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Abbeydale Brewery

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We always look forward to March here at Abbeydale Brewery, as it means it’s time for Sheffield Beer Week! This year taking place 6-12 March, there’s absolutely loads going on all around our wonderful beery city, so do check out the events listings and support your local breweries and venues.

We’ve got a special collaboration due to launch for the occasion, brewed in conjunction with Sheffield Beer Week and Indie Beer Feast. Cloud Peak is a 4.8% mountain style cryo-hopped session IPA, packed with the big hitting combination of Citra, Cascade and Mosaic. Soft and fluffy with a crisp, bitter finish. This one will be available exclusively from Indie Beer Feast at Trafalgar Warehouse and Hop Hideout from Friday 3 March in keg, with the first pour on cask taking place at the Rising Sun, Fulwood on Monday 6 March. It’ll then be available in cask, keg and can more widely while stocks last!

Look out later in the month for our other collaboration too, which will be brewed during Sheffield Beer Week and hopefully out by the end of March. It’s the next in our Deliverance series, this time a bold 7.2% West Coast IPA which we’re brewing with Newcastle’s Full Circle Brew Co. Showcasing Galaxy in the whirlpool, before dry-hopping with Idaho 7, Amarillo and Eureka. Pithy and piney with notes of pomelo and pink grapefruit. 

In cask only, Citra is up next for our single-hopped Through the Hopback series (4.0%). As the name suggests, packed with citrus character with distinctive lemony notes alongside zesty lime and floral undertones. And we’re revisiting the OG Doctor Morton’s beer! Snake Oil was first brewed in 2008, and we’d never have predicted what it started! From “newfangled beers with weird pumpclips” to an extensive and entertaining range of easy drinking pale ales. Although the look has more recently been updated we’ve kept a strong hold on the humour and eccentricities this series brings.  

We’re also pretty excited that Spring is in the air once more, and so it’s time for our annual release of Reverie, our 4.2% sessionable dry-hopped pale ale. Always a lovely one to enjoy on those first warm(ish) al fresco evenings!

Cheers!

Brewery Bits

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brewSocial‘s new beer in January was Nice Drop, a single-hopped blonde beer. Large quantities of pilsner malt in the mash give a pleasant mouthfeel. Harlequin hops impart tropical fruit notes, and a pronounced bitter finish. February saw Crackin’ Nuts go on sale, a 4% ABV chestnut ale.

The St Mars of the Desert taproom was sadly broken into on Christmas Day and damaged plus items stolen. Community rallied round and helped Dann and Martha get it tidied up. In more positive news they have recently brewed a collaboration beer with Ossett brewery, Amere Biere, a hazy French bitter.

Grizzly Grains launched a couple of new bottled beers in January – The Biggest Dimple (8.8% ABV, a parti-gyle with their Big Dimples Mild), Feste (a strong saison at 9.3% ABV). February saw their first cask beer of the year brewed, using low carbon Chinook hops. They’ve also got a pop up taproom arrangement set up in the brewery now, which saw it’s first opening on 15 February taking advantage of being close to Bramall Lane stadium to cater for pre-match drinks demand!

Loxley Brewery produced a new citrussy, hoppy easy going pale ale in January called First Totem Pole, celebrating an obscure reference to the first ever totem pole having a raven on top!

Talking of Loxley Brewery, they celebrated their fifth birthday with a bash at the Wisewood Inn at the end of February.

Beer Ink of Huddersfield has brewed a Sheffield collaboration to be launched at the Rutland Arms during Sheffield Beer Week. They have worked with Bullion Chocolate and Frazer’s Coffee Roasters to make two special beers. There is also a limited edition blend of the two to create a coffee Mocha Stout!

Bradfield Brewery continue to work through their roster of seasonal beers in 2023 with Farmers Blushed out for Valentines Day with Farmers Irish Dexter replacing it in time for St Patricks Day. Later in March look out for Farmers Plumb Bitter then of course for the World Snooker Championships in April will be CruciBULL Ale.

Woodseats & Norton Lees

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Woodseats is a suburb sitting on the A61 heading South out of Sheffield towards Dronfield and Chesterfield at a higher altitude than the City Centre and hosts a number of shops, pubs and restaurants on the main road. Buses 24/25, 43/44, 75/76/76a and X17 go there from the City Centre via either Heeley or Abbeydale Road. Norton Lees is a residential area uphill from Woodseats with bus 18 providing a ride up and down the steep hill!

Boston Arms

A micropub offering locally roasted coffee and bakes during the day, and a selection of beers, wines, spirits, and cocktails in the evening, including three changing cask beers and eight craft keg lines. Pizzas served some evenings.

Woodseats Palace

Single level, open plan Wetherspoon pub comprising a large number of tables but with a more relaxed area to the right.

Mesters Tap

Micropub under the new ownership of Little Mesters Brewing with the beer range running to 5 kegs and 2 casks showcasing both their own beers and guest brewers.

Chantrey Arms

Popular local, bearing the name of the great Norton born sculptor. Although open plan, the layout splits the pub into separate drinking areas. Regular live music at weekends.

Big Tree

Large Greene King pub fronted by tabled patio area and beech tree. Features smartly furnished open plan lounge with pool area to the right. Popular with young people of all ages!

Guzzle Micropub

New and popular micropub offering five regularly changing real ales, mostly from local breweries, e.g. Emmanuales, Fuggle Bunny, Sheffield Brewery Company, Abbeydale, Toolmakers, Little Critters, Stancill … and the list goes on!

Abbey

Former coaching inn at the busy Chesterfield Road/Abbey Lane Junction, comprising comfortable lounge and separate public bar. An extensive tabled patio area overlooks the delightful bowling green.

Cross Scythes

Large pub with smart lounge, separate tap room with darts and pool, and a function room. A further children’s room is open in summer. Large outdoor area with children’s play equipment. Four regularly changing cask beers, and Facebook posts provides updates of what’s on and what’s coming.

Mount Pleasant

Small, welcoming two roomed pub housed in a former quarryman’s cottage built in 1820, and largely unspoilt by progress. The two rooms comprise a public bar to the right of the entrance and a comfortable quieter lounge where the Whisky Club meets. There are two quiz nights weekly, a darts team and a fishing club. There are also occasional beer festivals. The current licensee is only the eleventh since 1841. A genuine community pub where time has arguably stood still. The guest beers are provided under Punch’s “Finest Cask” initiative and through SIBA.

Also in Woodseats…. is Herd, a mini food hall and bar. No real ale available but there are usually a couple of craft beer options on the keg taps.

Inn Brief

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Kate & Josh Barnsley have recently taken over the management of the Cross Scythes at Norton Woodseats. Local, John Stocks comments ‘They have done a remarkable job in dressing the pub and making it welcoming, and are passionate about saving the Cross Scythes as a community hub’. We wish them good luck and hope their venture succeeds.

Josh Barnsley behind the bar at the Cross Scythes, Norton Woodseats. Photo: John Stocks

The White Hart at Bradwell have announced they are under new ownership – it was previously an Admiral Taverns lease; it is now owned by Bradfield Brewery and features a range of their beer.

Jon & Mandy have handed in their notice to end the lease on the White Lion in Heeley and will be leaving in April. Their business, having survived the lockdowns, now faces the triple whammy of customers tightening their purse strings due to the cost of living crisis, significantly increased energy bills impacting the cost of running the pub and their sole tied supplier, Heineken, significantly increasing their prices. Star Pubs & Bars will be looking for someone new to take on the pub’s lease. The White Lion has been in good hands under Jon & Mandy’s stewardship, with well kept beer, community values, a friendly atmosphere and live entertainment most nights. We wish them both well for the future!

The Dog & Partridge on Trippet Lane celebrates the tenth anniversary under the current management this year and are throwing a party on Friday 10 February. Keep an eye on their social media for details.

Alder bar reopened on 18 January following a new year break and are running some promotional prices on rounds of drinks during the six weeks up to March, including a four pints for £12 deal on cask ale. The weekly quiz night is back and a number of live music gigs are planned.

Voting and surveying for our Sheffield & District Pub of the Year competition is now underway, as is the selection process for pubs to be awarded places in the 2024 edition of the Good Beer Guide. All our local CAMRA members are invited to take part in the process. Please look out for an email with details if your contact preferences are set to permit this or come along to the February branch meeting.

Abbeydale Brewery

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Happy New Year to you all! We hope 2023 is treating you well so far. We’ve got plenty of new cask beers available, so hopefully there’s something for everyone to enjoy a pint or two of while supporting their local pub!

First up, it went down so well during Sheffield Beer Week 2022 that we’ve brought back Sheffield Rocks in time for 2023’s festivities (6-12 March). A 4.1% heritage pale ale given our own modern twist. A balanced beer, completely characterised by drinkability and made using all UK ingredients including UK grown Pilgrim and Cascade hops.

Salvation – Irish Stout (4.5%) is also making a return; classic and moreish with a smooth, roasted malt character and soft notes of chocolate and coffee; bitter and sweet in perfect balance. 

The above two beers will also be available in keg and can as well as cask, but we’ve got some cask-only releases on the way during February too – Doctor Morton’s Non-Stick will be an Abbeydale classic 4.1% pale ale with Citra, Columbus and Chinook hops; and from our new stained glass themed series we have Renaissance, hopped with Eureka in the whirlpool for a bright bitterness and resinous notes sitting harmoniously alongside a stone fruit character. 

Cheers!

Nights out to become unaffordable?

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Commenting on the latest ONS data on inflation, CAMRA National Chair Nik Antona said:

“We’re all keen to visit our much-loved pubs and social clubs this festive season, but this data shows just how much households will struggle to enjoy a night out with friends, family, or colleagues. Huge rises in the fixed costs paid by pubs – including energy bills – mean that they have no choice but to increase prices, despite doing everything they can to continue to welcome their customers, and this data showing that other parts of the economy are starting to see inflation slow.  

“It’s unacceptable that the on-trade has been left behind by Government in this way. It’s now urgent that energy bill support is announced for beyond April 2023, and that the inflationary general duty rise is cancelled.”

Plea for brewery energy bill help

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The Campaign for Real Ale is making a plea to the Chancellor to confirm before Christmas that breweries, pubs and hospitality businesses will receive support with their rocketing energy bills when the current scheme runs out in April 2023. 

It comes after a string of announcements in recent months of small, local and independent breweries closing down as they can’t make ends meet. 

Research by Steve Dunkley of Manchester-based Beer Nouveau has revealed that dozens of breweries have closed their doors in 2022.  

Brewers, and the wider pub sector, face a Christmas of uncertainty as the Government has failed to make key announcements about economic support and fiscal arrangements in 2023.  

The sector is anxiously awaiting news on which businesses will get energy bill support past April, as well as a decision on whether or not general beer duty will be uprated next year (which could see huge inflationary rises in the price of a pint at the bar), leaving brewers and publicans in the dark.  

CAMRA’s campaign has now reached the House of Commons where Chair of the All Party Parliamentary Pub Group Charlotte Nichols MP has submitted parliamentary questions to the Chancellor and Business Secretary asking for support with energy costs to help stop more pubs and breweries having to call last orders for good. 

Commenting, Steve Dunkley of Beer Nouveau said: 

“It is deeply worrying to see scores of small breweries announcing in recent weeks that they are having to close down for good due to the soaring costs of both making beer and keeping pubs open. 

“Coupled with customers tightening their belts and the risk of energy bills rocketing when the Government support scheme ends next year, these closures could go through the roof if the Government doesn’t offer urgent support to save this crucial part of British brewing.” 

Charlotte Nichols MP commented: 

“With pubs and other hospitality businesses facing a cliff edge in support for a crisis that will last long beyond April, it’s vital that Government give the trade some certainty over the festive period. The risk of spiralling future energy costs will leave licensees and brewers in limbo as they try to mitigate the impact of consumers being forced to tighten their belts. There are a huge range of measures that the Chancellor and Business Secretary could take to support pubs and I look forward to hearing from them both about their plans.” 

CAMRA Chairman Nik Antona added: 

“Small and independent breweries have been a huge success story for the UK economy over the past 30 years, employing local people and reviving the UK’s beer scene and massively increasing the choice of tasty and distinctive brews for drinkers.  

“If we are to make sure that our beloved breweries can survive and thrive, then the Government urgently need to give brewing and pub and club businesses certainty and make key announcements about ongoing energy bill support and freezing general beer duty as soon as possible. 

“CAMRA are also calling for venues to receive more help with the burden of business rates – and for the new, lower rate of duty charged on draught beer and cider to be introduced as quickly as possible to help pubs and small, independent breweries.” 

Sources of information on brewery closures: 

Parliamentary Questions submitted by Charlotte Nichols MP are as follows and are due for answer by 19th December: 

  • To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will make it his policy to extend the Energy Bill Relief Scheme beyond April 2023 for hospitality businesses; and if he will make a statement. 
  • To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy what support he plans to provide to (a) pubs, (b) social clubs (c) breweries and (d) cider and perry producers for the cost of energy once the Energy Bill Relief Scheme ends; and if he will make a statement. 
  • To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy what recent assessment he has made of the rate of closure of small and independent breweries in the UK in the last 6 months. 

Peacock, Stannington

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Jamie Tuxford and Brad Welsh, co-hosts at the Peacock, Stannington, provided the opportunity for regulars to meet-the-brewer as part of their autumn programme. The evening was hosted in the pub’s conservatory and attracted a strong turnout.

There was a presentation by Harry Brunt (Thwaites’ experienced brewer) accompanied by Louise Watson (head of customer relations) and the publicity team. There was the opportunity to handle the ingredients and ask questions. Attendees were treated to samples from the core range including Original, Gold and IPA. Each beer was paired with hot food specially prepared by Brad and his team. The pub has recently gained the accolade of Thwaites’ Area Winner for Best Pub Food Provider.

Future plans for practically-minded cask ale enthusiasts include an opportunity to be involved in a brew at the local Blue Bee Brewery. The pub offers the core Thwaites’ range accompanied by two guest beers which have recently included Marston’s Pedigree and Bradfield’s Belgian Blue. Thursday is Cask Ale Night with cask beers reduced by 30p. The pub also hosts a popular Tuesday evening quiz commencing at 8pm.

Steel City Brewing

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Steel City’s latest brew is, would you believe, a collaboration… their cuckoo brewing caught the eye of Bulgaria’s Alchemik, who cuckoo brew at Sofia Electric and another smaller site. Alchemik are best known for their dessert sours, so the three-way collab (Lost Industry being the third brewery) is a lemon cheesecake sour. The brew features a lot of oats for the biscuity base taste of the cheesecake, followed by lactose, vanilla and lemon zest. Fermentation was with Voss kveik yeast, a new one to the UK breweries but standard for Alchemik, so who were we to argue!

Yellowcake is out now in keg and can. Steel City and Lost Industry are off to Sofia in February for the return collabs, namely an imperial version of Yellowcake and a new dessert sour yet to be decided – both versions should make their way to the UK, along with a few of Alchemik’s other puddingy wares.

Nothing else may have been brewed for a while, but some barrels have been sitting quietly in the corner for eight or nine months, and were opened just in time for December. Firstly, Astral Mariner Baltic porter had been in a brandy barrel, emerging as Rime of the Ancient Astral Mariner.

Shortly afterwards, a big imperial stout went into brandy and rum barrels, emerging as Cask of the Red Death and Rum to the Hills respectively. All three are out now in keg and can and will be available in cask exclusively at the Shakespeares’ festival in January. There is also a single mega-blend (40% Rime, 40% Hills and 20% Red Death) at Shakespeares.

Other 2023 plans include a collaboration with Ukrainian brewery Didko to raise more funds for Brew for Ukraine – Didko also entered a can each of Steel City’s two previous fundraising beers into a charity auction, raising over £100 for the cause.