Category: Breweries

Sunday Times best-selling author Nick Hayes has been on a mission to highlight and campaign for the right to access more of the UK’s countryside for everyone. Connecting to the countryside is proven to help mental health and well-being, and throughout the Covid-19 pandemic was a vital resource for folks fortunate enough to be able to access green spaces. However not everyone has access and only 8% of England, for example National Parks, is open to such rambling. In Sheffield, citizens are fortunate to have a wealth of green spaces, parks and of course direct access to the Peak District national park.

Nick Hayes has joined forces on a collaborative beer with Sheffield independent businesses, who reside on the Peak District’s border for Sheffield Beer Week this March. The project brings together a number of threads including celebrating the 90th anniversary of the Mass Kinder Trespass which happened within the Peak District. This was key in opening up the area as the first UK National Park some 50 years later, highlighting the much-needed spotlight on the work of the Right To Roam campaign to continue efforts. This also celebrates Sheffield as The Outdoor City and its citizen’s access to green, open spaces and adventure trails.

Due to considerable interest and demand the beer has been released early and will be available from Monday 28 February at Hop Hideout (City Centre in Kommune), Hop Hideout (Abbeydale Road) and hophideout.co.uk, then across Sheffield and the rest of the UK at independent sellers throughout this week. On Saturday 12 March there is a sold out ‘A Right to Roam Walking Tour’ in Sheffield with author Nick Hayes starting at Hop Hideout beer shop and finishing at Brewery of St Mars of the Desert. These celebrations kick-off a whole month of focus leading up to the April anniversary of the Mass Kinder Trespass. What better way to call for a right to roam than by ordering a pint of it in a pub, direct at the brewery or a can at your local beer shop!

A Right To Roam, Riwaka and Nectaron hopped hazy IPA, 5.4%

“On 24^th April 1932, 400 young people walked up Kinder Scout to protest the lack of public access to the moors. They were beaten by gamekeepers, six were imprisoned, but ultimately they won. We now have a right to roam over 8% of England.

“But today, 97% of rivers and 92% of our land is still forbidden to us. Science has proven how urgently we need regular access to natural spaces, for our mental health and physical health and also how we care more for nature if we have a personal connection to it. The Kinder Trespass, in what is now the Peak District, was the first step towards a new relationship with the countryside, but there is still much to be done.”

Join us at rightroam.org.uk to campaign for greater access to the English countryside.

The beer launch is taking place as part of Sheffield Beer Week.

True North Brew Co. have announced two new beers brewed for The Festival of the Outdoors and Sheffield Beer Week.

Peaky Climbers, a 4.3% Pale Ale, has been brewed for The Festival of the Outdoors, and celebrates the beautiful views and inspiring spaces for escape, adventure, and discovery that we’re lucky enough to have right on our doorstep in the Peak District. Head Brewer, Dean Hollingsworth, has used heaps of mosaic hops to create a bold and fruity beer with citrusy notes, making it the perfect thirst quencher for that post hike pint.

Freak Out, a 6% Red Rye IPA, has been brewed in collaboration with Gorilla Brewing for Sheffield Beer Week. Master Brewer for Gorilla, Ian Darvill, joined True North’s Head Brewer, Dean Hollingsworth, at their Eldon Street Brewery to create this beautiful Red Rye IPA using Zappa hops planted and grown by Frank Zappa’s family. This exclusive beer pours an alluring crimson amber, with notes of sweetness and spice.

Both beers are available for a limited time in True North venues throughout March.

After a relatively quiet year for obvious reasons, Steel City had a late resurgence in activity starting with the latest iteration of the Megacollab. This year’s concept had been kicking around for a while between Dave, Niall off of the Wellington, and McGregor off of various facey beer groups, and was brewed with Lost Industry, Bexar County, Neepsend, Doomed, Top Rope and Ramsbury, plus Lewy off of Lewis Ryan Art, who designed the epic label. Sour was the aim of the game, with a three day double pitch lacto steep and the addition of grapefruit, redcurrant and an unholy quantity of citric acid. A limited edition spin-off, Drop Acid Not Bombs, was brewed with Lemondrop hops in place of the fruit, with just one keg for the Welly and a few cans produced. Brewday was great fun though rain put paid to the usual barbecue and cricket so instead it was a big pot of curry and a nerf gun battle…

Also release in the autumn was the long-awaited Sour Wars first trilogy, with a keg launch at the Crow followed by cans at selected dealers – Hop Hideout may have a few left though maybe not by time you read this! The variants are: Episode 1 The Cranachan Menace – raspberry, mead and a touch of vanilla in a highland whisky barrel; Episode 2 Attack of the Stones – cherries in a red wine barrel; Episode 3 Orange of the Sith – hurricane sour with passion fruit, lemon, lime and orange in a rum barrel. Planning is now underway for the second trilogy to be brewed shortly and released autumn 2022. A few kegs of the first trilogy remain for future events planned in Edinburgh, Glasgow and Manchester.

The latest in the frankly ridiculous series of one-off brews with Lucienne off of the Shakespeare surpassed even the previous brews (barbecue stout and hoi sin stout) for silliness, being a Branston Pickle porter! After ‘deconstructing’ the ingredients of the pickle, Dave and Lucienne procured a load of dates, apples, tamarind, mustard seeds, molasses, brown sugar… even they drew the line at pickled onions though! It was certainly, erm, interesting! Opinion was certainly divided, as expected some low Untappd scores but also some decent scores from those who rated it for what it is – nobody could deny it tasted of pickle! Dave and Lucienne certainly proved that they could, but not necessarily that they should…

The first brews of 2022 are due for release in Sheffield Beer Week, after a twin brewday in February. On the main kit comes Astral Mariner, a first for Steel City in two ways, firstly as a music collaboration, being brewed with Sheffield black metal outfit Ethereal Shroud, and more surprisingly it’s a lager! Well, in the technical sense if not in spirit… Dave is no fan of ‘damp air’ but sees Baltic Porter as the acceptable face of lager – brewed with Pilsner malt, Carafa Spezial for darkness, and Saaz hops (plus a modern twist with some Azacca hops) and fermented cold with a bottom-fermenting yeast. Meanwhile on the minikit a stout was produced for the 200^th ‘Wind Up North’, a Thursday drinking club who gather at a different pub each week, a spin-off from the original ‘Wind Up’ which has been going in the south-east for over 40 years. The venue for WUN200 is the Pangolin, and the brew ‘Rule 6’ (one for Monty Python fans…) will be available there from 10^th March.

Plans are afoot for the rest of 2022 including a tonka stout I’ve Had My Fun And That’s All That Matters (and a BA version I’ve Had My Rum And That’s All That Matters), a sour NEIPA Exercises in Futility, and no doubt more crazy stuff for the Shakey…

Dave Szwejkowski

The last couple of years have been tough on cask beer, both for producers and the pubs that sell it. A combination of government guidelines and hesitation among the public at returning to venues and public spaces led to nationwide decline in the category, as consumers opted to stay at home and drink small pack beer instead.

With pubs reopening and a return to normal hopefully not too far on the horizon, things are starting to look up for cask. Legendary Derbyshire brewery Thornbridge certainly think so, unveiling their plans for a cask Year of Beer for 2022.

Started in 2017, Year of Beer is a project where Thornbridge announces a new draught beer for every month of the year. Originally envisioned as a way to give trade customers and consumers the means to plan ahead months in advance, it quickly evolved into something more ambitious: a showcase of the range of Thornbridge’s output, and an opportunity for their Brewing team to explore and innovate with different styles.

The rise of Covid-19 and national lockdowns in the UK seriously affected Thornbridge’s huge plans for their 15th Anniversary in 2020, where they had planned a year of highly innovative keg beer and cask collaborations with the best and brightest of British brewing. The continued stresses of the pandemic prevented a Year of Beer announcement for 2021, so 2022 is a triumphant return to form for a brewery that has always pioneered craft and cask beer.

We’ve already seen Hacksaw, an East Coast IPA with all the haziness and tropical fruit flavours that entails, and you might have had a chance to try the return of Twin Peaks, an Anglo American pale ale that when it was first released in 2013, was California brewing legend Sierra Nevada’s first UK collaboration. The rest of the year promises to go from strength to strength, with Thornbridge putting out everything from a Golden Mild to a Pina Colada pale, by way of returning cult favourite ice cream porter Salted Caramel Lucaria. Perhaps most excitingly, Thornbridge has teamed with rising star of Mexican Brewing, Cervecera Macaria, to create Carlotta, a Mole inspired Chili Chocolate Mexican Stout, in time for Cinco de Mayo. This is a truly excellent year for drinkers of cask beer.

Simon Webster, Chief Executive Officer of Thornbridge Brewery says: “Cask beer has always been in our DNA, from our very earliest days brewing at the hall to today. The last couple of years have unfortunately required us to make less of it than we’d have liked, but that’s why we’re all the more excited to get it into people’s hands this year. We’re so lucky to have such a talented team of brewers working for us and such an enthusiastic audience ready to sample their creations, and hopefully this Year of Beer will do them all proud.”

But cask is not all in Thornbridge’s future. Their Market Leading craft beer subscription Thornbridge Beer Club continues to grow at a steady rate, augmenting the online and direct sale aspects of their business that saw an explosion during lockdown. This is boosted by their growing output of packaged beer, including brand new projects and series that have been gaining momentum already. Combine that with the recently launched Thornbridge Experience at their taproom and brewery in Bakewell, and it looks like this legendary brewery has much more to give in 2022.

It’s a bold move to try and muscle in on Sheffield’s bustling beer market with so many great breweries in and around the cask-centric city. Despite a global pandemic also adding to the list of challenges he has faced (and will continue to face), Sam Bennett, owner of Grizzly Grains Brewing, is doing just that. A former charity worker, and now full time with the brewery, Sam is one of the latest producers trying to add to Sheffield’s broad brewing heritage, doing things the Grizzly way. 

Only a stone’s throw away from the city centre, Sam is ideally situated when it comes to spreading his beer around the vast array of pubs on his doorstep. But, after looking at his operation, he is a one-man-band in the truest sense of the term. Sharing his premises with another project he’s involved with, a local beekeepers and honey producer, his brewing kit isn’t quite as big as you may think.

Sam initially started on a pilot kit in his cellar at his home in Walkley, before moving onto his current site now at Sheaf Gardens, “It was either a large home brewers kit or a very, very small brewing kit,” Sam explains as part of the recent podcast we recorded together. But he wasn’t phased by the scale on which he could initially produce and Sam appreciates the task ahead of him and how lucky he is to be able to supply his local area, “We really are spoiled in Sheffield for the quality and number of pubs that we have got.”

“The original plan was to brew on a really tiny scale and see if it was good enough,” Sam continues, reiterating the quality of beer he finds himself surrounded with locally. Being local doesn’t grant you a free pass into the beer scene, you’ve got to prove yourself and that’s exactly what he did and continues to do. Faced with the closures of the pubs he was attempting to supply, like many, Sam had to change how he operated for a short time, “I wasn’t geared for anything other than cask to begin with. I brewed [roughly] every fortnight into casks, filled bags in boxes and did home delivery.” 

Due to his scale, this may not have been the most profitable method of him shifting his beer, but it helped him continue to promote his brand whilst his outlets were closed. Following this success, he continued with small pack and bottled his beers into 2021 until pubs began to tentatively open their doors once again. “I started to do a couple of keg runs, but continued to do bottles as it was nice to get things into bottle shops,” Sam goes on to say, once again emphasising the availability of quality beer he is surrounded with and also competing against. 

Now operating on a slightly larger kit, Sam believes he has found his niche with which to carve his own path and identity. “When I started, I thought I was going to do loads of keg beers that were really hoppy. The further I get with this, I’m happy to be a more traditional and cask led brewery, with 80-90% of my output now being in cask,” Sam tells me, which he is extremely pleased with. But, just like being local, shipping in cask doesn’t count if the product isn’t up to muster or pique the interest of potential customers, so how does he do that?

“I made four fruited saisons, a rauchbier and a sourdough fermented sour ale last year (2021), and I’m currently in the process of making a Roggenbier,” Sam proudly tells me, showing he isn’t afraid to do things a little differently. It’s this difference that sets him apart, which is demonstrated by his fruited saisons and his sour ale, Hunt for Bread October, as he works with local producers to source ingredients for his beers. Bread October was fermented purely on a sourdough culture from a local baker whilst a local orchard donated apples to be used in his apple saison that would’ve otherwise gone to waste. The brewery owner is also involved in a local program, the Sheffield Wheat Experiment, which is a community project that is trying to grow a wheat crop specific to Sheffield’s climate. 

It’s these nuances that are giving Sam not only a great USP for his beers, but also allowing him to demonstrate his passion and commitment to his local community and trying to make a more sustainable future for his business and the industry as a whole. It’s this locality that has ultimately established him thus far, “Without the likes of Shakespeares and Walkley Beer Company buying my beer, Grizzly Grains wouldn’t be where it is today,” Sam concludes, with both companies stocking his beers on a regular basis. 

There are many issues facing the beer industry right now, but sustainability is at the very forefront given the rising costs many brewers are currently facing. They may be small steps, but they are very important nonetheless not only helping Sam build Grizzly Grains’ brand, but also helping change the ways in which we consume and produce beer in the future.

If you want to learn more about Grizzly Grains, you can listen to the podcast I recorded with him on all major podcast platforms including Spotify, Apple and Google. 

To celebrate International Women’s Day on 8 March, the women of Pivovar Bars came down to Sheffield to brew a beer with the Tapped Brew Co team.

Along with choosing the name and the hop for the single hopped pale, they helped to brew the beer. The beer is Dea Latis, named after the Celtic goddess of beer. This beer is a 4.5%  single hopped pale using El Dorado hops.

To be launched at the Sheffield Tap and Pivovar Bars along with a guest appearance at the Market Cat in York on International Women’s Day, 8 March. Big Thanks to the staff from Pivni, York Tap and Market Cat for a great day in the brewery. 

Ben, Tapped Brew Co

We have two beers out to celebrate Sheffield Beer Week, taking place from 7th-13th March! It’s always a wonderful time to go for a few pints in our fantastic home town with absolutely loads going on, and we’re paying homage to our city’s brewing traditions with Sheffield Rocks (4.1%), a heritage pale ale given our own modern twist. A balanced beer, completely characterised by drinkability and made using all UK ingredients. We were joined by Sheffield brewing legend Stuart Noble in the brewhouse for this one, who has been in the industry since 1974 and has a wealth of knowledge and experience to share from his time at breweries including John Smith’s, Courage and Bass.

And we did tease you with this last month, but do also look out for Wanderer – Cryo NEIPA (6.0%), which is the new name for a rebrew of our popular collaboration with Peddler Market, previously known as Cryo Huckster. Super juicy, hazy, and delicious.

Our springtime special, Reverie (4.2%) makes a return this month with a tweaked recipe, notably a hop boost from Centennial Cryo. The result should be a refreshing pale ale with notes of zesty citrus and resinous pine.

For something a little different, we’re incredibly excited that for the first time in our 26 year history, we’ve made an ESB! This one is the next in our Restoration series and we’ve kept it classic, with Fuggles and Goldings hops. Just super drinkable, timeless and tasty.

Lastly, and something we might be even more excited for – Voyager: There & Back Again. Effectively a double Voyager, this Triple IPA weighs in at 11.2% and features the same West Coast bitterness/East Coast fruitiness hybrid that you know and love, but with all those juicy tropical notes singing even more loudly and an extra intensity in the finish.

Hope to catch plenty of you for a pint either at Indie Beer Feast (4th & 5th March) or during Sheffield Beer Week itself!

Cheers!

Laura, Abbeydale Brewery.

Last October, we reported on the Sheffield Wheat Experiment in which 200 local people planted wheat. A year later, the wheat was harvested, allowed to dry and threshed. Two kg of the resulting 130 kg of grain  went to local brewery Grizzly Grains to form part of a collaborative brew. A kilo of the remaining harvest was the seed for the second sowing of the experiment and the rest became flour.

Over two hundred, 33 cL, bottles of Growers’ Union, 5.2% ACV resulted. After a suitable maturation period, the beer was recently sampled as part of an online tasting event led by Sam. A brief introduction from grower, Ruth Levene, included the obvious: ‘What happens in beer tasting stays in beer tasting.’

Sam then provided a succinct description of the brewing process and explored the main differences between ale and lager. Over 40 participants then progressed to Helles Lager, 4.1% ACV, a gluten-free beer from the nearby Triple Point Brewery. This summer beer was a little incongruous on a cold January evening. However, the traditional light hops and floral malt flavours were evident. As one participant put it, ‘tastes of Germany.’

We then moved to the main event; the first commercially-produced beer that has included ingredients grown in our garden: Growers’ Union. This unfined, unfiltered bottle conditioned beer is a hybrid of styles. The nose, and taste, is predominantly malty, but includes notes of apple, biscuit, caramel, dates, dried fruit, honey and toffee. In short, an excellent use of locally grown wheat. The label was designed by local grower, Rachael McNiven.

Throughout the evening, Sam expertly responded to a series of questions as we progressed to the final beer of the evening: Grizzly Grains, Tilt Hammer, 4.9% ABV Stout. The original home of the brewery was above the Rivelin Valley, home to many such hammers in the 19^th century. This traditional bottle conditioned stout has notes of blackcurrant, chocolate, coffee and even a hint of liquorice.

As the Sheffield Wheat Experiment goes into its second year, I look forward to the 2022 edition of Growers’ Union, a beer which is likely to reference Belgium, targeting a style which will allow the wheat to dominate.

Another couple of new beers have been brewed by Temper Brewing, including their first stout. The Stout is called Sinter and is a sensible 4.8% ABV whilst Valleys is a 5.2% pale ale. You may wonder what “Sinter” means – Sintering is the process of compacting and forming a solid mass of material by heat or pressure without melting it to the point of liquefaction. So now you know!

Neepsend Brewery have been busy brewing new beers as well as their old favourite, the blonde. On the roster of new beers there are a couple of session strength pales – Callisto, a 4.6% brewed with Mosaic, Ekuanot and Simcoe for fruity, tropical hoppy notes; whilst Leda is hopped with Amarillo & Simcoe for apricot, orange and soft fruits with a lingering bitterness. They have also brewed a 5.3% ABV liquorice stout called Glabra and a 7.2% hop burst IPA called Ajax. This was Continuously hopped throughout the boil with an addition every 3 minutes to a target IBU of ~120. Citra, Cascade, Centennial and Chinook are going in initially with dry hopping to follow. Expect a big, bitter, resinous West Coast IPA.

With Christmas now almost a distant memory and the Belgian Blue running out, Bradfield Brewery are celebrating the time of year when the dark nights of winter start to give way to the lighter evenings and optimism of spring by brewing a vanilla flavoured edition of their Farmers Stout. Available in cask for pubs and mini kegs to drink at home! Meanwhile for Valentines Day a new beer has launched – Farmers Blushed, a pink strawberry flavour ale!

The original brewery shed at Thornbridge Hall is no more, with that kit relocated down Riverside Brewery in Bakewell. The building that the tap room has relocated into is also the new home for the smaller brewing vessels where all the smaller batch cask beer is produced.

Blue Bee have brewed an export stout. It is 6.6% ABV and brewed with 7 malts. Also new is Simcoe Idaho 7.

You may recall that Eyam brewery produced a limited edition Imperial version of their Black Death Stout at 11% ABV which was available in bottles through independent beer shops or direct from the brewery. This beer has since appeared in a one off cask served on gravity pour at Real Ale Corner micropub in Chesterfield as part of the pub walkabout festival weekend at the beginning of February.

Grizzly Grains have brewed a new pale ale brewed with Citra hops in the boil then dry hopped with Mosaic.

New from Chantry Brewery is Styrian Eagle, a 4.1% ABV pale ale named after the hops it is brewed with.

Loxley Brewery recently completed their second canning session, ‘THEM That CAN’ visiting for a morning in early February. In total almost 500 litres of a 4.2%, American Pale, Corvus and a 5.5%, West Coast IPA, Kasper were successfully packaged.

Almost twenty years ago, Communications Engineers, Jamie Hawksworth and Jon Holdsworth established a specialist beer importing wholesale business, based in York: Pivovar, breweries/brewers in Slavic.

As part of their day job, they later found themselves on a roof at Sheffield railway station, adjacent to platform 1b. Looking down, into a semi-derelict building, they were convinced they could see a bar. Further investigation followed: the old First Class Refreshment Room was originally built by the Midland Railway (company architect, Charles Trubshaw) as part of the 1905 station extension. The rooms were disused in the 1960s, by the 1970s were a waiting room and were closed in 1975. They are adorned with Minton tiled walls and fine ornamented bar fittings.

Jamie and Jon suddenly had a new job. Restorations began and in 2009, the Sheffield Tap, the award-winning and undisputed best railway pub in the UK, opened. This followed a £180,000 multiple award-winning comprehensive overhaul in which the tiling, terrazzo floor, parts of the bar fittings and other joinery were beautifully restored, while items beyond repair were carefully replaced or replicated, including the entire coved and sky-lighted ceiling.

The next decade saw a hive of activity as Pivovar added new outlets: the York Tap (2010), the Harrogate Tap and Tapped Leeds (2013), Pavement Vaults (York, 2015) and the Newcastle Tap (2017). They also became partners in the bar group Thornbridge and Co. with outlets in Birmingham (Colmore), Leeds (Banker’s Cat) and York (Market Cat).

However, the key development was the 2013 extension of their flagship: the Sheffield Tap expanded into the former First Class Dining Room. The tiled and mirrored interior was restored and an on-site brewery, Tapped Brew Co. began brewing in January 2013. This 4 Bbl. set-up was a 2008 PBC Brewing Installations kit which re-located from Great Heck Brewery when they moved site.

Like many others, Head Brewer, Ben Tysoe, commenced his career working for Dave Wickett at Kelham Island Brewery, adjacent to the legendary Fat Cat. Aged 16, he was shifting and carrying, bottling and labelling. Three years later, in 2001, he moved to the new Kelham Island venture at the Devonshire Cat. By 2003, his name was above the door as one of the youngest pub managers in the city. 2011 saw changes: travelling, stints working at the Great British Beer Festival and more employment in breweries. Two years later came employment with Pivovar: accounts, deliveries, bar management, and by 2018 work in the brewery. Two years ago saw the seminal move to the First Class Dining Room.

In addition to the Sheffield brewery, Ben also uses the microbrewery at Tapped Leeds to produce pilsners while, in 2020, Pivovar established the Elvington Brewing Company at their York headquarters. The latter produces Mittel Pils, the recent winner of overall best keg lager, at the International Brewing awards.

Back in Sheffield, the all-cask output is sold onsite and at other Pivovar outlets. Tapped beers are occasionally seen in the free trade. The regular range is:

Mojo – the first beer brewed, a 3.6% Pale Ale

Toha – a 3.6% Pale Ale using New Zealand hops

Jericho – a 4% West Coast Pale Ale

Sorsby Stout – 4%, named after Sir Robert Sorsby (1577/1643), the first Master Cutler.

Sheaf Street Pale – a 4.5% session IPA

Station Porter – a rich dark 5% brew featuring chocolate malt

Tapped are currently looking to the future: some minor rebranding coupled with an increased emphasis on collaborations, one-offs and pilot brews. With experienced, enthusiastic and knowledgeable input from Ben, we anticipate hearing many positive reports.