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.

Spire Brewery

Posted on by Andy Cullen

Spire Brewery is now under new management and will be trading as  Spire Brewing Company

As of the 22nd September  2014, the assets of Spire Brewery have been transferred over to a new company trading as  Spire Brewing Company . Over the next 4 months there will be significant investment into the new Spire Brewing Company, building on the legacy and hard work put in by Dave McLaren, the previous owner and founder of Spire Brewery Ltd. Dave incidentally has not gone away and will provide some advice and guidance to help the new owner in this venture. The key milestones will include:
  • Transfer old brew house to new premises better suited to brewing.
  • Investment in a brand new 15bbl plant.
  • Recruitment of a new full time head brewer.
  • Clear identification of the Core Brands and road map for seasonal production.
  • New web site and Facebook page
  • Various launch events.
My personal investment in this venture has been driven by a passion for beer and the desire to ensure we produce beer both of quality and consistency. I have lots of ideas as to what we want to produce, but at the core will be many of Spire’s traditional brews. In short, I like a good pint, each time every time. Gareth Jones Owner (and CAMRA Member)

Steel City Beer & Cider Festival

Posted on by Andy Cullen
Sponsorship A great way to support the beer festival and local charities is though sponsorship, why not sponsor a barrel of beer? Fancy a works do at this year’s festival, why not promote your business at the same time? Group of friends who fancy doing something different on a night out? Something to celebrate? You can sponsor a barrel for just £125 and your name will appear on the beer label behind the bar, plus your name will be included in the programme and on the website, sheffield.camra.org.uk/festival.  We will provide you with 6 complimentary tickets to the festival and a free pint to get you started. £25 of the sponsorship goes to the festival charity, which again this year will be the Master Cutlers Challenge. We can also discuss any corporate hospitality requirements you may have.  For more information please contact festival@sheffieldcamra.org.uk. We would like to thank the following companies for generously supporting the beer festival:
  • Toolmakers Brewery
  • Fuggle Bunny Brewery
  • Raw Brewery
  • Welbeck Abbey Brewery
  • The Hop/Ossett Brewery
  • Thornbridge Brewery
  • Sheffield Brewery
  • Gardeners Rest, Neepsend
  • Easton Safety Engineering Ltd
  • Tyzack Machine Knives
  • Fat Cat, Kelham Island
  • Bradfield Brewery
  • Kelham Island Brewery
  • The Forest, Neepsend
  • Blue Bee Brewery
  • Stancil Brewery
  • Dyson Signs and Graphics
Entertainment As well as great beer and cider, we also have some great entertainment planned for the course of the week. However for those who like to enjoy their beer in peace Wednesday night is for you with as it is quiet night with no entertainment. The band for Thursday is still to be confirmed but I am sure they will be great. On Friday night we have the Sheffield’s Number 1 Soul band the Soulfaces, an 8 piece including a 3 piece horn section. I’m sure they will get you up to dance the night away. For those with a more traditional taste for music we have Loxley Silver Band returning for the second year after delighting the crowds last year. They will entertaining on Saturday afternoon performing a collection of traditional marches, show tunes and some more modern hits they are bound to go down a storm!  For those who like to do a bit of thinking with your beer then Saturday afternoon sees the return of our charity pub quiz. No cheating with smart phones though! Bringing the festival to a raucous close on Saturday night is Do$ch bringing you “Maximum” high energy British rhythm and blues. On Friday and Saturday night we will also be having local bands on the stage in the marquee. Festival Beers WP_20140906_013 WP_20140906_021 WP_20140906_001 WP_20140906_005 WP_20140906_025 In early September the branch brewed to beers to celebrate the 40th Anniversary Steel City Beer and Cider Festival. Early on a Saturday morning several members of the branch arrived at Blue Bee brewery to help owner Andy and brewer Josh brew a festival special. Rubee is a 5% nearly ruby coloured IPA. On the following Tuesday several more members of the branch helped brewer Tim at Sheffield Brewery brew Ruby, Ruby, Ruby with apologies to the Kaiser Chiefs, a 4.8% malty beer. Both beers will be coming to a bar near you soon, so look out for and see how good a collection of beer and cider drinkers can brew beer!  Volunteering   Apart from the vast selection of incredible ales and cider from all over the world on offer, it is the mingling of people from all walks of life, united for a few days simply to enjoy themselves, which makes me love Sheffield Beer Festival so much. They say a pub is only as good as the landlord and it’s true, it’s the people who both run and attend the Sheffield Beer Festival which make it so special. When I work on the cider bar my favourite thing to do is to guess which cider a certain punter will like. When I get it right, it makes my shift, the punter is delighted and many of them say they’ve discovered a newfound love of cider. Again, it’s the people who make the festival. It was my husband, amateur cider-maker Brian Trevelyan, who first introduced me to beer festivals thirteen years ago when we met. In only just over a decade, how they’ve changed. Beer festivals really did used to be the preserve of real life “Real Ale Twats”, the popular comic strip from Viz, with which many of you will be familiar. Blokes with beards and beer-bellies, propping up the bar, guffawing and knocking back their pints with barely a woman in sight. A few years ago, I noticed that the demographic was changing at every beer festival I attended. Suddenly there were more women. There were students, not a few of them but loads of them, in groups of males and female friends, all drinking sensibly with no trouble caused. Hipsters started to appear with a different type of beard, ones they’d only just sprouted to ride on the beard new-wave. And this new clientele spread from its beer festival spawning ground out into the world where a couple of years back there was a sudden explosion of “craft ale” pubs and “brew houses”, an explosion which led to real ale suddenly being hip and fashionable. But it started at beer festivals. Now, beer festivals are a must-visit for any discerning hipster, the likes of which intermingle with the trad beer festival attendee, creating a wonderfully harmonious and inclusive atmosphere of real ale (and real cider) aficionados from every demographic, whether young, old, male, female, trad- bearded or hipster-bearded. As a woman, I particularly like the fact that every year there are more and more women attending. Sheffield Beer Festival is honestly somewhere I’d feel comfortable attending on my own. And I can’t say that about many High Street bars!  Jude Calvert-Tomlinson

Abbeydale Antics

Posted on by Andy Cullen
Bar Abbey, in the basement of the old Abbeydale Picture House, closed when the building changed ownership, this was due to reopen on Friday 19th September under the new name of the Picture House Social. An interesting changing range of bottled beers will be available, supplied by Hop Hideout. The old management of Bar Abbey haven’t vanished however, they have taken the lease on the Old Crown on London Road and giving it a bit of a refurbishment and it will feature cask ale and music along with a simple food offering of burgers, pizzas and chicken wings. It is due to reopen on Thursday 25th September.

Hopping down to Hereford – with Sue Morton of Abbeydale Brewery

Posted on by Andy Cullen
Early September brings one of the treats of the brewers calendar, a trip to the Hop Walk organized by hop merchants Charles Faram. This year the location was Pridewood Farm, Ashperton, Herefordshire. Hops have been grown there since the 19th century and the Powell-Tuck family have been continuing this tradition for almost 20 years. There were over 300 UK brewers there to participate in a day of learning more about hop growing and harvesting and to listen to various experts giving updates on state of the hop harvest around the world and the effect on price and availability of this essential brewing ingredient. Alongside all of this there was of course, the chance to sample some beer, this year some beers brewed in the conventional way and some with the addition of hop oils. This may be a way in future of making hops go further by extracting the oils and adding those to beer rather than whole hops or pelleted hops. Of course this stimulated much debate between traditionalists and those who see this as a way forward. I am sure it is a debate we will hear more of if the growth in small brewers continues to outstrip the planting of hops. This year Abbeydale decided to take advantage of the opportunity to obtain some hops straight from the field and make a “green hop” beer. Normally hops, once separated from the bine (stalk and leaves), are dried gently. This stabilizes them so they can be packed and stored for quite long periods so they can be transported and used thoughout the coming year or so. Green hops are taken from the field, separated and then put into sacks. They then need to make their way into beer within hours or, like any vegetable matter they will start to rot and compost. Because the hops are not dried we needed eight times as much in weight, so at the end of the day we loaded up our van with 100kg of freshly harvested Early Goldings hops and in less than 24 hours they were in the beer. Indeed one of the main challenges was fitting them into the hop back! Making a green hop beer is such a special thing – a sort of brewery harvest celebration – that we wanted to make a big thing of it. We have wanted for some time to do a series of beers featuring English hops, our Albion Ale series, so what better way to launch them than to start with this green hop beer. It will be called Scepter’d Ale, ABV 4.1% and in fermenter it is tasting very soft, floral and sweet. Final flavours have yet to develop, but with no dark or crystal malts to hide the hops, this should be one lovely beer. greenhop1 greenhop2 greenhop3 greenhop4 greenhop5

Blue and Yellow Trams

Posted on by Andy Cullen
Sheffield is home to a lot of very good real ale pubs, with a concentration of them along the tram route in the City Centre and Upper Don Valley (Blue route towards Malin Bridge and Yellow route towards Middlewood. Between Fitzalan Square and Hillsborough the two routes combine to give a tram every 5-10 minutes). The trams are now running a full service on these routes again following engineering work over the summer to replace some of the rails and for a two week period (29th September to 12th October) there will be some promotional fares to celebrate (maximum single fare £1.70, all day tram pass for £3, weekly tram pass for £10 or monthly tram pass for £31.50). The normal ticket prices are £2.20 maximum single, £4 for a Stagecoach bus & tram Dayrider or £13.50 for a Stagecoach Weekly Bus & Tram Megarider. So to celebrate both facts, here is a guide to some of the pubs along the tram route. It is not intended to be comprehensive as there are a lot of pubs and limited space – see WhatPub to find out about other pubs you could visit and Supertram for more information about the tram service.

Sheffield Station

Blue and Purple tram routes The tram stop is linked to the railway station by the station footbridge, on platform 1B you will find the Sheffield Tap, a ‘World Beer Free House’ located in the restored Edwardian refreshment rooms. It also has its own on site brewery that can be viewed, producing a range of ales under the ‘Tapped Brew Company’ banner. On the bar you will find 11 handpumps – 10 dispensing a range of real ales including Tapped Brew Co, Thornbridge Brewery and guests, the remaining handpump is for cider. There is also a massive range of craft beers on keg and bottle. Also nearby: Rutland Arms (Brown Street), Old Queens Head (Pond Hill), Showroom Cafe Bar (Paternoster Row), Howard (Howard Street) and Globe (Howard Street)

Castle Square

Blue Yellow Purple At the heart of the tram system, Castle Square tram stop is also home to the Bankers Draft Wetherspoons pub. A range of reasonably priced real ales are available across two bars (one upstairs and one downstairs) and food served all day. At the rear of the Bankers Draft (Accessible via passageways by Argos or Pizza Hut) on Hartshead Square is the Dove & Rainbow, a rock pub also featuring real ale and real cider along with a pool table and pinball tables. Show your CAMRA membership card to get a discount on the beer. Also nearby: Mulberry Tavern (Arundel Gate), Cavells (High Street)

Cathedral

Blue Yellow Purple From the tram stop, walk across the Cathedral forecourt and down the footpath at the side onto Campo Lane, cross over to Paradise Square and walk down the road that passes diagonally along the top of the square and you will come to the Three Tuns, an unusual long thin triangular shaped pub that is smartly decorated but with a relaxed, friendly atmosphere. six real ales feature including at least one from Blue Bee Brewery (which is owned by the same people) along with Westons Cider and home cooked food. Also nearby: Wig & Pen (Campo Lane), Church House (St James Place)

City Hall

Blue Yellow From the City Hall tram stop, keep walking in the uphill direction to the traffic lights then drop down the passageway at the side of the Maida Vale music bar (which also offers real ale) onto Trippet Lane where you will find a cluster of three venues. The Dog & Partridge is a proper old fashioned multi-room pub that has benefited from a recent refurbishment, a choice of local beers are on the bar and during food hours you can get ‘Irish Tapas’. Always a warm welcome from the landlord and staff here and show your CAMRA membership card to get a discount on beer. Also offering a traditional pub environment is the Grapes, just a few doors up, then across the road is Dada bar, run by Thornbridge Brewery. This is a fairly quirky place with a bar serving two rooms – a relaxed front room with windows and art and a darker back room that feels like a miniature night club. Most nights there are either DJs or live music there to entertain. On the bar, although craft keg dominates, there are four handpumps serving quality real ale – at least two Thornbridge casks with guest ales often available plus cider. Also nearby: Museum (Orchard Street), Bessemer (Leopold Street), Waterworks (Division Street), Benjamin Huntsman (Cambridge Street), Henry’s (Cambridge Street), Sportsman (Cambridge Street).

West Street

Blue Yellow This is a very lively part of Sheffield with countless places to eat and drink. However if you aren’t up for the party atmosphere on the main West Street drag, there are more laid back civilised places on parallel roads! Closest to the tram stop is the Wick at Both Ends. During the day quality food is served with table service and a laid back vibe and in the evening there is usually a DJ on and a livelier atmosphere. Three real ales normally available on the bar and look out for ‘after work social’ discounts. Walk further up to the junction and turn left and on the edge of the West One complex you will find the Hop, a two level bar run by Osset Brewery featuring a large range of their beers plus guests. During the daytime pie ‘n’ peas are available, in the evening there is entertainment with a programme of live music, pub quiz, games nights and more. CAMRA members discounts are available Sunday to Thursday. On the other side of West Street, just up from the tram stop is the Cavendish, a craft beer bar aimed at students with an outside drinking area too, however round the back of here on Pitt Street is the Red Deer where you can escape the riotous crowds of West Street and stumble into what feels like a nice country pub in the middle of the City. There is a good beer range here, food, friendly service and beer garden. Discounts on beer are offered to CAMRA members. Also nearby: West Street Live (West Street), Varsity (West Street), Beehive (West Street), Green Room (Devonshire Street), Forum (Devonshire Street), Common Room (Devonshire Street), Old House (Division Street), Great Gatsby (Division Street), Bungalows & Bears (Division Street), Frog & Parrot (Division Street), Bowery (Fitzwilliam Street), Devonshire Cat (Wellington Street).

University of Sheffield

Blue Yellow Just across the road from the tram stop, next to the Sainsburys Local, is the Harley Hotel. The hotel  bar is home to the Twisted Burger Company until 10pm then the bar continues until the early hours with live music or DJs. A couple of local real ales are available. Walk up Glossop Road a little further and you come to the University of Sheffield Student Union. There are two bars with real ale – Bar One which is the livelier bar and Interval which is a more relaxed café bar. Interval is accessible to the general public during the daytime and normally offers the more interesting beer range. If you leave the tram stop in the other direction after crossing the road, up past the University’s Information Commons and turn left at Brook Hill Roundabout you will come to the University Arms. This is a public house open to all that is operated by the University and has recently reopened after being refurbished over the summer holidays. This pub offers a relaxed, traditional atmosphere, a nice selection of beers and a proper beer garden. Also nearby: Bath Hotel (Victoria Street), Swim Inn (Glossop Road), Doctors Orders (Clarkson Street)

Shalesmoor

Blue Yellow Right on the tram stop – well around the corner anyway – you will find the Wellington, a two room pub that hasn’t changed in years. This is the tap for the Little Ale Cart Brewery. Look out for evidence of humour from the staff and regulars. There is a beer garden at the back. On the other side of the roundabout from the tram stop is the Ship Inn, another pub that hasn’t changed in years. A selection of local ales and friendly service features here. Keep walking along the dual carriageway past the Ship and when you come to a small block of shops and cafes, turn left onto Bowling Green Street and this will bring you out alongside two real ale pubs. On your right is the Kelham Island Tavern, CAMRA’s current Yorkshire Pub of the Year and on your left is the Fat Cat, which was one of Sheffield’s first multi real ale free houses. The Fat Cat is also the tap for Kelham Island Brewery. Both pubs offer a great range of beers, a traditional multi room pub atmosphere and a well tended beer garden. If you walk past the Kelham Island Tavern back to the main road, cross over onto Gibralter Street, you will come to Shakespeare’s. This has a large ever changing beer range, multiple rooms including upstairs live music venue and beer garden at rear. Also nearby: Harlequin (Nursery Street), Riverside (Mowbray Street), Milestone (Ball Street)

Infirmary Road

Blue Yellow A short walk from here are a couple of pubs that are brewery taps. You need to be on the other side of the road from Tescos at the City end of the platform and walk down Bedford Street, past the bus depot onto the main Penistone Road. Cross at the traffic lights and walk straight across onto Rutland Road and when you come to the next crossroads you have a choice of turning left to the Gardeners Rest, the tap for Sheffield Brewery which is one of the few pubs with a bar billiards table, the pub has three rooms including a snug, lounge and conservatory plus a riverside beer ‘garden’. The Gardeners also has an ever changing range of guest beers and in known for getting in new and rare ales. Alternatively carry on up Rutland Road, under the railway arches and on the right you will see the Forest, which acts as the tap for Toolmakers Brewery.

Bamforth Street

Blue Yellow Walk away from the tram stop in the Hillsborough direction and downhill via Bamforth Street, at the bottom on the left you will find the New Barrack Tavern, a multi-room roadhouse owned by Castle Rock Brewery of Nottingham featuring their beers plus guests and reasonably priced food. Live music and comedy clubs often feature at the weekend and the more discerning Sheffield Wednesday football supporters and Sheffield Eagles rugby supporters have made this pub their home on match days!

Hillsborough

Blue Yellow Here, conveniently located on the outbound platform, you will find the Rawson Spring Wetherspoons pub with the usual good value range of beers and food housed in a converted swimming baths.

Malin Bridge

Blue Yellow A short walk along the one way system from the tram terminus is Champs, a sports bar with real ale and snacks available.

Leppings Lane

Yellow This is the tram stop near the Sheffield Wednesday ground, however on a nearby back street (Catchbar Lane) is the Riverside Cafe & Bar on two floors. Downstairs is an excellent little bistro, however upstairs is a bar with three locally sourced real ales and a terrace overlooking the river and football ground! Note the bar only opens at the weekend. From Middlewood tram terminus there is a bus link to Deepcar and Stocksbridge and from Malin Bridge tram terminus there is a bus link to Stannington, there are more pubs in these places however that is another article in itself…

National Real Cider & Perry Month

Posted on by Andy Cullen
Within CAMRA is a group called APPLE – the ‘Apple & Pear Liaison Executive’ who campaign for the availability of real cider & perry. Whilst some may argue the Campaign for Real Ale has been won, the one for real cider & Perry certainly hasn’t with very few pubs and bars offering a range of the real thing. At a basic level, the definition of REAL Cider & Perry is that which is made from nothing more than fermented fresh apple or pear juice – no use of concentrates, artificial flavouring, gas or industrial processes. National Real Cider & Perry Month is celebrated in October as that is when apples are harvested and traditional cider makers are busy pressing that fresh crop! DRONFIELD CIDER PUB OF THE YEAR The Dronfield & District sub branch are pleased to announce the winner of their Cider Pub of the Year competition, voted for by local members, as the Three Tuns in Dronfield. The Three Tuns being a Spire brewery run pub surprises many people by making as much effort to offer a good range of cider as well as their beer, although with the success of cider at the pub Spire Brewery has started to dabble in cider making with a test batch made towards the end of last year sold at the pub during the Three Valleys Festival in June. The Tuns offers a regularly changing range of cider and perry of varying strengths and sweetness, all served cellar cool. In addition to the real ciders there are usually also some fruit flavoured variations, together making up a choice of around 13. A list of the current choice can be found on the bar. The Three Tuns will be Dronfield’s entry into the Derbyshire round of the national competition. SHEFFIELD & DISTRICT CIDER PUB OF THE YEAR We now invite nominations for this award from our members. Any pub in the City of Sheffield plus the parts of Derbyshire that fall into our branch area (including Killamarsh and the Hope Valley) are eligible if they serve real cider and/or perry. The purpose of the award is to recognise those pubs that are making the effort to offer and promote real cider and real perry and serve it in a good, enjoyable condition. The deadline for nominations is the start of our January branch meeting where we will vote for the winner, which will form our entry into the regional round of the national competition. WOODTHORPE HALL APPLE PRESSING – SATURDAY 11th OCTOBER Woodthorpe Hall in Holmesfield, near Dronfield, produces one artisan cider – Owd Barker – along with a sweetened version called Rubie Suzie. The apple pressing to make this cider takes place each October and is undertaken by a merry band of volunteers recruited by Woodthorpe Hall owner and resident Dick Shepley – they are friends, relatives, business acquaintances  and CAMRA members. The CAMRA members are from Sheffield, Dronfield and Chesterfield branches. We get to Woodthorpe Hall about 11am and introduce ourselves to the others and help out until the lunch break, we then have a walk back up into the village for a drink and bite to eat before returning and getting involved with the work – this includes carrying wheelbarrow loads of apples from the storage area on the drive to the pressing area, washing apples, pulping, digging out the pulp and taking it the pressing area, pressing, bottling the juice, transporting the juice to the fermentation tanks and emptying the bottles of juice into the fermenters. The volunteers are looked after, there is a tea break with homemade cakes and hot drinks and once all work is complete there is opportunity to relax with a cider or two as reward. To get there: From Sheffield we catch the Stagecoach 43 bus at 9:55am from Sheffield to Dronfield Woodhouse and connect onto TM Travel bus 16 onwards up to Holmesfield. From the Chesterfield and Dronfield area the TM Travel bus 14 to Holmesfield picks up at Chesterfield 10:10, Hundall 10:25, Apperknowle 10:28, Coal Aston 10:36, Dronfield Civic Centre (where it becomes a route 16) 10:44 and Dronfield Woodhouse Stubley Lane 10:47. From  Barlow, TM Travel bus 16A departs at 10:24. If you intend on attending the apple pressing, please let Dronfield social secretary Nick Wheat know beforehand as places are limited.

Crookes Social Club

Posted on by Andy Cullen
The bar at Crookes Social Club is now being run by Maurice Champeau, who some may remember from his role as bar manager at the Hearty Oak in Dronfield Woodhouse (from where he got made redundant when the pub closed). Maurice has been set a challenge at the club to get a lot more beer drinkers in and increase membership, making the club a bigger success. As well as the usual keg beers, lagers and ciders that is subject to a tied supply arrangement, he has introduced a selection of guest cask beers on handpump supplied by Stancill Brewery – Barnsley Bitter is always available with two other beers on rotation. On my visit I found the beer well kept and tasting great, the beer was also very reasonably priced. Crookes Social Club is quite a big venue. There is a concert room and function room in addition to the two main bar rooms – the members lounge and the tap room. Anyone is welcome to drop into the tap room for a drink with no membership requirement and there is a friendly atmosphere. If you enjoy your time in the tap room you may consider joining up as a member, there are regular gigs at the club and they also play bowls, snooker and pool. The club is on Mulehouse Road, which branches off the main road just after the Ball Inn, it is a few minute walk up the hill from here. Bus 52 drops off just before the Ball. A beer festival is planned for November, the exact date is still to be confirmed at the time of writing but expect a range of beers from Yorkshire breweries sold at a reasonable price and a modest admission fee. Keep any eye on the club’s Facebook page or website.

Acorn Brewery

Posted on by Andy Cullen
Quite a bit happening down here. After months of hard work preparing the groundwork, a variety of Acorn Beers finally left Wombwell on Wednesday 10th September bound for Italy. The fashion concious ‘stylistas’ of Northern Italy will for this Autumn’s season be mostly drinking Barnsley brewed Barnsley Bitter, Yorkshire Pride, Old Moor Porter, Barnsley Gold and Gorlovka. Bellisimo!! After even more hard work the team in S73 are delighted to announce that Old Moor Porter has just been listed regionally within Morrisons stores across the north of England. New beers: Waimea (1) Waimea IPA 5% – Brewed with New Zealand Wiamea hops that impart an intense citrus fruit aroma with subtle pine characteristics   Strongheart 5.1%, a strong version of our very popular Summer Pale, A clear, light straw coloured wheat beer with slight bitterness and a floral aroma. Dave Hughes

letter to the editor…

Posted on by Andy Cullen
I’m a great believer in giving credit where credit is due, so I would like to give some to the Robin Hood in Millhouses. A pub that has always served cask ales – up to half a dozen – following a recent (relatively minor) refurbishment it  now boasts some 11 hand pumps. As of 21/08/14 it has on -or due – some nine cask conditioned ales, as follows:- Brakspears, Wadsworth 6X, Tetleys,Pedigree,Black Sheep, Landlord, Bass,Moonshine, and London Pride. Cider drinkers are also catered for.  Also worthy of note is the fact that it gives a 20p a pint off for CAMRA members. On this latter point, I believe that some other local CAMRA groups print a list of pubs giving such discounts in their districts – perhaps we in Sheffield should follow their lead. Tony Bateman

Steel City Brewing

Posted on by Andy Cullen
Steel City’s He’s Not The Messiah won the Silver Award in the Bitter category at Peterborough Beer Festival. Does this mean there was a beer that was more bitter than 127IBU?! Seriously though, Dave and Shazz (and guest brewer Noel!) are pretty please to pick up an award, especially from a festival with so many beers. TMB09 Grateful Deaf Grateful Deaf American Pale Ale is now doing the rounds… it’s perhaps ironic the first beer Steel City name ‘Pale’ for years is three times darker than their usual offerings – almost makes Black IPA sound sensible! While the brew may look more like a traditional bitter, the taste is anything but, with tropical flavours and a bitter finish.   Somewhat unbelievably (to Dave and Gazza at least), September marks the fifth anniversary of the first Steel City brew. Brewed at The Brew Company, under Pete’s license, Hop Manifesto seemed pretty ground-breaking at the time, marking Steel City’s arrival with what they would later term ‘Transatlantic Pale Ale’, i.e. a very American hop profile but built on a very English pale malt base with no coloured malts or grains at all. The lads are contemplating marking the occasion with the unprecedented step of repeating a brew – a re-brew of Hop Manifesto in fact. Perhaps the most noticeable thing about the last five years for Dave and Gazza is just how much the beer market has changed – hard to believe now that they got into brewing because it was so difficult to find the hop-heavy brews they favour!