This is yet
another post where cultural biases are pretty obvious. That is, in Western
Europe a shandy, from what I’ve learned, is a pretty common
beverage. But here in the U.S. shandies
are still fairly exotic, or at least unusual.
So that’s why it’s the topic of the day.
I’m a little late
on this one, too, as shandies are often considered a summer drink. The calendar tells us that summer lasts for
another 3 weeks or so, but I think most Americans consider the end to be Labor
Day (tomorrow), or when schools open again (which can vary from state to state,
but it’s usually the last week of August up to the first week of
September). And of course for readers in
the Southern Hemisphere, summers are the colder months, so there are cultural
differences there as well.
Anyway, a shandy
can refer to a wide range of drinks.
Essentially it’s a beer cocktail, a beer mixed with a non-alcoholic
beverage, like a soda, fruit drink, ginger ale, etc. Lemonade appears to be the most popular. Here’s yet another cultural difference,
because “lemonade” means different things to an American than to those in the U.K. and other
English-speaking areas (kind of like soccer/football). In the U.S.
(and most of Africa, and Asia ) lemonade is
non-carbonated, and is usually lemon juice, water, and sugar (and sometimes
honey). In the U.K. and some
other places it’s a lemon-flavored soda, a carbonated drink. Other popular mixers for shandies are apple
juice, peach lemonade, and various fruity syrups. Also, some folks mix in other alcohols, like
champagne or vodka. For the kids there
are “rock shandies,” which are completely nonalcoholic mixtures such as
lemonade/ginger beer, orange soda/cola, or the American “Arnold Palmer” (after
the pro golfer, who invented it), which is (U.S. style) lemonade and iced tea. It should be said that even the alcoholic
shandies (except for the champagne and hard liquor ones) tend to be relatively
weak—an alcoholic content of less than 3 or 4% is pretty common. This befits their image of being pleasant,
thirst-quenching drinks rather than something that will probably intoxicate
you.
The difference in
soft drinks caused a bit of a problem. I
couldn’t really locate any European “official” shandy sodas or drinks. Therefore, purists might turn up their noses
at this post, since nearly all of my attempts aren’t technically “real”
European shandies. But I wanted to give
it a go, anyway, and I did find at least close approximations of shandy ingredients. In most cases I used 7UP as the “lemonade”
lemon flavored soda mixer. For the
concoction requiring Coca-Cola, at least, I was able to use the actual,
definite drink. As you’ll see, I also
tried several American breweries’ versions of shandies. I’m not sure these are considered the best
examples, but there were, as always, practical considerations—i.e. what I could
find for sale. For the shandies I made
myself I did use European beers, mostly German ones.
As in my
pumpkin-flavored beer segment (see October 17, 2013 post), and my investigation of light
beers (see June 19, 2014 post), I’m using the U.S. scholastic system of “F” through
“A,” with F being a failing grade, D bad but passing, C for average, B being
good, and A for excellent, with pluses and minuses if necessary.
Premade, Brewery Options
1) Leinenkugel
Summer Shandy (Jacob Leinenkugel Brewing Company, U.S. ) 4.2% alcohol. B-.
This is a weiss beer (wheat beer) with honey and lemonade flavor. In Europe
this would probably be called a “Russian” or “Russ.” I think it was okay, but not great. There was a hint of lemon flavor at the
end. Alright.
2) Shock
Top Lemon Shandy (Anheuser-Busch ,
U.S.
3) Saranac
Shandy (Matt Brewing Company, U.S. )
4.2% alcohol. B. This was a lager and a lemonade, so would be
termed a “Clara” in Spain ,
or a “Radler” in Germany . Again good but not spectacular. Very drinkable. Sweet at the beginning, nicely sour-ish at
the end.
4) Narragansett
Del’s Shandy (Narragansett Brewing Company, U.S. ) 5.0% alcohol. D.
Like the Saranac it’s a lager with lemonade, or a Clara/Radler. Not well balanced at all. Very sour in an unpleasant way. Pretty bad.
5) Leinenkugel
Orange Shandy (Jacob Leinenkugel Brewing Company, U.S. again) 4.2% alcohol. F.
Weiss beer with honey and natural flavors and colors. Horrendous.
The orange flavor didn’t work at all.
What is this? A drain pour.
User
Mixed Options (These are the ones I made up myself. As per directions, I did the beer first, and
then the soda/mixer. For most I drank
half the beer, and then filled to the top of the bottle with the mixer.)
6) 961
Lager (961 Beer, Lebanon )
5% alcohol, and 7UP. C+. (Couldn’t locate a Spanish beer, but this
would be a Clara/Radler.) Okay—neither
good nor terrible. Drinkable.
7) Paulaner
Original Munich Lager (Paulaner Brauerie GmbH
& Co. K.G., Germany )
4.9% alcohol, and 7UP. C. I guess because it’s a German beer, it would
be a Radler. Again, alright, but nothing
more. Drinkable, but not awesome.
8) Hacker-Pschorr
Weisse (Hacker-Pschorr Brau GmbH, Germany ) 5.5% alcohol, and
7UP. B.
A Russ again. Solid. Wheat beer and lemon soda seems like a better
combo than other beer styles. Sweetish
beer flavor seems to mix well with a soda.
9) Konig
Pilsner (Konig-Brauerie GmbH, Germany )
4.9% alcohol, and 7UP. D+. This is termed an “Alster.” Very mild, and weak. Soda doesn’t add anything. Bad combo, and rather a waste of time.
10) Czechvar
Lager (also known as Budweiser//Bud depending on where you are in Europe,
see my World’s Oldest Breweries, March 8, 2013 post for details on that Budweiser name
dispute, Budejovicky Budvar, n.p., Czech Republic) 5.0% alcohol, and Woodchuck
Amber Hard Cider (Woodchuck Cidery, U.S.) also 5.0% alcohol. C-.
This isn’t technically a shandy, as both halves are alcoholic beverages,
but it’s a mixed beer cocktail, so I included it. It’s known as a “Snakebite.” Doesn’t really work. Didn’t like much, but not horrific. Weird, in a mostly negative way.
11) Spaten
Lager (Spaten-Franziskaner-Brau ,
Germany Germany , and a “Fir Tree” in the U.K. Really awful.
I like both beverages separately, but putting them together is a major
failure. Another drain pour.
So, in
conclusion, looking at my results, shandies are kind of a mixed bag for
me. In general I disliked the Diesel and
Alster types, found the Radler/Clara style okay, and liked the Russian or Russ
the best. But even the ones I liked, I
didn’t really love. Plus, as I often
state about unusually flavored beers, I doubt I’d enjoy drinking even a shandy
I like all night. At this point I put
them in the “every so often, a single one or two might be an alright change of
pace” category. But, to qualify this, as
I mentioned before, I found approximates of a shandy, and not the “genuine”
ones If/when I return to Europe, or when
I can purchase legit European sodas/mixers, I would be willing to give the
resulting “proper” shandies a try, and it’s possible I might find these
excellent. Also, admittedly, my sample
size was small, and I might have liked certain combos better with a different
beer (most of the beers I used here I think are at least okay, but still). So take these ratings with a grain of salt,
or to stay with the theme, a dash of flavored soda in your beer, so to speak.
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