Hidden away behind West Street, the Red Deer on Pitt Street is definitely one of the gems of the City Centre real ale scene. Originally dating from 1825, the pub originally comprised three small rooms with a central bar area. This was opened out in the 1980s and the bar repositioned to provide the present format with an L-shaped lounge. The “gallery”, a raised area towards the rear of the pub, was added in 1993 and this leads on to a beer garden. Formerly a Tetley’s pub (and Gilmours before that), for many years in the early days of Sheffield & District CAMRA, the Red Deer was the regular meeting place for the branch, as it was one of the few Sheffield pubs to retain handpumps.
Licensee Jake Nickles took over the pub in August 2010, having previously worked in pubs and bars in London and the Midlands. His focus on customer service and real ale quickly re-established the pub’s reputation for showcasing quality cask beer. The bar displays an impressive range of eight real ales, with regular offerings from Blue Bee, Moorhouse’s and Welbeck Abbey, along with oft-changing guest beers. There is a hand-pulled cider too, whilst a good selection of malt whiskies is also available.
The Red Deer has been a prolific winner of our Pub of the Month accolade over the years, with the most recent award coming back in August 2015. As well as real ale drinkers, it remains popular with students from the nearby University of Sheffield, and since 2016 the gable end has featured a large mural of a girl reading a book, painted by Austrian artist Frau Isa.
The pub is open from noon-midnight Monday to Thursday, noon-1am Friday and Saturday, and noon-11pm Sunday. Quality pub food is available every day, and in recent years there has been a focus on vegan and vegetarian food, so everyone is catered to. On Tuesday evenings there is a fairly challenging pub quiz, plus regular live music Saturday nights and alternate Sundays. CAMRA members can enjoy a 10% discount on pints of real ale and real cider.
We will be presenting the Red Deer with their well-deserved award on Tuesday 12 March, arriving from 8pm onwards. We hope you can join us!