Author: Andy Cullen

Andy has been actively involved in CAMRA since the early 2000s after being recruited to sit on a National Younger Members Task Group. Since then he has held roles on the branch committee including Secretary, Membership Secretary, Magazine Editor, Chair and now Social Secretary. Andy has also been involved with the Steel City Beer & Cider Festival almost every year since becoming active in the branch.

Acorn Brewery

Posted on by Andy Cullen
March sees the start of a few exiting months ahead for the brewery. Our flagship beer, Barnsley Bitter is representing the North East region in the SIBA national finals to held at BeerX. This event will once again be held at Sheffield Ice 18th-21st March and pitches our Barnsley Bitter with the other regional winners throughout the UK. Also one to look out for in the finals is Barnsley’s Geeves Brewery with their Clear Cut there must be something good in the water around these parts! Expansion plans are motoring ahead with 2 new 25 barrel conditioning tanks and a cold-room extension ordered and also another major expansion planned for July, details to follow in the near future. We welcome 2 new members of staff to Acorn towers, Yvonne Underwood joins us in an administration role and Ian Darvill who is a very accomplished home brewer joins the production team. Madness 4.5 Our seasonal beer for March is the aptly named Madness a 4.5% pale ale brewed with sack loads of hops!

Welbeck Abbey Brewery

Posted on by Andy Cullen
We’re well into 2015 now and the year is already taking shape. Our first few specials have been a hit, especially Seven Sisters at 4.2% ABV which had a lovely sweet lemon barley flavour. For February we have one new special, one repeat appearance from last year and of course, one old favourite. savoy hill Savoy Hill, the main service entrance for the Welbeck Abbey, was named so because it once resembled the stunning entrance to the grand Savoy Hotel in London. Now it’s unfortunately lost many of the original glasswork and tiling but the name remains. This beer should be no less spectacular than the entrance, being filled with the mouth-wateringly fresh aromas of pear, orange and passion fruit. This is a 4.2% beer however, making it a pleasantly light indulgence. welbeck2 Cathedral Beeches is repeated special from last year. Coming in at 3.7% this traditional bitter is full of heady herbal aromas from British Phoenix hops, making it surprisingly delicious and certainly more interesting than many of its counterparts. The name stems from an area of woodland with towering Beech trees in which young lovers at Welbeck used to come and carve their names. welbeckkaiser Kaiser makes an appearance in February as our next Favourite at Welbeck. Our 4.1% Lager style pale ale is brewed using lager ingredients but in the British way to get the most from these traditional ingredients. If you miss it this month then don’t panic, it’ll be back again in May. Aside from the exciting news that we are brewing three specials per month now, we have finally finished the building project and are open for brewery tours again! The tours are booked as private events so if you would like to organise a visit or even a party at the brewery and we would be happy to help. We’ll be taking part in Sheffield Science Week 2015 as we did in 2014. There will be around 30 places available for members of the public to come to Welbeck for a brewery tour, practical brewing experiments, and a Q&A session with brewers and academics. This will be on Thursday 19th and places for this event and others can be booked here: http://www.scienceweeksy.org.uk/events/offline Finally, we are very pleased to have been shortlisted as Company of the Year in the North Notts Business Awards 2015! The final is to be held on Thursday 2nd April, so please keep your fingers crossed for us and we’ll let you know how we do.

Inn Brief

Posted on by Andy Cullen
The new Manager at the  Wharncliffe Arms, Wharncliffe Side is Dave Briggs. Dave has previously worked at the Royal Standard and the Arms.  Currently three Bradfield Beers are available, with the intention of both increasing the range and adding a basic food menu. Folk Night is monthly, on the fourth Wednesday. A Hungry Horse (Greene King) pub, ‘ The Hardy Pick,’ opened in early February. It is situated at Broadfields Business Park, Broadfield Road. Local Sheffield CAMRA members, Dave Pickersgill and John Stocks are giving an illustrated talk, ‘The Worksop and Retford Brewery,’ at The Station Hotel, Worksop on Thursday 26th.March 2015 (7:30 pm start). This talk is supported by the Worksop Archaeological and Local History Society. The Ball at Crookes now has a range of up to 14 real ales, a mix of Greene King house beers and interesting local guest ales. Pete from the Tapped Brew Company, based at the Sheffield Tap, recently took a trip down to Worcestershire to visit hop suppliers with a few of signing a contract to be supplied with new English hop varieties for their beers. The next up and coming real ale circuit in Sheffield may well be London Road if the current developments are a success. Long established is the Cremorne, we also now have real ale available at the Crown and the Albion, the latter having reopened as a freehouse under its old name after sadly not lasting as the Bell Jar. Next to reopen is what was latterly Delaney’s music bar on Cemetery Road, this pub is to revert to it’s previous name of the Beer Engine and feature 5 guest ales and a real cider. JD Wetherspoon has applied for a licence for a potential new pub in Meadowhall. Dada bar on Trippet Lane has closed down after Thornbridge were given an offer they couldn’t refuse to sell the premises. It is to remain a bar, however no more is known about the intentions of the new owner. The Rutland Arms on Brown Street, Sheffield Centre, is hosting a Siren Brewery Tap Takeover on 18th March from 6:30pm and will incorporate a meet-the-brewer session. 4 cask beers from Siren will be available on the bar to try alongside some keg and bottled offerings with at least 7 Siren beers available that haven’t previously been served at the Rutland. Wood Street Brewery at the Hillsborough Hotel are being kept busy hosting brewery tour inclusive social packages booked via Living Social. Their Christmas special, Old Mans’s beard, sold very well and was being brewed weekly. A number of previously popular specials such as that are being considered for another run. Dronfield Brewery Co have made their popular Dronfield Pale Ale, 4.3%, a regular beer and another batch has been brewed.

Angel, Holmesfield

Posted on by Andy Cullen
British Pie Week – Gluten free Cask Ale and Homemade Pies at The Angel Great British Pie Week begins on Monday 2nd March and the Angel at Holmesfield will again be marking this exciting event in style. Delicious homemade pies with a variety of fillings will be available on a specials board all week.  Nothing compliments homemade pie more than a real cask ale, the twist is – all the pies and one cask ale will be gluten free. beef pie 2014 023 Owner of  the Angel Mandy Drewery said  “it is very exciting, we have been catering for coeliacs for over 3 years and at last we can serve a gluten free cask ale alongside our food offer, this  is just great”.  “ Wold Top Brewery have crafted a truly wonderful ale” said Mandy “ but, its usually only available in bottles.”  “After speaking to the Rob at the East Yorkshire Brewey and explaining how difficult it has been to source a gluten free cask ale they are now going to provide us with Against The Grain in barrels for British Pie Week”. Wold Top – Against The Grain winner of the SIBA North Gold Award for speciality beers has proven to be the best tasting gluten free beer in many taste tests. Made from lager malt, maize, hops and yeast, it is a premium full flavoured bitter beer with a good creamy head, refreshing bitterness and citrus aftertaste.  The gluten free content is certified to be well below the required codex standard of 20ppm. against the grain The Angel will be serving a selection of mouthwatering pies & Against The Grain to celebrate Great British Pie Week from Monday 2nd March. For more information or to book a table call 0114 2890336

Best beer off in the North!

Posted on by Andy Cullen
The country’s best beer retailers were honoured at the inaugural Celebrate British Beer Awards held at the House of Commons last night. Leading industry names and MPs attended the event organised by trade magazine Off Licence News to recognise the retailers both big and small making the biggest contribution to selling our national drink.

OffLicenceNewsAwards

The awards singled out the top independent beer shops from across the UK – along with the best national drinks chain and supermarket. The winners were voted for by over 500 industry experts. Rosie Davenport, Editor at Off Licence News Editor, said: “Pubs do a great job promoting beer, but the swathes of great beer shops play just as important a role in enhancing consumers’ appreciation. More people are drinking great beer at home than ever before and the businesses recognised at Off Licence News’ Celebrate British Beer Awards are dedicated to sourcing and selling interesting brews and supporting the UK’s vibrant brewing scene. “ List of winners
Category Company Name Location
Supermarket of the Year Waitrose
Chain of the Year Oddbins
Regional Retailer of the Year – London Real Ale Twickenham
Regional Retailer of the Year – North Hop Hideout South Yorkshire
Regional Retailer   of the Year – South Beer Emporium Bristol
Regional Retailer of the Year – Midlands/East Hopology Nottingham
Regional Retailer of the Year – Scotland The Beer Hive Edinburgh
Regional Retailer of the Year – Wales Gwin Llŷn Wines Gwynedd, Pwllhel

Three Valleys Festival confirmed for 2015

Posted on by Andy Cullen
It has been confirmed the Three Valleys Festival will be back for 2015 on Saturday 6th June, hardly a surprise given how it has been a hit from day one and grown in popularity over the years it has run! Three Valleys is an almost unique event – a multi venue beer festival with a free bus service linking all the venues every half hour. The festival buses link the venues over three routes, all of which commence from Dronfield railway station, so to take part simply catch a train to Dronfield (10 minute ride from Sheffield) and within no more than 10-15 minutes you will be on a bus to a pub! The buses will run from midday until 11pm. All the participating venues will have an extended beer range, there will also be cider, food and live music to be enjoyed. As well as the bus service running free of charge, all the venues will offer free entry so all you have to pay for is what you eat and drink. 2015 will see the biggest and best festival yet. 18 venues are involved and will be making an effort to do something special. In addition for those wishing to stop over, camping will be available at two locations – Barlow Brewery and the Miners Arms in Hundall – and rooms are available to book at the Manor House Hotel in Dronfield. The participating venues this year are: Barlow Brewery (Barlow) Castle Inn (Bradway) Coach & Horses (Dronfield) Dronfield Arms (Dronfield) Green Dragon (Dronfield) Hyde Park Inn (Hill Top) Jolly Farmer (Dronfield Woodhouse) Manor House Hotel (Dronfield) Miners Arms (Dronfield Woodhouse) Miners Arms (Hundall) Royal Oak (Coal Aston) Shepley Spitfire (Totley Rise) Three Tuns (Dronfield Hallowes) Travellers Rest (Apperknowle) Talbot Arms (Dronfield Woodhouse) Tickled Trout (Barlow) Victoria (Dronfield) White Swan (Dronfield) Look out for news over the coming months as to what each venue are planning or watch the festival website – www.threevalleysfestival.org.uk.  

Happy New Year from your local CAMRA branch

Posted on by Andy Cullen
Welcome to the first Beer Matters of 2015, we hope you had an enjoyable Christmas and the new year so far is being kind to you! We seem to be living in good times for the discerning beer drinker, in our news columns you will read of various new, improved, reopened or reinvented pubs and bars and our growing number of local breweries continuing to be successful – with some of them trying  interesting and unusual beers to keep us intrigued and excited – and others consistently producing house staples to a high standard. On the campaigning front things seem to be going our way too thanks to putting across a clear and intelligent argument with one voice – CAMRA itself, it’s members and other organisations with aligned interests. The government finally started to listen on the subject of beer tax and are beginning to make the right noises on Pub Company reform. From our point of view we want to continue to have nice pubs with real ale at affordable prices to visit in the future – however economically having businesses such as pubs open, trading and employing staff makes sense to the government as it generates tax revenue. Another interesting development in 2015 seems to be that the bubble is beginning to burst for Supermarket chains in the race to open convenience stores, so the rate of pubs being turned into such shops may slow down. The concept of Micro-Pubs along with off-licences featuring sampling bars is growing and really capturing the imagination and whilst we have seen some traditional pubs being turned into shops, we have also seen some shops turned into micro-pubs! Perhaps this reflects a cultural shift as to what is wanted from a community pub – more the atmosphere of a local coffee shop where the family can drop in and relax after shopping with something nice both on the beer and the soft drinks front? So, the local beer scene has seemingly never had it so good and it is exciting times to be part of it. Here in Sheffield & District CAMRA (and also in our Dronfield & District sub-branch) we are looking for new people to get involved and volunteer. We need people to help keep our pub database up to date (which powers whatpub.com), we need people to be official brewery liaison officers, we need a new membership secretary and more. The branch AGM is coming up in April and it would be wonderful to get more than the usual old faces on board, shake things up a bit and get everyone passionate about what we do. Of course it isn’t just about doing voluntary jobs – we want more people enjoying the social side too and enjoying beer together and we intend to have lots going on during 2015 including brewery tours, beer tastings and more. Finally, following the success of our new look Steel City Beer & Cider Festival at Kelham Island Industrial Museum last October, we have started planning this years and have provisional dates – 21st to 24th October with set up commencing from Monday 19th and takedown on Sunday 25th. We intend to build on the success of last year with a few tweaks to improve certain areas based on feedback from staff and customers. If you are a CAMRA member and interested in joining the committee that organises the festival, please do come down to the next planning meeting. You do not need to have any experience in organising festivals, just enthusiasm and a willingness to get things done.

Blue Bee

Posted on by Andy Cullen
Well, we’ve made it into 2015 and new beer keeps rolling out. Firstly, Ella IPA 5.0% is the next in our ever popular single hopped IPA series using the Australian hop Ella, with strong apricot, cedar and peach characteristics. Also new for 2015 is our series of beers named after different groups of numbers. First out and on bars as this month’s Beer Matters goes to press is Natural, a small IPA packed full of American hops. At 3.5% it’s a perfect session beer for the New Year. Second up will be Integer 4%. Using one of our favourite hops, Citra, this is sure to be packed full of intense citrus and fruit hop flavours. If this isn’t enough excitement for some of you then we must not forget to mention to look out for our dry hopped IPA, made especially to celebrate The Three Tuns’ Sausage Fest.  This event takes place Valentines weekend with lots of sausage based fun. After all, what’s more romantic than a plate of bangers and mash with a pint of IPA to wash it down? February 11th sees the Closed Shop celebrate its 2nd Birthday under the ownership of Reet Ale Pubs. So, we have had assistant manager Christie down at the brewery as free labour, allowing us to spend more time sitting and drinking Earl Grey… The resulting beer is Red Rye Centennial 6.0%; it sees us using rye malt for the first time accompanied with copious amounts of Centennial hops. Be sure to try a special dry hopped version at the Closed Shop on the 11th Febuary as well as looking out for it throughout the various other great hostelries of Sheffield.