Author: Dominic Nelson

The last few weeks have been rather busy for Team Abbeydale, with tap takeovers and Meet the Brewer events taking place all around the country, from Edinburgh to Norwich with York and Leek in between! This month though, we’re definitely making the most of being back on home turf as we celebrate Sheffield Beer Week! We’re ridiculously excited to be joining in with the Indie Beer Feast which kicks off the week on Saturday 10 March. Our full beer list is to be confirmed at the time of writing, but we can tell you that we will be bringing along our inaugural DIPA, Deliverance (9.0%), for its first pour. Sheffield Beer Week also sees us launching barrel aged 1868, a strong Scotch Ale weighing in at 10% – some of you may remember the younger version of this beer from Steel City Beer Festival back in October. It’s aged beautifully and renowned beer historian Ron Pattinson, whose work inspired this brew and led to the collaboration, will be joining us at the Devonshire Cat on Monday 12 March to lead a tasting. The Devonshire Cat is also hosting a Sourpuss event on Thursday 15 March, which will see our Funk Dungeon brewer Jim pitting three of his creations against three from Chorlton Brewery. And finally, our brewer Christie has teamed up with the Rutland Arms to put together a Beers & Brunch event on Saturday 17 March. Each of the beers has had input from women from both the pub (thanks to Heather and Emma from the Rutland for joining us!) and here at the brewery to tie in with the Women in Beer theme which the Rutland are promoting throughout the week. Check our social media for ticket details for all of the above. We also have plenty more new beers for you coming out this month! Soundtrack your day with a 4.2% fruity American hopped delight, with Amarillo for floral and citrus notes backed up by a selection of other hops from the US of A. Soundtrack is the next in our film inspired series so make sure you check the QR code at the bar! We’re teaming up with our good friend Stu from North Riding Brewery in Scarborough for a long overdue collaboration, to create Hazelnut Coffee Baby Stout (3.8%) – a sessionable dark beer which is smooth and sweet with a rounded nutty flavour and lactose for a silky finish. We also have Prophecy (4.5%), a Summit-hopped golden ale with pine and tangerine flavours and a bitter backbone. And finally, it’s a return for Doctor Morton’s Safety Beer (4.1%), a delectable pale beer brewed with a delicious combination of Australian hops. Bursting with grapefruit, pineapple and passionfruit flavours, no helmet required! Cheers, Laura

In February’s Beer Matters, we announced Stancill Brewery was in the midst of producing a new range of premium beers consisting of twelve “memorable, challenging and unusual” brews scheduled for release throughout 2018. The Full of Dank range is a brand-new range of beers, designed to explore different brewing techniques. The first beer, released in mid-February ,is a full-bodied brown ale. Combining rich, malty flavours including a selection of chocolate malts and Brewer’s Gold hops, Charlie Brown (4.5%) uses a US yeast strain, resulting in a clean, crisp and refreshing taste. Charlie Brown and the rest of the Full of Dank range will be available in cask and keg variations from all Stancill pubs plus selected pubs around the region. The beers are also available in cans which can be purchased from all Stancill Brewery pubs. The second beer in the range is also currently in production. This best bitter will feature five different malts, balanced by Styrian Golding and Mittelfruh hops, typically used in lager-style beers. Thomas Gill, Stancill Brewery Managing Director said: “We’re thrilled to be able to announce the first beer from the Full of Dank range. We felt the dark US craft ales are something that has been overlooked and we wanted to develop a beer which combined all the hallmarks of a good dark ale, whilst also adding the hoppy characteristics of a typical American beer. The result is a fully flavoured drink featuring a strong body and plenty of taste.” “Our brewers were keen to explore a number of different beer ranges and techniques which are not currently produced by the brewery and we felt the new range would provide a golden opportunity for each brewer to add their own twist to their favourite styles of beers. The result is a special selection of brews which offer a very different taste experience.” “We hope everyone will enjoy the first instalment from the range and we look forward to announcing the remaining eleven beers throughout the year in Beer Matters.” Stancill Brewery is also currently developing a new blonde special (4.1%) which will be released under the Stancill brand. The as-yet-unnamed beer will feature three different hop varieties and will be released at the beginning of March.

We’ve had a busy few weeks at Neepsend Brew Co. with a number of exciting things to update you on. Neepsend are getting involved in Sheffield Beer Week in a big way this year and celebrating the collaborative and friendly nature of the beer industry by joining forces with a number of other breweries to produce some special beers. We’re collaborating with some of our local friends to brew a dry hopped sour with Steel City and Lost Industry breweries, a grapefruit pale ale with Blue Bee, the latest iteration in our Breakfast IPA series brewed with Hopjacker and finally getting round to hosting the return collaboration brew with Sheffield’s smallest brewery, Regather. We’re also brewing a beer to celebrate the connections between two of our finest beery cities – Sheffield and Norwich – with a Sheffield Beer Week and Norwich City of Ale collaborative beer, which will be made with Norfolk malt and a Sheffield ingredient. If that doesn’t keep us busy enough we’re also hosting some of our very favourite brewers from a little further afield in North Riding, Hopcraft and Waen breweries. Expect hops! All these beers will be showcased at the opening of our new onsite tap room for the closing party of Sheffield Beer Week on Saturday 17 March and you can keep up with details by finding us on Facebook, Twitter or Instagram. We have also, of course, kept the beers coming over the last few weeks. Our latest brews have included: Pax (5.7%), a transpacific IPA hopped with US, NZ and Aussie hops; Djanggawul (4.6%), an Australian pale hopped with Galaxy, Vic Secret and Enigma; Ottokar (4.1%), a Styrian amber ale; Raki (4.3%), a pale hopped with Nelson Sauvin and Rakau; Summit IPA (5.5%), the latest in our series of single-hopped IPAs; Lacuna (3.8%), a Mosaic and Ekuanot session pale and Zipa (4.7%), a Citra and El Dorado pale. Heading to the Sheaf View, Wellington or Blake Hotel is – as ever – your best bet if you want to try some of these new brews locally. Gavin Martin

Steel City’s Stout Wars launch at the Rutland with Lost Industry and Emperor’s was an epic success, the pub was packed all night, three Imperial Stouts were demolished along with most of the wine-barrel-aged beers. A similar event is planned for May featuring three barrel-aged Imperial Stouts. A single keg of Rogue One will be available at Brewdog  during Sheffield Beer Week. Dave has already brewed under his own license as many times in 2018 as in 2017, not bad for February! The first brew of the year was a dry hop sour in collaboration with Lost Industry and Neepsend. Named Medusa to fit both Neepsend’s mythology theme and Steel City’s music theme (being the name of a Paradise Lost album, as I’m sure you all knew), it has an ABV of 5.0% and a pH somewhere in the 3s. Citra and Rakau hops were used in both the copper and the fermenter, and combined with the acidity of the beer give a sharp grapefruit tang. Most of it has been released into the wild already, but a couple of hundred litres are currently sitting in a white wine barrel for a few months with some grapes. The second brew of the year is an ultra-small batch of a Flemish Oud Bruin. Brewed with a selection of Belgian malts and a Flemish yeast, a single keg of unblended Bruin was drawn off before the rest of the batch was blended with a sour blonde. Dave Unpronounceable