CAMRA Sheffield & District had been doing this survey for many years now, ever since Derby tried to attract tourists by publicly claiming their city as the Real Ale Capital of Britain. Derby does indeed have some great pubs, a few microbreweries and a good choice of beer, however we knew Sheffield was better and in an act of friendly rivalry, started an annual survey to count how many different cask ales were available on the bars of our proud city to prove we were indeed the true Beer Capital of Britain. Some other cities have joined in over the years such as York and Norwich, all failing to beat us!
We’ve also seen respected beer writer Pete Brown commissioned in conjunction with the University of Sheffield to publish a report on Sheffield’s beer scene to prove it is the best beer city!
We still do an annual beer census, these days it is a way of taking the pulse of Sheffield’s beer scene and comparing data year on year, seeing how many beers are available, which breweries are most represented and other such trending statistics.
The 2026 census will take place on Saturday 30 May and we need as much help as possible! On this day we are asking folk visiting pubs in Sheffield to record which cask ales are on the bar by logging them online at sheffield.beer/survey. You can do that under your own steam or alternatively by joining one of our organised survey crawls, if there is a group it will be more social as well as sometimes being able to split up briefly to cover more pubs!
The daytime crawls start in the suburbs at midday and work their way towards the City Centre. We’ll all then meet up in the Red Deer at 6:30pm with the option of then doing evening surveys around central Sheffield. An all day travel pass such as CityWide could prove good value.
CROOKES & WALKLEY – meet at the Walkley Cottage, leader TBC
HILLSBOROUGH, LOXLEY & BRADFIELD – meet at the Park Hotel, leader TBC
NEEPSEND & KELHAM ISLAND – meet at the Gardeners Rest, led by Dan Rowe
FULWOOD, NETHER GREEN & BROOMHILL – meet at the Rising Sun, led by Phil Ellett
WOODSEATS & HEELEY – meet at Guzzle micropub, led by Malcolm Dixon
TOTLEY, MILLHOUSES & ABBEYDALE ROAD – meet at the Cross Scythes, led by Andy Cullen
BANNER CROSS & ECCLESALL ROAD – meet at the Itchy Pig Ale House, led by Paul Manning.
BEIGHTON, HALFWAY, WOODHOUSE & HANDSWORTH – meet at the Scarsdale Hundred Wetherspoon, led by Mike Cooke.
CHAPELTOWN, ECCLESFIELD & MEADOWHALL – leader still needed!