Summer Shandy

[lexuschris]

Been a while since posting recipe thoughts here, so I thought I'd share a recent receipe request that had me scratching my head.

My middle daughter is turning 21 this August, and requested I make her a beer like her favorite: Leinenkugels Summer Shandy



Honestly, I do not think I've ever had one of these, and I prefer my 'shandy' as cider & beer (aka 'Snakebite'). But, I can get my head around a lemonade & wheat 'lawnmower beer'. Lemonade or lemon soda, plus wheat beer, makes Summer Shandy.

Given the short timeline, and her proximity in LA, I figured I had to find a way to get her a bottled beer, which was clean, crisp, lemony & refreshing ... slighly sweet too. Blending an American Wheat beer with lemonade at bottling, sounded like a disaster in the making, and I wouldn't know at what proportion to mix it for a good tasting beer.

Thus, I ruled out mixing sugary sodas in the bottle, and taping a bottle of lemonade with each beer to be blending at pouring. Too difficult. I wanted to try something that refreshed in the same way, and was contained in a bottle alone.

I'd love to hear any other thoughts on making a Summer Shandy, if you have done so, or just how you would have approached the request.

For this round, I pulled out my trusty American Wheat beer malt bill, and changed up the hops with some citrusy choices: Ahtanum & Citra, plus Strisslespalt for FWH. I like the low AA% hops for FWH to lend some low-key smooth bitterness. I also added in some Orange Blossum honey, as I tend to do on American Wheat's anyways. Finally, I added some Lemon Balm leaf during the whirlpool, to push the lemon flavor & aroma, and switched to S-04 English Yeast, for some residual sweetness, and apple/pear esters.

Brewed it on Sunday, and its fermenting at 69-F right now.

Recipe: Liv'Long Summer Shandy
Style: American Wheat or Rye Beer
TYPE: All Grain

Recipe Specifications
--------------------------
Batch Size (fermenter): 11.00 gal
Estimated OG: 1.050 SG
Estimated Color: 4.2 SRM
Estimated IBU: 15.9 IBUs
Brewhouse Efficiency: 70.00 %
Boil Time: 60 Minutes

Ingredients:
------------
Amt Name Type # %/IBU
9.75 lb Pale Malt (2 Row) US (2.0 SRM) Grain 7 47.2 %
7.75 lb Wheat Malt, Ger (2.0 SRM) Grain 8 37.5 %
1.15 lb Caramel/Crystal Malt - 15L (15.0 SRM) Grain 9 5.6 %
1.00 lb Rice Hulls (unfermentable) (Mash 60.0 mi Other 10 -
1.00 oz Strisslespalt [1.20 %] - First Wort 60.0 Hop 11 2.3 IBUs
1.25 oz Citra [12.00 %] - Boil 15.0 min Hop 12 13.0 IBUs
1.00 oz Ahtanum [4.10 %] - Boil 2.0 min Hop 15 0.6 IBUs
1.00 oz Lemon Balm Leaf (Boil 0.0 mins) Spice 16 -

2.0 pkg SafAle English Ale (DCL/Fermentis #S-04) Yeast 17 -
2.00 lb Honey (Orange Blossum) (1.0 SRM) Sugar 18 9.7 %

Name Description Step Temperat Step Time
Mash In Add 6.33 gal of water at 160.5 F 150.0 F 60 min

Sparge: Batch sparge with 2 steps (Drain mash tun , 10.06gal) of 168.0 F water

It won't be ready for the Tuesday meeting, but I hope to have some to share at the next one!
--LexusChris

[jward]

Your recipe looks like it will be a nice refreshing beer, but probably not like a shandy.

I like Schöfferhofer Grapefruit Hefeweizen which is a radler more then a shandy which are traditionally a lager and lemonade mix. BTB, when looking how to make one of these I came across the information that lemonade in Germany is more like 7up then American lemonade (lemon juice, water, sugar). I was experimenting with Widmer hefe and Squirt mixing for mediocre results.

I look forward to trying your beer.

[lexuschris]

I'll have to give Schöfferhofer Grapefruit Hefeweizen a try. Sounds refreshing!

Everytime I"ve had a shandy in England, it was always mixed in the glass from 2 different taps. So, the idea of a bottle premixed is interesting, without the tech to remove all the yeast, and just add cider or lemon soda, etc.

BTW, I've had the lemon balm leaf on hand for a few years, as I thought it would make an interesting 'lemony' componant to a wheat beer ... so I guess, this is as good a test as any!

--LexusChris

[bwarbiany]

Have you considered lemon zest?

I did a citrus IPA a couple years back using lemon and orange zest, along with some citrus-heavy hop varieties. It gave it a little more citrus pop than a typical IPA. I think I zested 3 large lemons and 2 large oranges for a 10 gallon batch. Threw it in during the whirlpool.

Thread on that one here.

[lexuschris]

So, I ran across 2 different suggestions on threads around HBT, etc. One suggested using a lemonade mix, the kind where you have to add the sugar yourself. This would certainly solve the issue with more fermentation, and not so much sweetness. The other folks suggested using lots of lemon zest instead, or with the mix.

I was going to try the zest, but when I realized I had the lemon balm on hand, I figured this was about as appropriate time to try it as I ever have had! I bought lemon balm to make a lemony wheat beer, so I just went with it.

Today, I kegged the beer, and the sample was indeed lemony, sweet & tasty! I'm very happy with it at this point. I plan to carb it to 2.8 vol, so it will keep its fun fizzy profile. Its about 4.5% abv, and the lemon, honey & english yeast esters, make it a aromatic, and very much like a shandy.

I'll be sure to bring some to the next meeting to share.
--LexusChris