# British Dopers: Do You Drink "Shandy" or "Shandygaff" In The Summer? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [August 19, 2010, 9:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/british-dopers-do-you-drink-shandy-or-shandygaff-in-the-summer/550793 "2010-08-19T21:28:52Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![ralph124c](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/8797f3/32.png) [@ralph124c](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ralph124c)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2010, 9:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/british-dopers-do-you-drink-shandy-or-shandygaff-in-the-summer/550793/1 "2010-08-19T21:28:52Z")
My uncle (retired tavern owner) told me that a “shandy” (half beer, half lemonade) used to be a popular summer drink. Is this drink still made in England? I just had one…er two…very nice and refeshing! ---
**Author:** ![Ximenean](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/x/aca169/32.png) [@Ximenean](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ximenean)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2010, 9:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/british-dopers-do-you-drink-shandy-or-shandygaff-in-the-summer/550793/2 "2010-08-19T21:46:48Z")
I’ve never heard of “shandygaff”, but shandy is quite popular, yes. The lemonade component is British-style (clear, fizzy) lemonade, btw, which is like 7-Up without the lime. Half-and-half sounds a bit weak - I’m not a shandy drinker myself but I’d want more like 75% beer. ---
**Author:** ![Angua](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/8baadc/32.png) [@Angua](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Angua)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2010, 10:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/british-dopers-do-you-drink-shandy-or-shandygaff-in-the-summer/550793/3 "2010-08-19T22:00:09Z")
> [@Ximenean](#): > > I’ve never heard of “shandygaff”, but shandy is quite popular, yes. The lemonade component is British-style (clear, fizzy) lemonade, btw, which is like 7-Up without the lime. Half-and-half sounds a bit weak - I’m not a shandy drinker myself but I’d want more like 75% beer. Wouldn’t that be a lager-top? (Recalling from my dim and distant past!) ---
**Author:** ![Ximenean](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/x/aca169/32.png) [@Ximenean](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ximenean)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2010, 10:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/british-dopers-do-you-drink-shandy-or-shandygaff-in-the-summer/550793/4 "2010-08-19T22:10:17Z")
Lager top is shandy made with lager and a little lemonade. If you just said “shandy” I would take it mean lemonade plus a darker beer such as bitter. [edit] actually let me revise that: shandy - beer with a substantial amount of lemonade in it. And “beer” tends to mean bitter or similar, by default. lager shandy - a variety of shandy made with lager lager top - lager with a small amount of lemonade added ---
**Author:** ![Angua](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/8baadc/32.png) [@Angua](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Angua)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2010, 10:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/british-dopers-do-you-drink-shandy-or-shandygaff-in-the-summer/550793/5 "2010-08-19T22:12:44Z")
> [@Ximenean](#): > > Lager top is shandy made with lager and a little lemonade. If you just said “shandy” I would take it mean lemonade plus a darker beer such as bitter. I was questioning the 75% beer to 25% lemonade ratio. We’d have called that a lager-top generally. But its been a long time since I was in a pub in the UK! ---
**Author:** ![Ximenean](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/x/aca169/32.png) [@Ximenean](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ximenean)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2010, 10:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/british-dopers-do-you-drink-shandy-or-shandygaff-in-the-summer/550793/6 "2010-08-19T22:18:35Z")
Well, as I recall the “top” in a lager top is just half an inch or so of lemonade. Less than 10%, I would say. ---
**Author:** ![Angua](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/8baadc/32.png) [@Angua](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Angua)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2010, 10:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/british-dopers-do-you-drink-shandy-or-shandygaff-in-the-summer/550793/7 "2010-08-19T22:19:09Z")
Fair enough. Like I say, its been a while! ---
**Author:** ![devilsknew](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/4da419/32.png) [@devilsknew](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/devilsknew)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2010, 5:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/british-dopers-do-you-drink-shandy-or-shandygaff-in-the-summer/550793/8 "2010-08-20T05:32:30Z")
0I had it pre=mixed in bottles, in Germany. Bought from the very BP like gasstations, You know the 90’s and 2000 styleee BP’s newly built in America… very European, and Teutonic, specifcally. I visited Europe in the '80’s and soon after I returned home their gastation architecture overtook the classical American filling station style. Anyways the slightly alcoholic Limonade mit bier i got in Germany was nothing like the modern 8-12 percent alcohol energy drink fruit punches/lemonades I can get in the BP in Millenial America. ---
**Author:** ![jjimm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba8739/32.png) [@jjimm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jjimm)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2010, 5:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/british-dopers-do-you-drink-shandy-or-shandygaff-in-the-summer/550793/9 "2010-08-20T05:47:56Z")
Those males who drink shandy are often mocked by their peers and are referred to as ‘shandy lightweights’. Never in my life heard of ‘shandygaff’. ---
**Author:** ![WotNot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/e19b73/32.png) [@WotNot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WotNot)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2010, 6:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/british-dopers-do-you-drink-shandy-or-shandygaff-in-the-summer/550793/10 "2010-08-20T06:41:17Z")
> [@jjimm](#): > > Those males who drink shandy are often mocked by their peers and are referred to as ‘shandy lightweights’. Never in my life heard of ‘shandygaff’. I care little for the mockery of my peers –there are times, on a hot summer’s day, when a shandy’s just the thing. 50:50 seems to be the standard ratio in pubs hereabouts. A shandygaff is an older name for a shandy, but is also used for a mixture of beer and ginger beer. ---
**Author:** ![Tapioca\_Dextrin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Tapioca\_Dextrin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tapioca_Dextrin)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2010, 6:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/british-dopers-do-you-drink-shandy-or-shandygaff-in-the-summer/550793/11 "2010-08-20T06:46:54Z")
There are more [variants of shandy](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shandy) than I could drink in an evening. For some reason, there is no mention of the hand shandy :dubious: ---
**Author:** ![devilsknew](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/4da419/32.png) [@devilsknew](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/devilsknew)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2010, 7:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/british-dopers-do-you-drink-shandy-or-shandygaff-in-the-summer/550793/12 "2010-08-20T07:40:55Z")
The German [“Radler”](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Radler)- The Bike Rider, you’d have a helluva marketing coup in the US if you could market a shandy called a “RADler” and get Lance Armstrong to endorse it… Armstaerke Limonade. ---
**Author:** ![devilsknew](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/4da419/32.png) [@devilsknew](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/devilsknew)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2010, 7:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/british-dopers-do-you-drink-shandy-or-shandygaff-in-the-summer/550793/13 "2010-08-20T07:55:14Z")
Which reminds me, this year at the German American Fest they are having a certain contest, I forget its German Einnahme, but the just is to hold a Liter Stein of German Bier at arm’s length longest. This is a marthon I might be able to win, or at least place, this is something I ironically did in Okinawan Karate. Might be able to last quite a while… it’s really more mind than muscle. ---
**Author:** ![devilsknew](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/4da419/32.png) [@devilsknew](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/devilsknew)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2010, 8:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/british-dopers-do-you-drink-shandy-or-shandygaff-in-the-summer/550793/14 "2010-08-20T08:17:55Z")
They also have [Steinstossen](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Steinstossen), but I’d like to train at least a year for that. ---
**Author:** ![Novelty\_Bobble](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/a3d4f5/32.png) [@Novelty\_Bobble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Novelty_Bobble)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2010, 8:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/british-dopers-do-you-drink-shandy-or-shandygaff-in-the-summer/550793/15 "2010-08-20T08:47:30Z")
I moved from the north-east of England (mines, steel, flat caps, sheep, whippets, real ale) to the south-east (art galleries, taramasalata, man-bags, electricity) and my friend immediately christened me “shandypants” and so it has stuck. There is a grain of truth to it though, I had a grapefruit “Radler” in Salzburg recently and most refreshing it was too! ---
**Author:** ![wolf-alice](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/9e8a1a/32.png) [@wolf-alice](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wolf-alice)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2010, 8:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/british-dopers-do-you-drink-shandy-or-shandygaff-in-the-summer/550793/16 "2010-08-20T08:50:53Z")
When I worked in a pub (2005, North West England), a lager top was a pint with a squirt of lemonade in, just to put a bit of sweetness in the first mouthful. And the shandy default was made with lager - a bitter shandy had to be specified, and I think it would be around half and half. You can request whatever ratio you fancy, though. Some people got quite specific, not to mention the group who wanted vodka tops. And then there’s stuff like snakebite (half lager, half cider), and putting blackcurrant in everything, and half bitter, half mild, which I’ve never seen the point of. Pub cocktails. Anyhow, it’s nice. While I’m on the subject, anyone heard of a pint of half cider, half Guinness? My mum swears blind that in the seventies it was a perfectly acceptable drink. She was a student at the time, which may go some way to explaining this - needless to say, I think she’s mental. ---
**Author:** ![SciFiSam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/47e85d/32.png) [@SciFiSam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SciFiSam)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2010, 8:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/british-dopers-do-you-drink-shandy-or-shandygaff-in-the-summer/550793/17 "2010-08-20T08:52:48Z")
> [@jjimm](#): > > Those males who drink shandy are often mocked by their peers and are referred to as ‘shandy lightweights’. Never in my life heard of ‘shandygaff’. Then there’s ‘shandy-drinking Southerners.’ But yes, it is a popular and tasty drink in hot weather. Bitter shandy, lager shandy, cider shandy. Never heard of shandygaff, but there did used to be a ready-made very low-alcohol (1%) shandy available in cola-sized cans, and that was Shandy Bass - was Shandygaff possibly a mis-hearing of that? (There were similar cans called ‘lager and lime,’ but that wasn’t alcoholic). I used to drink that all the time as a little kid. ---
**Author:** ![devilsknew](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/4da419/32.png) [@devilsknew](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/devilsknew)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2010, 9:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/british-dopers-do-you-drink-shandy-or-shandygaff-in-the-summer/550793/18 "2010-08-20T09:19:16Z")
> [@devilsknew](#): > > They also have [Steinstossen](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Steinstossen), but I’d like to train at least a year for that. I mean, it’s a 138 pound stone. I’ve had girlfriends that weight that much, but I could only toss them about 7ft. or so… Give me some time and I might try for the record. I need a 50 pound stone, a 100 pound stone, a 138lb stone , and a 150lb stone to train… as well as a shot put and weightlifting coach. ---
**Author:** ![Manwich](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e480ec/32.png) [@Manwich](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Manwich)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2010, 9:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/british-dopers-do-you-drink-shandy-or-shandygaff-in-the-summer/550793/19 "2010-08-20T09:38:56Z")
In Australia I would say its considered a little effeminate or at least “soft” but its at least reasonably well known. Probably drunk more by older people, though - the only people I know to order a shandy were my grandparents, aunts and uncles. ---
**Author:** ![One\_And\_Only\_Wanderers](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/838e76/32.png) [@One\_And\_Only\_Wanderers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/One_And_Only_Wanderers)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2010, 9:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/british-dopers-do-you-drink-shandy-or-shandygaff-in-the-summer/550793/20 "2010-08-20T09:40:54Z")
> [@scifisam2009](#): > > > [@jjimm](#): > > > > Those males who drink shandy are often mocked by their peers and are referred to as ‘shandy lightweights’. Never in my life heard of ‘shandygaff’. > > Then there’s ‘shandy-drinking Southerners.’ It was lager drinking Southerners when I was a lad, before lager had virtually taken over the market. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/british-dopers-do-you-drink-shandy-or-shandygaff-in-the-summer/550793.md?page=2)