Hy-Vee Recipes and Ideas

When it comes to radlers and shandies, the beer base is typically a lighter beer such as a lager, pilsner, or pale ales. If you're a fan of bitterness and want to create a more complex flavored radler or shandy, you can select a wheat beer, which has a more forward bitterness than other lighter beers. 

When it comes to mixing in the fruit juice, you have two options: flat or sparkling. If you don't want to lose the carbonation in your beer, go with a sparkling fruit-flavored beverage. If you're looking for a juicier drink, try a fresh squeezed juice.

For sparkling beverages, ginger ale, lemon-lime soda, blood orange soda, raspberry soda, and fruity sparkling waters. For fresh juices: fresh juiced watermelon, grapefruit juice, lemonade, or peach nectar all work well. Get creative with your flavors and feel free to use more than one. We've even tried beer and margarita mix together. It worked.

Sometimes it takes a little experimenting to find the right balance of beer to mix-ins. Start with a 50/50 combination of beer and soda or juice. You can always add more juice or more beer depending on your preference.

Once you have your ratio, make sure to gently stir the mixture together. Over stirring can cause the radler or shandy to foam and fizz causing you to lose carbonation or to overflow the beverage.

Garnishes aren't just for looks; they add a hint of flavor to drinks as well. Try adding a slice of fruit to the rim of the glass or drop fruit directly into the pitcher or glass. You can also use skewers to build garnishes using fruit and fresh herbs. And don't forget about icy pops. It's the garnish that doubles as an ice cube.