So a couple of weeks late perhaps and yes, my first post
since May I know, but I have been busy doing my part (as cellar manager) in trying
to establish a new opening as a reputable ale and home cooked food venue in one
of Sheffield’s suburbs. And as much fun as that has been it is time to look at
the entries in this year’s Good Beer Guide.
So let’s start with the city itself. Well, not too much
to report there with three venues going out and three more being voted in. Did
I vote? No I didn’t get round to it as usual so it’s not just the blog my voice
has been missing from. However, plenty of members clearly have voted and the
results are in, published and sat in some of your bookcases.
The new entries in the guide this year are The Closed
Shop, The Francis Newton and The Porter Brook. Now, on the face of it these are
all pretty reasonable ale places. I have been in The Closed Shop a couple of
times in the last 18 months and the beer range has always been good, but I have
not been in enough to pass real comment. The Francis Newton is undoubtedly the
nicest Spoons in Sheffield with its beer garden, car park and lack of
reprobates. And it does usually have a good beer range but is it so much better
than that of the Sheaf Island or the Huntsman? Even the Bankers Draft has been
doing well with their beer choice recently which is good as it’s the nicest building Spoons have got in the city. In
2011 the Rawson Spring got in which I imagine is the year it opened. And lastly
The Porter Brook, a good boozer, I’ve always like it even if it’s always been a
little short on seats. I know it belongs to the evil Greene King but as The
Ball in Crookes has shown, they do allow some of their pubs to stock an amount
of local ales that is greater than their own.
So all very well and good in general you might say, but
at what cost? Well it means that three places have been voted out of the Good
Beer Guide. The Ship on Shalesmoor is no longer in but it has hardly been a
mainstay anyway. It appeared in the 2012 and 2013 guides but was not in the
2011 edition, I’m not sure about earlier. However it has improved its beer
range recently, even installing an extra pump. Considering its proximity to
Kelham Island it was about time they took advantage although I appreciate it’s not
a free house. And the Landlady is not in favour of tasters so that’s two pubs
in the area with that policy as the Wellington started doing it last year. It
is a policy I find particularly small minded and counterproductive for beer
sales and in all the places I’ve visited around the country I don’t think I’ve
ever been refused a taster. And if that is your policy then either the staff
need to be extremely knowledgeable or there should be tasting notes on a board
near the bar. It’s just good practice, simple as that.
Anyway, let’s not stray too far from the subject at hand.
The second pub that is not in next year’s guide is The Cobden View in Crookes
which has been in for the last few years. This is perhaps not entirely
surprising. It is a lovely pub, friendly and cosy but it’s never had the best
range of beers, lacking in guests as far as I’ve noticed. So while it was a
solid local entry there is now more competition around the city for members to
vote for. And perhaps the ‘bar’ has been raised too.
The last omission is the most surprising as it was a
worthy entry for a number of years. The Old House is a welcome respite on
Devonshire/Devonshire Street from the bars and chain pubs, providing six hand
pulled beers, an impressive array of cocktails, and good quality home cooked
food. There is a robust guest beer policy that fits around the in house True
North Brewing Company, whose own beers have been steadily improving of late. But
such is the fickle nature of the voting public even within a member orientated
organisation. I’m sure enough people will continue to go the Old House to drink
beer but it is a shame it has lost that badge of honour. The Forum Group, who
own it, have two other venues in the Good Beer Guide; the York and the
Broadfield, current jewel in the crown. It remains to be seen if the new
opening in the Mosborough (The British Oak) will be voted in, but it is out
there all by itself in terms of ale pubs and we know that clustering does help.
As does the number of (voting) CAMRA members who live nearby. Also, it has only
been open since the end of March and voting for the 2016 edition takes place
before Christmas.
The Sheffield AMRA branch is also responsible for part of
North Derbyshire too but there is no change there. The Red Lion at Litton, The
Grouse Inn near Longshaw, The Anglers Rest at Millers Dale, The Cheshire Cheese
in Hope, The Packhorse Inn at Little Longstone and The Three Stags Head near
Wardlow all remaining in the guide. Also still included is the excellent
Arkwright Arms in Duckmanton, The All Inn at Staveley, The Rutland Arms in
Holmesfield and The Hare and Hounds in Barlow. But the big upset occurs in Dronfield.
Recently granted its own sub branch it has seen both of the pubs in last year’s
guide slip out. These were The Three Tuns, Spire Brewery’s tap and The Coach
House a Thornbridge outlet close to Sheffield. Both were worthy of inclusion in
my opinion but have now been replaced by The Travellers Rest at Apperknowle and
The Cross Daggers in Coal Aston. We have been in the former and it was
reasonable for beer selection if not revelatory. But then, a pub in its
location is hardly going to be pursuing that. The other usurper is one I have
not heard of never mind visited, but it is off the main road. According to What
Pub The Cross Daggers has three regular beers (Farmers Blonde, Moonshine and Tetleys
and one guest but on that evidence I don’t think it beats the Coach &
Horses or the Three Tuns. Of course it is not all about beer choice, with beer
condition a factor, but it is surely the main consideration given the title of
the guide. We shall have to see what happens next year in this area.
None of the exiting pubs are to be blamed in my opinion
as they have not changed their way of working to my knowledge. But as
previously stated, there is increased competition and the standard is rising
with almost every new opening or venture. I don’t think I blogged on GBG
entries last year but I have noticed that Archer Road Beer Stop has not been in
the guide since the 2013 edition and this will also be for the reasons stated
above. That is also a shame as it was good to see a real ale off licence in the
guide. But, once again, there is more competition in that area with a flurry of
activity in the last year. Beer Central opened in the new market and hit the
ground running with some excellent beer choices, local and from afar. I
remarked that they could do with a bigger unit but they like their location in
the market too much to move. The Hop Hideout is almost next to the Broadfield
on Abbeydale road and is a tentative operation but again the research has been
done and beer is available there that is not available elsewhere in the city.
There’s also a good chance they’ll move to bigger premises soon and extend
their opening hours. Further down Abbeydale Road is the Yorkshire supermarket
Mr Pickles. What a great concept! And, even better, they sell bottled beer.
Only from God’s Own County of course but the selection is still as rich as you’d
expect. I was able to get pretty much all the Tour De France beers that the
Yorkshire breweries made. Dave at Archer Road beer stop has upped his game in
response, although he’ll always have his loyal customers like me. And even
Mitchell’s responded by increasing their range; now being the only place in Sheffield
to stock Titanic beers. Although the Plum Porter sadly remains elusive.
I decided not to limit myself to Sheffield when checking
the entries against those of last year, mainly out of curiosity. My other half
comes from Worksop and my sister moved to Chesterfield this year so I drink in
these neighbouring districts on a fairly regular basis. There’s no change in
Worksop or in any of the surrounding settlements as far as I can tell. The
Grafton Hotel, the Mallard, the Station Hotel and the Shireoaks are still
Worksop’s premier drinking establishments. And of course you can get real ale
in the Liquorice Gardens, the obligatory Wetherspoons which sits in a most
curious building. I would like to see the Anchor, which is Dukeries Brewery
nominated tap, challenge the Shireoaks one year as I think it deserves an
entry. Primarily an eating pub but there is a tap room to the right as you
enter and a choice of around five ales and the odd guest beer if I recall
correctly.
And so on to Chesterfield where the most heinous crime
has been committed. When my sister and her partner moved there I told them the
best pub for beer is the Chesterfield Arms. So how on earth has it been passed
over for inclusion?! Well this can happen; it’s all down to members and herein lies
the problem with the Good Beer Guide. For a lot of people it’s probably about
proximity and reputation but that doesn’t mean that pubs not in the guide are
not worthy of visiting. It is after all only a guide and not the definitive
word on the subject. I think that is most likely impossible to achieve. We use
it when visiting somewhere new as it’s the easiest way to find real ale. But
take Leeds for example, one of our first crawls. We used the guide when we
first went and we checked it on our second visit. But we still went back to
places that featured in the guide of the previous year even if they were not in
the current one, because we knew we could find good ale there. It is this
knowledge gap that (for me) What Pub aims to fill. That and local blogs I
suppose. The other change in Chesterfield is Spa Lane Vaults, one of the two
Wetherspoons, but we’ve seen in Sheffield that these can flit in and out of the
guide year to year. So the new ones that go in are both veterans of previous
years; the Peacock in Brampton and the Market in the centre. Both decent pubs
but neither have up to 16 beers on at a weekend like the Chesterfield Arms. Oh
well, I would hope at least that the Chesterfield Ale House goes in the 2016
guide.
