Citrus Shrub Shandy

Happy Fine Art Friday! This week’s art inspired recipe screams summer. Those long, light filled days spent doing everything or nothing at all, soaking in the sun and sipping a cold frosty beverage to beat the heat. One of my favorite summertime drinks is the shandy- a half beer half lemon-lime soda concoction that is as easy going down as it is to make.

My version swaps the soda for citrus shrub, a fruit syrup mixed with vinegar, and makes a great tart and sweet addition to the beer. But be sure to plan ahead with this recipe- the shrub takes 4-7 days to make, depending on how tart you like your shrub. The longer the fruit syrup sits in the vinegar, the more mellow the vinegar flavor gets, and a little bit goes a long way.

This citrus shrub shandy is refreshing AF, and you’re going to want to sip on this one all summer long.

The Amazing Technicolor Dream Bowl

Citrus Shrub Shandy

Citrus Shrub Shandy

Ingredients:

1 C mixed citrus peel

2 C sugar

1 lb mixed citrus, peeled and chopped (I used meyer lemon, lemon, tangerine, and grapefruit)

1 Tbsp coriander seed

1 bay leaf

1 C apple cider vinegar

1 C champagne vinegar

1 bottle of your favorite beer

Make the citrus shrub. Combine the citrus peel and sugar in a large bowl, mixing thoroughly to really coat the peels. Let the citrus peel sit in the sugar for 1 hour to allow the citrus oils to infuse the sugar. Once the sugar has been infused, add the chopped citrus, coriander, and bay leaf. Stir to combine, cover with plastic wrap, and let sit out overnight at room temperature. The mixture will be soupy from the citrus releasing all their juices. Strain the juice into a large air tight container and add the vinegar. Refrigerate for 3-6 days until desired tartness is reached. The longer the shrub sits in the refrigerator the more mellow the vinegar will be.

To make the cocktail, add 1.5 oz of the citrus shrub into a frosty beer glass. Top with your favorite beer. Lagers, pilsners, and mellow IPA’s all work great with the citrus shrub.