Local Christmas/Winter Ales

The infamous Christmas beer from Bradfield Brewery has been available from 1st November but is now being seen more often. A minimum 50,000 pints of Belgium Blue will be brewed but so far I have only managed about 10! It'll be popping up in various Wetherspoons and is a mainstay in the Porter Cottage over the festive period and may also be permanently in Forum group outlets. The Broadfield and The York certainly had it on last week and my local; The Sheaf View, has 9 barrels but they are saving it for nearer Christmas as it will fly off the bar. Various other pubs also have it/have had it/will have it and I got a pint of in the University Arms last Friday night. Simply cannot get enough of the stuff. I may have to go and pick up a take out box of it from the Brewery to drink at home over Christmas.

Abbeydale Brewery have no less than 6 festive beers although 2 are sold out already. Head here http://www.abbeydalebrewery.co.uk/beers for

the full list but I can say that Baubles is a very nice beer as I tried that a couple of years ago. As I am drinking around Kelham Island tonight I am hopeful that I may see one of them in Shakespeare's or perhaps the Kelham Island Tavern. Should end up in the Museum and they can usually be relied on for Abbeydale specials. Fingers crossed!

Kelham Island Brewery have two Christmas Specials; Fairytale of New York 4.2% and Captain Crimbo 5.4%. Looking at the tasting notes I think I’d opt for Captain Crimbo; http://www.kelhambrewery.co.uk/specials.htm. As I am drinking in the Fat Cat tonight I hope to be sampling it this very evening!

Sheffield Brewery are offering two Christmas beers; Christmas Pudding Porter 5.2%, and Christmas Amber Ale 4.1%. Sadly I don’t think I’ll make it as far as the Gardeners Rest tonight, but I will try to next week in order to sample one.

Blue Bee have Hoe Hoe Hoe, a 5% pale ale that is probably best looked for in the Rutland Arms or the Three Cranes.

True North have First Noel, 5.2%, a traditional dark ale, which I have seen in the Broadfield and I imagine will be in the York too if not the Old House and the Forum. I haven’t been in the last two since the brewery started so I’m not sure if they have extended their hand pump range.

Wentworth have brewed Santa’s Secret a 4.0% dark and hoppy Christmas ale and you may still see their Plum Porter which I’d also like to sample.

Welbeck Abbey have catered for all with two beers that cover the pale and dark camps. Cocoa Noel 5.5% is a chocolate stout and Santa Baby a 5.9% Australian style IPA. I’m curious about the chocolate stout but I will naturally gravitate towards the pale. Yes I know it’s not original but it’s what I like so there.

Acorn have 10^th Noel a 5.7% ruby ale that I have seen (but not yet tried) in the Sheaf Island so I would think it’ll crop up in other Wetherspoons too. As the name suggest this is their 10^th version of this ale and in keeping with tradition it is 0.1% stronger than last years version.

Raw has Blizzard Bitter 5.0% which in their words is a ‘strong festive bitter with caramel flavours and a smooth dry bitterness’. I can’t reliably say where you’re likely to see that and at some point I might contact every local brewery to what which pubs they regularly supply to. Because I’d like to know that, and even though there are apps that try to do that, I’m uncertain of their comprehensiveness as they are often reliant on user info.

Peak Ales winters ale is Noggin Filler a 5% traditional dark winter ale. Again, this will be hard to come across in Sheffield as their beers are rarely seen here.

Duncan Gilmour Article in Beer Matters

Well... it has been a while. But as some of you may know beer articles have consistently been appearing in Beer Matters. The biggest one yet went in the November issue and provided a brief look at Duncan Gilmour, traces of which can be seen all around the city.

Feedback from that article is featured in the December/January issue and I was warned that history articles do provoke a response! Which should be expected if there are mistakes and there are bound to be when dealing with the past.

The trouble is that I did not do any original research as such, I merely summarised the data in David Lloyd Parry’s book South Yorkshire Stingo and added in some info from Mark Bone’s entry on The Tamara Valley website. This was sufficient enough to tell the overall story of Duncan Gilmour and in one place. However I am the first to concede much more work needs to be done to confirm the details. Of which there are a lot. And seeing as I work full time I am not really in a position to undertake a huge project like that. Because I could not stop there, I would have to chronicle the history of Wards and Stones too, and then all the breweries that they took over. I would try and find pictures of the pubs, map where they where located, collate anecdotal evidence and check business accounts.

So one day, in about 35 years, when I am retired then perhaps I will do that! It is something that will certainly hold my interest for a long time as local history fascinates me.

The Duncan Gilmour piece is not on this blog as Blogger is extremely inflexible when it comes to imbedding pictures. I tried but anger was the only result. So it is on the Face Book page along with some more pictures of ex Gilmour Windsor pubs. The historic photos are not included as Picture Sheffield own the copyright and despite me checking that Beer Matters was ok to publish them, I still managed to email the article to Sheffield CAMRA with the wrong reference on. Oops.

But either way I think I will be drawn to write a piece on the history of Wards and Stones (separately) sometime next year.

Steel City Beer Festival

So the Steel City Beer Festival is over for another year. I think it was a good improvement on last year, the layout was much better and all the familiar trappings were present; Chilli Chocolate, Billabong, traditional pub games and a beer merchandise stall.

I worked on the Thurs night and found it very enjoyable, helping out on the bar and then manning the games stall. Worked out how to score to win a prize on the bagatelle by watching some talented lads who won all the beer on offer. So when I went on Friday as a punter I was able to win three bottles of beer for myself!

However there were a couple of niggles; the glass was exactly the same as last year with just the number changed. Now, due to the poor monetary success of last years festival it is hard to blame the organisers for trying to keep costs down. Which also explains the second niggle of beer starting to run out on the Friday with the bar shutting on Saturday night at 10pm (so I'm told) due to all the beer being sold out! No waste this year at least.

But before it ran out there was a good range of beer. Not sure who won the grand title of beer of the festival but I'm sure the next edition of Beer Matters will inform us. However I think my favourite was probably Jorvik Blonde from Rudgate Brewery in York. And I was lucky enough to get a half of Farmers Jack O'Lantern on Thursday as it had gone by Friday. A wonderful halloween beer from Bradfield Brewery do try it if you happen to see it anywhere. The Chilli Chocolate Stout from Wentworth almost took my head off and I couldn't stop drinking Yakima IPA from Great Heck. A dangerously drinkable beer as it is 7.4% but very smooth and easy going. Managed to have the Dr Morton's special but missed out on Abbeydale's special, Concussion which was annoying. Suffice to say though that I tried enough different beers to have the worst hangover on Saturday that I've had in a long time! But that's beer festivals for you.

Well as they say, third time lucky (in an indoor venue), and I have every confidence that next year will be an overwhelming success. I shall try and be more involved myself. :)

38th Sheffield Beer Festival

What better way to celebrate cask ale week than to visit the 38th Sheffield Beer Festival? Yes I know, it is not the most glamourous of locations but I think we struggle in Sheffield for mid sized venues that have character. Nothing comes close to the Winding Wheel in Chesterfield for instance, the location of the Chesterfield Beer Festival earlier this year.

But what does the venue matter really? There's going to be a truck load of beer! Breweries that you don't see in Sheffield and special beers from our resident breweries. I have already worked out what I am going to drink!

I did volunteer to work on the bar tonight but unfortunately the confirmation email did not come through unti 2:26 this morning. Which is a bit late notice. So off to the Broadfield later for £2 a pint and quiz night!

Nearby Beer Missions

It occurred to me that seeing as the Mrs lives in Worksop and we have frequently drunk around there, that is deserves a write up like everywhere else we go. And yes, there should be some write ups of areas of Sheffield too. I have made some notes on pubs in Crookes and Woodseats just have too much to write up!

So there will be a Worksop write up pretty soon. There are only really 5 places that deserve the attention; all four establishments that feature in the Good Beer Guide plus the Wetherspoons which usually has 3 local guest ales on.

A return ticket to Worksop is £5.90 and it is a similar price to Chesterfield, check out the write up of our trip there in June. It is also well worth a visit to Barnsley to go to Old No. 7, the brewery tap for Acorn, winner of many local awards and plaudits.

Sheffield has an amazing beer scene but there are others nearby that are worth trying, go and explore!

Brewery Poll

I have decided to make use of one of the add ons for Blogger and conduct a poll to see which Sheffield based brewery gets the most votes. I already know which is the biggest brewery and also the most commonly seen ones, but I thought I'd ask just out of interest!

We don't have a bad brewery in this city but some have the advantage of being considerably older businesses than others. I was tempted to include other significant presences such as Thornbridge and Acorn but I decided to limit it to strictly Sheffield breweries. However I may set up another poll to measure the popularity of nearby breweries, we'll see.

After voting myself and finding it impossible to pick just one I have altered it so you can make more than one selection!

Sheffield Beer Survey Results

So with all the (misinformed) excitement about Sheffield’s 2012 GBG entries, the results of this fair city’s beer survey are out. Hopefully you have a copy of the September issue of Beer Matters to see the full results, but I will pick out the important bits here.

Yes, Sheffield is still the real ale capital of England! 309 different beers available and that is with a couple of areas of the city not being surveyed. Derby claims to be the capital on number of beers per head of population but as Sheffield CAMRA rightly point out; a village pub with a good range could therefore be the winner. And besides as Nottingham, Norwich and York have also done surveys recently it transpires that Derby don’t even win by their own criteria! Ours is a much more sensible measure. It shouldn’t matter how large the settlement is; it should be about how many different beers are available.

Now of course until everywhere in England is surveyed we’re never truly going to know which town or city has the largest range of real ale. And it would be good if National CAMRA could set the winning criteria instead of branches squabbling over how it should be measured. However, I reckon they’ve got more pressing campaigns to pursue such as halting the beer duty escalator.

Moonshine is still Sheffield’s most common beer (fitting as Abbeydale is Sheffield's biggest brewery) and it is good to see Bradfield’s Farmers Blonde in second place. Not at all surprising since it has been gaining momentum since winning beer of Sheffield Beer Festival last September. Easy Rider is joint third with Tetley’s but I would expect Tetley’s to be slowly falling out of favour as it is no longer brewed in Yorkshire. It’s not like Wards has made a significant comeback since Maxim took the brewing rights, and to be honest it’s better bottled in my opinion. Even the Sheaf Island doesn’t always have it on and it was supposed to be a regular for them. And you don’t see cask Stones anywhere either which is a shame because it is a fine beer when looked after. Everards have the brewing rights to the cask version and Coors have the Keg version, which is still common in the working men type pubs and clubs of the city. You can even get an Extra Cold version in The Sheaf House, Lord help us!

Sheffield 2013 Good Beer Guide Entries - Huh?

Well, actually it seems that the 2012 Good Beer Guide iPhone app can't make up it's mind after a couple of updates! Knew I should have bought the book as well and I think I will.

For as it turns out The Gardener's Rest, the Hillsborough Hotel, The Rising Sun The New Barrack Tavern, The Ranmoor Inn, and The Carlton are all still in the Good Beer Guide. Thank heavens for that, the world has not gone completely mad. Well...

Thanks for the comments guys, good to see some interaction with the blog. Was beginning to think that Twitter was the only medium people take notice of! But I probably should have tweeted the blogs address a lot sooner. Wee Beefy I would follow you but I can't work out how, possibly I'm being completely stupid or Google is being awkward.

I'm beginning to think this could be a full time job, which I would dearly love, but perhaps I should have reconsidered the rather ambitious title of Sheffield Beer! 4 national pub crawls to write up and there is still the rather daunting task of transcribing the interview with Eddy of the Gardener's Rest. But I almost have enough for an article and really hope to have something out in the next few weeks.

Less beer drinking and more writing about it!

Sheffield 2013 Good Beer Guide Entries

Well... The Sheffield 2013 Good Beer Guide Entries were expected to change somewhat but the result is nothing short of cataclysmic. Altogether there have been 14 entries that have been altered but overall there are 4 less entries than last year. Has Sheffield lost 3 entries to the newly created Dronfield sub branch and other nearby areas? That is the only plausible explanation although it should be noted 2 of the Dronfield entries were in last year anyway.

It is good to see The Ship on Shalesmoor being recognised for its efforts, perhaps it will not be so underrated from now on. It is not surprising that Shakespeare’s and The Blake have been included as both are excellent ale pubs in every way. And the remaining new inclusion is The White Lion in Heeley which is not unexpected as it was in the 2011 Good Beer Guide, and has always maintained a good range of local beer. But no Broadfield I hear you ask with horror? Well I think it opened just after the voting process was completed so its absence is to be expected.

But there have been some rather startling omissions, which I find simply unfathomable. The Gardener’s Rest, Hillsborough Hotel and The Rising Sun in Nether Green are no longer in the guide. All are exemplary real ale outlets, all are very popular beyond ale drinkers and all are attached to local breweries. I must say I have lost a little faith in Sheffield CAMRA members! We have also lost The New Barrack Tavern, The Ranmoor Inn, Champs (although that has changed and moved), The Carlton, The Ball in Crookes, and The Francis Newton.

The blog will be updated to show the new list of entries and there will have to be a new post on good ale pubs that are not in the Good Beer Guide.

Update

While the blog may have been quiet this last week I can assure you that plenty of material for writing (Drinking beer in different places) has been collected. Bristol, Bath and Birmingham have now all been visited, photos taken and opinions formed. There is quite a lot of writing to be done now so bare with me with the Newcastle review still outstanding, and the mammoth task of transcribing the Eddy Munnelly interview ongoing.

But the Lincoln review is featured in the September issue of Beer Matters by Sheffield CAMRA! Whilst you can read it on here, if you would like to see it in it's published setting please go to http://www.sheffieldcamra.org.uk/beermatters.htm

Durham Review now Uploaded

The write up of our real ale pub crawl around Durham has now been added as a page. We were again blessed with good weather, a near miracle considering the summer we've had, so the pubs are mostly in the sun. All photos are of course my own as always.

My esteemed colleague Dan was recently in Norwich and seeing as he is a budding real ale enthusiast, and there is a storming ale scene down there, I tasked him with a write up. Hopefully it will be appearing soon, as will the write up of the crawl around Newcastle.

Me and the Mrs are on holiday from tomorrow which means there will be a write up of real ale crawls around Bristol, Bath and Birmingham in the not too distant future.

Sheffield Beer Survey

I, for one, am looking forward to the result of this years Sheffield Beer Survey. It was carried out on 28th July which meant I was unable to participate as it was my birthday weekend and I was drinking real ale in Newcastle!

What is the pupose of the survey? Well a few years ago Derby claimed to be the Real Ale Capital of England. Now we can't have that can we?! So ever since Sheffield CAMRA have organised a pub crawl, sorry survey, to count how many different beers are available on the day. Our fair city had had the largest choice every time but now there are similiar surveys being carried out by York and Norwich CAMRA branches. Both cities have a vibrant real ale scene but can they steal our crown?

It was interesting thsat the 2010 beer survey highlighted the fact that Moonshine by Abbeydale brewery was the most common beer on offer. Not sure if it held that title in 2011 and we'll have to see if will win this year.  For there is growing competition from Farmers Blonde which I am beginning to see more and more of.

First Interview

The first, of what I hope will be many, interview with a key person in the Sheffield Real Ale scene was conducted and recorded last night. I had a very good chat with Eddy Munnelly at The Gardener's Rest and co-director of The Sheffield Brewery Company.

Eddy very generously talked to me for 1 hour 45 minutes which was fantastic and covered a lot of things I wanted to know. However there is now the rather laborious task of transcribing the whole lot!

There’s a large list of people who I want to talk including Brewery owners, landlords, long standing CAMRA members, and pub group owners.

There is now a Facebook page but some content will be exclusive to the blog so keep reading!

Good Beer Pubs not in the Good Beer Guide (Yet?)

The 2013 edition of The Good Beer Guide is available for pre order with the formal publishing date being 13^th September. So I would like to speculate, in that limited time, about the pubs that are not in the 2012 edition but may well be contenders for 2013.

The Broadfield

Part of the Forum Group and as two other of their outlets; Old House and The York are in the GBG, so I expect to see this join them in 2013. It is now an excellent local beer pub in an area of Sheffield which was crying out for one. A former Greene King pub who obviously didn’t know what they were doing as it steadily went downhill, before the current owner’s restored the former Tennents ale house to a glory it has probably never seen before. The home cooked food is excellent, you must check out the sausages, and reasonably priced, with an impressive range of local ales on. No national breweries here, indeed the Forum Group now has their own brewery. The True North Brewing Company was started early this year under the tutelage of Claire Monk from Welbeck Abbey Brewery.

The Blake

The Blake is the sister pub of the mighty Sheaf View in Heeley. James Birkett launched his new venture in Walkley in the same no nonsense real ale pub style. Another great location; near to large swathes of housing some of which is student housing and we all know how much they like to drink. An ex Cannon Brewery pub it has a commanding corner location and a cosy beer garden. But you’re better approaching from Crookes rather than Penistone Rd as it’s quite a steep hill to climb! Not as big as the Sheaf inside perhaps, and a couple less hand pumps, but the same simple décor peppered with beer paraphernalia. A lush beer garden that has been decked to within an inch of its life, that doesn’t quite have a view of the city centre. Which is a shame as it would be quite a view to gaze upon, and I cannot think of a real ale pub in Sheffield that has a view from one of the infamous seven hills. But it is tantalising close to The Hillsborough, which is close to The Gardener’s Rest which is not too far from The Kelham Island Tavern and.. well you get the idea!

The White Lion

This excellently preserved old style boozer was previously in the GBG but lost out in 2012 to one of the new entrants. Which is somewhat paradoxical as it has a much better range of beer now than it ever did before. Now you can expect to see Moonshine, Silver King from Ossett, Sequoia and Jaipur from Thornbridge and Hobgoblin from Wychwood and I think easy Rider is still available too. Whereas before the recent landlord took over was limited to Hobgoblin, Moonshine and Tetleys as far as I can recall. This used to be my local a few years ago and I have always liked the atmosphere, largely due to the retention of the separate rooms. The beer garden is quite cosy and there is a pool table, dart board and games machine for entertainment. Live music is now a selling point with acts on regularly throughout the week. However, and it pains me a little that there is a ‘however’; the beer prices are steep for Sheffield, with most pints costing close to £3.

Thornbridge

Now whatever you may think of the ambitious Derbyshire brewery and their aggressive property acquisition strategy, it can be assumed that the good CAMRA members of Sheffield will probably vote to include one of their outlets in the 2013 GBG. It is a distinct likelihood due to the sheer number they have, which seems to have increased by a premise a month recently.

My money would be the inclusion of The Greystones. It is immensely popular and people don’t seem to mind the slightly high prices, as it is far better than the previous Enterprise business in that location; The Highcliffe. They are making excellent use of the back room; showcasing comedy and touring music acts, and it is the only proper real ale pub in the Greystones/High Storrs area.

The Bath Hotel is currently in the GBG but that was before Thornbridge took it on. As people have voted for it before and as it is unlikely to change much it has a good chance of remaining in the guide. I have not been in since it has changed hands but it is certainly on my ‘to drink in’ list in the near future.

The Stag on Psalter Lane is a new acquisition, again utilising an Enterprise property. I have always been a fan of The Stag, even though the dart board that I used to play on has been removed. It has 3 distinct indoor areas, all with a homely feel (the conservatory being my favoured location), and what must be the largest tract of land attached to a pub in the inner city. A beer patio, a car park and a beer garden/children’s play area. We used to drop in occasionally when the last Enterprise landlord had it, as we’re quite partial to Chatsworth Gold by Peak Ales, but it was £3.30 a pint! Enterprise strikes again; charging so much for everything else that ale is the one thing the landlord can try and make some profit on. The Chatsworth Gold may have gone but the price per pint for a Thornbridge ale is significantly cheaper. Its quiet nature and laidback foliage covered surroundings may earn it a place.

The Hallamshire is a well established pub in the heart of one of Sheffield’s busiest student areas. It is the only pub in Sheffield that has a full sized snooker table so if you are a beer loving snooker player this is going to get your vote. Another establishment that has retained its separate rooms, there is a generous range of Thornbridge ales on the bar, 8 in total. Went I went in a few weeks ago there were students sat in the front with older drinkers in the back and around the snooker table. But if the older CAMRA member stereotype is true, then this pub may struggle to get the required support for entry.

The Inn at Troway (Formerly the Blackamoor) is in Derbyshire and while some entries in our neighbouring county are decided by Sheffield CAMRA, the aforementioned Thornbridge pub is close to Chesterfield so will probably come under their remit. Or may even be decided by the newly formed Dronfield branch if they have been allocated any spaces in the GBG to fill. If that is the case then The Inn will face stiff competition from The Jolly Farmer (already in the GBG) and the Three Tuns (brewery tap for Spire).

The Cricket Inn at Totley is one of the longer serving Thornbridge partnerships. However its main focus is on food and there are 3 other partnerships/sponsors, two food related and the other a wine merchant. There is also the suburban location. While it is not a rule as such, all the entries in the GBG for Sheffield have been in the city centre and the area around it. I would imagine this is due to a higher concentration of CAMRA members and the fact that people tend to drink more when they go into the city.

Dada might be a bit quirky for some people’s taste, even though I’m sure the beer will be well looked after and may even be selling non Thornbridge ales from the pictures on their website. Alas I have also not managed to go in here yet either but it is also on the list.

A good contender could be the Cross Scythes on Derbyshire Lane, a recent addition to the Thornbridge stable. This pub is through an agreement with Punch Taverns who have allowed them to have two guest ales on, along with three of their own. The building has been refurbished tastefully and now has a very smart interior and a newly fashioned beer garden to the rear, in addition to the benches at the front. Just off Woodseats, the first Thornbridge outlet in that area, and well worth visiting out of curiosity, ambience and guest beers.

Barring any further recent acquisitions that I am not aware of that just leaves Relish on Ecclesall Rd, which is also a food based outlet. Whilst that does not rule it out, Sheffield entries in the GBG tend to be traditional pubs.

The Museum

A centrally located Greene King pub but don’t let that put you off. It’s the only place that I know of that regularly features specials from Abbeydale Brewery as well as some of their standard range. It always has a good atmosphere and has quite a few nooks and cranny’s to sit in. Not too bad on price either and while it doesn’t have a beer garden, it has floor to ceiling sliding windows that are opened on hot summer days.

Shakespeare’s

This wonderful addition to the Kelham Island Real Ale crawl is sure to be included. Skilfully converted to a four room pub from three, and with a generous beer garden that includes a sheltered area, Shakespeare’s has become a firm favourite. The area is a bit of an Abbeydale black spot, I say this because every other local brewery is represented if not based around there, so it was a good move to have Deception as a regular beer. There is a large function room on the first floor which regularly hosts folk nights and local bands. To say that Punch Taverns used to have this establishment, on the doorstep of Kelham Island, is testament to how out of touch pub companies are.

The Cremorne

Over the past year or so The Cremorne has slowly been creeping towards being a reliable real ale venue. Rather unglamorous from the outside (although the recent paint job is a vast improvement on the previous beige colour) it has a traditional interior with wood panelling and bench seats around the edge. There is a dance floor area that connects to an enclosed courtyard for smokers. Offering up to 5 real ales, most of which are local, it is becoming a worthy addition to the stable of ‘just out of town’ beer pubs, cemented by the hosting of their first ale festival on the August bank holiday weekend.

The Porter Cottage

A much loved boozer in the student area of Ecclesall Road it has always sold 3 real ales, currently stocking from Bradfield Brewery. Always on the busy side you can count on it for a great atmosphere complemented by the long standing juke box. But it’s lack of regular guest ales may impede its chances in future editions of the GBG.

 

First Article!

The Leeds write up is featured in the current edition of Beer Matters! And the Chesterfield write up is now on the blog. Next just need to write up the crawls around Durham and Newcastle. Off to the Hop in Leeds tonight, but in a musical capacity. Not that I won't be carefully noting the lay of the land beer wise, for I have not been to a Hop yet, even though there is one in Sheffield.

All good fun!

Update

Apologies for the delay in communication but I can assuer you that much beer has been drunk and recorded! I expect the Chesterfield write up to be finished this week and then there will be a review of last weekends pub crawls around Durham & Newcastle. I can tell you that we were very impressed with the real ale scene in the North East, both in terms of the pubs and the range of beer on offer.

Planning has also started for our trip to Somerset in September with information currently being gathered on Good Beer Guide pubs in Bath and Bristol.

Update

There is now some info about Sheffield Pubs and links for local breweries. I intend there to be a lot more local beer information in the near future as I would like this blog to act as guidance for anyone drinking in Sheffield for the first time. It will hopefully also expand the beer horizons of some residents, as that is what I'm striving to do myself.


I have now planned the pub crawl around Durham and Newcastle fro my birthday and came across a very useful blog: http://www.casktask.blogspot.co.uk/ that covers all the real ale pubs in the north east of England. I hope to be as comprehensive as that one day whilst still writing up my beer adventures in other towns and cities.


Keep drinking beer!

Review of Lincoln Real Ale Crawl now Published!

Check out the write up of our night around Lincoln in May.

We really enjoyed our trip around Chesterfield last Friday and will most certainly be returning in the near future. Look out for the write up which will appear this week.

Preparations for the crawls around Durham and Newcastle are well under way with a short list of pubs to visit now selected.

The expansion across social media continues! There is now a twitter account under @SheffieldBeer which links to this blog.

More improvements coming soon!

1st Article now posted!

The write up of my visit to Leeds has now been added under the page headed Real Ale Pub Crawls around the UK.

Why Leeds? Well this year my fiancé and I have decided to visit as many towns and cities possible in the UK to assess their real ale scene, and try new beers. For the belief is that Sheffield has one of the finest real ale scenes, especially given the semi-famous crawl around Kelham Island.

Derby will be visited soon for it has won beer capital of Britain most recently, making it a priority crawl. Lincoln was visited in May and will be written up and posted soon.

On the horizon there are crawls around Durham, Newcastle (end of July), Bath and Bristol (early September) and by the end of the year we hope to have visited Manchester, Chesterfield (this Friday!) and Nottingham.

All crawls are planned using the Good Beer Guide (GBG) which shows on a map where are the pubs in it are, all over the country. Vigorous research is undertaken before the selection of pubs is chosen. For one cannot possibly get round all the entries in the GBG in a city in one night. And one most certainly does NOT drink halves unless there are serious time constraints.

So I hope you get something out of reading about beer missions in other places and give it a go, it is quite affordable. After all we manage it and I am a lowly agency worker and my fiancé is a student!

Slow Progress

There is a lot of content planned for this blog but it will take some time to get it all up to speed. But please keep checking as info will be added as I go along.


Thanks for your patience. :)

What's It All About?

Hello beer lovers!

Now, just to clarify; when I say beer I am in fact referring to Real Ale. But I would like to reclaim beer as a description of real ale. Beer is NOT lager, it never was, but calling it real ale all the time becomes a little stuffy. It is fine for CAMRA, as the distinction of ‘real’ ale is what they’re all about, and I am a proud CAMRA member.

So, Sheffield Beer? I am based in Sheffield so the main focus will be on the beer scene in that wonderful city in the north of England. I will be putting my personal views across but also providing an informal guide and a forum for discussion. But I will not be limiting content or discussion to just the local area. There are simply too many quality micro breweries around the country to ignore, and I am trying to sample wares from as many as possible!

Content? There will be some local brewery history, interviews with prominent figures, useful information, news of upcoming beer related events and accounts of pub crawls near and far.

So I hope you find this entertaining/amusing/helpful/informative/slightly irritating!

Paul Holden