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 with ginger 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, or ginger 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 this beer 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? Make limeade with fresh lime juice and combine with wheat beer for an especially refreshing summer drink.
Serve your lemon shandy in a chilled pint glass and garnish with a lemon slice, if desired.
Ingredients
Serves 4
Preparation
Step 1
Bring 1 cup sugar and 1 cup water to a boil in a small saucepan, stirring to dissolve sugar. Add four wide strips lemon zest and let syrup cool 30 minutes.
Step 2
Strain syrup through a fine-mesh sieve into a small pitcher. Add 2 sprigs mint, 1 cup fresh lemon juice, and 2 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 with chilled 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 →
Leave a Review
Reviews (5)
Back to TopA 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