Is it time to ‘take the shame’ out of shandy?

A group of friends who quit their jobs to start a craft shandy business declares “there’s no shame in shandy”

There can be no denying that the perennial pub garden favourite and designated driver staple has been subjected to a fair bit of ribbing over the years. But now, the three founders of Shandy Shack are determined to give the humble brew’s image a makeover.

Ed Stapleton, Tom Stevens and Fred Gleadowe, all 29, created Shandy Shack as a low-alcohol alternative for people who want to avoid heavy drinking. Their success has seen the brand evolve from a hand-built wooden bar on the back of an old trailer to being stocked in Sainsbury’s.

‘We want to really turn the culture of shandy around and make it a much-loved drink in the UK rather than something that’s riddled with stigma and stereotypes,” said co-founder and former management consultant Ed Stapleton. ‘We want to take it to the mainstream.’

The idea for the brand came about after the three found themselves mixing their own drinks at the pub.

“All three of us had personally experienced drinking more than we wanted to… moments like mid-week, post-work drinks with colleagues or Saturday afternoon with friends when you don’t want to get really drunk,” Stapleton said.

“We started mixing our own craft-beer shandies in the pub, fell in love with the taste and decided to give it a crack and set up a pop-up bar to see if people liked it as much as we did.”

The friends admit the venture was something of a “comedy of errors” in the early days, with the trio teaching themselves to brew from scratch, but a mention on ITV show This Morning helped to turn things around when presenter Philip Schofield declared upon tasting their product: “You definitely want a fridge full of those!”

The pandemic meant their business needed to “pivot strongly toward retail”, which resulted in a big increase in demand and crucially, attention from Sainsbury’s.

Shandy Shack’s range, which includes an IPA shandy and an Elderflower Lager Top, is now sold in 51 Sainsbury’s stores, and Stapleton says there are plans to go even further.

“When we found out we were stealing space from companies like Brewdog and Camden we were a bit overwhelmed,” he said. “We want to continue making great shandies that help people drink less in a way that is enjoyable and doesn’t compromise on taste.”