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Classic Shandy

4.5

(8)

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Two glasses of lemon shandy with a bottle of pilsner sprigs of mint and lemon slices.
Photo by Isa Zapata, Prop Styling by Christina Allen, Food Styling by Emilie Fosnocht

  • Active Time

    5 minutes

  • Total Time

    2 hours 30 minutes

Whether you’re sipping it poolside on a hot day or in front of the fire while snow falls outside, a lemon shandy tastes like summertime. Historians link it to a 19th-century British drink called the shandygaff, which combined beer withginger ale. A few decades later, a Bavarian bartender created a similar concoction from lemonade and beer. He called his version a radler, the German word for cyclist, after the athletic customers who supposedly inspired the drink.

A typical shandy recipe might combine beer with lemonade, ginger ale, orginger beer. It’s a flexible concept that can be made with any light beer, including pale ales, pilsners, or lagers. Beer drinkers are advised to save their hoppiest IPAs for straight sipping since they can overwhelm the bright citrus flavors of thisbeer cocktail.

You can customize your summer shandy recipe by swapping the lemonade for grapefruit juice to make a grapefruit shandy, or use equal parts cranberry juice and lemonade for a tart pink shandy. Not a lemonade fan? Makelimeadewith fresh lime juice and combine with wheat beer for an especially refreshing summer drink.

Serve your lemon shandy in a chilledpint glassand garnish with a lemon slice, if desired.

Ingredients

Serves 4.

1 cup sugar
4 wide strips lemon zest
2 sprigs mint
1 cup fresh lemon juice (from 5–6 lemons)
冰镇啤酒(如麦酒;服务)
Lemon slices for garnish (optional)

  1. Step 1

    Bring1 cup sugarand1 cup waterto a boil in a small saucepan, stirring to dissolve sugar. Addfour wide strips lemon zestand let syrup cool 30 minutes.

    Step 2

    Strain syrup through a fine-mesh sieve into a small pitcher. Add2 sprigs mint,1 cup fresh lemon juice, and2 cups cold water; stir to combine. Chill lemonade until cold, at least 2 hours. (Makes about 4½ cups.)

    Step 3

    To make 1 drink, pour ¼ cup lemonade into a chilled glass and top off withchilled beer. Taste and add more lemonade if desired. Garnish with a lemon slice (if using).

    Do ahead:Syrup can be made 2 weeks ahead. Cover and chill. Lemonade can be made 1 day ahead; keep chilled.

    Editor’s note:This recipe was first published in the July 1996 issue of ‘Gourmet’ as ‘Lemon Shandy.’Head this way for more of our favorite summer cocktail recipes →

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Reviews (8)

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  • A proper Shandy or Radler (Germany) is NOT made with American Lemonade. They are made with lemon lime soda (Sprite or 7UP ). You may post any recipe you like but this recipe is not a CLASSIC SHANDY..

    • Grillmeister

    • Wiesbaden Gremany

    • 7/29/2023

  • This is a great summer drink. We also make a similar drink using a shot of Lemoncello, which we keep in the freezer and ice cold lager.

    • mlsimmelink

    • shorewood, wi

    • 6/21/2009

  • What a wonderful drink to have on a hot summers day!

    • cheferich

    • Aurora, CO

    • 4/16/2009

  • What a great find! . .. A similar, slightly more complicated way to make what is known as a "radler" in Germany... . Lemonade and beer . . . a sweet accompaniment to any meal .. . I will try it out and see if it comes close . ..

    • Anonymous

    • Calgary, Canada

    • 9/22/2007

  • This is quite popular in Botswana, where they mix it with Shweppes carbonated lemonade (not to sweet or artificial tasting) and a couple of dashes of bitters, which pushes it from nice to great.

    • moara

    • Canada

    • 9/16/2005

  • perfect for a hot day, not so filling as beer alone, but with a little lemon zing. Make the syrup the night before a BBQ, so it's nice and chilled

    • dmondo1

    • Boca Raton, FL

    • 7/4/2005

Tags Cocktail Alcohol Beverages Beer British European Lemon Citrus Fruit Summer Gourmet Cold Drink

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