Author: Guest

Abbeydale Brewery has recently announced the launch of Reverence – their first low alcohol offering. A 0.5% pale ale, the beer is designed to be low in alcohol, but full of flavour, without sacrifice.

Loosely inspired by Heathen, Abbeydale Brewery’s popular American Pale Ale, Reverence is hopped using Mosaic for refreshing tropical flavours and notes of zesty grapefruit. As with their other beers, Reverence is gluten free.

This news comes as the brewery – the oldest in Sheffield and the current holders of the title of Employer of the Year from industry body SIBA – begin to celebrate their 30th anniversary year. With the “no and low” category showing huge growth, Abbeydale Brewery believe it has become more important than ever to invest and innovate to ensure they’re offering something to all their customers. Having introduced Sparkling Hop Water as an alcohol free option in 2024, the release of Reverence expands upon this and fills an identified gap within their extensive range.

Brewer and Quality Manager Christie McIntosh, who also sits on the board as Abbeydale’s Employee Representative, says “the release of Reverence is the culmination of many months of hard work, extensive research, and meticulous lab analysis, coupled with being able to take advantage of an array of technological advancements in the wider field. Our ethos is to make sure we’re offering the same experience to all those choosing to drink our products, and we believe that the final result is something that looks like beer, tastes like beer, is brewed like any other beer… and simply is a proper beer, for beer lovers, but with just a tiny fraction of the booze.”

Reverence is available in 440 ml cans directly from Abbeydale Brewery and via independent retailers.

First up, we’ve got a new collaboration for you! Brewed with the excellent folk at Ticking Clock Brew Co., It’s Always Sunny in Shireoaks will be a 4.2% pale ale using Dolcita, a new hop whose name means “little sweetie”! Promising notes of tropical pineapple and juicy peach, our production director John was lucky enough to sample beers brewed using Dolcita on his trip to the Yakima Hop Harvest last October and so we’re all really excited to try it.

Antelabbit (4.1%) makes a return within our “Mythical Creatures” series! This was the beer that launched this series back in May 2024 so we’re pleased to see it return. A tasty and refreshing pale ale, hopped with Galaxy and Centennial for tropical flavours backed up by a robust, piney finish. 

New to our natural print inspired series, we have Magnolia (3.9%), an elegant pale ale brewed using UK grown Jester and Harlequin hops, lending notes of zesty marmalade and ripe grapefruit. And if you prefer a dark beer to a pale ale we’ve got you covered too, as Steadfast Stout (4.8%) returns to our Salvation series – a classic, no-nonsense, stouty kind of stout and a great winter warmer.

We can’t quite believe another year has passed! 2025 has FLOWN by as our first full year as an Employee Owned business, and we can’t wait to head into our 30^th anniversary year – we’ve got some exciting plans in the pipeline, so watch this space!

Heading onto bars before the end of the year, we’ve got Winter, a crisp and flavourful 4.2% pale ale brewed with Ekuanot hops, and Holly, a new addition to our gorgeous botanical print inspired series. This one features Nelson Sauvin, Willamette and Cascade hops which come together to bring a cornucopia of citrus flavour and a well-balanced bitterness.

We’ve also got an exciting 6.5% IPA on the way – Further Greetings from Fort Mill, in collaboration with Amor Artis, who have visited us all the way from South Carolina! This one features Plumage Archer, a grain older than the USA, upon which we’ve layered oodles of punchy hop character from Simcoe, Centennial and Cashmere. Spicy and herbal, with notes of oily resin softened by hints of fruity melon.

Heralding the new year, as is our tradition, we’ll have Doctor Morton’s Duck Baffler back (4.1%), a pale ale single hopped with Citra which is always incredibly popular. January also brings another returning favourite, Alchemy, a 4.2% Amarillo hopped delight! 

From the Brewers Emporium, Sticky Toffee Pudding Stout will be the latest addition to our Salvation series which is a surefire winner on a dark winter’s evening. Best enjoyed by a roaring fire. And just in time for Burns Night, we’ve got our first ever 80 Shilling Ale on the way in the Restoration series. Loosely inspired by a recipe dating from 1957, expect a satisfyingly smooth and well-balanced beer, malt-forward with a rich dried fruit character and a gentle bitterness in the finish. Bring on the haggis! 

Abbeydale Brewery, Sheffield’s longest established brewery, are celebrating this week, having been announced on the shortlist for three prestigious nationwide awards.

Firstly, they’ve scooped a spot in the top three in the Best Drinks Producer category in the famed BBC Food & Farming Awards. The three finalists in each category were chosen from thousands of nominations by a judging panel of experts, headed up by renowned chef Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall. Abbeydale are the only brewery to be recognised on the shortlist this year, alongside sparkling wine company Nyetimber and the Yorkshire Wolds Apple Juice Co in this highly competitive category. 

In addition, they’ve been nominated for the title of Brewery of the Year in the 2025 Brewers Choice Awards, organised by industry magazine the Brewers Journal, where their much-loved beer Black Mass has also been shortlisted in the “Beer of the Year” category.

Founded in 1996, Abbeydale Brewery are well known for producing a huge range of beers (in particular their flagship pale ale, Moonshine), blending innovation with heritage and reflecting these values across their beers. These nominations all come as the brewery heads towards the first anniversary of becoming 100% employee owned, a pioneering change in ownership which has seen them gain a reputation as industry trailblazers, including winning the Employer of the Year title from the Society of Independent Brewers & Associates (SIBA).

Co-Managing Director Dan Baxter says of the nominations “I’m so proud of the team and what we have achieved in making the shortlist for these fantastic awards. Since becoming an EOT last year, our core values of working within our community, championing our employees, doing business the right way and dong it all with a sense of humour – as well as, of course, making excellent beer! – have been made ever more visible for more people to see, and it’s wonderful to see that recognised.” His fellow Co-MD, Toby Grattidge, echoes these sentiments, adding “We’re incredibly proud of our first year of employee ownership and how hard everyone has worked. Publicans and drinkers alike have been so supportive, and it feels fantastic to see this reflected by being shortlisted on a national scale”.