Over a dozen people, mainly from CAMRA’s Wyre Forest branch in Worcestershire, chose Sheffield for their annual spring trip. Recent destinations have included Liverpool, Nottingham, Oxford, Scarborough and York.
The weather was kind, and the publicans of Sheffield extended a very warm welcome over two to three days towards the end of May. Between us, we must have visited several dozen of the city’s renowned pubs, both traditional and modern, enjoying many beers that are rarely if ever found in our own area.
Among the pubs to stand out as highlights – for different reasons – are the Bath Hotel, Dog & Partridge, Fargate, Fat Cat, Grapes, Harlequin, Head of Steam, Kelham Island Tavern, Perch, Shakespeares, Sheffield Tap, Two & Six, Vocation & Co and Wisewood.
Of course our spring trip is not just about beer and pubs, not quite anyway. The Kelham Island Museum was a highlight for many, and people also enjoyed Abbeydale Industrial Hamlet and the Botanical Gardens. The 7 Spices Balti hosted us for an excellent group meal.
We would like to thank our colleagues from Sheffield & District CAMRA – including Paul Manning, Mike Cook and Dave Pickergill – who gave invaluable advice while we were in the planning stage. Even better, they and other locals joined us in the garden of the St Mars of the Desert Brewery for a social afternoon.
Now that connections have been made, several from the visiting group are intending to return to Sheffield for the Steel City Beer Festival in October. We extend a cordial invitation to the ale drinkers of Yorkshire to visit our own (rather smaller) Kidderminster Beer & Cider Festival, which is taking place from 12th to 14th November, a well loved event at a time of year when few festivals are held.
The Harrogate, Ripon and Knaresborough Ale Trail runs from 1st to 31st August with 30 participating venues.
Harrogate and Ripon CAMRA branch covers an area of North Yorkshire to the north of Leeds stretching over 20 miles up into the Yorkshire Dales. We have a good number of rural pubs together with a high concentration of pubs and clubs in the three main centres.
Our members wanted to support our pubs, clubs and breweries and decided three years ago that an Ale Trail might encourage real ale drinkers to try new pubs and increase footfall into all of the participant venues.
We looked at members’ beer scores in the three main towns and chose the best 30 pubs, clubs and taprooms in terms of beer quality, most of which also had a good selection of ales. This included most of our Good Beer Guide pubs in the three towns but also some that didn’t quite make the grade for the Guide.
We approached local breweries Daleside and Rooster’s for help and they have been very happy to support us for the last three years of running the Trail.
In order to ensure a good offering of prizes to incentivise people to undertake the trail we ask every venue to offer a prize of a bar/food tab between £20 and £50 or a gallon of real ale. This means that there’s a good selection of prizes and all venues benefit by receiving return visits from Ale Trailers.
So how does it work?
The Ale Trail is open to everyone, not just CAMRA members.
We supply each participating venue with Ale Trail passports which include details of the 30 pubs, clubs and taprooms, and maps to assist with navigation. Ale Trailers pick up a passport and buy at least half a pint of cask ale (or real cider) in each venue entitling them to collect a unique sticker which is placed on the relevant page of their passport.
Ale Trailers visit as many venues as they’re able in the three towns during the month of August collecting stickers along the way, and subject to a minimum of 15 stickers, then complete their name and email address, tear out the sticker page and submit to one of the ‘core’ pubs named in the passport for entry into the Prize Draw.
The Prize Draw takes place in September where our members draw entries from a hat. The first three entries drawn win a £50 prize and thereafter prizes are awarded in order of value.
Want to join in the Trail?
The Ale Trail runs from 1st to 31st August.
All venues can be reached by public transport. Harrogate and Knaresborough both have train stations and Ripon is reached via a regular bus service (36) from Harrogate. Please see our website for more detail: http://www.harrogateandriponcamra.org.uk/ale-trail.html
To celebrate 150 years of Sheffield Children’s, Sheffield Children’s Hospital Charity is embarking on its biggest-ever fundraising campaign by presenting the UK’s most ambitious sculpture trail. This year, alongside their ongoing charitable fundraising efforts, Thornbridge are proud to sponsor both a lion and a lioness as part of the Pride of Yorkshire initiative.
This sponsorship forms part of Thornbridge’s wider commitment to raise £15,000 for Sheffield Children’s Hospital Charity throughout the year. Fundraising activities include individual initiatives, customer donations across their pub estate, contributions from pizzas sold at the Taproom and donations from meals enjoyed at their gastropub, the Cricket Inn in Sheffield, alongside support for the Pride of Yorkshire trail itself.
Simon Webster, CEO and Co-Founder of Thornbridge Brewery, said: “Sheffield Children’s Hospital is incredibly important to the city and the surrounding region. We see first-hand the vital role it plays in the lives of so many families, and we are proud to support its fundraising efforts. Sponsoring two of these statues gives us an opportunity not only to contribute to a fantastic cause, but also to be part of a truly special project that will bring people together across Yorkshire.”
One of Thornbridge’s sculptures is located outside their flagship city-centre pub, the Fargate. Named Snooker Loopy and designed by Lisa O’Hara. Thornbridge’s second sculpture, designed by Tom J. Newell and called Dandy Lioness, can be found just inside the Hunters Bar entrance to Endcliffe Park, conveniently situated between The Stag’s Head and the Greystones.
Both sculptures have already welcomed a steady stream of visitors, showcasing the creativity of their artists while helping to raise awareness and support for the vital work carried out by Sheffield Children’s Hospital Charity.
If you fancy spending a weekend travelling around South Yorkshire ticking off the lions, a special weekend travel pass is available for all the buses, trams and trains in the county on the Travelmaster app.
There are tens of thousands of pubs across the country serving cask beers, and many of those serve really good pints.
For lovers of a decent pint, it’s important to be able to find them. CAMRA’s Good Beer Guide has been the ‘bible’ for finding the very best ones since 1974 and continues to be relied upon by tens of thousands of people.
CAMRA’s online pub guide camra.org.uk/pubs can also help because beer quality is indicated by the ‘3 Pints’ symbols that CAMRA members can see when logged in.
Pubs and clubs that serve really excellent pints, and serve them consistently well, can be potential candidates for the Good Beer Guide.
To help identify them, CAMRA members score their pints whenever they have the opportunity. Their scores help local branches determine candidates for the Guide, and these can change year on year because the standards are high. Serving live cask beer requires skill in the cellar and attention by bar staff all the time. Competition for a place is stiff because only 4,500 places are available.
Up until now, the scoring system has used a numbering system of 0 to 5. But there are problems with this. It requires memorising the criteria for each score and using them consistently, but memories can be variable. Some people genuinely struggle with numbers, so they don’t take part. It becomes open to individual interpretation with resulting inconsistency between scorers. There’s also the potential for individual bias and a reluctance to ‘award’ high scores.
We all know when we are drinking a good pint that’s been well-kept, and we also know when a pint is very good or excellent – who cannot resist telling everyone else about it! And likewise, a pint that is simply OK or, hopefully not often, undrinkable.
So, to make things easier for everyone, a new intuitive ratings system is being introduced, which is more descriptive of the beer being drunk.
Each of the new ratings has a description and a likely reaction to help you pin down the most appropriate rating.
Ratings can be recorded on CAMRA’s online pub guide camra.org.uk/pubs by all CAMRA members so start rating your beer now.
Support Dogs is our charity partner for Steel City Beer & Cider Festival
CAMRA Sheffield & District is delighted to announce Support Dogs as its charity partner for our 50th Steel City Beer & Cider Festival, being held at the atmospheric Kelham Island Museum from 21-24 October.
It’s a huge honour to have this pioneering and life-saving national charity, which is homegrown having been founded in Sheffield 34 years ago, as our beneficiary.
Support Dogs (charity number 1088281) is dedicated to providing life-changing health and social care for children and adults living with challenging medical conditions.
With a new national headquarters on Herries Road South, Hillsborough, it provides, trains and supports specialist assistance dogs to achieve this.
It offers three training programmes – autism assistance, disability assistance and epilepsy seizure alert – to help people live safer, more independent lives.
Disability assistance dogs are trained for people with physical disabilities. Here, the client’s own pet dog is trained to perform tasks both in and out of the home, which are specifically tailored to their individual needs, including dressing and undressing, opening doors and loading and unloading the washing machine.
Autism assistance dogs are trained to provide safety and to facilitate a more independent and socially inclusive life for both the autistic child and their family.
These wonderdogs can reduce stress for family members, provide safety and positive changes in behaviour, comfort when the child is upset and also help to reduce behavioural outbursts.
Epilepsy seizure alert dogs are trained to provide a 100% reliable warning up to one hour in advance of an oncoming seizure.
They give time for their owner to find a place of safety and privacy as they have their seizure. Support Dogs is the only organisation in the UK to provide and train seizure alert dogs.
Around 1,000 people with epilepsy die each year and research suggests that most of these deaths are sudden and unexpected.
The warning provided by a seizure alert dog means that a client can remove themselves from any danger and have a seizure in safety and privacy, giving them control over their seizure and allowing a much more independent life.
It can take over two years to train a support dog and each dog costs the charity around £29,000 to train and at least a further £3,000 a year to support throughout their eight-year working lives.
Yet the charity receives no government funding and relies solely on donations.
It’s not just Labradors who are trained – the charity has managed to turn breeds including sausage dogs, King Charles Spaniels and miniature Labradoodles into life-changing assistance dogs.
As well as its workforce of just over 40 staff members, Support Dogs relies heavily on its loyal army of 200 volunteers, which are deployed in roles varying from puppy socialisers, doggy foster carers and holiday cover carers to volunteer drivers and volunteer office admin.
Its amazing volunteers donate over 100,000 hours each year to help change lives across these roles.
CAMRA Sheffield & District has a toy support dog mascot whose name is Beer 26 who will be located in the Staff Office and on tour during the festival.
Collection buckets will be located around the festival if you’d like to chuck some cash in, alternatively you may wish to donate your refund on unspent beer tokens or returned souvenir glass.
CAMRA’s 40th National Breweriana Auction; Saturday 24th October 2026
Have you ever fancied owning a slice of brewing history? Then this Auction is just the thing for you. Run by the Campaign for Real Ale, the National Breweriana Auction returns to Burton on Trent’s Town Hall on Saturday 24th October but sadly, after 40 events, this will be the very last national one so don’t miss it!
It will have circa 150 interesting auction lots; everything from mirrors to trays; advertising signs, water jugs, flagons, bottles, books and pump clips as well as a few more unusual items. Plus there will be a number of stands selling brewery memorabilia adding to the atmosphere in this wonderful Victorian venue.
There are all sorts of items from all over the country to decorate your home. What about a flagon from Wadworths? Wadworths is based in Devizes, Wiltshire. They were founded in 1875 and remarkably are still owned and run by the descendants of John Smith Bartholomew, the co-founder of the brewery.
Or what about a limited-edition commemorative Millennium Ale set comprising of an unopened bottle, glass and bottle opener in a lovely metal container. This is from Mansfield Brewery, who first started brewing in 1855 in North Nottinghamshire, taken over by Wolverhampton and Dudley in 1999 and closed in 2002. Wolverhampton & Dudley then took over Marston’s and adopted that name. Sadly, following acquisition by Carlsberg, the Wolverhampton Brewery was closed in 2026.
There are numerous items that you can either use, or more likely display. What about a tray from Bass and there are a number of lots from Worthington including an ashtray (well used!), a match holder and the famous Worthington Mayor jug. And straddling the two brewers is a trio of leaflets listing their bottlers . These two Burton on Trent breweries were founded in the mid/late 1700’s with Worthington 16 years older. By the late 1800’s, Bass was the biggest brewery in the world and merged with Worthington in 1927. Bass sold the brand to Coors (now Molson Coors) in 2002. Maybe their best known brand was Worthington White Shield; an iconic British style IPA, which ceased production in 2023 but you can still purchase it in Norway and the Netherlands! Included in the lots is an unusual display card advising customers to order their last bottle at last orders ‘to allow for the care necessary in pouring the last rush of orders for Worthington White Shield”.
And the Auction wouldn’t be the Auction without a Guinness item or two. This year we have a mug and a display stand among the lots.
These are just a few of the items on sale, each with a history to tell. You don’t have to be an expert to attend the National Breweriana Auction. The Auction is great fun to take part in (or even just to watch) and it’s an opportunity to get some great bargains plus many of the items on sale can appreciate in value. And, of course, like any CAMRA event, there is some good beer on sale all day (from a local brewery).
Burton on Trent is less than an hour by train from Sheffield and the Town Hall is just a short walk from the railway station. The event starts at 10.30am with the opportunity to view the lots and browse the breweriana stands that will also be there. Bidding starts at noon and is normally finished by 3pm, giving a chance to have a final perusal of the stands before visiting some of Burton’s iconic pubs and heading home.
July always marks the release of our annual charity beer, which this year is in support of Friends of the Porter Valley, and it’s a 4.1% pale ale called Golden Duck, in honour of their incredibly popular annual duck race! Chinook and Mosaic hops combine for a flavoursome citrussy character with notes of grapefruit, lemon and dare we say even mandarin. Do a runner to the bar for this one – it’s quacking! 10p from every pint sold is donated to the charity.
Our seasonal specials see three more cask only pale ales making a return to our offering. Dr Morton’s 4 Yorkshiremen (4.1%) is light and orangey with Amarillo hops, we have the always popular Belfry (4.5%) which is single hopped with Cascade for characteristic fruity, floral aromas, and Phoenix from our Mythical Creatures inspired series, 4.1% with notes of elderflower and a delicate bitter finish.
Onto the Brewers Emporium and Steel & Grit (4.4%) sees us team up with fellow Sheffield independents, outdoor gear specialists Buffalo Systems, to create a globally inspired pale ale with a spirit of adventure. Showcasing Citra, Mosaic and new experimental hop HPA 065, expect a diverse flavour profile of juicy citrus fruits – notably grapefruit, alongside tropical pineapple and a spicy edge. Untamed and hazy with a tantalisingly crisp bitter finish.
And finally, in honour of our 30th anniversary, we’ve taken the flavours of a classic “Millionaire’s” shortbread and given them an extra layer of va va voom in Trillionaire Shortbread Stout, new to our Indulgence series! Luscious and full of flavour with biscuit malts, silky chocolate, unctuous caramel and rich vanilla.
Stefan and Emma are the owners and operators of High Peak Wine & Beer Company in Castleton, and the soon to open Hope Valley Tap & Bottle in Hope. With a background rooted firmly in independent drinks retail, their approach is built on experience, relationships, and a genuine love of well-made wine, beer, and whisky.
High Peak Wine & Beer Co was founded in 2016, originally as a mobile bar business launched just two days after the birth of their first child. From the outset, the aim was clear: to create a business with full creative freedom, direct relationships with local suppliers, and a focus on quality rather than trend. That ambition led to the opening of the company’s first retail shop in Chapel-en-le-Frith in October 2020, with a strong emphasis on local producers, independent importers, and a carefully curated range, particularly whisky. In April 2023, the business moved to Castleton, placing High Peak Wine & Beer Co firmly at the heart of the Peak District community.
As the business has evolved, so too have Stefan’s personal interests, with an increasing focus on whisky. This has shaped the direction of the Castleton shop, which now stocks an extensive specialist whisky range. Much of the selection is made up of limited-edition bottlings and small-batch releases, many of which are unavailable to the mass market, reflecting a continued commitment to quality, character, and independent producers.
Hope Valley Tap & Bottle intends to follow the same formula over two floors with retail at ground level and seating to drink in on the first floor. Draught take away will also be available to service the local campsites with growler refills to compliment the already extensive retail options.
4 keg lines are planned to begin with to feature local High Peak and Hope Valley breweries such as Torrside, Intrepid, Buxton and many other smaller breweries not seen in the larger pubs of the Peak District. There is further scope for cask and more extensive drink in features as the business develops and responds to customer demand from the local population and visitor economy. Wines will be available by the glass as will many local spirits and whiskies. Corkage by the bottle will also be an option on select beers and wines from the retail range, giving us arguably the most interesting wine and beer list in the Peak District.
It is anticipated the Tap & Bottle venue will open in Hope in July.
It’s been a while since I last sent an Emmanuales update to Beer Matters, so thought it was about time to fill you in with where I’ve been up to with ’that Jesus beer’. The last you may have heard, Emmanuales was operating on a 100L kit from a cellar of a terraced house in Walkley. Since then, we’ve moved, upscaled and re-established the brewery on the outskirts of Sheffield.
Having bought an angle-grinder, many tins of anti-mould white paint and about 50L of epoxy resin, I spent the Christmas of 2025 doing up the space ready to install our new brew kit, which we purchased from Middle Child Brewing in Twickenham. Before them, the kit was owned by Verdant Brewing Co – famed formatting some incredible IPAs – who started their brewery on it in 2014, which is when I started Emmanuales.
(I guess that means every beer I make now will taste like Putty, right?!)
Whilst Emmanuales has been out of action, I’ve also had the opportunity to work on the production team and a role in marketing at Mount St Bernard Trappist Brewery, aka Tynt Meadow. It’s been very nice working on a fully-automated German-built brewhouse and hone my beer-making skills producing Trappist beer… a far cry from making small batches of beer in my garage!
Finally, after having had the fallow period between Easter 2025-26, I brewed and released two new beers, Haze The Lord – a 5.2% Hazy Pale Ale, very much a homage to Verdant’s ‘Lightbulb’, which felt fitting given the kit launched their brewery – and an Old English Ale (8.0%), All Hail Redeemer Ale. Additionally, two new beers should be landing just in time for summer – Hosanna in the Rye-est (a big, sticky West Coast Rye IPA) and Sanctus Tripel(a Saaz hopped Abbey style strong, golden ale… which may be called Blessed-malle if I can get away without trademark lawyers knocking on my door).
As ever, beers are available in 440ml cans and stocked in and around Sheffield, in venues such as The Old Shoe, Walkley Beer Co, The Dram Shop, etc. Find out more about Emmanuales at www.emmanuales.co.uk and follow us on Instagram @emmanuales where I’ve taken up the challenge to become the brewing equivalent of @eatingwithtod
Saint Mars of the Desert is in preparation for this summer’s SMOD fest with the acquisition of two Holzfass barrels that they are in the process of repitching.
These traditional German wooden serving vessels contain beer packaged during fermentation, and the beer is known as “ungespundet” in Germany.
In the meantime new releases include Welcome to the neighbourhood a pale NZ-hopped IPA with Nelson Sauvin and Nectaron, 5%. and fresh Jack D’Or their original hoppy golden Belgian-inspired saison beer, 7.4%.
A new beer from Dead Parrot Brewery spotted on the bar at Perch in May was Repeat, a 4.2% ABV Mosaic hopped pale ale.
Beers coming out of Blue Bee‘s brewhouse in April and May include a session pale ale brewed with the new Pink hop variety, a new IPA hopped with Idaho7 and Krush, American Five Hop version 89 and the special for Kelham Pride which is a west coast pale hopped with Simcoe and Pink Boots. Also making a comeback is their Ginger Beer, although only a small batch so get it while you can!
Bradfield Brewery‘s seasonal special in May was Nettle Nectar which will be followed by Farmers World Cup Ale which is described as a light pale hoppy beer with a kick of fruit and a refreshing taste.
New from Intrepid Brewing is Roke, named after the old dialect for the valley mists often experienced in our part of the Peak District. The beer falls into the stronger end of the session strengths at 4.8% and is hopped with Centennial and Citra in the whirlpool, Idaho 7 at pitch then dry hopped with more Citra and Idaho 7. The beer is fermented with saturated yeast for those peachy esters.
They held their first brewery open day on Saturday 2 May with a range of their beers on the bar, seating out in the year and Sunshine Pizza trading outside.
Eyam Brewery have again brewed the 11% ABV imperial edition of their Black Death Vanilla Stout and it is available in bottles from their brewery shop, with a click and collect facility available. The regular Black Death is 7% ABV and is available across cask, keg and bottle. Other dark beers offered include Bring Out Your Dead, a 4.4% ABV cappuccino stout and Eyam Plague, a 4.8% traditional stout. Their brewery is in Great Hucklow and the tap room is in Tideswell.
Fuggle Bunny Brew House continue to open for additionally tap days on the last Saturday of the month, usually with a food trader and live music planned.
Little Mesters have won an award for their Royd’s Bitter in a recent SIBA competition.
Kelham Island have been collaborating with Blackjack Brew Co to produce The Beautiful North, a 4.8% ABV pale ale. The away fixture saw the keg version brewed whilst the version brewed back home at Thornbridge was the cask version, which was launched on 20 May at the Botanical Arms micropub on Ecclesall Road.
