I was in the pub last night and a fella at the bar ordered a Lager Top. Nothing unusual there, I have ordered then for friends in the past; however; I always call it Shandy

As everyone knows a shandy is lager and lemonade, and a lager top is lager and lemonade so what is the difference? nothing as far as I am concerned. lager top drinkers (which I will from now on call shandy drinkers) argue that shandy is 50% lager and 50% lemonade, but when have you ever seen a barmaid measure the quantity?

lets look at another example. if you have 1 shot of gin and add tonic you get a gin and tonic. if you have 4 shots of gin and half the amount tonic it is still called a gin and tonic, its just a little stronger. If we apply this to lager and lemonade and we add more lager and less lemonade then we have a strong shandy, so why call it a lager top?

its all down to ego.

Shandy drinkers would feel embarrassed in front of their mates asking for a shandy or even a strong shandy, by asking for a lager top they are trying to say “I am drinking lager not shandy” even though logic dictates they have asked for lager and lemonade, which everyone knows is a shandy.

So who drinks shandy?

The majority of shandy drinkers can be found in the south of England – no surprise there then !

When is Shandy acceptable?

Now dont get me wrong there are times when a shandy is not considered a girlie drink. There are times when you have worked up a thirst and a shandy (only one) is acceptable. Examples of this would be after a round of golf, or after playing squash or badminton. Basically when you go to the pub after doing any energetic sport (darts, pool and snooker do not count) its OK to order a pint of shandy. Obviously you cant have two pints as that would be far too girlie.

Update 16th August 2010

I decided to revisit this post just to make sure I felt the same way about shandy and Later top. To my surprise if you search wikipedia they agree with me because Lager Top is filed directly under Shandy! If you do not believe me here is the link  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shandy