Author: Andy Cullen

Kelham Island Brewery celebrated it’s 25^th Anniversary back in September, we have had bottles of Anniversary Ale available all year, we also brewed it for cask (6.8% Celebratory IPA) through September & into October – limited stocks of both bottle and cask remain so be quick if you want to catch it! It is featuring at the Steel City Beer Festival 21-24 October. November will see the return of two ever popular specials: Bud Ekins, a 5% full flavoured amber bitter brewed with a selection of traditional British hops and a blend of British Pale & Crystal malts. Mind Control, 6.9% mind bending hypnotic IPA brewed with a double helping of a trio of the best aroma hops, perfectly balanced with a blend of malts for a mesmerising pale ale. We have another new arrival in the shop in the shape (literally) of our rebranded bottle range, a slightly taller slimmer bottle with the new pump clip image for Pale Rider, Pride of Sheffield, Easy Rider and Riders on the Storm proudly sitting on the fronts of each bottle. Our city centre pub, Tap & Tankard, have started having a live band on at least one Friday per month. Martin Bedford’s Honey Bee Blues Club are the kind promoters supplying a quality live act on the last Friday of the month. They are also operating a ‘Cask Ale Club Loyalty Card’ where you can buy 8 pints and get a 9^th FREE. From the 1^st November there will be a 10p discount on the price of any ale for CAMRA members who produce their card at the bar. Both offers run 7 days, but only until 8pm on Friday & Saturday’s. As Christmas is fast approaching (too fast), keep an eye on our new website (www.kelhambrewery.co.uk) for upcoming Xmas Brewery Tour dates, individual and group bookings taken. Enjoy the 41^st Steel City Beer Festival, see some of you there!  

Emmanuales have been brewing beers of biblical proportions commercially since the start of 2015. Drawing inspiration from the Christian faith and tradition, and the heritage of beer making throughout the history of the church, Emmanuales aims to both nourish the body and the soul, with a heart on sleeve approach of ‘sharing the Good News one beer at a time’. Emmanuales have proven popular throughout Sheffield’s bottle shops and delis, often selling out within 24 hours, as was the case with Beer Central and Urban Pantry. Owner and head brewer Nick Law has been described as ‘the modern monk’ – balding, brewing and worshipping. Having started Emmanuales as a ‘hobby business’, brewing commercially from his kitchen in Walkley, Nick has recently upscaled by brewing on The Sheffield Brewery Company’s pilot kit. ‘For the past six months, it’s become apparent that our ‘Jesus Beer’ (as it is quickly becoming known) has gained in popularity. So much so, we’ve struggled to keep up with the demand from consumers and retailers alike.’ says Nick. ‘What started off as a hobby and a “side business” (believe me, there is no such thing) has spawned into a monster that is bursting out of our cellar and whose tentacles take over nearly every room in our house, not to mention our inordinately small freezer, which now has a shelf dedicated to hops. There has been a continued need to upscale since we started and, in particular, since we gained momentum. So, naturally, we’re eternally grateful to Pete, Tim and the team at The Sheffield Brewery Company for accommodating us within their space’ Emmanuales are currently gearing up for Christmas by brewing two of their core range – Jonah and the Pale and O Hoppy Day – and a selection of festive beers, including The First Noalë, Midnight Mass and ‘Tis the Saison.

A mere 18 months after Dave and Shazz travelled to Hebden Bridge to brew So Craft It Hurts at Bridestones Brewery, they finally managed to coordinate a day for Dan to come to Sheffield for the return collaboration. The brewday from hell saw the transfer from copper to fermenter take seven hours rather than the usual 60-90 minutes, Dave finally leaving the brewery at 0030! Hopefully it’ll all be worth it when we get to taste Craven D’Ale milk oat stout at 4.6%. For the limited edition Macchiato, Dave has teamed up with local coffee roaster Buckshot who supplied their ‘The One’ Espresso Blend, which was cold-steeped and added to the cask. Local coffee roasters seem to be a booming industry, with new roasters cropping up almost as fast as new breweries! The minikit went a lot more smoothly to produce an as-yet-unnamed imperial milk stout at around 8%, a pin of which will go to the Shakespeare with the remainder being bottled, look out for it at Beer Central and Hop Hideout. Meanwhile, the Beer Central collaboration Mango Fruit Machine proved very popular, the 60 bottles selling out within 6 hours of going on sale! The next exclusive is for Cotteridge Wines, one keykeg and 60 bottles of Maple & Vanilla Porridge Stout. Upcoming collaborations include a gose with North Riding entitled Get In The Sea and a return to Hopcraft, no idea what it’ll be but it’ll be the third in the Insult to History series.  

The students are back in Sheffield and beer is flying out at the moment however we are still finding time to squeeze in brewing plenty of specials. Firstly we had Stuart down from the excellent North Riding Brewery in Scarborough to brew a colab with us. So we decided to brew something extra special, the result is Little & Large IPA 6.5% which combines 3 of our favourite American hops: Citra, Mosaic and Sorachi Ace. This beer is big on hops with loads of tropical fruit flavour and citrus aroma. As ever we also have another single hopped IPA this month this time using the new American hop: Jarrylo IPA 5.0% which has the rather interesting characteristics of spice, banana and pear so this is sure to be something a little different. If you prefer your beer a little more sessionable we have brewed Centennial Pale 3.9%, a refreshing hoppy pale ale with lemon and pine flavours once again using American hops. On top this we are on to American 5 Hop Version 7 4.3% which this time will combine: Citra, Columbus, Comet, Centennial and Jarrylo. Finally it is not often we rebrew our specials but Ginger Beer 4.5% is proving that popular we will be brewing it for a third time in November, it will be packed with as much fresh root ginger as before if not more to give that fiery kick!

First things first… Some of you may have heard along the grapevine that we’re opening our first bar? You’d be right. We expect it to be fully open to the public at some point during the second week in October. Work is well underway and we’re busily preparing to throw open our doors and welcome beer lovers’ everywhere! As we’re constantly referencing Welbeck heritage in our beers and ethos, we take the name for the bar from the family lineage. ‘Portland House’ is situated on the busy Ecclesall Road in Sheffield. You may remember we brewed a lovely golden session-ale on behalf of ‘Worksop Guide Dogs’ trust last year? We thought it was a great fundraising opportunity for the charity and have scheduled another brew for the same ale in October. We’ll be donating 10p per pint to this fantastic organisation. On 4th October the launch night and fundraiser will be hosted by our brewery tap ‘The Grey Horses’ with a Blind Man’s Buffet organised by the charity. It’ll be great fun for all involved. For more information please contact Chris at The Grey Horses on: 01909 730252. Now then, back to beer and our upcoming specials through September and October. We’re showcasing the fantastic qualities of British hops this month with Farrier our 5.5% ESB and Secret Wife at 4.9%. Farrier is a much more robust version of our best-selling ale Red Feather with superb bitterness complemented by warming caramel tones. Secret Wife is brewed using UK Cascade for a slightly softer fruit hit than the American counterpart. Fruit is best- backed up by strong bitterness and a dry finish and that’s what this cheeky little number does with great panache. Taking you into October we’ll see Kaiser straddling the end of September and the beginning of October. If you haven’t tried it before it’s a brewery favourite. At 4.1% it’s not too naughty but drinks as refreshing, dry and biscuit-y with lovely cereal malt flavour and a hint of lemon. German hops are used for authenticity plus lager malt is included in the mash. Going through to October we’ll see beers new and old: Firehouse Red 4.5% brings in the new with rye added to the mash for spice and loads of delicious American hops to keep it punchy and fresh. Then we journey to the other side of the world with Cubitt’s Voyage 3.5% and a resinous, pale New Zealand hop explosion! This is no shrinking violet, what it may lack in alcohol it makes up for in hop character. There have been a few new arrivals at the brewery recently notably four ex red wine casks which we’ve begun experimenting with- watch this space for more updates! In other news we have finally bottled Harley, our 4.3% golden citrus ‘quaffing ale’. It’s sold exceptionally well this year hence the move to bottling. Also new to the bottled range is Cocoa Noel. Just in time for Christmas (!) our very tasty Chocolate Stout brewed at 5.5% is the only one in the UK that uses Duffy’s Cocoa Nibs. Aside from a devilishly-dark mash the cocoa nibs impart fantastic bitterness and depth of flavour to this very indulgent stout.  

Blue Bee Brewery, as well as supplying the festival with their own delicious ales, have been busy swapping with other breweries around Yorkshire to supply us with some great Yorkshire beers, the list is already looking quite good. A number of our beer festival organising committee dropped in to Blue Bee Brewery to see a festival promotional special being brewed, this will appear in pubs in the weeks leading up to the festival. The festival is our 41st annual event, it’s in Sheffield, the beer is 4.1% ABV and it should be a nice thirst quenching beer. I think the name covers those bases…

Beer Club

Our next Last Friday of the Month Beer Club on 25^th September kicks off a weekend festival of music and World Cup rugby. Friday is a blues/folk acoustic night with the doors opening at 7.30pm. We’ve a couple of acts lined up and it should be an eclectic evening’s entertainment – a beatnik style return to great quality sounds. Saturday will feature the titanic clash between England v Wales in the World Cup rugby finals. We’ll have the big screen on and a wide range of beers available along with a guest ale. Doors open 4pm. All details are available on our Facebook page.

New Brews

Fresh Start 4.3%: We thought we’d brew a special for anyone contemplating a new start after their hols and to welcome all the new and returning students. This is generally a time for new beginnings whether young or old. Indeed, the arrival of the Freshers to Sheffield is always an exciting time and we warmly welcome everyone to this fair city. Romeo and Juliet 4.2%: Our other special is brewed once again especially to celebrate the Crucible Theatre’s production of the bard’s romantic tragedy. This raspberry flavoured slightly hoppy ale will be available at the Crucible bar and local pubs. It’s a delicious ale and is in limited supply so please get your orders in fast.