Blue Bee have been busy in the brewhouse and a number of new beers have been brewed including a vanilla porter. The rest have been all about them playing with the various hop varieties they have got their hands on. The 53rd edition in their American Five Hop series involves plenty of Mosaic whilst their session strength beer at 3.9% has been brewed with Vic Secret hops. Also to look out for is a 6% Mosaic and Enigma hopped beer and one with Simcoe and Idahoe.
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.
Sheffield Beer Week report
After two years of Covid restrictions, Sheffield Beer Week was back to its usual format with fantastic beery events going on in pubs, bars and brewery taprooms across the city, not only getting us local beer lovers an excuse to get out and about more but also bringing in beer tourists from across the country to enjoy what is on offer in the area.
The week was preceded by a couple of beer festivals. In Sheffield the Indie Beer Feast was held at its new home of Trafalgar Warehouse in the City Centre, this festival is predominantly one of breweries bringing their own bars to showcase and talk about their beers. Meanwhile down the road at Magna, the Rotherham Real Ale & Music Festival was taking place, here live music is a bigger feature and the beer range more traditional and the event raises money for charity.
After having fun volunteering behind a bar at Magna on the Thursday and Friday, I attended Indie Beer Feast on the Saturday evening. Local brewers pouring here included Abbeydale, Lost Industry and St Mars of the Desert and it’s always a pleasure to say hello! My drinking plan was to start with a few sensible strength beers and work my way up, trying as many different breweries as possible too. First stop was the Torrside bar, this is a brewery perhaps best known for their smoky beers but had brought mostly pale ales to the festival and my first beer of the evening was their Yellow Peak, a 4.2% pale ale on cask. Also hosting bars were Black Iris, Donzoko, Duration, Fyne Ales, Mobberley, Neptune, Pomona Island, Rock Leopard, Turning Point and Wilderness plus Hogans Cider and Ross on Wye Cider & Perry Co. My final beer was from the Craft Beer Newcastle bar which was showcasing a number of beers from the North East, including Molinillo, a 11.3% keg Mexican hot chocolate stout brewed as a collaboration between S43 and McColl’s.
Once we’d had enough at the beer festival, we moved on to the Washington for music, chat and Abbeydale Salvation Stout!
Being the lightweight/sensible person I am in my old age I had a couple of nights off the booze and didn’t head back out to enjoy Sheffield Beer Week until the Tuesday evening. This started with a visit to the Brothers Arms at Heeley as they were being presented with CAMRA Sheffield & District’s Pub of the Month award followed by a visit to the Sheaf View where a number of guest beers from Burning Soul featured. A bus ride into town was then taken ahead of the football kicking out to get to the Bath Hotel, however I was a day too early for the Mallinsons tap takeover so had to “make do” with Thornbridge beer! Finally we took a tram ride down to Shalesmoor and visited the Kelham Island Tavern for their Bristol beer showcase and the Crow to see the result of the battle of the beers event and try the rather interesting carrot cake sour!
Wednesday evening kicked off with a visit to the Rutland Arms who were hosting an event with Kernel brewery of London. Unfortunately the ticketed tasting event with the brewer which included a food pairing was sold out but a huge range of their beers were available on the bar to order in the traditional fashion! Three dark beers from Kernel were available on cask which I just had to try – you very rarely see their cask beer outside their own tap room, however there were lots of goodies to try on keg too including a foeder beer, a damson and sour cherry saison, a grisette, various IPAs and more.
Also visited on Wednesday evening was the Industry Tap, Beer Engine, Clubhouse and Cremorne.
Thursday evening saw us head down Abbeydale Road for the Two Thirds Beer Co. event – a tap takeover by Polly’s. Six beers were on and tasting flights of a third pint of each was ordered and enjoyed!
Next stop was the Broadfield where Peaky Climbers, True North’s new collaboration beer was on cask then we finished at the White Lion to enjoy a bit of live music – it was their jam night.
Finally Friday and I joined members of Dronfield’s CAMRA branch for an Ecclesall Road social. The beer week event here was a meet the brewer with Dronfield’s own Temper Brewing at the Beer House micropub, however we also took advantage of the opportunity to try out two newly opened bars at Banner Cross – Itchy Pig 2 micropub and the Dark Horse bar -along with established favourites Ecclesall Ale Club and the Portland House.
Inn Brief
A couple of planning applications of interest. The first is the former White Hart at Oughtibridge, which ceased trading around the time the road was closed due to a landslip and was converted into a bridal wear shop, the planning application is to turn the building back into a pub. The other application is to open a new wine bar at 43-45 West Street which will see a number of shop units converted.
Stocksbridge RUFC‘s clubhouse has now reopened following refurbishment.
Work creating the Boston Arms at Woodseats is well underway with this new micropub due to open in the spring. It is on two floors and will operate as a café in the daytime offering hot drinks and baked goodies then from 4pm it will be a bar with real ale and other craft beers.
The Dorothy Pax held a fundraiser for War Child UK and Disasters Emergency Committee (DEC) Ukrainian Humanitarian Appeal on 17 March. Abbeydale Brewery, Triple Point Brewery, Mikkeller and James Clay & Sons all donated drinks for the event with proceeds from selling them at the bar going to the appeal, there was also a raffle and live music.
Between 8 and 13 March Thornbridge’s tap pubs donated 10% from the sale of every pint of Jaipur IPA to the British Red Cross Ukraine Appeal.
Another sign of pub life being back to normal after two years of Covid restrictions – the Dog & Partridge celebrated St Patrick’s Day in the normal style!
The Scarsdale Hundred at Beighton (near Crystal Peaks, a short walk from the Beighton tram stop) has been running various real ale focused events including a Beermats Brewing Co tap takeover starting on the 14 March and coming up is a Thornbridge Meet the Brewer on 24 March starting at 3pm. They are participating in the national Wethersopoon Real Ale festival starting 30 March with up to 9 beers from the list available at a time.
The Ship Inn at Shalesmoor has reopened under new management.
The Shiny Sheff is under old management! Paul & Phil have moved back there with a 5 year lease with Marstons and plan on reintroducing the Quiz night & karaoke.
The Masons Arms at Crookes has reopened and by the time you read this real ale should be available.
The Bath Hotel closes as a Thornbridge pub after 23rd April. After a short break it is expected to reopen under new management. The pub continues under the same ownership of Brian the previous landlord and had been leased to Thornbridge for the last 10 years
Chesterfield Pub Walkabout festival report
Chesterfield CAMRA’s usual annual beer festival at the Winding Wheel theatre couldn’t happen this year as Covid uncertainty had impacted the planning timescales. As a replacement a huge list of pubs across Chesterfield town centre, Brampton and Whittington Moor teamed up to put on a weekend walkabout event featuring beer, food and music.
Members of Sheffield and Dronfield CAMRA branches all arranged to get together for a couple of joint socials, with us visiting Whittington Moor on the Friday night then the town centre & “Brampton Mile” on Saturday afternoon. On both days we also caught up with friends from Chesterfield branch too!
Friday night saw us start at the Glassworks on Whittington Moor, which is run by Brampton Brewery. For the festival weekend they had a number of guest ales on the bar alongside their own including Anarchy Deafening Silence pale ale, Durham Apricity Copper Ale and Durham Dark Angel Stout. With a 6:30pm start we were able to sit and relax here for a bit! By the time we moved on to the Beer Parlour it was packed with the usual friendly crowd and great beers, including one from the relatively local Silver Brewhouse and a classic not seen about as much these days – Bass.
We finished in the Derby Tup to enjoy live blues music from Slim Wilson & The Swamp Brothers along with again a great range of beers including a plum porter and IPA from Eyam Brewery, a pale ale from Scarborough and more, including another local classic – Hartington Bitter from Whim Brewery.
On Saturday afternoon we met up at the Pig & Pump in Chesterfield town centre, which for the festival weekend featured an Abbeydale Brewery tap takeover, with the brewery supplying a diverse range of beers from Serenity, a 3.9% pleasantly hopped pale ale, up to Black Mass, a 6.66% black IPA.
Next we walked up to the Hidden Knight for a quick half, this is a Greene King pub but they had a guest ale on from Thornbridge. We then proceeded to an old favourite, the Chesterfield Alehouse micropub, who were hosting a tap takeover with all the handpumps given over to showcasing beers from Two by Two brewing whilst a good number of the keg taps featured beer from Seven Bro7hers Brewery.
We were then within touching distance of the Brampton Mile and visited the Tramway Tavern, Brampton Brewery and Real Ale corner (which had a couple of extra casks on gravity) before time ran out and we caught the X17 bus back to Sheffield.
However a special mention goes to David Marsh from North London CAMRA branch who joined us for the afternoon who apparantly managed to fit in another 5 pubs after we left before he caught his train home from Chesterfield!
Pub of the Month March 2022
Our Pub of the Month award scheme, designed to celebrate all the pubs around our area serving well kept real ale in a friendly and comfortable atmosphere across Sheffield & District, has been on a little bit of a back-burner through the Coronavirus pandemic with pubs unable to operate in a normal fashion if at all at times, however it is now back and our members are nominating and voting for their favourite local pubs!
The winner for March 2022 is the Brothers Arms at Heeley. It is a classic old pub building, previously known as Ye Olde Shakespeare Inn, that perches on a slope at the top of a hill. The location leads the pub to have the oddity of the front door requiring you to climb a staircase to enter the pub whilst the side door is level access, however this also means if you are sat out in the beer garden you have an absolutely amazing view over the city! Although the pub was opened out internally back in 1981 and has had refurbishments since, it still retains a fairly traditional layout and style inside whilst the exterior still retains some distinctive carvings and signage. The change of name came with the current management who are associated with the Everley Pregnant Brothers ukulele parody band!
During the more recent Covid restrictions where table service and ventilation were the order of the day, the Brothers made much bigger use of their outdoor space and the fact they delivered good table service reflects the great team of staff there. Things are of course back to normal now so they are back behind the bar to deliver friendly service and a good range of beers including up to eight cask options. This also means things like the darts board and quiz night are also back!
We’ll be heading up to the Brothers Arms to present the winners certificate and enjoy a few beers on Tuesday 8 March from 8pm, we’ll also be sticking around to have a go at the quiz, all are welcome to join us!
You can find the Brothers Arms at 106 Well Road, Heeley, S8 9TZ. Getting there by bus: Alight on Chesterfield Road outside Ponsfords on routes 10, 10a, 20, 24, 25, 43, 44 and X17 or alight on Spencer Road near the Peoples Park on routes 1a, 18 and 252, timetables and route maps at travelsouthyorkshire.com.
Another look back to 1995
In the last issue of Beer Matters, as many of you were buying the Good Beer Guide (GBG) 2022 as Christmas presents, we looked back at which Sheffield pubs were in the 1995 edition and how many are still with us. Now, as we invite members to help choose which pubs will be awarded a place in the 2023 guide, we have another look back to 1995 for a closer look at the City Centre pubs featured.
The Bath Hotel on Victoria Street is first up and as an unspoilt heritage pub has changed little today and is still in the guide although it has benefited from a sympathetic refurbishment and updated toilets. Back in 1995 the beer range included Wards Best Bitter, Tetley Bitter, Ind Coope Burton Ale and a guest whilst today the pub is leased by Thornbridge Brewery with a range of their beers on the bar.
The Brown Bear is another classic pub from the 1995 guide that hasn’t changed much in terms of layout, this has also had a significant investment from its current owners, Samuel Smith’s Brewery, in a sympathetic renovation of the building and internal refurbishment. Under its old ownership this two roomed traditional boozer used to be known for being wallpapered with theatre posters making visitors from the neighbouring Crucible and Lyceum theatres feel at home and the beer range in 1995 included Courage Directors Bitter, Marstons Pedigree, Ruddles County, John Smiths Bitter and Magnet along with a guest. Nowadays there is just the one cask beer – Samuel Smith’s Old Brewery Bitter.
Staying on the theme of classic Sheffield City Centre pubs that remain unchanged today, Fagans on Broad Lane hasn’t even changed management with long serving couple Tom and Barbara still in charge! In 1995 it was described as a lively, popular pub with a small snug and impromptu folk sessions. On the bar back then was Tetley Bitter and Ind Coope Burton Ale. 2022 still sees the pub in the GBG, the Burton Ale has been replaced with Abbeydale Moonshine and Tetley’s Bitter has more recently substituted with Timothy Taylor’s Landlord! The pub also still features folk music and food is served lunchtimes and teatimes.
The next pub listed in the 1995 guide is the Harlequin – although not the current one of that name (which used to be called the Manchester Hotel), this one was located on Johnson Street and was demolished to make way for the inner ring road. The Harlequin was a traditional street corner local noted for having a pot bellied stove in the tap room, it also had a second room with a pool table and beer was from Wards Brewery.
The Lord Nelson on Arundel Street still survives despite changes happening around it in that part of town. It isn’t surrounded by as many “little workshops” as it was back in 1995 but it remains a traditional street corner local. Back then it was a Hardy & Hanson’s pub, now it is a free-house.
Moseley’s Arms at West Bar in 1995 was in the GBG and serving draught Bass and Stones Bitter. It was described as a superbly renovated pub with three comfortably furnished rooms and a friendly atmosphere plus an upstairs function room with a pool table. While the building still stands in 2022, it is no longer a pub.
The Red Deer is a pub that was in the GBG until last year when there was some Covid related uncertainty surrounding it, although the good news is a new tenant took over the pub with the same staff and manager so little has changed. In fact the pub is very similar to how it was in 1995 other than it being redecorated over the years and the beer range changing. Back then the choices in this former Tetley house included Alloa Arrol’s 80/-, Ind Coope Burton Ale, Wards Best Bitter and a guest ale along with Tetley’s Bitter, Mild and Imperial.
The Rutland Arms on Brown Street in 1995 was described as a City Centre gem in a resurgent cultural corner where, behind a distinctive Gilmour’s frontage, lies a comfortable lounge and a cosmopolitan clientele! The beer range back then included Ind Coope Burton Ale, Marston’s Pedigree, Tetley Bitter and Younger No. 3, food was served lunchtime and evening and bed & breakfast accommodation was offered. The pub remains in the guide today although the upstairs rooms are gone and the beer range is a little more exotic!
The Tap & Spile was quite the real ale showcase pub back in 1995 with ten changing ales plus cider. The main room was a large bar with exposed brickwork and bare boards along with a side room which was no smoking at lunchtime when food was served. There has been a pub on the site since 1790. It was rebuilt in 1927 as the tap for the nearby Gilmour Brewery and, in 1992, become part of the Tap & Spile chain. Sadly the pub had since fallen on harder times. It had a subtle change of name to the Tap & Barrel when it was re-themed in 1998 and has since gone through the ownership of both Pubmaster and Ei group. It is no longer trading.
Finally, the Washington on Fitzwilliam Street. It was in the GBG 1995 described as a pub with two comfortably furnished rooms that is a popular meeting place which serves lunches Monday to Friday. The beers on the bar back then were Ind Coope Burton Ale, Tetley Bitter and Tetley Mild. Although the pub isn’t currently in the guide, it is still going strong with a range of real ales on the bar including the ever popular Abbeydale Moonshine, it is more music focused now with live bands and DJs. It no longer opens at lunchtime but stays open until 3am most nights and is popular with the late night crowd. The pub retains a two room plus beer garden layout with one of the rooms still a comfortable lounge, the other now has a DJ box and dance floor plus much simpler furniture. It has also seen recent investment upgrading the outdoor area.
Brewery Bits
Another couple of new beers have been brewed by Temper Brewing, including their first stout. The Stout is called Sinter and is a sensible 4.8% ABV whilst Valleys is a 5.2% pale ale. You may wonder what “Sinter” means – Sintering is the process of compacting and forming a solid mass of material by heat or pressure without melting it to the point of liquefaction. So now you know!
Neepsend Brewery have been busy brewing new beers as well as their old favourite, the blonde. On the roster of new beers there are a couple of session strength pales – Callisto, a 4.6% brewed with Mosaic, Ekuanot and Simcoe for fruity, tropical hoppy notes; whilst Leda is hopped with Amarillo & Simcoe for apricot, orange and soft fruits with a lingering bitterness. They have also brewed a 5.3% ABV liquorice stout called Glabra and a 7.2% hop burst IPA called Ajax. This was Continuously hopped throughout the boil with an addition every 3 minutes to a target IBU of ~120. Citra, Cascade, Centennial and Chinook are going in initially with dry hopping to follow. Expect a big, bitter, resinous West Coast IPA.
With Christmas now almost a distant memory and the Belgian Blue running out, Bradfield Brewery are celebrating the time of year when the dark nights of winter start to give way to the lighter evenings and optimism of spring by brewing a vanilla flavoured edition of their Farmers Stout. Available in cask for pubs and mini kegs to drink at home! Meanwhile for Valentines Day a new beer has launched – Farmers Blushed, a pink strawberry flavour ale!
The original brewery shed at Thornbridge Hall is no more, with that kit relocated down Riverside Brewery in Bakewell. The building that the tap room has relocated into is also the new home for the smaller brewing vessels where all the smaller batch cask beer is produced.
Blue Bee have brewed an export stout. It is 6.6% ABV and brewed with 7 malts. Also new is Simcoe Idaho 7.
You may recall that Eyam brewery produced a limited edition Imperial version of their Black Death Stout at 11% ABV which was available in bottles through independent beer shops or direct from the brewery. This beer has since appeared in a one off cask served on gravity pour at Real Ale Corner micropub in Chesterfield as part of the pub walkabout festival weekend at the beginning of February.
Grizzly Grains have brewed a new pale ale brewed with Citra hops in the boil then dry hopped with Mosaic.
New from Chantry Brewery is Styrian Eagle, a 4.1% ABV pale ale named after the hops it is brewed with.
Loxley Brewery recently completed their second canning session, ‘THEM That CAN’ visiting for a morning in early February. In total almost 500 litres of a 4.2%, American Pale, Corvus and a 5.5%, West Coast IPA, Kasper were successfully packaged.
Inn Brief
Another new micropub has opened in the Hillsborough area. The Beekeeper can be found at 61 Middlewood Road, opposite B&M and near Hillsborough Park tram stop. It is open Thursday to Sunday with local beers available on cask and keg plus coffee (thanks to Richard Allen for the photo).
Itchy Pig‘s second micropub opened on Ecclesall Road South in Banner Cross on 18 February.
Meanwhile over in Woodseats a new micropub, the Boston Arms, has been given the go ahead by the council to open and is expected to be ready in April. The same people as the Boozehound craft beer bar in Cutlery Works food hall (which closes on 28 February) are behind it. As the former shop unit being converted is close to Woodseats Primary school the bar won’t be opening before 4pm on weekdays.
The Little John Hotel in Hathersage now has a new manager, Simon Smith, running the bar for the long established owners. Simon has experience running pubs for the likes of Mitchells & Butlers but now with a little more freedom has taken the opportunity to be more adventurous with the beer range both in terms of the cask selection and introducing craft beer options to the keg line up.
Breweries featured recently include Abbeydale, Ashover, Neepsend, Pentrich and Thornbridge, amongst others.
The Taphouse Bar bar at Kelham Island unfortunately didn’t survive the Coronavirus pandemic, a new venue is opening in its place called the Chop House Bar & Grill. It is run by the same people as Butcher & Catch restaurant in Broomhill, however the food focus here will be more on the meat including steaks and rotisserie chicken. The bar will stock quality wines designed to go with the food along with local cask ales and cocktails.
Also in Kelham Island a new beer shop with a drink in option has opened in Kelham Island. Hymn to Ninkasi is located on the Little Kelham development, which is accessed next to the Fat Cat.
The former Stew & Oyster bar is no more. Following refurbishment it is now a Salt Brewery tap bar and the food offering is Bao buns.
The Yorkshireman pub on Cross Burgess Street has now been demolished. The pub is thought to be dated back to around 1790 but was apparently suffering structural issues. Sheffield City Council had compulsory purchased it and other buildings in the area as part of the Heart of the City regeneration project. The people that ran the pub until its closure have relocated to the former Mulberry Tavern on Arundel Gate which has been renamed the Yorkshireman Rock Bar.
There are still plans to open Rag N Tag on Shude Hill (between Sheffield Interchange and Ponds Forge), which is located in an arch underneath Commercial Street. This is a long abandoned space that was a pub called Barrow Boys many years ago. It is planned to be a rock bar with some live music, possibly also serving food. The target is to have it finished and open late summer/autumn this year, the delays in the building work have been partly due to Coronavirus restrictions but also issues with drainage from the road above and complications of there now being a tramway running over the structure!
Sheffield’s newest branch of JD Wetherspoon is now open at Beighton, near Crystal Peaks. The Scarsdale Hundred, is in the premises previously occupied by Damons restaurant.
The Dark Horse, a new microbar at Banner Cross, has now opened. Two cask beers are available along with all the other usual pub drinks and food is provided by Slap & Pickle Burgers.
The Royal Standard on St Mary’s Road (inner ring road) was sold off by Enterprise Inns at auction last year and has been stood closed for about a year or so now, but work has started to take place on the premises. The new owner is the company that runs Prime Pizza & Grill in Firth Park, however we do not know their plans for the building as yet.
The Three Cranes has been removed from the Sheffield’s Real Heritage Pubs guide following its conversion to a hotel (with bar) as all the original features have been ripped out in the process.
The Queen’s Ground at Hillsborough has reopened.
The Anchor near Tideswell is currently closed for renovation, including renewing the electrics.
The Lescar Hotel at Sharrow Vale and Two Thirds Beer Co. on Abbeydale Road both closed in January temporarily for a refurbishment.
A charity gig for NHS charities featuring a night of great music from rock to punk to blues is taking place upstairs at Shakespeares on 26 March. Promised is a night of giving back featuring great music from Kill Your Darlings (covers band playing great tracks from Weezer to Hives), The Hey Hounds (Americana blues rock) and Seconds to Go (Sheffield-based punk, post rock).
The Washington in Sheffield City Centre is hosting a music week from 31 January to 4 February. Each evening there will be live music from 8pm to around 10-11pm, followed by a DJ on until 3am. Real ale available.
Back at Magna
The organisers of Rotherham’s charity real ale & music festival have confirmed the event is returning to Magna from 3 to 5 March 2022 and their website is now live for ticket sales, volunteer sign up and information.
The event features a huge range of real ales on handpump along with other craft and world beers, traditional cider, gin, wine and prosecco. There is also a programme of live music across 2 stages over the three days.
The festival opens from 6pm on the Thursday and Friday, midday on Saturday. Each day it closes at 11pm. Advance tickets are available online, however a discount is offered to CAMRA members paying on the door.
Magna is easy to get to by bus with First’s service X1 and X10 stopping on the main road alongside the venue, this bus links Sheffield City Centre, Meadowhall Interchange, Rotherham Interchange and Maltby.
Merry Christmas & Happy New Year
All the best wishes to our members and all other beer drinkers and pub goers!
If you’re a CAMRA member in Sheffield & District we have plans into 2022, coronavirus permitting. Take a look at the diary for details of socials including brewery and pub trips, meetings and award presentations. Talking of awards, please take a moment or two to vote for our Pub of the Year. Also come the spring when the weather is a bit better will be the return of our RambAles.
Meanwhile elsewhere in the local beer scene, hopefully March will see both Sheffield Beer Week and Rotherham Real Ale and Music Festival at Magna; fingers crossed we still have those to look forward to!