Restating the Purpose

Yes I know, it has been too long between posts to really call myself a blogger these days. But fear not, ale is still being drunk, in Sheffield, at home and in various other places around England. Yes, yes, I am really behind with my write ups but I still aim to catch up and there are a couple that can be added to the blog since Beer Matters don't seem to want to push them. I have many things to muse on (over?) though if you will.

But hey ho (and ho ho ho far too soon) we are looking forward to going around Newark the week before Christmas and checking out a micropub, which is an excellent concept and fast catching on. Just to recpap (and remind myself how far behind I am) we have toured the Good Beer Guide pubs in Newcastle, Durham, Scarborough, York, Wakefield, Leeds, Halifax and Sowerby Bridge, Todmorden, Rochdale, Manchester, Liverpool, Rotherham, Worksop, Chesterfield, Derby, Lincoln, Leicester, Nottingham, Burton (a cool but weird place), Birmingham, Bristol, Bath, Bradford-Upon-Avon and parts of London. And we can tell you that Sheffield is one of the cheapest places to drink real ale, despite what you might think (perhaps you're drinking in the wrong places!). 

I started this blog to charter the real ale scene in Sheffield and felt some obligation to champion it since I picked such an ambitious name (oops). However I also found a new purpose by touring the country; the search for a comparable ale crawl to our own famous Kelham Island scene. And there are some that do hold up to scrutiny to be fair; Manchester's Northgate Quarter, Newcastle, Wakefield (yes really) and Chesterfield (dee da accusations none withstanding). And there are some that fall short; Birmingham, Lincoln and Burton. Birmingham was too busy with itself and too hip to worry about an ale scene. Lincoln had wonderful pubs but no local breweries (Marston's dominated) and Burton was just an odd place. It's a brewery surrounded by a town but there's only two major breweries left there; one of which does thankfully see cask ale as a just cause (Marston's) and the other of which it is a byproduct (Coors/Worthington's) of countless takeovers and downsizing. Bizarre that Coors now own the Bass site but Bass ale is now brewed by one time rival Marston's. At least part of the site is now the National Brewery Centre which every self respecting beer drinker should visit as a matter of course.

But I digress, tis the season to be jolly (like we need an excuse) and Christmas beers are starting to appear. But I can't bring myself to buy any yet. Maybe next week. But at least I have got into stouts and porters which has broadened my pallet at last. I'll be posting soon about bottled beer in Sheffield, something I have long since been meaning to post about. But even more pertinent now with these new businesses...