Bradfield Brewery
North Sheffield’s Bradfield Brewery has unveiled a special beer in celebration of the Tour de Yorkshire cycle race which will finish at Fox Valley on April 30th.
The team at the brewery have come up with the 4% ABV bike themed tipple called “Farmers Push Iron” in the build up to the big event which will see the eyes of the cycling world focussed on north Sheffield and on the area’s notorious hill climbs.
The family run brewery is based on a working farm in Bradfield, just a few minutes from the route of the Tour de Yorkshire’s final day which will test the cyclists with four tough hill climbs including the Cote de Wigtwizzle and Cote de Ewden Heights.
The race will finish at the Fox Valley shopping centre on April 30th after the 194 km ride from Bradford. It’s already been billed as one of the toughest stages on the professional circuit this year.
Thousands of amateur cyclists will also take part in in the Maserati Tour de Yorkshire Ride which will start and finish at Fox Valley on the final day of the three-day race.
John Gill from Bradfield Brewery said: “The Tour de Yorkshire coming to our corner of the county really is something special to celebrate and we’ll definitely be raising a glass of Farmers Push Iron to the cyclists as they take on our beautiful part of South Yorkshire and tackle some of Sheffield’s notorious seven hills.
“It was fantastic to have the Tour de France Grande Départ here in 2014 so to have this level of cycling event back in the area is fantastic for the region.”
The team at Fox Valley are working with community groups, the parish council and other local stakeholders to make the event a real celebration for everyone in the area.
Annabel Plumtree, centre manager at Fox Valley, said: “Bradfield’s special Farmers Push Iron is a great way to celebrate Yorkshire’s biggest bike race.
“There are lots of fantastic events and artwork planned along the route and everyone is really getting excited now for the big event on April 30th. “
Push Iron will be available at pubs along the route of the Tour de Yorkshire as well as in bottles and mini kegs at the Brewery shop in Bradfield.
Picture shows the team at Bradfield Brewery with centre manager at Fox Valley, Annabel Plumtree.
Proving a big hit during beer week was Hopjacked Citra, which as the name suggests is packed full of juicy Citra hops!
Another hoppy beer brewed recently is Kali IPA, a 6.4% ABV, 90IBU monster of an IPA that apparantly promises to put hairs on the hairs on your chest. Prinicple hops used in this brew are Chinook and Galaxy. This beer, as well as being on cask and keg, is also going to be the first one that Hopjacker has bottled.
In a complete contrast, Hopjacker has brewed a mild, in collaboration with the Two Beer Geeks Blog and White Lion pub. Naturally it isn’t just any old mild, it is a chocolate cherry Mild called Cherried Alive offering tart cherry flavours, rich chocolate notes and a residual sweetness from the complex malt bill.
As previous years the pub that is home to Hopjacker Brewery – the Dronfield Arms – is taking part in 3 Valleys Festival on Saturday 3rd June, as usual you can expect a great selection of beers, food and music to enjoy with most of the festivities taking place outside on the decking and in the closed off car park, the pub is just a few minutes walk from Dronfield Station or the 44 bus stops almost next to the pub – plus of course there will be free festival buses running. Look out for the 3 Valleys promotional beer mats out and about, produced in conjunction with Hopjacker Brewery (who feature on the other side of the mat). 
Stateside Pale makes a return to the brewery’s listing in time for spring. The 5% pale ale is loaded with Chinook, Simcoe and Mosaic hops and is dry hopped in fermentation with Amarillo.
A new Special called Cookie Monster has just been released dubbed a Chocolate Cookie Vanilla Porter. ‘We made this with some ingredients you would find in a cookie including toasted wheat and oats with dark Munich malt to add a sweet balance. Chocolate malt is boosted by the addition of buckets full of organic cocoa nibs which we toasted ourselves in the ovens at the Harlequin pub. Fresh Madagascan vanilla pods are added to the cask to give a real depth of flavour.
Exit 33 are taking over bottling beer for Noodle Inn, Noodle Inn Centro and Satay Yo! Sushi restaurants. Until recently this was done by North Union Brewing. The bottled beer called Gan Bei meaning ‘Bottoms up’ is a 5% pale beer hopped with Cascade. 
Two Sheffield based ice hockey teams made it their base and staff from Forces Support Limited, a military bereavement charity based on Carbrook Hall Road close by used the pub on a regular basis.
Everyone spoke warmly of how inclusive it was: “a caring place. It looks after its customers, the kind of place where people talk to each other”. Michelle and family worked hard in the last 18 months to keep the place going in the face of pub company indifference and lack of investment.
The future? To our knowledge the new owners, West Street Leisure have no experience of community pubs or listed buildings, have said “all options open’ which tells us nothing except they either don’t know what they want to do or want to keep their plans secret.
Neither are acceptable for the Carbrook. But thanks to the ACV submitted a few days before it closed I may not be talking about it as though it was the past tense. There is a glimmer here. The Carbrook Hall may live again, hopefully in the hands of a brewer – a local brewer? and a community interest group who care for its history and the communities that use it. Lobby the politicians: the local councillors and MPs, gather evidence on use and keep an eye on your local – it could be next.
Brian Holmshaw – Sheaf Valley Heritage 
