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 Brewery Company

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There’s plenty to celebrate here at The Sheffield Brewery Company, as September sees the release of the seventh beer in our Ten of the Best range.  And there’s no better way to raise a glass to the mighty city of Sheffield than to discover the Real Ale Trail. Sheffield Brewery Trail Ale In honour of the trail, which connects the city centre with Neepsend and Kelham Island – the heart of Sheffield’s brewing industry – we’ve been brewing a collaborative beer with The Sheffield Honey Company.  Trail Ale is a 4.0% Honey Amber Ale, hopped with Northern Brewer, First Gold and Calypso, and – of course – honey from local Sheffield bees. You’ll be able to sample it for yourself at our brewery Tap Room, open next on Friday 2nd and Saturday 3rd September, along with our core range, as fresh as can be! Also, whilst we’re celebrating, our last special – Festiv’ale (4% Ginger and Lemon Ale) won 2nd place out of 134 beers from across the nation in the North Norfolk Railway Beer Festival. Finally, The Sheffield Brewery Company is pleased to announce that Nick Law (brewer of Emmanuales) has recently joined the team as Brewery Manager and brewer. For further information about The Sheffield Brewery Company, visit our website at www.sheffieldbrewery.com Nick Law

Abbeydale Brewery

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Firstly, a massive thank you to everyone who came down to our tenth annual Sunfest at the Rising Sun! It was a record breaking year for us and the perfect way to celebrate our 20th birthday. Not Just Jam, our charity beer brewed with Seven Hills WI in support of Light Sheffield, was the first to run out in the beer tent, and the WI themselves raised over £800 selling tasty cakes and bakes! We still have collection boxes to tot up and proceeds from the sale of the beer to add on, but expect the full total to be donated to Light to be over £2000. We hope you all enjoyed the weekend as much as we did. Abbeydale Olympic Gains Onto what’s available this month! First up, in honour of a certain sporting event happening in Rio throughout August, we have Doctor Morton’s O’Limpet Gains, sure to win a gold medal with an abundance of Simcoe, Sorachi Ace, and new TNT hops! The return of Abbey Ale follows shortly after, a firm favourite amongst the Abbeydale team…  A hop driven American style IPA coming in at 5.5%. In a first for Abbeydale, we’re also releasing a sour! Rango Mango is the brainchild of brewer Jim Rangeley and will be the juiciest yet in our Signature Series. As the name suggests, it’s going to bursting with tropical fruitiness from the mango pulp used, backed up by a “metric f***ton” (Jim’s words) of Galaxy hops, all at a thirst-quenching 4% ABV. Abbeydale dry hopped pale Deception will be getting a birthday makeover this month too, keep your eyes on our social media for further details on this one! And August is rounded off with Doctor Morton’s Myar Skikt and A-Peach-iation, another fruity one for the summer. Let’s just hope we get some beer garden worthy weather at last! Cheers, Laura

Sheffield’s pub heritage – Fagan’s

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Barrel 1815 map Fagan’s, originally ‘The Barrel’ is documented on an 1815 map. This indicates that the current left-hand room was, at that time, a neighbouring tenement, the pub and the tenement sharing a yard at the rear of the property. The last major change to the interior was in 1953 (architect, John Foster):
  • an extension which includes the current inside toilets.
  • removal of an internal wall opposite the bar, thus opening up the tap room into the current larger, ‘Lounge Hall.’ The walls were covered in full height ply panels and the fixed seating looks to date from then. Front windows have ‘Public’ and ‘Lounge’ etched and frosted panels.
There have only been three licensees in the past 100 years: ex-Bomber Command, Joe Fagan ran the pub from 1947 to 1985 becoming Tetley’s longest serving landlord. A new sign was erected in 1985. When the sign rotted, this was replaced in 2008 with a sign which shows a photo of Joe against a bomber.  Joe died only a few weeks after passing on the tenancy to the current Landlord, Tom Boulding. On the front right is a tiny snug originally called the dram shop – a pub room name only seen in the Sheffield area (the wording appears in the ceramic exterior of the Ship, Shalesmoor). The snug has a very old counter and the walls are covered with ply panelling. Sheffield artist Pete McKee, famous for his comic cartoon paintings, took to the streets of Sheffield in April 2013 to a bigger canvas: the gable end of Fagan’s is the home of one of Pete’s projects, ‘The Snog‘. At the time, this was the largest mural painted by Pete. The mural on the gable end at Fox Valley (Stocksbridge), completed in May 2016, dwarves this example. In the 19th.century, the pub was owned by local brewer, Rawsons. In turn ownership passed to Gilmours, Tetleys, Allied Breweries and, currently, Punch Taverns. Early in September, Fagan’s will be the start point for a Pub Heritage Walk, as part of the Heritage Open day weekend. On Friday 9th.September, the walk will take place twice: 14:00 and 17:30. Places are limited and may be booked via Eventbrite: 14:00 start: http://tinyurl.com/jh3ogzz 17:30 start: http://tinyurl.com/jgqfa2r  – Dave Pickersgill & Mick Slaughter SheffieldCityCentre-Fagans-RearRoom

Anglers Rest, Millers Dale

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Fundraisers for Manchester’s Christie NHS Foundation Trust taking part in a Manchester to London cycle ride stopped off recently at the Anglers, with the pub opening early for them to partake in coffee, cakes and other refreshment – and collect a charitable donation. So far in total the charity appeal the cyclists are supporting has raised £18,321.00. The Christie is one of the largest Cancer treatment centres in Europe.

Asset of Community Value (ACV) update

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On 16th May, Sheffield and District CAMRA submitted an ACV application for the University Arms to Sheffield City Council (SCC). Over eight weeks later, on 27th July we received an email from SCC which included a six-page document from a legal company, Pinsent Masons, employed by the owners of the pub, the University of Sheffield. This letter was an objection to the ACV nomination submitted by ourselves. We were given seven days to respond. In our opinion, and that of our colleagues at CAMRA HQ in St Albans, this ACV application clearly reaches the statutory test outlined by the Government. Advice from CAMRA, nationally, was followed throughout the nomination process. The application was compared to successful ACV applications from other parts of the country. It is felt that the detail included was more than adequate to guarantee an ACV listing. We were surprised to receive an objection as we believe that ACV status is something of which any pub would be proud, especially as the University and ourselves do seem to have many common aims and ideas. See for example, two recently published research documents Sheffield Beer Report and Pubs and Places: The Social Value of Community Pubs in which the IPPR commissioned colleagues at Sheffield University. We responded to the letter, sending a five page document which refuted the observations made. However, this action by the university raises a number of issues:
  • CAMRA sees ACV status as a clear badge of honour for both owners and licensees. It is a clear indication that their pub matters to the community. We do not understand why the university should be against the award of such status.
  • A number of items which could be used to support the application are suggested by Pinsent Masons. However, these are unnecessary. In our opinion, these comments are deliberately added in order to confuse the situation.
Pinsent Masons LLP is an international company who rank among the top 100 law firms in the world by turnover. They have over 400 partners, a legal team of around 1,500 and more than 2,500 staff. We await developments with interest. Dave Pickersgill – Pub Heritage Officer, Sheffield and District CAMRA

Harlequin, Nursery Street

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The Harlequin has been selected as a finalist in the Morning Advertiser Cider pub of the Year Awards and is now awaiting the final decision. By permanently serving around 20 traditional ciders at cellar temperature and running tasting nights it’s no wonder! A revised menu is now being served at The Harlequin including home made Pizza, New York Deli Sandwiches and all the usual sandwich fillings and double cooked chips.  There’s also good vegetarian and vegan options at all times and the usual home cooked roasts on Sundays. Live music nights with free entry throughout September are as follows: 2nd Blues Review 3rd Blues Train 8th Modern Jazz Project 10th Outside The Box 17th Bad Penny 23rd Eyeball 24th Blaze

Pub of the Month August 2016

Posted on by Andy Cullen
The Beer Engine was opened in its current guise about a year and a half ago, having been through a number of incarnations such as Delaney’s Music Bar since the premises last since carried the current name. Behind it is Tom Harrington (known as Baz to some of his friends), who has previously worked for others such as Thornbridge and Hillsborough Hotel, this is his first own pub venture, where the focus is almost entirely on serving good beer and simple but quality food that compliments the beer nicely. The pub is furnished and decorated simply but is laid out to appeal to all – a main open area around the bar and a couple of small, cosy rooms along with an outdoor area. The atmosphere is laid back. The bar is home to 6 handpumps, one of which often hosts a real cider and one which dispenses the (currently) always available Neepsend Blonde, the remaining four featuring an ever changing range of ales. There are also 4 guest craft keg lines and an extensive selection of spirits. The staff are friendly and knowledgable and if you want to try several beers you can buy tasting flights of 1/3 pints. Food on Monday to Saturday is pub tapas, with a selection of around 8 dishes on a menu which changes weekly, on a Tuesday. At present every Monday – the last day of the menu rotation – dishes are offered on a two for the price of one basis. On a Sunday the Beer Engine offers home cooked roast dinners with a choice of meat of the week, veggie and vegan options. Food is served 5-8pm Monday to Thursday, 12-8pm Friday and Saturday, 12-5pm on Sundays. Sheffield & District CAMRA held our branch meeting in the Beer Engine when it first opened and the numbers turned up exceeded the size of the room, such was the interest, the beer and food was enjoyed and now members have voted it as the winner of our August 2016 Pub of the Month. We’ll be presenting the award certificate at the Beer Engine on Tuesday 16th August with the pub holding a bit of a celebration, all are welcome to join us from 8pm onwards.
  • The Beer Engine is at 17 Cemetery Road, next to Waitrose petrol station off London Road and the Chinese Firework Company.
  • Closest buses are routes 3,4 and 4a, however the stop on London Road is also very close.
  • The pub is open from 4pm to 11pm Monday to Thursday, midday to midnight Friday and Saturday, midday to 11pm Sundays.
 

Crookes & Walkley

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Last month we looked at the great beer scene that has developed in the ‘Heeley Triangle’ creating a beer destination away from the usual City Centre and Kelham Island circuits. This month we look at another part of Sheffield with a cluster of good pubs a short bus ride from town. The two key bus corridors here are the 52/52a along the main road in Crookes and the 95 along the main road in Commonside and Walkley, supplemented by the less frequent route 31 which wends its way to Walkley via a more off-piste route! It is walkable between all the pubs featured, however note there are hills involved. All pubs that serve real ale are listed, however due to space constraints we are just featuring those with the more interesting beer range.

Commonside (route 95)

Closed Shop

Traditional friendly local in a residential setting. With a focus on customer service and traditional pub values. Taken over in 2013 by the team from the Rutland Arms and went through a major refurb. A wide range of ales and ciders is always available and the food is very good proper pub food. Weekly quiz each Wednesday and Sunday. 8 real ales available featuring Blue Bee Brewery and guests.

Hallamshire House

Known as the “tardis” this small frontage pub has a snug, pool room, bar area leading through to a large lounge and oak panelled snooker room with full size table. Is now run by Thornbridge Brewery offering at least five of their cask ales plus guest beers and a wide range of bottled beers.

Springvale

Walkley (routes 31, 31a, 95)

Blake Hotel

At the top of a steep hill (pedestrian handholds provided), this community pub reopened as a free house in 2010 after seven years of closure. Extensively restored, it has retained many Victorian features, with original etched windows and mirrors. At the rear is a large decked garden. The five guest beers usually include a stout or porter, the majority from small independent breweries. The pub also provides probably the largest selection of whisky in Sheffield with over 200 available. No electronic games, TV or jukebox.

Walkley Beer Company

A small specialist beer shop that opens weekends only with a tasting bar offering the choice to drink inside. A choice of three cask beers are available with beer served on gravity, the range changes each weekend. There is also a craft keg line.

Walkley Cottage

Crookes (routes 52, 52a)

Ball Inn

Large pub served from one bar. Has 15 hand pumps with at least one cider. Wooden panelled snug area still remains with carpeted floor. Two pool tables in raised area at the back. Can show three sports channels on TV screens. Large outdoor patio area. Recently refurbished.

Punchbowl

Large pub with 8 real ales, extensive selection of rums and a pizza oven.

Crookes Social Club

A kind of twin scene venue – the main lounge is members only but the tap room is open to all visitors. There is also a concert room which hosts regular gigs and an annual beer festival. Whether drinking in the members lounge or tap room, there is a selection of reasonably priced real ales available, usually from Stancill Brewery.

Princess Royal

Cobden View

Old Grindstone

Noah’s Ark

Masons Arms

Bus summary

31/31a: City Centre (Angel Street, near Castle Square tram stop) – Upperthorpe – Walkley – Hillsborough – Loxley: serves the Blake Hotel and Walkley Beer Company 52/52a: Woodhouse – City Centre (Church Street and West Street) – University – Broomhill – Crookes – Hillsborough – Wisewood: serves the Grindstone, Ball Inn, Crookes Social Club and the Punchbowl 95: City Centre (Interchange, Flat Street, Church Street and West Street) – Commonside – Walkley: serves the Hallamshire House, Closed Shop, Walkley Beer Company and Walkley Cottage. Bus operators are a mixture of First, Stagecoach and Sheffield Community Transport. Travelmaster offer a range of unlimited travel tickets valid on all operators including the Citybus day ticket at £4 and the Citywide bus & tram day ticket at £4.30. Available from bus drivers and tram conductors (cash only). More information at travelsouthyorkshire.com.

Stancill Brewery

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Stancill Brewery has been working on two new summer specials: First up is a 4% summer ale and a genuine first for new brewery apprentice Jonathan Brown. Jonathan joined Stancill in April and after working closely with head brewer Dean Pleasant over the past few weeks, Dean challenged him to make a beer of his own. Magnum PA [1609647]jaxon1-01 [1609646] Jonathan’s first beer features First Gold and Styrian Golding hops, resulting in a well balanced brew with a slight orange aroma and delicate spicy notes. Jonathan was given the honour of not only brewing the beer to suit his own tastes, but to also naming it. He chose Jaxon, naming his first brew in honour of his newly born child. Stancill’s second summer special pays tribute to one of the best known detectives of the 1980s with a brand new American pale ale, brewed using magnum hops. The result is a delightfully moreish 4.5% brew called Magnum PA. We know what you’re thinking… and you’re right. Hawaiian shirt and big moustache optional!

Hop Hideout

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Thurs 25th Aug to Mon 29th Aug: Pucker Up: A Bank Holiday Weekend Homage to Sour Beer

Mikkeller-Spontan-Tasting-Pack [1511125] Sour beer covers a myriad of styles and we love them all here at Hop Hideout. We’ve decided to dedicate the Bank Holiday weekend in August to host our homage to these styles. We’ll be dedicating our full keg taps to sour styles. Plus we’ll be spending the next few months sourcing some special bottle stock for you to try over the weekend too. Throw into the mix ticketed Mikkeller: Spontan Your Face beer tastings on the Friday and Saturday evening (tickets online £13pp inc 5 samples). It’ll be a special few days all in all. One for the sour heads and those wanting to take their first sip and pucker up! The garden area will be open, so fingers crossed for sunshine. They’ll also be a select menu of scotch eggs and pork pies on offer from Liberty Foods  and extended opening hours. Find out more: www.hophideout.co.uk/events Julia & Will