Each year at our Steel City Beer & Cider Festival we invite all the breweries located within the CAMRA Sheffield & District branch area to enter a cask ale into the competition, which is judged via a blind tasting on the Wednesday afternoon.
This year we also judged the final of our inaugural home brew competition. This had already seen a process where four entries were selected to be scaled up by commercial brewers with the results on the bar at the festival and included in the judging at the event.
The winners of both competitions were presented with certificates on stage at the festival on the Wednesday evening by beer writer Pete Brown.
CHAMPION BEER OF SHEFFIELD & DISTRICT – THE WINNERS
GOLD: Little Critters, Buffalo Charge – A 6% ABV American brown ale.
Smooth and malty, with deep flavours of chocolate, caramel, toast and hints of roast coffee. This malty sweetness is countered by a robust, resinous hop bitterness (66 IBU). It blends rich, roasty malts with a heavy dose of American hops: Centennial and Amarillo.
SILVER: Little Mesters, The Last Mester – A 4.5% ABV session IPA
Session IPA hopped with Citra and Mosaic. Expect flavours of mango, papaya, melon, citrus and blueberry, leading to a smooth body and balanced bitterness.
BRONZE: Dead Parrot, Campfire – A 4.6% marshmallow stout
Marshmallow and chocolate stout. Rich, smooth and indulgent, delivering luscious chocolate flavours and sweet marshmallow. Roasted malt brings gentle depth, while Columbus and Aurora hops add a subtle balancing bitterness. A decadent stout with a velvety character and a moreish finish.
OTHER ENTRIES:
- Abbeydale – Pilgrim (pumpkin pale ale)
- Blue Bee – Once in a Millenium (porter)
- Bradfield – Farmers Imperial Milk Stout
- Duality – Dark Side (stout)
- Eyam – Bubonic Orange (chocolate orange stout)
- Fuggle Bunny – It’s a Bee Thing (honey IPA)
- Intrepid – Mitis (mild)
- Loxley – Mosaic (pale ale)
- Neepsend – Perkunas (porter)
- Stancill – Paisley (porter)
- Tapped Brew Co – Odyssey (IPA)
- Triple Point – Parkin (ginger & treacle porter)
CHAMPION HOME BREW OF SHEFFIELD – THE WINNER
Brian Glossop – brewed at Duality: Dust from a Distant Sun – A 5% ABV New England IPA.
Soft and hazy, with a light body and fruity citrus and tropical hop notes from Nectaron, Motueka and Nelson Sauvin.
