# Ever have a Shanty? **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [July 28, 2000, 1:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ever-have-a-shanty/27133 "2000-07-28T01:04:22Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Gatsby](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/df705f/32.png) [@Gatsby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gatsby)\ **Post date:** [July 28, 2000, 1:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ever-have-a-shanty/27133/1 "2000-07-28T01:04:22Z")
Last summer my grandmother told he that when she was a kid her father used to drink Shantys when she was a kid. Beer and lemonade. My first thought was why would anyone want to ruin a beer by dumping lemonade in it? But curiousity finally got the better of me, and you know what? This is pretty fuckin’ good stuff! Not for every beer drinking occasion, mind you, but very nice on a hot summer night. Anyone else ever drink a Shanty? I’m using about 3/4 Labatt Blue, 1/4 Paul Newmans lemonade. Is there a “proper” mix proportion for a Shanty? I seem to have misplaced my bartender’s guide… ---
**Author:** ![Motorgirl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e36b37/32.png) [@Motorgirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Motorgirl)\ **Post date:** [July 28, 2000, 1:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ever-have-a-shanty/27133/2 "2000-07-28T01:27:47Z")
I’ve heard of a Shandy, which is IIRC, Guinness and Sprite, but haven’t actually drunk one. ---
**Author:** ![jcatcher](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/dbc845/32.png) [@jcatcher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jcatcher)\ **Post date:** [July 28, 2000, 1:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ever-have-a-shanty/27133/3 "2000-07-28T01:50:41Z")
When I was a kid in Australia, shandy was a 1/2 and 1/2 mixture of beer and lemonade (equivalent to sprite or 7-up). This was generallly one’s first intro to alcohol, which means in Australia around 10 or 11 years old. You graduated to the harder stuff around 13. ---
**Author:** ![Kvallulf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/898d66/32.png) [@Kvallulf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kvallulf)\ **Post date:** [July 28, 2000, 2:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ever-have-a-shanty/27133/4 "2000-07-28T02:07:06Z")
Try a ColaWeizen! ---
**Author:** ![Mu\_Mu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b5e925/32.png) [@Mu\_Mu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mu_Mu)\ **Post date:** [July 28, 2000, 2:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ever-have-a-shanty/27133/5 "2000-07-28T02:08:37Z")
The word is shandygaff. Don’t you own a dictionary? Look it up. And yes, they are good in summer when you want a little something, but will be drinking long enough into the evening that you don’t want that much beer. ---
**Author:** ![Tisme](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/f0a364/32.png) [@Tisme](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tisme)\ **Post date:** [July 28, 2000, 2:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ever-have-a-shanty/27133/6 "2000-07-28T02:25:58Z")
Shandys are nice and refreshing and just the thing if you intend to party all night without making a fool of yourself or suffering the following day. I enjoy the occasional shandy, but I try not to let my blood alcohol level fall too low. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [July 28, 2000, 3:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ever-have-a-shanty/27133/7 "2000-07-28T03:33:17Z")
> [@](#): > > The word is shandygaff. Don’t you own a dictionary? A **shandygaff** is a drink consisting of beer and ginger beer or ginger ale. A **shandy** is a drink consisting of beer and lemonade. According to my dictionary. ---
**Author:** ![Gatsby](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/df705f/32.png) [@Gatsby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gatsby)\ **Post date:** [July 28, 2000, 3:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ever-have-a-shanty/27133/8 "2000-07-28T03:45:39Z")
Well. See how much you can learn here? Pardon my ignorance. I guess I just haven’t seen enough print ads to know the spelling of Shandy. Jeez, I said I couldn’t find my bartender’s guide. Mu Mu, I hope you learned a lesson here. Dont _ever_ make a comment on these boards without being certain. Particularly a snide comment. For the record, I did search, but “shanty” didn’t produce many useful links. Which now makes sense. _“It is a damned poor mind indeed, which cannot think of at least two ways to spell any word.” -Andrew Jackson_ ---
**Author:** ![Mu\_Mu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b5e925/32.png) [@Mu\_Mu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mu_Mu)\ **Post date:** [July 28, 2000, 3:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ever-have-a-shanty/27133/9 "2000-07-28T03:53:02Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Gatsby \* > \*\*Mu Mu, I hope you learned a lesson here. Dont _ever_ make a comment on these boards without being certain. Particularly a snide comment. \*\* I wasn’t being snide. And I was quoting The AmericanHeritage Dictionary. I don’t know what Johnny L.A.'s dictionary says, but at least he had the sense to look it up. ---
**Author:** ![rjk](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/ed655f/32.png) [@rjk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rjk)\ **Post date:** [July 28, 2000, 4:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ever-have-a-shanty/27133/10 "2000-07-28T04:01:32Z")
Shandy: Beer and lemonade Shanty: Yo-ho-ho and a bottle of rum 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Gatsby](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/df705f/32.png) [@Gatsby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gatsby)\ **Post date:** [July 28, 2000, 4:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ever-have-a-shanty/27133/11 "2000-07-28T04:06:36Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Mu Mu \* > \*\* > > > [@](#): > > > > at least he had the sense to look it up. \*\* Oh, I’m sorry, Mu Mu. I must have misunderstood your intentions. First of all, I’d like to thank you for another post that did not seem at all snide. I have a terrible habit of jumping to conclusions. I see now, however, that you were only trying to be helpful in a friendly way. I think I told you that I did look it up. However, [dictionary.com](http://dictionary.com) did not offer “Shandy” as an alternative. ---
**Author:** ![greygalahad](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/5e9695/32.png) [@greygalahad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/greygalahad)\ **Post date:** [July 28, 2000, 4:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ever-have-a-shanty/27133/12 "2000-07-28T04:13:23Z")
I’ve never had a shandy (although now that I’ve heard of it I will definitely have to try one) but I once lived in a shanty. It was about the size of a shoebox, and the only place my family of nine could find to put our shanty was in the median of a ten-lane superhighway. ---
**Author:** ![matt\_mcl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/7ab992/32.png) [@matt\_mcl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/matt_mcl)\ **Post date:** [July 28, 2000, 4:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ever-have-a-shanty/27133/13 "2000-07-28T04:41:14Z")
Actually, they sell Boomerang up here, which is called “lemonade for grownups”, so I assume it’s sort of shandiesque. but don’t take the teetotaler’s word for it. ---
**Author:** ![tatertot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/c37758/32.png) [@tatertot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tatertot)\ **Post date:** [July 28, 2000, 10:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ever-have-a-shanty/27133/14 "2000-07-28T10:37:47Z")
They call them “Radlers” here in Germany. A Radler is also bike rider, and the name has something to do with it being a refreshing drink for when you ride your bike. Doesn’t get you too drunk, but hits the spot, something like that. These wacky Germans never heard of Gatorade or plain water. 🙂 Of course, I’m the one who got teased at CopeDope for drinking BananaBeer and ColaWeissen so I’ll pretty much drink anything mixed with beer. Kvalluf has the right idea! They also mix them with raspberry syrup and waldmeister syrup (don’t know what that is in English). Mmmmm…waldmeister. ---
**Author:** ![irish\_bill](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/ac91a4/32.png) [@irish\_bill](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/irish_bill)\ **Post date:** [July 28, 2000, 10:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ever-have-a-shanty/27133/15 "2000-07-28T10:39:37Z")
Have any of the guys ever had a hand shandy? 😃 ---
**Author:** ![ChiefScott](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/58f4c7/32.png) [@ChiefScott](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ChiefScott)\ **Post date:** [July 28, 2000, 10:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ever-have-a-shanty/27133/16 "2000-07-28T10:50:52Z")
[singing] “I’ll swing my bals to break the walls,” says Barnacle Bill the Sailor! "I’ll use my cock to pick the lock, " says Barnacle Bill the Sailor! [/singing] Oops. Shandy not shanty. ---
**Author:** ![LouisB](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/dfb087/32.png) [@LouisB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LouisB)\ **Post date:** [July 28, 2000, 10:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ever-have-a-shanty/27133/17 "2000-07-28T10:54:55Z")
Okay, the “shandy” question is settled. Anyone ever hear of a “red draw?” ---
**Author:** ![Crusoe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/49beb7/32.png) [@Crusoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Crusoe)\ **Post date:** [July 28, 2000, 11:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ever-have-a-shanty/27133/18 "2000-07-28T11:22:28Z")
Shandy is stil fairly popular as a summer drink in Britain. I know one lad who drinks “lager top” - basically, a pint of lager with about an inch spare at the top topped up with lemonade. ---
**Author:** ![Hayley](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/5f8ce5/32.png) [@Hayley](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hayley)\ **Post date:** [July 28, 2000, 12:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ever-have-a-shanty/27133/19 "2000-07-28T12:03:24Z")
In Canada I had a friend who would only drink beer if it was mixed with Ribena (a blackberry flavoured drink that I (and many other Canadians) had only heard of because of our weird friend who liked a splash of it in her beer). But here in Britain people drink it all the time, feed it to their kids etc … but never, ever in their beer … weird. ---
**Author:** ![Crusoe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/49beb7/32.png) [@Crusoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Crusoe)\ **Post date:** [July 28, 2000, 12:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ever-have-a-shanty/27133/20 "2000-07-28T12:07:36Z")
Ribena is a blackcurrant squash (are add-water-to-the-syrup drink called ‘squash’ outside the UK?). A popular (well, among stereotyped sad students) drink is Snakebite & Black - a pint of cider with a dash of Ribena. Actually, it might be cider, Pernod and Ribena, or cider, lager and Ribena - I never touched the stuff (smells foul). A Snakebite & Black with a Vodka Depthcharge is self-explanatory, and you can simulate the effect by drinking a pint of Mr Sheen. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ever-have-a-shanty/27133.md?page=2)