Cheerwine Shandy

A Cheerwine Shandy is a great way to beat the heat! Pair North Carolina’s favorite cherry soda with a beer for an easy drinking summer cocktail.

About this Cheerwine Shandy recipe

I’m a native North Carolinian, yet I’ve only shared a few cocktails made with Cheerwine — a sweet, cherry-red cherry soda made right here in the land of the pines (in Salisbury, to be exact). I don’t drink a lot of soda, but Cheerwine is one of my favorite splurges.

Its cheery cherry flavor pairs beautifully with all kinds of spirits and is a lovely way to celebrate my home state. I love it in these Cheerwine bourbon slushies and this simple Cheerwine & vodka cocktail. But this time I am sharing a beer cocktail instead: a Cheerwine Shandy.

A shandy is a classic drink made with beer and juice or soda; lemonade is a popular choice. Mixing beer with soda may seem unusual, but it’s a longtime tradition in Western Europe. In Berlin, the Potsdamer combines pale beer with soda, and the Germans even have a word for these: Biermischgetränke.

With its bright cherry flavor and fizzy finish, this Cheerwine beer cocktail tastes like a grown-up Dirty Shirley — light, sweet and a little nostalgic. With a perfect touch of cherry flavor, it’s full of North Carolina magic.

Tools & glassware 

Use whatever beer glass you have on hand! You can use a tulip pint glass, which has a rounded, tapered shape. Standard pint glasses ^* would be great too, though I am partial to these can-shaped glasses I used.

favorite beer glasses

can-shaped glasses

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pint glasses

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belgian tulip beer glasses

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^*

Ingredients

Shandies are easy cocktails, because you only need two ingredients: beer + something to flavor it with. For this one, you’ll want to pick up these:

• Cheerwine soda: If you can’t find Cheerwine, feel free to substitute black cherry soda or any red-colored, flavored soft drink for a similar effect.
• Beer: Choose a beer that is light in flavor such as a pilsner, lager or ale, so as not to overcome the mixer you pair it with.

That’s it! You can add a garnish, like a cocktail cherry ^* or a sprig of fresh mint — or whatever you like!

Best beer for shandies

I love using beer as the main alcoholic agent in a cocktail. Beer can bring a wide range of new flavors to a cocktail, not to mention a little foam and fizz.

This is definitely not the time for a PBR or a Budweiser, y’all.  A good shandy works best with any type of beer that has notes of citrus.

Opt for a light-flavored beer like a pilsner, lager or ale that won’t overpower the mixer. A local craft beer is always a great idea, but if you can use something brewed in the Carolinas, even better! For this Cheerwine Shandy, I went with Weeping Willow Wit, a locally-brewed Belgian white ale. 

You can totally explore other kinds of beer, though. There’s even a cherry-flavored wheat ale called “Cheerwine Ale,” made by NoDa Brewing Company in Charlotte. It is great in a Cheerwine Shandy!

Instructions

Before you begin, place beer glasses in freezer for one hour prior to serving to thoroughly chill. You can do this the night before, too. If you forget, just put them in the freezer while you prepare the other ingredients.

When you’re ready to serve them, pour the Cheerwine into each chilled glass and let the carbonation fizzle out.

Finally, holding each glass at an angle, pour in the beer against the side of the glass. Garnish with a sprig of fresh mint or basil if you like!

FAQ

More beer cocktails

Beer makes a wonderful addition to cocktails and shouldn’t be overlooked as a mixer. For more beer cocktails, try my strawberry shandy, or a ginger pumpkin beer shandy.

• Spaghett
• Christmas Ale Shandy
• Corona Sunrise