Ice cream floats are a fun summer dessert, but recipe developers Patterson Watkins I find that in Philadelphia people like to put a different spin on things. In the City of Brotherly Love, ice cream may be replaced with water ice, also known as Italian ice, and those 21 and older may opt for a mix of beer and lemonade instead of soda. The resulting beer shandy float is “refreshing and flavorful” and perfect for a hot day, Watkins said.
Watkins likes to use lemon ice cream in shandy recipes, calling it “one of the most popular and widely available flavor options” in Italian ice cream. “Feel free to experiment with other fruity flavors,” she says, if you find other varieties in the freezer aisle at your grocery store. When choosing a beer, Watkins advises against using anything too heavy like a porter or stout. Both lagers and wheat beers go well with her, but she notes that Watkins also likes session IPAs. If she prefers an alcohol-free shandy, she can do that too. “Feel free to use your favorite non-alcoholic beer,” Watkins said, adding, “Seltzer is also great.”
Gather the ingredients for a Philadelphia-style summer beer shandy
You only need four ingredients to make this summery shandy. Beer and lemonade form the base shandy, Italian ice cream adds a slimy sweetness, and sliced lemons create an attractive garnish. Even if you live far from Philadelphia, you’ll have no trouble finding Italian Ice no matter where you shop. For example, the food section of Dollar His Tree sells pints branded as Philadelphia Water Ice.
mix beer and lemonade
If you have space in your freezer for eight pint glasses, Watkins says it’s best to start with chilled glasses. Once the glasses are chilled, pour half a cup (12 ounces) of beer into each glass and top with lemonade (about 1/4 cup per glass). Don’t be too forceful when pouring your beer or lemonade, says Watkins. To avoid overflowing your drink, “make sure you have enough space in your glass to scoop enough ice cubes into your water.”
Float lemon ice
Scoop about 1/4 cup of lemon ice and add to each glass. You want the ice to be as hard as possible, but you may need to remove the ice from the freezer a few minutes in advance to make it soft enough to scoop. Once all the drinks have been collected, distribute lemon slices as garnishes.
You can also make single drinks according to your preference
Although this drink recipe makes a fairly generous amount, the shandy itself is not very good for leftovers. If you leave it for too long, the beer will flatten and the lemon ice will melt. If you’re unlikely to have seven friends stopping by for drinks at the same time, just scale back the recipe accordingly and use the specified amount per glass. Even if he makes just one beer, he still has half a beer left, which he can drink on its own, or he can make two low-alcohol shandies. The third option is to buy a 6-pack of pony bottles, since each pony bottle only holds 7 ounces of beer.