Beer Shandy: U.S., British & Mexican

Heat advisories are issued across the U.S. and Britain. Even for the beer purist, a case can be made for the BEER SHANDY — an excellent thirst quencher and refresher. The traditional British version mixes lager with lemon-lime soda (left), the American version with lager or light beer and lemonade (center), and the Mexican version with light Mexican beer and Cointreau/lime (right). We know which Shandy of the three is probably the strongest.

Ingredients for Lemonade (U.S.) or Lemon-Lime-Soda (U.K.) Shandy: Light beer or lager, lemonade or lemon-lime soda.

Tilt a chilled pint glass and fill slowly halfway with 6 oz. of cold beer. Pour cold lemonade or lemon-lime soda the rest of the way. Stir gently. If using lemonade, the lemonade can be made from lemonade concentrate, or even better, homemade lemonade made from scratch. It’s recommended that if using lemon-lime soda, the lemon-lime soda contain natural sugar and not sweetener.

Ingredients for Mexican Margarita-Style Shandy: Orange liqueur (Cointreau), lime juice, Mexican beer (Tecate, Sol or Corona recommended).

Tilt a chilled glass and fill slowly with 4-6 oz. of cold beer. Add 1 oz. of fresh lime juice and 2 oz. Cointreau. Stir gently. Ice is recommended, but not entirely necessary if the idea of adding ice to beer is undesirable.

Comments: The Shandy is a better way to hydrate during a heat wave and dilutes the dehydrating alcohol. My personal favorite of these is the margarita-style Shandy with ice. It’s a little stronger, so I would savor it more than the others. The lemonade and lemon-lime versions quench the thirst quicker in big gulps without feeling an alcohol knock-out punch afterwards.