Our big Sheffield pub survey started life many years ago now as the “Beer Capital Survey” as a bit of friendly competition between Derby, Sheffield and some other cities to prove their claim to the title of the real ale capital of Britain. Consistently, Sheffield proved to have the greatest number of different beers available on one day. Although it started as a bit of fun, the data collected proved a useful way of taking a snapshot of the city’s beer scene. We can track changes to the range of beers, which brands are most commonly found, how many real ales are offered and more. In later years the survey was referred to as the “Annual Beer Census”.
Since we last did this annual survey in 2019, we have had lockdowns and restrictions, followed by the cost of living crisis. This has meant changes in many pubs beyond the beer range, such as opening hours. We‘ve seen many pub closures… but also some new openings.
For this year‘s survey we are asking participants to not just log the range of beers, but also check information on opening hours, food service, facilities, accessibility etc. so we can make sure the pub‘s entry on WhatPub is up-to-date and accurate, which may prove useful given that over a thousand beer tourists are expected to visit Sheffield for the national CAMRA Members’ Weekend in April and will be exploring the city’s pubs.
The survey is conducted on a number of different routes, which we invite you to join us on. Each route has a leader assigned who will help the group have a good day out while collecting this valuable data.
Many daytime surveys start in the outer suburbs at midday and work their way into the City Centre, along with some dedicated City Centre routes. In the evening we meet up and spread out across the Kelham Island and Neepsend areas.
If you can’t make it onto one of the survey routes but are happy to nip down to your local on the day, we’ll also have an online facility for you to submit your data, and all help will be appreciated!
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Survey routes with a leader – you are welcome to join in simply by meeting the leader in the first pub at midday. We suggest buying an all day travel pass such as Citywide as use of public transport will be involved with most routes.
Abbeydale Road corridor – meet at the Cross Scythes in Totley. Leader Andy Cullen. Buses 97 and 218 go there.
Walkley, Crookes and Commonside – meet at the Walkley Cottage Inn (Leader Paul Crofts. Buses 52a, 95 and 95a go there) or the Ball (Leaders Phil Ellet & John Beardshaw, buses 52/52a go there)
Ecclesall Road corridor – meet at the Greystones (leader Glyn Mansell, bus 6 goes there) or Hammer & Pincers (leader Alan Gibbons, bus 88 goes there)
At the end of the daytime crawls we meet up at the Red Deer in Sheffield City Centre, have a bite to eat then head out on evening survey runs around Kelham Island and Neepsend.
If you wish to survey independently, you can log your data online here.
Alternatively you can print out a paper form to fill in by hand below.