Homemade Summer Shandy

The thought of warm summer evenings, sitting with family and friends on back porches, and bare feet in the grass gives me palpable nostalgia. There’s no time of year I love more, and there’s no better way to enjoy those experiences than with a cold drink in your hand. And what says summertime happiness more than a cold homemade summer shandy?

A traditional shandy is equal parts beer and lemonade. I did try this, and I felt like I acid washed the inside of my mouth. Not the success I was hoping for. Moving on, I tried equal parts lemonade and beer, but that felt too sweet. Turns out mixing beer and lemonade 2:1 was the key ratio, and I’m stickin’ to it.

To make homemade lemonade, you use A LOT of sugar and cook it down in boiling water and then mix it with lemonade. I don’t feel the need to drink 3 cups of sugar along with my beer, and the time to cook it down on the stove seems like a nuisance to me. I opted to try making a much smaller batch with a plant-based sweetener like Stevia, that would dissolve on its own without the heat and not give quite the sugar rush. And bingo, it worked.

For my summer shandy, I used a light lager as my beer of choice. Being from St. Louis, I found one I liked from Urban Chestnut and the light flavors were well complimented by the lemonade.

I recommend serving this homemade summer shandy in a chilled glass and adding a lemon slice. I also highly recommend serving it with a platter of some homemade pretzel bites, courtesy of Sally’s Baking Addiction, and my beer cheese dip, for a perfect snack spread.