Summer Shandy Help

RobertE

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I know someone in the homebrew community must have an answer. I need some help brewing a Summer Shandy clone. I thought about making a straight-forward American wheat beer and simply adding lemonade, but I'm not sure when or how to incorporate the Lemonade into the beer. Any advice would be welcome since I have never brewed a shandy. Also, is the lemonade fresh or can powdered lemonade be used?
 
Never brewed one, but I'd use fresh (or at least not the powdered stuff) mixed when serving, not at bottling
 
Add lemonade when serving I've herd I stick with all barley malt me self.
 
It's called a radler and it's generally lemonade or actually any fruit juice added at serving. My father in law used to add cranberry juice to his beer in the summer.since it originated in great Britain they probably use a pale ale. I'm sure you can add it to what you want. Better use non sugared powder if your bottling. Kegging you can use fresh which is nice but keep it cold so it doesn't get over carbonate. I think high carbonation is good in a radler
 
I've had leinkugals shandy which turned me off to the style. It's made with lemonade flavoring. I did enjoy a radler from a brewery in Colorado made fresh with fresh lemons and served only in their tap room
 
Bass Shandy
Lemon Flavour Soft Drink with 8% Beer with Sugar and Sweetener

Made with real bass beer

Not more than 0.5% vol alcohol.

The Bass red triangle is a registered trade mark of Brandbrew S.A.

Ingredients:
Carbonated Water, Beer**, Sugar, Acids (Citric Acid, Malic Acid), Flavouring, Colour (Caramel E150c), Antioxidant (Ascorbic Acid), Preservative (Sodium Benzoate), Sweetener (Saccharin)

Maybe you don't want Bass Shandy.

In my youth I drank gallons of shandy in pubs. Now this was 50% bitter & 50% lemonade, abv would be about 1.5%. Now I'm not talking about home made lemonade i.e. with lemons. In the UK most commercial lemonade is a clear fizzy, sugary drink, like the ingrdients in the Bass shandy above.

It it were me I'd brew a light ale 3.5abv , buy some lemonade like I described and wait for the sun to come out,

Light Ale Recipe...
5.0lb Pale Ale Malt
4oz Crystal 80 Malt
10oz Flaked Maze
4oz Golden Syrup
4oz Black Treacle
English ale yeast @ 65f
Hops Goldings / Saaz
Boil 90 mins

Spec... Something like the following

OG 1.034
FG 1.008
IBU 20-30
SRM 8-15
 
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Thanks for the advice everyone. The ladies like the lemon-flavored Leinenkugel's summer shandy. Me personally, not a big fan, but I would like to brew something they like to keep them happy... Leinenkugel says they add natural lemon flavor, but that could be anything. Not sure if they are adding extract flavoring or real lemonade. Perhaps it's best to brew a basic wheat beer or ale as above and add lemonade or fizzy lemon soda? Not really a fan of adding powdered lemon drink to beer.
 
Thanks for the advice everyone. The ladies like the lemon-flavored Leinenkugel's summer shandy. Me personally, not a big fan, but I would like to brew something they like to keep them happy... Leinenkugel says they add natural lemon flavor, but that could be anything. Not sure if they are adding extract flavoring or real lemonade. Perhaps it's best to brew a basic wheat beer or ale as above and add lemonade or fizzy lemon soda? Not really a fan of adding powdered lemon drink to beer.
Likely lemon zest. I've had their Shandy, not bad. Radler - generally, at least where I lived in Germany, was beer and lemon soda, not lemonade. Either - I'd mix it when consumed, as you said a basic wheat beer or even a Pilsner and mix it with lemonade. Packaging it with all the sugar means treating it like a sweet wine - metabisulfite and potassium sorbate to prevent bottle bombs by killing yeast and making it inhospitable to further yeast growth.
 
I haven't tried making a shandy but a fresh slice of orange in a fresh home-brewed hefe is awesome. Usually freshness is better who knows they might like yours way better than the other.
 
I have a go to recipe I make for my sons 4'th july party. It gets rave reviews from friends and family. Recipe was taken from Brew Better Beer by Emma Christensen, my wife loves this recipe. Mash in at 145 for 1hr. 5 lbs pilsner malt, 2 1/2 lbs viena malt, 1/4 oz apollo hops bittering 60 min, 1/2 oz sorachi hops flavoring 20 min. 1/2 oz sorachi hops flavoring 5 min. wilfoc this is for a 5.5 gallon batch . I use wyeast amercan ale yeast. primary fermenter for 2 weeks transfer to secondary for 1 month . At bottling time 4 oz priming sugar and 1 cup to 4 cups of fresh squeeze lemon juice. Wife says more lemon the better it is. I bottle this in bommers I've made this twice and its on the list for april's brewup.

Woodswise
 
Kristal mit zitrone, - A Kristal Weizen beer with a slice of lemon was popular in Germany, never saw it used in a Hefeweizen though.
In me 'youff' I drank Lager 'n lime - before I discovered real beer, ( Maes Pils 'n lime in Belgium was good though)
In the UK a shandy is usually Bitter and Lemonade. Why not make a good old cask style bitter add the lemonade to it as and when you want to, and you can have rhe bitter to drink as well!
Cheers!
 
Kristal mit zitrone, - A Kristal Weizen beer with a slice of lemon was popular in Germany, never saw it used in a Hefeweizen though.
In me 'youff' I drank Lager 'n lime - before I discovered real beer, ( Maes Pils 'n lime in Belgium was good though)
In the UK a shandy is usually Bitter and Lemonade. Why not make a good old cask style bitter add the lemonade to it as and when you want to, and you can have rhe bitter to drink as well!
Cheers!
Totally agree. A nice bitter or even a light mild with lemonade added at serving time,or perhaps a lager top instead.
Mmmmmm went through the lager and lime stage as well!!!!!!
 

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