Hi Guys! Today we have a fun little drink for you – Summer Shandy!! I’m a total (craft) beer and champagne lady myself and during hot summer months I’m usually craving one of these guys. Currently, I’m digging nice strong IPAs, but when it’s super hot I just want something light…with a small kick! You can use any beer of your choice like a hefenweizen, pale ale, pilsner, whatever you want! It’s really up to you. I like making my own lemonade because it’s so easy to make, but feel free to use store bought!
Ingredients in a Summer Shandy Cocktail
Our shandy recipe is really simple! It’s really about getting the proportions of the ingredients in a good place!
If you don’t want to make your own lemonade you can use store bought. Just add 1 cup of store bought lemonade in place of lemon juice and sugar.
- ½ cup fresh squeezed lemon juice
- ½ cup superfine sugar
- 1 cup water
- ½ cup sparkling water – you can substitute this sparkling water for tonic if have have that on hand. I have also used Lemon LaCroix and it’s delicious!
- 4 (12 ounce) bottles of chilled Hefeweizen – If you don’t like Hefeweizen, you can use a lighter beer like a pale ale or pilsner.
How to Make Our Summer Shandy
- Gather all your ingredients .
- Make the sparkling lemonade: Place lemon juice and sugar into a pitcher and stir. Add water and continue to stir until sugar dissolves. Top off with sparkling water and stir.
- Pour beer into chilled glasses and top each with a generous splash of sparkling lemonade. Garnish with lemon slices and mint leaves.
FAQs
Summer shandy is a beer based cocktail consisting of beer and sparkling lemonade.
Part of the beauty of the Summer Shandy drink is it’s simplicity! It’s made simply with beer and lemonade, and in our case sparkling lemonade!
Variations
- Instead of hefeweizen , you can use any beer of your choice like a pale ale or pilsner.
- If you don’t like the lemon flavor, you can substitute lime instead.
- If you don’t have sparkling water, you can use tonic, or even Lemon LaCroix.
I hope you all enjoy a nice Summer Shandy during these hot summer months!
Here are more summer cocktails you might also like:
Try our Matcha Lemonade for an alcohol free drink!
Summer Shandy Recipe
INGREDIENTS
- ½ cup fresh squeezed lemon juice
- ½ cup superfine sugar
- 1 cup water
- ½ cup sparkling water
- 4 (12 ounce) bottles of chilled Hefeweizen
INSTRUCTIONS
- Place lemon juice and sugar into a pitcher and stir. Add waters and continueto stir until sugar dissolves.
- Pour beer into chilled pint glasses and top each with a generous splash of sparkling lemonade. Serve.
NOTES
Sub in any beer of your choice and store bought lemonade if you prefer not to make your own!
Did you make this recipe? We want to see!
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LOVE this one! So refreshing, ive been making big batches :)
This sounds like a great beer to enjoy on a lazy Sunday.
This is definitely a shandy I can handle. I used to love the Leinie’s Shandy, but at some point they just got too sweet. I really think they changed the recipe to appeal to a broader crowd. Lately I’ve been enjoying Shiner Ruby Redbird or Stiegl Radler Which is actually a malt beverage, but you’ll forgive it for that once you try it. Those have a more tart than sweet grapefruit flavor and I’m slowly converting every Shandy lover I know to it. Of course, if you’re making your own lemonade for a Shandy with the (inspired) use of a Hefeweizen, then it’s definitely something worth trying!
I was looking for a new drink for my next dinner party! Looks fantastic.
These look so refreshing! I might try this with GF beer.
I am drinking lemonade the whole day today. So hot. Few more additions and I’ll have your shandy :)
I can’t wait to show my hubby this!! He is in love with summer shandy! Thanks for sharing
this summer shandy recipe looks so good!
Heey, I just fell in love with all your recipes but since here (in Finland) we don’t use cups, I’d like to know how many decilitres is one cup?
Oh, I loove your pictures ! They are so fresh, calm and full of spirit, and that’s one thing makes a good site, at least in my opinion :)
There are 2.37dl (or 237ml) in one cup. Also, a 16 oz beer will be about 473ml. Hopefully this helps!
Pimms has been my current drink of choice this summer and shandy used to be a drink for old people….until now. Great idea.
Love those glasses- where are they from?
Ohmygoodness, I looooove summer shandy! One of my favorite summer memories is when I visited my friend in Chicago and we had deep dish pizza with the cornmeal crust and a super tall glass of summer shandy. I’ll have to try this recipe out soon. Perhaps when I make bbq turkey legs…
Aw, one of my favorite memories from home, during the summer! Deep dish pizza, Italian beef sammie or a chi-style hot dog…all delicious with a tall, crisp summer shandy :)
My husband loves summer shandy, but there’s something about it where I can’t ever drink more than one. I’m definitely going to try your recipe and see if it does it for me!
I make my shandy with ginger beer…perfect on a hot day.
I love your choice of hefeweizen.
Now this is a summer shandy I could get down with. The pre-bottled guys tend to taste a little Mt. Dew-y.
And yeah. I’m totes a craft beer champagne lady myself! I recently had a mimosa made with a wheat beer AND champagne. Double trouble.
Two things:
1. You’re so spot on with the mtn-dewy taste!
2. I think I need to hear more about this beer-champagne cocktail?!!