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.

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I can’t believe in all this time of blogging, I have only made a few cocktails with Cheerwine.

I don’t drink a lot of soda, but Cheerwine is one of my favorite splurges. I love it in this Cheerwine bourbon slushies.

In honor of American Craft Beer Week, I thought I’d skip the vodka this week and share a beer cocktail instead, just in time for Memorial Day — the Cheerwine Shandy.

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.

What’s Cheerwine, you ask? Well, you must not be from around these parts!

What is Cheerwine?

It’s a sweet, cherry-red cherry soda made right here in North Carolina. As far as I know, you can’t really get it in other states. My great-uncle used to bring cases of the stuff home to Georgia, where he savored every last drop.

May 2020 update: I recently learned Cheerwine is now available in all 50 states! Hooray!

What is a shandy?

A shandy is a classic cocktail made with beer and a juice or soda. Lemonade is pretty common!

Adding soda to beer may seem like an unusual choice, but it’s a tradition you can trace to Western Europe, where shandies are still quite popular. 

The Germans even have a word for it — Biermischgetränke — meaning “beer-based mixed drinks.” The Potsdamer is a traditional cocktail served in Berlin made with light-colored beer and flavored soda.

How much beer should you use in a shandy?

If you’ve never made your own shandy, I recommend starting at a 1:1 ratio.

I find I prefer more beer than mixer, but if you like your drinks on the sweeter side, you may tone down the beer if you wish.

There are no rules, really when it comes to shandies!

What kind of beer goes in a shandy?

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.

For the Cheerwine Shandy, I chose Weeping Willow Wit, a locally-brewed Belgian white ale. 

You can totally explore other kinds of beer. There’s even a Cheerwine beer now — I would love to try that in a Cheerwine shandy!

What if I can’t find Cheerwine?

If you can’t find Cheerwine, feel free to substitute black cherry soda or any red-colored, flavored soda for a similar effect.

Cheers! // susannah