Hi everyone. I’ve been trying to come up with a beer I can make that my wife may actually enjoy. She hasn’t been a fan of much of what I’ve made so far; so I thought I’d try something I know she likes. She loves Leinie’s Summer Shandy, so I’ve tried to get some info on it. From the website I learned that they use Pale and Wheat for the malts and for hops they use Cluster. Then the desription says that actually blend fresh lemonade in the fermenter (I think secondary). This is where my knowledge gets limited.
Has anyone seen, made or willing to share a reliable clone recipe for this brew.
Thanks in advance.
30 years ago, I was doing rock’n’roll tours and almost all the other roadies were English or Australian. They were into shandy, though they mixed them themselves. They told me it was beer and lemonade, so imagine my surprise when they mixed beer with 7 Up! Turns out that’s what they call “lemonade”!
“lemonade” to us Brits, is a clear soda, not unlike Sierra Mist or 7-Up, but less “citrusy”. Its really just soda water, sugar and lemon juice. Its really rather bland. I wouldn’t want to mix US style lemonade with beer, unless it was a light wheat, then it might be ok…
Shandy, is what alot of younger beer drinkers in England and Australia drink. Although older folks drink it as well. Most often it’s a lager or pilsner type beer with “lemonade” which as has been pointed out is similar to Sprite, Sierra Mist, or 7UP. I have found that Sprite is the closest to british lemonade. I would suggest you make a lager or pils and mix it yourself when the beer is ready.
Shandies are also popular with drivers back home, since it lowers the ABV, and DUI is a big social faux pas back home (unlike here in the fly-over states where it seems to be a lifestyle). Lets you have a couple and still be “under-the-limit”. Shandy with Bass was also quite common, least thats what my dad drank back then. Way to ruin a good Bass if you ask me…
In Germany (at least in Thüringen where I’ve spent 2 of the last 3 summers) a “Radler” is a 50/50 mix of Pils and “Limonade” (which can be either a citrus-flavored sparkling water or just Sprite.) A lot of the big beer brands have been selling their own premixed Radlers in a bottle, they clock in around 3% ABV. Or the beer vendors at summer festivals will just mix you a Radler from draft Pils and a bottle of Sprite. In German a “Fahrrad” or simply a “Rad” is a bicycle; the name Radler comes from the fact that you can have a couple and not fall off your bike. Farmers in the area where I lived had them at noon on a workday. I scoffed at them until I spent a couple hours stacking hay bales with a guy in the hot sun; a Radler refreshed me and we went on working.
Sorry this doesn’t help much with a specific recipe…
Spent much of my childhood overseas. I grew up drinking shandy. In Scotland they would sell it to us kids…LOL I even like the orange shandy.
Now I just take a pale lager like IceHouse and add a splash of limeade made from frozen concentrate. Comes out perfect and it really quenches the thirst.