Author: Dominic Nelson

Is your beer LocAle?

Posted on by Dominic Nelson
LocAle is a CAMRA initiative aiming to recognise and promote those pubs who support local brewers by selling locally brewed beers. Any pub that has at least one good quality locally-produced real ale available at all times can be accredited by its local CAMRA branch. Our branch defines “LocAle” as beer brewed within 20 miles of the pub by road. Currently we have 117 LocAle accredited pubs in the Sheffield & District region, but our recent Beer Census indicated that there could be at least 44 more eligible pubs out there. We are looking to make sure that every pub that could be LocAle accredited is so, so that we can maximise support for local ale and the people who make and sell it. If your local always has at least one local real ale available, we encourage you to urge the licensee to get in touch with the branch committee. Contact details can be found on our website or at the back of the magazine.

Beer Scoring

Posted on by Dominic Nelson
With the popularity of beer scoring apps such as Ratebeer and Untappd on the rise, you may or may not be aware that CAMRA has its own scoring system specifically for real ales that members can access through the WhatPub website at www.whatpub.com/beerscoring. CAMRA developed the National Beer Scoring System (NBSS) to give ale drinkers an easy-to-use, consistent scoring scheme. The NBSS scores are as follows: 0: No cask ale available. 1: Poor – Beer that is anything from barely drinkable to drinkable with considerable resentment. 2: Average – Competently kept, drinkable pint but doesn’t inspire in any way, not worth moving to another pub but you drink the beer without really noticing. 3: Good – Good beer in good form. You may cancel plans to move to the next pub. You want to stay for another pint and may seek out the beer again. 4: Very Good – Excellent beer in excellent condition. 5: Perfect – Probably the best you are ever likely to find. A seasoned drinker will award this score very rarely. Between 1 September 2016 and 31 August 2017, 222 of the 329 pubs in the Sheffield & District region serving cask ales were scored at least once, so there is evidence that the system is being used. However, out of the 2,036 scores input into the system in the past year, only 123 (just over 6%) of these were from Sheffield & District CAMRA members, with the vast majority coming from visitors from other branches (particularly Rotherham, Nottingham and Stockport). We are encouraging our branch members to make more use of the beer scoring system. The main reason for this is that we are hoping to start using these scores to help us select our Good Beer Guide nominees and to draw up our shortlist for the Pub of the Year award. So, if you think your favourite local deserves more recognition, get scoring and it could be in with a chance!

Neepsend Brew Co

Posted on by Dominic Nelson
We’ve recently gone into our back catalogue for fresh batches of a couple of beers we’ve brewed previously. Annona is a 4.2% Oatmeal Pale showcasing one of our very favourite hop varieties, Mosaic, to give bags of tropical fruit and blueberry flavours complemented by the smoothness and body the addition of oats provides. This one is a thirst-quenching, seriously drinkable summer pale. Sharpshooter is another old favourite we last brewed around a year ago that utilises another personal favourite hop, Nelson Sauvin, which imparts grapefruit, gooseberry and big fruity white wine notes. Because of the high demand on this particular New Zealand variety we haven’t had any to play with for some time but have managed to bag enough at least to resurrect our 4.7% NZ Pale briefly for this summer.  Bittered with Pacific Jade and then liberally dosed with Nelson for aroma and dry hopping, the result is a punchy, dry, fruity pale. We also, of course, have kept the new beers coming. Recently they have included Litchi, a 4.7% Lychee Oat Pale, Hansl, a 6.0% Vienna IPA hopped with five of juiciest US hops around, Tessera, a 3.9% summer pale and Assane, a 4.4% pale ale hopped with Comet and Cascade that flew out of the brewery in record time. The latest single-hopped IPA, Waimea IPA, is our first time brewing with the New Zealand hop variety of the same name. Apex is a 4.2% American Red brewed with Red X malt for a fantastic ruby hue and not lacking in hop character through large doses of Comet and Summit. Cherry Stout is…well, a cherry stout! 5% with a robust dark malt base and the addition of morello cherries for a subtle fruity finish. That’s all on top of our one permanent beer, Blonde, which we’ve been struggling to keep up with demand for and brewing twice a week when we can find room in the brew schedule. So all in all it’s been a nice and busy (if sweaty) summer at the brewery! Gavin Martin

Cherry Tree, Millhouses

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The Cherry Tree on Carter Knowle Road has held three major music events over the last month.  Well known Sheffield band Jack’s Rake performed at two: the annual staff party for St Luke’s Nursing Home and ‘Music Sunday’, which now takes place the first Sunday in every month. Due to holidays, the next event will be on August Bank Holiday Sunday, when a full BBQ will be available. Although the pub currently does not have the ability to serve food, outside catering has been brought in for each event. Big audiences have attended them all and the atmosphere has been vibrant and fun. Meanwhile, the Cherry Tree/Co-op planning application saga rolls on. At the recent Sheffield planning committee meeting, councilors voted 10-0 in favour of keeping the pub and backing the planning officer’s decision to refuse the application. A big thank you to all those who took the time to visit the Sheffield planning portal and post your comments. The Co-op have appealed to the Secretary of State regarding planning issue, so this will now be decided by committee in Bristol, which takes two months. The value of the ACV status gained by the Cherry Tree in potentially protecting it from the planning application is now all the more obvious by the fact that Enterprise have chosen to ask Sheffield City Council for a review of the decision to award the ACV status. Ashley Ramsey The Cherry Tree is on Carter Knowle Avenue, Millhouses, S11 9FU. The number 6 bus serves the road regularly.

Bradfield Brewery

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Whilst Christmas may seem still a while away, it is very much the top of the agenda this month at Bradfield Brewery. Our brew-to-bottle schedule is a little hectic to say the least and an early start is required to make sure we get enough in stock to meet the festive demand! Speaking of Christmas – for all those counting down for the festive tipple Belgian Blue – the summery Farmer’s Blueberry Ale, 4.4%, is available to ease the wait! Available throughout August while stocks last!

Wharncliffe Arms, Wharncliffe Side

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Running this lovely, local country pub is myself, Dave. This is the second time I’ve run this little pub, the first time being around nine years ago. I started out at the young age of 18 working for Ward’s Brewery in Sheffield, which gave me my love for real ale. I took the Arms back on in January 2015 working as a manager for somebody else, but it soon turned out that it wasn’t for him and wanted to leave. It then became apparant that the place was going to shut and get boarded up, which I couldn’t let happen as it’s been my local in one way or another for around 15 years, so I took on my own lease in April 2015. In that time we have redecorated twice and increased the cask ale range from one to now six cask ale pumps. We stock a huge range of real ale with the regulars being Bradfield Farmer’s Brown Cow and Robinson’s Dizzy Blonde. The rest are made up from a range of breweries from local ones like Bradfield, to Cross Bay in Morecambe and Maxim in Sunderland. We have a strong relationship with Robinson’s brewery, who have been really supportive in helping this little pub grow and for which I’m grateful. wharncliffe pumps As well as the beer, we have a great range of other things going on. We hold bingo nights on a Mondaywhere every penny is paid back out in prizes. We also do a quiz night on a Wednesday which has proven to be very popular, with a gallon of beer given away every week. Alongside that we run “The Golden Cap”, which is basically a bag of bottle caps with one being gold. Pick the golden one and you’ve won the jackpot, which was £1000 the last time it was won. We hold a brilliant folk session on the last Thursday of each month, which is run by the Fates group and is proving highly popular.  Every Saturday night we have a live singer which ranges from a five piece band to some brilliant solo acts, we also do karaoke once a month just to break it up a little. On a Friday tea time we serve our home made gourmet burgers, including our now famous Wharncliffe Whopper (try it if you dare!). We also have a lovely riverside beer garden with swings and a slide for kids to play on. Coming up on Sunday 27 August from 1-7pm we have a special one-off live music festival in aid of the Cystic Fibrosis Trust, featuring Tony Walsh, Amy Carnall, Stevie Moore, Shades of Vinnie and more plus an outside bar and food. Please come along and support this great cause! Dave Briggs You can find the Wharncliffe Arms at 72 Main Road, Wharncliffe Side, Sheffield, S35 0DN. The number 57 bus from the city centre stops almost directly outside the pub, as does the SL1 Supertram link bus from Middlewood.

The Harlequin, Kelham Island

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The Harlequin is delighted to have been shortlisted once again as a national finalist in the Great British Pub Awards. The pub is one of six venues across the country to have been shortlisted in the best cider bar/pub category. Judging for the final round is taking place over the summer, with the results announced at an awards ceremony in September. Landlady Liz Aspden said: “we’re up against some excellent and well established cider bars, and for a back-street pub in sheffield to have been shortlisted for the second year running is testament to our excellent selection of ciders and perries, and to the enthusiasm and hard work of the staff”. The pub stocks a minimum of 25 ciders alongside an excellent range of beers and spirits, so you’re sure to find something to suit your tastes.The-Great-British-Pub-Awards_brand_big-ConvertImage (002) Speaking of tastes, The Harlequin is busy arranging a programme of tasting events over the summer. These popular and informative events can focus on beers, ciders, or spirits and start from just £15 per person for beer or cider, and from just £22 per person for spirits. All prices include drinks, snacks, and a talk about the history and development of the drinks. Tailored sessions are available on request for groups of six people or more; please contact the pub for additional details or to make bookings. Our live bands for August are as follows: Saturday 5 August – Rooster Thursday 10 August – Jazz and Swing night with Ralph Salt Friday 11 August – Deep in the Top Saturday 12 August – Slingshots Saturday 19 August – Blues Train

Exit 33 Brewing

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We have brewed three specials for August. Two Tone, 4.6%, is a pale ale hopped with Citra, Simcoe and Mosaic. It was first brewed last year but we enjoyed it so much we decided to brew it again. Next up we have Simcoe, 4.1%, a single-hop special using both late and dry hopping to great effect. Finally, we have Raspberry Wheat, 4.5%, a fruity wheat beer that is unfined and naturally cloudy. Furthermore, a new member of staff has joined the team to bolster our new business development and plans are in the pipeline to attend trade shows abroad with a view to exporting.

Welbeck Abbey Brewery

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With summer in full swing we have chosen the ideal time to launch our new and improved minikeg range.  We were overwhelmed with minikeg sales over the festive period, and they have continued to be one of our most popular products this year – so much so that we had to stop production in June when we ran out! With our new branding spanning across the rest of our product range, we thought it was the perfect time to upgrade the look of our minikegs as well and we think the end result is impressive!  They are vegan friendly and require no settling time, which makes them the perfect companion for a summer picnic or barbecue.  They are available across our core range, which now includes the lager-style pale ‘Kaiser’ and can be purchased locally at our micropub Portland House on Ecclesall road.

Pub of the Year presentation

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It will have come as no surprise to many that Sheffield & District CAMRA members yet again voted the Kelham Island Tavern as their Pub of the Year for 2017. Branch members descended on the pub in their droves on the evening of 22 June to see our social secretary Patrick Johnson present pub owners Trevor Wraith and Lewis Gonda with their award. Kelham Island outside bar The presentation was timed to coincide with the start of the pub’s own annual midsummer festival, and it must be said there was a fantastic selection of real ales and ciders on offer. Unfortunately, as designated driver for the evening, I wasn’t able to sample as many as I would have liked! In total, there were more than 30 beers available, ranging from local breweries including Abbeydale and Blue Bee, to those a little further afield such as Shropshire’s Salopian Brewery and Brodie’s from East London. The outside bar also stocked a varied cider selection, mainly featuring orchards from the West Country. kelham island pizza There was also no danger of going hungry, as freshly made wood-fired pizzas were available courtesy of the Sunshine Pizza Oven. The pub also kindly put on a spread following the presentation of the certificate. Congratulations once more to Trevor, Lewis and all at the Kelham Island Tavern on being voted Sheffield & District Pub of the Year 2017.