Category: Breweries

A little bit of good news to start off our monthly preview – we’re really happy to say that our cask beer release schedule is now back at pre-Covid levels! So a big thank you to you all for supporting your local pubs and drinking real ale. We couldn’t do what we do without you! Talking of local, Abbeydale Road Beer Festival takes place on 4^th to 5^th August and is sure to be a great neighbourhood event, there’s loads of venues and breweries getting involved! 

We’re starting off August with a splash of tingly tangly and refreshing Doctor Morton’s Aftersave (4.1%) with Amarillo and Simcoe hops. Expect a balanced bitterness and flavours of zesty orange with a twist of lemon peel and pine needles to finish.

We’re looking forward to hosting our friends at Loxley Brewery, creating an all new 4.2% pale ale called “Walk the Loxley Valley” (name TBC at the time of typing!), with Sabro hops giving a beautiful coconutty character and a creamy finish. 

Our Geoglyph series continues with a 4.0% Citra and Columbus hopped pale, Cetus. A delicious, easy drinking whale of a pale. Expect a nice sharp / bitter balance against the juicy hop flavours.

Plum Porter (5.2%) is the next edition of our Salvation series of dark beers and one we’re all pretty excited about! Smooth, beautifully round and packed with plum character, with hints of dark chocolate and a delectable fruity-sweet finish 

And finally this month, we’ve got an exciting collaboration coming up with Beer Central and Hungry Buddha, representing the wonderful array of independent traders who call the Moor Market their home. Coalition is a 4.3% hazy pale ale with Galaxy, Mosaic, Amarillo and Centennial hops. Flavours of juicy mango and pithy orange are followed up by a crisp, refreshing bitterness.

Cheers!

A new beer from Grizzly Grains on cask is a little bit different to usual but combines the brewer’s appreciation of session beers and interest in different yeasts and Saisons. This is a 3.8% ABV session strength ale inspired by Kviek and Saison styles.

Collyfobble brewery, based in Barlow near Dronfield, continues to see new brewer Ash tweak and develop the beer range and a sales rep has been appointed to help get the beer out into pubs a little further afield. The relationship with former Dronfield CAMRA chairman Rob Barwell, who is a keen home brewer, also continues – his initial involvement saw his “Lawnmower Ale” home brew receipe scaled up to a commercial brew which made its deput at Sheffield’s Steel City Beer Festival, it proved popular and has become a permanant beer under a new name of Grindleford Grit. Rob’s latest challenge from Collyfobble was to try brewing at home tweaked versions of their session IPA and an updated version is being brewed using Mosaic and Centennial hops.

Eyam brewery have apparantly made some changes at the brewery which left them a load of hops to use up and a series of special limited edition summer ales for June, July and August is the result, starting off with 6/23 (as in June 2023) which is a 4.2% ABV cask pale ale with a light bitterness and fruity aromas.

Lost Industry Brewing we are told have something huge and exciting to announce. Unfortunately it wasn’t announced by the time Beer Matters went to press, keep an eye on their social media for news!

The Bradfield Brewery seasonal beer for July is elderflower ale brewed using freshly bloomed Elderflower locally sourced from their own farm fields, this brew is Pale in colour with an Elderflower flavour, giving way to a refreshingly dry finish.

Kelham Island Brewery has had a rebrand with a new style and the pump clips no longer claim the beer is brewed in Sheffield – the company office is based in Kelham Island but the beer is brewed at Thornbridge Brewery in Bakewell, Derbyshire. Pale Rider is now available in cask, keg and bottle and graced the bar at the Arctic Monkeys gig in Hillsborough park back in June!

Chantry Brewery are running brewery tour events on Friday 30 June. Tickets cost £13.20 online via See Tickets or £12 in person from the brewery, the price includes the guided tour and a number of beer tasters. The Tram Train from Sheffield Cathedral will take you to Parkgate, a few minutes walk from the brewery.

Neepsend Brew Co picked up a couple of awards at the Barrow Hill Rail Ale Festival – Ashta got gold in the strong dark ales category whilst Alphito having won the strong pale ale category scooped champion beer of the festival!

Nick Law of Emmanuales fame has been busy with his Hop Forward agency (marketing, design and branding consultancy) and also won an award from SIBA for his Hop Forward podcast, however he has now brewed some new beers – “Ascension” (Strawberry, Mint & Cucumber Saison · 5.6% ABV), “Divine Providence” (Belgian Blonde · 5.5% ABV) and “That Would Be An Ecumenical Matter” (Oud Bruin · 5.5% ABV) available in can and bottle from Walkley Beer Co, Beer Central and the Dram Shop.

Intrepid Brewing have produced a new batch of Faeger (4.5% ABV) with a tweaked recipe. It has been hopped with Saldek and Mandarina Bavaria, the Munich malt has been replaced with Vienna and it now brewed with a Kolsch yeast. Look out for it appearing in bottles in due course!

Our annual charity beer launches in early July and we’re hugely looking forward to this one! Swifty (4.2%) has been created in collaboration with and in support of Sheffield & Rotherham Wildlife Trust and its release coincides with Swift Awareness Week. In recognition of the amazing migratory journey that swifts make, we’ve combined UK hops Fuggles and Keyworth Early with African grains of paradise for a unique and aromatic beer with a botanical spice. 

Also in cask only we have Grus (4.0%) coming up, light and delicate on the palate, an easy drinking pale with Delta and Ekuanot hops. And Alchemy (4.2%) is back, an always popular liquid gold kind of pale ale, single hopped with Amarillo. Citrussy, refreshing and the perfect beer garden beer!

From the Brewers Emporium, available across both cask and keg, we have an all new beer! Introducing Tranquility, a 3.8% session New England IPA. Fruity and juicy with a gentle bitterness from the combination of Centennial, Cascade and Mosaic hops. Plus we’ll be launching a new collaboration brewed with Leith’s Campervan Brewery. Wanderer – Transatlantic IPA (6.3%) is brewed using heritage grain Plumage Archer and some of the newest experimental hops available. UK grown CF161 and CF162 are joined by HBC586 and HBC638 from the US of A for a beer that’s bursting with character. Expect clean, sharp citrus upfront with a bright, tropical bitterness. 

Bradfield Brewery have renewed their sponsorship of the Sheffield Steeldogs ice hockey team.

Dead Parrot brewery have been brewing small batches almost exclusively for their own tap room this year but expect to start scaling up to supply the wider trade once again later in the year. They have been taking advantage of this to produce a wide range of test brews and visitors to their Perch bar recently have enjoyed a choice of up to 10 of their cask ales on the bar at the same time!

Fuggle Bunny Brew House continue to open their tap room every Friday, additionally they are opening on Saturdays 28 May, 29 July and 26 August then holding an Oktoberfest on Saturday 30 September. They are also running a bus trip from the tap room for regulars fancying a change on 3 June!

Grizzly Grains have been keeping busy. Recently released in bottle is Bigger Dimples, a 5.7% stout which was parti-gyle brewed with Big Dimples Dark Mild offering flavour and body from the big mash, caramel, toffee, dark chocolate, subtle coffee and fruit cake balanced against a slightly hop bitterness. Since then they’ve been brewing an IPA and a Belgian braggot as well as producing a Bochet Mead!

Loxley Brewery will be selling merchandise at the Loxley Beer Festival, organised at their host pub the Wisewood Inn.

Neepsend Brewery have brewed a West Coast IPA, something they’ve been intending to do for a while! It is called Coyote, is 6.4% ABV with a chewy malt body and a satisfyingly punchy 58 IBUs. This sets the stage for the all star lineup of hops – Mosaic, Ekuanot, Sabro and an impromptu addition of Simcoe.

Tapped Brew co have been collaborating with Round Corner Brewing of Melton Mowbray during April. The away fixture saw an Amarillo hopped golden ale called Cadillac Ranch brewed, then back at the Sheffield Tap during the CAMRA Members’ Weekend a mild was brewed.

Intrepid Brewing‘s April open day saw the launch of a tweaked version of a previous beer – their Spring Pale, Var 4.5%. This years edition uses the same hops and malt but a different yeast blend of Belgian abbey yeast & New England yeast to release a more balanced yet complex flavour profile.
Hop bursted and gently dry hopped this beer has more flavour than you’d expect. Since then Ben has hinted at a new project involving Perry Lees, Wooden Barrel, continental pale & time!

A recent cask release from Temper Brewing of Dronfield is a 4.8% ABV American Brown Ale called Face of the Earth. A rich malt character balances with hints of pine and citrus from Cascade and Willamette hops.

Collyfobble brewery, based at the Peacock in Barlow have been tweaking a number of their beers and the latest updated brew has been their Bob On Best Bitter. The brewer has been playing with the colour of this one and mixed up the malt bill to push it in more of a copper-amber direction. This should also bring some lovely, complex sweet malty flavours to balance out that solid bitterness.

Our classic, satisfyingly simple, most stoutiest stout is back this month in the form of Salvation – Steadfast Stout (4.8%). Tasty and dependable – enough said!

We’ve also got Dr Morton’s Bag O’Nuts (4.1%) in the pipeline, a refreshing and thirst quenching pale ale and 100% nut free!

Our collaboration with Castle Rock is due to be released and will be available in cask, keg and can. Menelaus is a 5.5% IPA, which blends our combined years of heritage with our collective love of creativity and innovation. Here we’re celebrating the emerging array of flavours from UK grown Harlequin and Cascade, layered up with tropical overtones from Galaxy and a flourish of Loral Cryo hops for an international twist. The name comes from one of the lions which flanks the steps of Nottingham’s Council House – so no prizes for working out what our return collab later in the year is going to be called!

Through the Hopback Delta (3.9%) is on the way too – Delta is a lesser known hop, and one which makes up part of the backing blend for Willamette in Moonshine, so it’s really interesting to be able to use it in a single hopped beer and give it some room to shine! Lightly spicy in character with delicate notes of melon and citrus.

And finally, look out for Dr Mortons Rogue Apostrophe (4.1%), sure to infuriate English teacher’s across the city!

Little Mesters Brewing Co continues to grow and evolve and in the last few weeks the business has decided to make a progressive move and become a limited company and take on a new director to help move the company forward in its brewing portfolio. To support this, they have purchased some new brewing equipment, which has just been installed in their Little Norton Brewery next to Mitchell’s Wine Merchants, together with a new canning line, which will compliment the beer products soon to be introduced.

Built on traditional values, Little Mesters Brewing believes their core lines will continue to do well and the introduction of new lines will broaden their appeal to new and existing markets.

“Stan IPA”, an outstanding Pale Ale, continues to be the company’s best seller, but the new equipment will enable them to put together a really impressive brewing portfolio.

Neil Adgie

Intrepid Brewing are hosting their first open day of the year on Saturday 29 April offering a day of beer, pizza and tunes amongst the Peak District hills! A bar will be open in the brewery whilst out in the yard along with seating will be Sunshine Pizza slinging their wood fired pizzas and next door neighbour Calum Audio providing the soundtrack. The brewery is located in unit 12 Vincent Works on the road between Hope and Bradwell. Many journeys on bus 271/272 stop at the end of the drive and it is also the Hope Valley Beer Festival at the Old Hall Hotel that weekend so you can easily combine a visit to both!

Loxley Brewery have a new slightly hazy Citra pale ale out and at 4.4% ABV should be perfect when it’s beer garden weather!

Emmanuales have invested in some new tanks and their original 100L flat bottomed fermenters have been retired!

Fuggle Bunny Brew House have announced a number of additional Saturday tap events in addition to the routine Fuggle Fridays. The next few are 6 May, 27 May, 3 June and 29 July.

Grizzly Grains continues to open for tap sessions about once a week, Check their Facebook page for announcements. The brewery is just off Queens Road on Duchess Street, not far from Bramall Lane stadium.

Little Critters latest single batch cask special, number 20, is a pale ale involving El Dorado and Ekuanot spring hops.

Loads of new stuff on the go this month! First up and guaranteeing fast acting serious relief from the most terrifying phenomenon known to mankind, Dr Morton’s Clown Poison (4.1%) is a light and refreshing fruity pale ale with Amarillo and Mosaic hops. Phew!

Also in cask only and coming soon to a pub near you we have Summer (3.9%) hopped with Vic Secret, Enigma and Ekuanot for a tropical, approachable and aromatic pale ale. And Nelson Sauvin is the star of the show in the next of our Through the Hopback series (3.9%), a deliciously sessionable pale ale with delicate Sauvignon Blanc-esque flavours of white grape and gooseberry coupled with a floral finish.

And finally, in cask, keg and can – look out for the return of our dry hopped orange infused pale ale, Splendour (4.4%) which always pairs perfectly with a sunny day and is most definitely a returning favourite. Plus the next in our single hopped series features an awesome Aussie hop – Obsession Galaxy (5.9%). Expect a tantalising tropical aroma followed by fruity flavours of melon, mango and passionfruit, with a clear-cut bitterness in the finish.

May also sees us brewing a grand total of three collaborations! We’re hosting Leeds-based Anthology and Nottingham’s Castle Rock here at Abbeydale, and in the “away” corner we’re off down to Norfolk to rustle up something special with Ampersand. Look out for more details coming soon!

Cheers!

Abbeydale Brewery are celebrating this week, with their popular beer “Black Mass”, a 6.66% Black IPA, taking home a top prize at the Society of Independent Brewers (SIBA) Independent Beer Awards 2023. 

Sheffield based Abbeydale Brewery, most famous for their Moonshine pale ale, received the accolade of Overall Champion of the bottle and can competition for their Black IPA at the beer trade association’s national finals, held at BeerX, the country’s largest brewing industry event, in Liverpool last week. Brewer Christie Mcintosh, from Abbeydale Brewery, said: “Black Mass is a joyous, strong, bitter, fruity dark ale. Winning the National as a Black IPA is pretty wild – we won the Speciality IPA which we were really pleased about, but to then go up again and win the Overall Gold is just amazing.”

The award, judged by a panel of industry peers and experts, recognises the very finest in UK brewing. SIBA Chairman Richard Naisby congratulated the winners on their huge achievement and said: “Judges had a tough job separating the pack as the standard was extremely high once again. The winners from the SIBA competition are officially the best independent craft beers in the UK, something brewers should be extremely proud of.”

Abbeydale Brewery are well known for producing a huge range of beers, blending innovation with heritage and reflecting these values across their beers.  Black Mass, a 6.66% Black IPA, has been part of Abbeydale Brewery’s permanently available beers since the business was founded in 1996, and the team believe it to be one of the world’s first and longest standing beers of this style in existence. Sales Director Dan Baxter says of the award: “Black Mass has been with us since our very beginnings as a brewery, and we’re absolutely thrilled that it’s being recognised as being at the very top of its game. It’s classic and familiar, yet simultaneously unique and boundary defying, and a true favourite of many of the team here!”

Grizzly Grains are now hosting regular tap sessions at their brewery, generally on Sheffield United match days with a range of their beers on the bar and snacks too. The brewery in on Duchess Road (just off Queens Road) on the Sheaf Gardens industrial estate. It is walkable from the City Centre or buses 24/25 stop nearby. Dates in April are 7th, 15th, 18th and 21st. Weekday openings are 4pm to 10pm whilst weekend dates are midday to 9pm. Check their Facebook page for latest information.

Heist Brew Co have brewed a “Reyt Good” Stout in collaboration with local artist Andy Slater (of Reyt Good Illustration) who the brewery work with regularly. The beer is described as having a deep, dark colour with a velvety smooth texture and irresistible aroma. It is 4.3% ABV and available on the nitro keg line in their taproom, however a cask of it will be making its way to the CAMRA Members’ Weekend bar.

Intrepid Brewery’s first cask special of 2023 was Geolo, a 3.9% ABV dry hopped golden ale. This is a tweaked version of Solito with some extra malt to make the colour golden rather than straw and is delicately dry hopped with Amarillo to give it a little orangey character. Described as perfect for drinking on days of spring sunshine!

Drinkers at both Rotherham Real Ale & Music festival and the Fuggle Bunny Brew House Friday tap session were introduced to their “chapter 10 – Stomper”, a 5% ABV dry hopped IPA, alongside the longer established “chapter 2 – Cotton Tail” pale ale (4% ABV) and “chapter 4 – 24 Carrot IPA” (6% ABV).

Recent beers from Little Critters include “Vanilla Chinchilla” Ice Cream Porter and “Swag”, an IPA brewed in collaboration with Heist. Meanwhile number 14 in their series of single batch cask specials was an American Brown Ale.

Lost Industry Brewing celebrated International Women’s Day, which falls during Sheffield Beer Week, with a collaborative brew day again this year. The beer is a chocolate & cherry porter.

Loxley Brewery offers a range of merchandise alongside the bottled beers available to order from their webshop, this includes engraved tankards and hip flasks.

Early March saw Neepsend brew a cask only Australian Pale Ale called “Bandicoot”. It is 4.6% ABV and uses Enigma and Vic Secret hops and is expected to be super pale in body and feature big punchy hop notes.

Sheffield Beer Week saw the Brewery of St Mars of the Desert launch a new beer in their taproom, a golden Bock called Krönungsbier.

Stancill Brewery continued with their series of star sign themed beers in March with “Pisces”, a 4% ABV delicately aromatic pale ale.

Triple Point Brewery has introduced a classic English bitter to their range, the first one they’ve produced on any scale. It is 3.7% ABV and brewed with a boatload of American hops in the whirlpool for a super fruity and rounded bitter. Like many of their beers it is Vegan and Gluten Free.

For Sheffield Beer Week True North Brewery released a beer brewed in collaboration with SALT, called the Wool Monty (Saltaire was known for its wool industry and Sheffield, well you know, Full Monty!) The beer is a 4.2% West Coast Pale Ale brewed using Columbus, Centennial and Amarillo hops that deliver bitterness and light citrus flavours.

Abbeydale Black Mass, their 6.66% black IPA, won best beer in bottle/can at the Society of Independent Brewers (SIBA) awards. This was judged at their annual conference and BeerX in Liverpool. This beer is also delicious on cask!

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A number of beers of interest will be making their way to the bar at the CAMRA Members’ weekend, open 21-23 April, which are either new or not often seen around Sheffield’s pubs.

From Abbeydale we have the latest special edition of Heathen using UK Harlequin hops, we also have their Coronation special. From Blue Bee as well as the latest iteration of their American 5 hop we have a dark mild. Dead Parrot are supplying Maranta along with Hohot, which was originally brewed with a former member of bar staff at Perch (their tap room) who was an international student. Emmanuales are expected to supply beer, they are a very small batch brewery who put most of their production in small pack. From Eyam look out for their Cherry Bakewell Stout. Grizzly Grains are offering “Business Secrets of the Pharaohs”, a Phoenix hopped pale ale.

Heist Brew Co only produce cask beer now and again so we are thrilled to be able to pour two of their beers – Parking Fine Photoshoot and Reyt Good Stout. We are expecting a couple of beers from Intrepid – a Peak District based brewery who impressed those taking part in the online tasting event we ran with a Sheffield beer box in 2021 – but which beers aren’t confirmed yet. Lost Industry are supplying an Opus single hop pale ale along with a milk stout whilst from Neepsend look out for their Ergot Rye Porter.

Toolmakers only normally brew for their own pub (the Forest) so we are pleased they are able to supply us a couple of beers – Flange Noir and a new mild. Three beers are coming from Triple Point including a zesty citrus pale ale, a porter and their Alpha Bitter. Going back to the future is True North, we’ll have their locally brewed Stones Bitter on the bar!