's that someone left at my house after one of those parties.

Here is a recipe I made up to try to make an all in one Shandy. I do counter top mashing so this recipe made 2.5 gallons. The taste is more tart than sweet but it is very good. I carbonated it high and it gives it a very effervescent feel. My goal with this beer was to have it around the 2.125 gallon range with ABV of 2.5% to use my Mr. Beer fermenter. I was assuming an efficiency of 60% and did better so I added water to keep ABV around 2.5%. I ended with it at 2.6% I had been collecting the Coors Light and Bud Light 7oz ponies for this beer. Here's the recipe:

Saison Shandy:
1 lb 2-Row
0.5 lb Malted Wheat
0.5 lb Crystal Malt 10L
0.25 lb Dark Candi Sugar (15 Min)
1 tsp Irish Moss (10 Min)
2 Cups Fresh Lemon Juice (Flame Out)
Zest of 2 Lemons and a few Lemon Slices in Fermenter

0.5 oz Chech Saaz (60 Min) (Used whole leaf as that is what store had)

WYeast 3724

3.5 oz Lactose (At Bottling)
3.0 oz Priming Sugar

Mashed at 152 Degrees. Batch sparged to have 2.5 gallons in brew pot.
Fermented for 5 days and then bottled.

If I do this recipe again, I would probably add more lemon juice and up the amount of Lactose.

With a Witbier, I have also made a few bottles of shandy with crystal light lemonade. Just added equal parts beer and lemonade to the bottle. No added sugars from crystal light and it still carbonated fine in the bottle.

If you live in Wisconsin go and find a New Glarus Berliner Weiss. I have a wife who is a Lienies Shandy drinker and this is one of the very few craft beers that she loves. My new assignment is to try to figure out a clone recipe.