Two beers in the Stancill brewery core range won awards at the recent Barrow Hill Rail Ale Beer Festival 2026. Our No7 and Barnsley Bitter won Gold and Silver respectively in the same category (Low Gravity Copper/Golden 4.5% and below).
Special Brews: The latest special brews are inspired by the locations of the 2026 FIFA World Cup tournament taking place this summer across the USA, Canada and Mexico. All single-hopped pale ales, each offers something a little different – For the USA we have Willamette-hopped Rutherford (4.2%), for Canada we have Columbus-hopped Canuck (4%) and for Mexico we have Golazo (4.4%), a more golden hued ale appropriately featuring El Dorado hops. More details about the inspiration behind these beers can be found on their website. Of course, fan favourite Sweet Caroline (4.1%) will also be available throughout the tournament!
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.
St Mars of the Desert has some new releases. Owd Eerie, An old ale inspired by the great traditional British beer style, a dark but drinkable, all-British, complex ale, 6.2%. Clamp, their returning Mosaic and Waimea-hopped koelship IPA. Fresh, zingy, and fruity, 5.5% Also Lovely Saint Winefride is a golden barleywine, a beer style invented in Sheffield. It contains all British ingredients, with Goldings hops and Maris Otter barley, 8.3%
Additionally dates for their Annual SMODFEST lager celebration have been announced – 31st July/1st August, 7th/8th August and 14th/15th August
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.
As part of a programme of campaigns to highlight classic beer styles that some may consider to be endagered CAMRA has for many years championed Mild during May. Mild is a style that is designed to be easy drinking with subtle flavours and low bitterness. There are both dark and pale versions.
A couple of local breweries were promoting a mild in May with Stancill brewing a range of three!
Mild Steel 3.5%- If you like Stancill’s Stainless pale ale, you’ll love Mild Steel. With all the fresh, crisp character of their iconic core ale, but with a much milder ABV. Mild Steel is made with all-British hops.
Tom’s Mild 3.4%, Stancill’s regularly available signature mild, is named after their co-founder Tom! This is a smooth, creamy, dark mild with a nutty biscuit note. Tom’s Mild is characteristically sweet with a gentle late hop aroma. Well balanced, moreish and extremely drinkable.
Ruby Mild 4.9% – It’s been over five years since they brewed a Ruby Mild. This one is ruby red in colour with a strong nuttiness and flavours of berries. A velvety mouthfeel of melted milk chocolate make this a luxuriously pleasurable pint.
Meanwhile over at Thornbridge the May cask release in their year of beer programme of monthly seasonal specials was a mild, although perhaps a less traditional version being a coffee mild, although at 3.8% ABV is still easy drinking!
Joining our Legacy Series of fondly remembered beers from the archives as part of our 30th anniversary celebrations, we’re bringing back Drop Hammer (4.3%) for a limited time only. A classic copper coloured bitter, satisfying and well-balanced.
We’ve got an exciting collaboration on the way with the excellent folk at Colbier, from Liverpool. In the Elements will be a 6.5% Baltic Porter brewed using a No. 19 Maris Otter, a special heritage floor malted version of our base grain, riffing alongside UK grown Olicana and Jester hops. Expect layers of robust, toasty flavours alongside smooth waves of caramel sweetness, with a rounded bitterness encore.
And of course we have our usual vast selection of delicious pale ales available too! Returning specials this month are Summer (3.9%), hopped with Vic Secret, Mosaic and Galaxy for a tropical, approachable and aromatic pale ale, and Doctor Morton’s Cask Paint (4.1%), with Amarillo and Chinook hops for notes of subtle tangerine and a punchy bitterness. Joining them we have a new addition to our botanical print inspired range, Sunsprite Rose (4.3%). This one is hopped with Styrian Dragon which holds delicate rose notes, and Styrian Eagle, bringing a pleasant citrussy character.
New from Dead Parrot Brewery on the bar at Perch in March was “Hill”, an American Pale Ale brewed with Aurora hops. It is 4.2% ABV and has a strong grapefruit character to it!
Recent brews at Blue Bee includes American 5 hop version 88 which involves lots of Columbus hops along with Simco, Chinook and others; a new session pale ale involving pink hops plus a special house beer for Itchy Pig Alehouse in Banner Cross brewed with Simcoe, Mosaic and Chinook hops.
Another new beer from Drone Valley Brewery, who are celebrating their 10th anniversary this year, is Volunteer Pale Ale, celebrating that most of the brewery’s staff are volunteers raising money for local good causes.
April 2026 saw Bradfield Brewery celebrate their 21st birthday and a new beer released in bottles – Farmers Imperial Milk Stout. It is 7.4% ABV, rich and full bodied with notes of cocoa, liquorice and dried fruit in the taste, carrying through to a lasting creamy finish thanks to the addition of lactose.
New from Duality Brew Co in cask, keg and can is Twist the Arrows, a 4.5% ABV hazy pale ale. It is brewed with generous quantities of Simcoe, Azacca and El Dorado hops offering a juicy character with subtle dank edge underneath and fairly low bitterness.
Triple Point have released a Blood Orange flavoured version of their Cryo Pale Ale.
Tapped Brew Co have updated their branding with new round pump clips. Seen on the bar of the Sheffield Tap launching the new look line up was Brook (Porter), Sheaf Street (session IPA), Mojo (session pale) and Bramling (Golden Ale).
At the Brewery of St Mars of the Desert the arrival of spring meant two things – the tap room opening for the 2026 season and the release of Fleurs de Printemps (Spring Flowers), a 5.4% ABV Belgian inspired blonde ale.
Neepsend Brewery cask ales recently seen on the bar at the Wellington (their tap pub next to Shalesmoor tram stop) include Dolcita (4.5% ABV pale ale brewed with Citra and Dolcita hops), Athena (6.4% ABV New England IPA brewed with Citra, Amarillo and El Dorado hops), Vulcan (3.9% ABV traditional bitter brewed with Challenger and EKG hops) – plus of course their regular beer, Blonde, which is a 4% ABV Gluten free ale brewed with Cascade, Chinook and Brewers Gold hops.
Thornbridge Brewery are now several months into their 2026 “Year of Beer” monthly specials, on cask April saw the release of Quasar, a 4.5% ABV European pale ale whilst on keg it was Golden Spike, a 5.7% ABV West Coast IPA. Coming up in May on cask is Present, a 3.8% ABV coffee mild, then in June look out for Long Days – a 4.6% ABV summer ale.
A planning application to set up a nanobrewery in the Meersbrook area has been submitted by Christopher Derbyshire, known for his work as a brewer at Heist.
Here’s what we’ve got coming up this month… and hopefully, you’ll be able to come and try them at Abbeydale Beerworks, our new taproom on Abbeydale Road! At the time of writing work is well underway and we hope to be open by early May, but please do check before you make the journey. This is a really exciting time for us and we can’t wait to welcome you! Anyway, here’s what we will have available for pubs across the city and beyond…
Hop on the Penistone Line (4.0%) will be a collaboration with Woodland Brewing – where we’ll be welcoming back Ash, who has recently started working there after almost 5 years with Team Abbeydale! Citra, Riwaka and Nectaron hops combine in this tantalisingly tropical pale ale with notes of juicy peach and aromatic passionfruit.
From our Restoration series of classic styles we’ll have a 4.1% Yorkshire Bitter, well-balanced and easy drinking with a delicately floral flavour set alongside hints of pine, followed up with a pleasing bitterness in the finish.
There’s some kind of international sports ball tournament on the horizon so a new Willamette hopped pale ale, Dr Morton’s Verified Ale Recipient (4.1%), is here to ease the misery of constant kicking. It’s a game of two halves, no wait, that’s a pint.
And Cardon Cactus (3.9%) is new to our series with artwork inspired by vintage botanical prints. As this one features a giant Mexican cactus, we just had to go with a hop from the Neomexicanus subspecies! This tasty pale ale showcases Sabro, joined by spicy, grapefruity Chinook.
Finally there’s a couple of delicious stouts on the way too – the latest in our Salvation series will be a smooth, sweet and fruity 4.8% Dark Chocolate and Raspberry Stout. And as part of our 30th anniversary year we’ve got the first imperial stout in a while due for release too, Lost Souls will be a big, bold and boozy 11.0% classic impy. Complex and carefully crafted, full bodied and warming with luscious vanilla bringing a hint of extravagance to the drinking experience.
Recent beers produced at Blue Bee Brewery have included a 5% ABV pale ale brewed with Nelson and Nectaron hops and the 4th iteration of Five Malt Mild.
A beer making a comeback after 12 years is Sgt Pepper Stout. This was orginally brewed by David McLaren back in his Spire Brewery days, he was since involved with Drone Valley Brewery who are brewing it to his original recipe. The beer is a 5.5% ABV stout laced with black pepper to give it a mildly spicy kick!
Also new from Drone Valley, who are celebrating their 10th anniversary this year, is “Community”, a 4.4% ABV English pale ale celebrating their status as a community owned enterprise where profits go to local good causes.
New from Bradfield Brewery is Holy Cow, a 7.8% IPA.This is a limited edition beer and is available in bottles and cask. It is the hoppiest beer Bradfield has ever brewed and the varieties involved are El Dorado, Azacca and Vista. In addition a rum barrel aged version is coming soon.
Eyam Brewery now has planning consent to convert their Tideswell premises into a tap room with kitchen and shop. They can now go through the process to get a permanent premises licence. Until then they will be running occasional pop up tap events again using temporary event notices, the first being Easter weekend.
