Mean Shandy

Loved this mean shandy recipe! We used a Rogue Chipotle Ale (we had nothing else on hand) and it was fabulous. This drink had a serious kick, which was a nice surprise. I was expecting it to be a lighter drink, but one was plenty for me, thanks to the bourbon. The lemon syrup was an amazing addition. Fun summer drink, for sure.

Oh, the sacrifices I make in the name of recipe testing. I’ll have you all know that in order to be perfectly thorough in my investigation of this mean shandy recipe, I made a second shandy to confirm the findings of my first…hic…cocktail. The second test confirmed the first—this recipe’s a winner! Boozy, mildly sweet, and slightly effervescent, it’s a perfect summer sip.

Upon my first read of the recipe, I admit that I was a bit skeptical. It could be because I’m somewhat of a beer and bourbon purist, and the thought of tainting either with lemon syrup was a real stretch for me. In the end, though, the beer (a Long Trail IPA) and the bourbon (Bulleit Frontier Whisky) got along just swimmingly with the made-from-scratch syrup.

Aside from the somewhat fussy measuring involved (in the future, I’ll do the math required to make a batch of these drinks and not make them one by one), the drink couldn’t have been easier to make. I’m a fan.

Beer cocktails can be funny things. The idea of mixing things with beer may not sound that appealing, but in this case it results in a well-balanced cocktail. There isn’t really that much beer in here, so the taste is dominated more by the lemon and bourbon. The beer just gives it a gentle fizz and malty quality. We found it to be a refreshing way to have a bourbon cocktail in the summer. I used Omission Pale Ale and I used the lemonade syrup recipe from this site, but went a bit easy on the sugar since I don’t like my drinks too sweet. We just loved the balance of flavors. It’s a fairly strong cocktail, but if you need to relax in a hurry on a summer’s eve, this is just the ticket.

The mean shandy has the potential to be a really good party cocktail, one which I’m sure you could make a huge batch of for a cookout or something. I used Brooklyn Summer as my beer addition, as it seemed fitting for the theme of the cocktail.

However, I wonder how maybe a slightly heavier beer (Brooklyn Lager, for instance) would’ve been. I wanted it to be more refreshing than it was, as is it was a bit strong and syrupy tasting. To balance the flavors, I topped the cocktail with a little more beer, roughly another 1 1/3 ounces. Luckily I had the lemonade syrup on hand already, so this probably took about 5 minutes from start to sipping.

While I do typically enjoy beer cocktails, and this one is no exception, I feel it was a little heavier than I wanted it to be. I haven’t given up on the mean shandy though; I’ll revisit it.

I just had to try this, because at first, I couldn’t see how this combination of ingredients could possibly be good. But I’m very glad I tried it! The combination of the bourbon and the carbonation from the lager reminds me of bourbon and soda with a much more intense flavor, and the sweetness from the lemonade syrup seems to balance it out and bring it all together. I was surprised at how refreshing this drink is. I already had the lemonade syrup on hand because I’d just made lemonade for the grandkids. All said, it only took about 5 minutes to put the drink together.

Three good ingredients make this drink great. I bought all my components, spent a few minutes prepping, and another moment getting everything in its place. The taste was phenomenal. I used a Texas Red from Rahr made in Fort Worth, Texas.