Category: Breweries

Well-known beer bloggers Boak & Bailey have been writing about beer since 2007, and obviously know a thing or two. Each year, in common with a few other writers, they produce their “Golden Pints” post, rounding up their favourite beers, breweries, pubs and taprooms of the year.

We’re delighted to see local brewery St Mars of The Desert getting a few mentions for 2025. Here’s what they had to say.

“Our favourite keg beer of 2025

We ended up rewriting this post in mid-December after an encounter with The Brewery of St Mars of the Desert (SMOD) in Sheffield last weekend. We’d heard how good their beer was from many sources over the years but had never actually made it there ourselves thanks to the distance, the pandemic, and our preference for pubs over taprooms. Many of the beers were fantastic but the one that nearly made us weep with joy was Rotkäppchen, an homage to the Rotbiers of Nuremberg at 4.4%. It made us feel like giddy baby beer geeks again. Wonderful.”

They were no less complimentary of St Mars as a brewery in general.

“Our favourite brewery of 2025

We made this choice some months ago after we found ourselves walking into a pub, seeing several taps with this brewery’s beer on offer, and thinking: “Oh, excellent! This is going to be a good session…”

It’s Newbarns whose beers we’ve seen in Bristol quite a bit this year. We’ve been impressed by their precise, scholarly takes on Continental styles, and by their vibrant freshness. Only one or two have been anything less than excellent, catapulting Newbarns into the ‘reliable brewery’ category for us.

Honourable mentions: We’ve become quite interested in Ideal Day which, like Newbarns, has more hits than misses, and brews across an interesting range of styles; and if we’d been more than once, we can imagine the Brewery of St Mars of the Desert might have got the gong here.”

And finally, in case that wasn’t enough…

“Our favourite taproom in 2025

The Brewery of St Mars of the Desert shows what a taproom can be. It feels like a mountain cabin or a Bavarian village Wirtshaus. Or maybe it’s the one bar in a small town in Belgium. What it doesn’t feel like is an industrial shed in outer Sheffield, surrounded by mechanics’ yards and second hand tyre outlets. There’s assorted breweriana scattered about the place, a wood burning stove, and a dedicated Stammtisch next to the bar. The commitment to serving each beer in the right style of glass, with a perfect head of foam, was something else that won us over. It helps, we guess, that the owners are on site, working the bar, and working the floor.”

Their excellent blog and beer-related writings are highly recommended, as are their books, (The excellent Brew Britannia has a detailed family tree showing the influence of Dave Wickett and the Kelham Island Brewery on the Sheffield brewing scene) and can be found at boakandbailey.com.

“St Cask of the Desert”

One of our local brewers, St Mars of the Desert – often referred to as SMOD – recently brewed their first cask beer in a collaboration at Thornbridge brewing. It was on hand pull at the marquee at Steel City 49 where it was the first cask beer to sell out, on the first day of the festival.

Martha & Dann spent a day brewing with Alice at Thornbridge in September, resulting in Quill – a 5.5% ESB. It’s their first fully casked beer, although they also own several German Stichfass which they use throughout the year. They brought two of these to Steel City, both containing ‘ungespundetes’ (a German practice of fermenting in an un-bunged barrel) versions of Fledermaus, their 5.4% vollbier lager. They offer single-stichfass batches at their taproom fairly regularly during the year and always advertise these on their social media.

At the end of October SMOD had a single cask of Quill, offering hand pulled cask ale at their taproom for the first time – and hopefully not the last! Several of our members enjoyed more than one glass of Quill to help encourage this sort of thing.

In early November SMOD also released Bébé Sauvage, a 9.5% bottle refermented foeder beer with plums and dates.

We can’t quite believe another year has passed! 2025 has FLOWN by as our first full year as an Employee Owned business, and we can’t wait to head into our 30^th anniversary year – we’ve got some exciting plans in the pipeline, so watch this space!

Heading onto bars before the end of the year, we’ve got Winter, a crisp and flavourful 4.2% pale ale brewed with Ekuanot hops, and Holly, a new addition to our gorgeous botanical print inspired series. This one features Nelson Sauvin, Willamette and Cascade hops which come together to bring a cornucopia of citrus flavour and a well-balanced bitterness.

We’ve also got an exciting 6.5% IPA on the way – Further Greetings from Fort Mill, in collaboration with Amor Artis, who have visited us all the way from South Carolina! This one features Plumage Archer, a grain older than the USA, upon which we’ve layered oodles of punchy hop character from Simcoe, Centennial and Cashmere. Spicy and herbal, with notes of oily resin softened by hints of fruity melon.

Heralding the new year, as is our tradition, we’ll have Doctor Morton’s Duck Baffler back (4.1%), a pale ale single hopped with Citra which is always incredibly popular. January also brings another returning favourite, Alchemy, a 4.2% Amarillo hopped delight! 

From the Brewers Emporium, Sticky Toffee Pudding Stout will be the latest addition to our Salvation series which is a surefire winner on a dark winter’s evening. Best enjoyed by a roaring fire. And just in time for Burns Night, we’ve got our first ever 80 Shilling Ale on the way in the Restoration series. Loosely inspired by a recipe dating from 1957, expect a satisfyingly smooth and well-balanced beer, malt-forward with a rich dried fruit character and a gentle bitterness in the finish. Bring on the haggis! 

Blue Mist is the latest addition to our beautiful range inspired by vintage botanical prints, and this time we’ve created a 4% pale ale with Chinook and Centennial hops. Sweet floral notes and juicy citrus are backed up with a tasty, assertive finish. 

Doctor Morton’s Socks Appeal is our second beer release of the year in partnership with local charity Ben’s Centre. A 4.1% pale ale with soft notes of tangerine and lime, brewed using Vic Secret and Amarillo hops. For each cask sold we’re donating a pair of socks to Ben’s Centre – please do check out their wishlist if you’re able to support this incredibly worthy cause.  

A festive release in our Mythical Creatures series, Glugg (4.2%) has artwork inspired by the Yule Lads of Iceland. Hopped with Belma and Cashmere, expect delicate melon flavours which come together deliciously with a spicy, earthy character.

And we’ve used one of our very favourite hops for Through the Hopback Nelson Sauvin. A deliciously sessionable pale ale (3.9%) with delicate Sauvignon Blanc-esque flavours of white grape and gooseberry coupled with a floral finish.

And talking of showcasing ingredients we love – from the Brewers Emporium we have a single hopped Simcoe IPA (5.8%) coming up from our Obsession series, celebrating the 25^th anniversary of this glorious hop! A clean malt backbone allows the Simcoe to truly shine, bringing zesty grapefruit, resinous pine, a hint of fresh berries and an hearty, bitter finish.

Finally on the opposite side of the beery spectrum, look out for an Irish Cream Stout (5.4%) which is a seasonally appropriate addition to the Salvation series. Deliciously deluxe vanilla notes combine with soft caramel flavours and just a hint of roasted character for balance. Rich and oh so creamy with a full mouthfeel and a mellow finish.

Locally-based Little Mesters have relaunched. They first brewed in 2020 in the premises previously used by Mitchells Hop House (S8 7UJ) and have recently seen investment, expansion and relocation. In 2023, they opened their first bar, the Little Mesters Tap (Woodseats, S8 0SD). Then in late 2024, the brewery moved to Solpro Business Park in Attercliffe (S4 7WB), close to compatriots, St. Mars of the Desert. The relaunch event took place in late September: onion bhajis and samosas were enjoyed, all accompanied by a range of cask/keg beer from the adjacent brewery. In addition, there were several brewery tours.

The new brewery site is on the footprint of the 18th century, Royds Brewery. This large operation later became the Burton Weir Brewery of Thomas Marrian & Co. Ltd. (1850-1904). In Victorian times, Marrian’s were one of the biggest breweries in the area. Their No.2 beer store which held 10,000 barrels, claimed to be the largest cellar in Sheffield. In 1903, brothers F.A. and James Kelley acquired Marrian’s. The brewery was closed with their 66 pubs divided between Whitworth, Son & Nephew Ltd.  (Wath Upon Dearne) and Whitmarsh, Watson & Co. Ltd. (South Street Moor, Sheffield). Marrian’s most well-known pub was probably the Bull & Mouth on Waingate (S3 8LB). This was acquired in March 1854 and later became part of the Tap & Spile chain.

By 1937, the Mesters brewery space was part of the Effingham Steelworks and Mills. Last November, the space was a derelict shell. Now, there is a mix of new and relocated brewery kit: including some from both Broadtown Brewery (Swindon) and Lost Industry (Wadsley Bridge, S6 1NA). The latter were in operation from 2015 until last summer.

The five, 1000 litre (6 Bbl.) fermenting vessels allow brewing to take place twice weekly with each brew comprising 40% cask, 40% keg and 20% cans. Two new conical fermenting vessels have just arrived: these will increase capacity.

Head Brewer is Sam Bennett, the driving force behind the highly rated Grizzly Grains Brewery: a one-person operation (2020-24) which produced award-winning beers initially from his house in Walkley then from March 2021, in a 4.5 Bbl. plant in an industrial unit near Bramall Lane. He is assisted by Tom Naylor. 

The move and relaunch has brought a rebrand, involving design input from Nick Law (Emmanuales Brewery). The logo has been tweaked but continues to include the ‘Little Mester’ figure which advertises their ‘Mesterly Beers.’ A Little Mester was a self-employed worker who was involved in the cutlery trade: The Last Mester IPA (4.6%) and Stan’s Stout (4.8%) are tributes to the last Little Mester, Stan Shaw (1926-2021). The brewery originally chose their name, to honour those who helped to put Sheffield on the map. The reputation of skilled work and producing quality products, sums up how they feel about making beer.

In addition to the stout, the core beer range includes Mesters Royds Bitter (3.8%), and two hazy pales: Argent (4.2%) and Mesters Mate (4.5%). The red IPA, Mesters Rouge, (5%) is named after a fine polishing paste, Jewellers Rouge, which is used for buffing and shining up high quality knife blades. Made from iron oxide, the paste is dark red in colour. Other beer plans include a Kolsch, lager, a Christmas beer, and a Cherry IPA. As Co-owner, Neil Adgie explains: ‘The idea is to do some beers that aren’t necessarily experimental but to perhaps do things that haven’t been done for a while. We want to do some fruit beers. We’ve got five really big cherry trees on site and we’ve got permission to harvest all of the cherries, so at some point it’s likely we’ll do a Cherry IPA.’

Little Mesters beers are increasing seen across Sheffield and the local area. For example, two of their beers were recently showcased at the Barnsley CAMRA  Beer Festival. One of their bigger customers is Sheffield Cathedral events. Neil explains: ‘We supply them with cans and kegs for all of the events they have in the cathedral, so they sell lots of beer.’ The brewery has also been involved with Sheffield Home of Football (SHoF), providing canned beers for their events. This charity promotes Sheffield as the home of modern-day football. Little Mesters are currently on the up: we wish them luck with their relaunch as the brewery continues to grow and develop.

Abbeydale Brewery, Sheffield’s longest established brewery, are celebrating this week, having been announced on the shortlist for three prestigious nationwide awards.

Firstly, they’ve scooped a spot in the top three in the Best Drinks Producer category in the famed BBC Food & Farming Awards. The three finalists in each category were chosen from thousands of nominations by a judging panel of experts, headed up by renowned chef Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall. Abbeydale are the only brewery to be recognised on the shortlist this year, alongside sparkling wine company Nyetimber and the Yorkshire Wolds Apple Juice Co in this highly competitive category. 

In addition, they’ve been nominated for the title of Brewery of the Year in the 2025 Brewers Choice Awards, organised by industry magazine the Brewers Journal, where their much-loved beer Black Mass has also been shortlisted in the “Beer of the Year” category.

Founded in 1996, Abbeydale Brewery are well known for producing a huge range of beers (in particular their flagship pale ale, Moonshine), blending innovation with heritage and reflecting these values across their beers. These nominations all come as the brewery heads towards the first anniversary of becoming 100% employee owned, a pioneering change in ownership which has seen them gain a reputation as industry trailblazers, including winning the Employer of the Year title from the Society of Independent Brewers & Associates (SIBA).

Co-Managing Director Dan Baxter says of the nominations “I’m so proud of the team and what we have achieved in making the shortlist for these fantastic awards. Since becoming an EOT last year, our core values of working within our community, championing our employees, doing business the right way and dong it all with a sense of humour – as well as, of course, making excellent beer! – have been made ever more visible for more people to see, and it’s wonderful to see that recognised.” His fellow Co-MD, Toby Grattidge, echoes these sentiments, adding “We’re incredibly proud of our first year of employee ownership and how hard everyone has worked. Publicans and drinkers alike have been so supportive, and it feels fantastic to see this reflected by being shortlisted on a national scale”.

Chin Chin Brewing Co are hosting another open weekend from 26 to 28 September, open 1pm to 9pm each day. It features a bar showcasing their own cask ales plus some keg beers from guest craft brewers along with cider, music and food. The brewery is on Langthwaite industrial estate in South Kirkby, a ten minute walk from Moorthorpe railway station (Sheffield to Leeds/York via Dearne trains).

Blue Bee are best known for their pale hoppy beers and their ginger beer has something of a following too, however they do brew dark beers now and again and one of their recent brews is Parkwood Porter, at a sensible 4% ABV. In contrast, an extra pale ale has also been brewed at a sessionable 3.7% using Columbus, Chinook and Citra hops.

Stancill Brewery have unveiled their Autumn range of seasonal beers including Bavaria (Golden Ale), Secret Potion, Casper (ghostly pale) and Treason (Parkin Porter).

Bradfield Brewery are building up to the usually much hyped annual cask launch of their Christmas beer, Belgian Blue, available from 3 November. However something that has been taking place much more quietly is their growing range of gluten free bottled beers, which now includes a choice of Farmers Blonde, Brown Cow, Belgian Blue, Pale Ale, Sixer, Stout and Yorkshire Farmer.

Eyam Brewery, based in Great Hucklow, are running a crowdfunding initiative to open a brewery tap bar and shop in Tideswell as they are unable to do so at their current production site.

True North Brewery is saying goodbye to brewer Dean, who is moving on to pastures new. A decision has been made not to employ a new brewer and instead to lease the brewery out to an independent operator, who will be given the opportunity to supply True North’s venues.