To keep the spirit of this much-loved annual city-wide beer celebration going through an exhaustive twelve months of the global Covid-19 pandemic, Sheffield Beer Week goes virtual in March 2021.
Taking the week to celebrate the local beer scene, who have had little respite or adequate support from the government during this global pandemic, Sheffield Beer Week will celebrate via social media campaigns across their channels on Instagram, Twitter and Facebook in a ‘look back’ over the last six years, asking participants to also share their favourite memories using the hashtag #SheffBeerWeek.
Sheffield Beer Week at its core shines the spotlight on the unison of beer and food, community and heritage; with a continued celebration of women working in the beer industry (International Women’s Day falls in the week). In previous years there has been everything from women in beer networking events to brewsters’ tap takeover collaborations with organisers such as Fem.Ale and Ladies That Beer. Last year, in 2020, when Sheffield Beer Week was the last UK nationwide beer week event to occur, Sheffield based LGBTQ+ beer group Out and About, Lost Industry Brewing and Sheffield Beer Week collaborated on a beer to celebrate the pioneering life and work of Edward Carpenter. The collaboration shared a unified sentiment which championed welcoming everyone from across the spectrum of sexuality and gender identity-based cultures. Edward Carpenter (1844-1929) was a significant cultural and political activist around Sheffield in his life. Advocating the simplification of life through his market garden and grow your own approach to campaigning for many issues of social concern. These ranged from women’s suffrage to the protection of the environment, from sexual emancipation to the formation of trade unions.
Join Sheffield Beer Week on their Instagram live launch – Monday 8th March, 6pm, with guests from the local beer scene such as breweries Neepsend Brew Co and Saint Mars of the Desert. Shared across socials have been resources compiled by the Sheffield CAMRA branch which highlight pubs, bars, breweries and beer shops where people can source Sheffield brewed beer from; hoping to increase support and boost the local economy.
To kick-off the week, Sheffield’s craft beer festival, Indie Beer Feast usually goes ahead at the iconic Abbeydale Picture House with brewery bars (20+) and street food. On Saturday 6th March the festival will host a virtual launch on their Instagram feed with a surprise beer bundle supplied by associated Sheffield beer shop Hop Hideout. Due to demand, boxes have sold out two weeks ahead of the event.
To see a flavour of previous Sheffield Beer Weeks you can view via the website’s Events Database and the 2019 printed guide online. It features contributions from British Guild of Beer Writers’ members Emma Inch (2019 Beer Writer of the Year), Jane Peyton and beer historian Ron Pattinson: https://issuu.com/exposed_magazine/docs/sheffbeerweek_0219
Head to http://sheffieldbeerweek.co.uk for more information.
Jules Gray
Photographs by Mark Newton.
Local Breweries offering home delivery of beer
Local pubs doing takeaway and/or delivery of food & drink
New beer releases from Abbeydale Brewery mid January include the latest edition of their Salvation series of flavoured stouts (this one involving Sea Salt and Caramel) along with the return of Huckster Cryo, a juicy 6% New England IPA with a plethora of hops including the Ekuanot Cryo variety. Also making a temporary comeback is one of the more traditional seasonals, “Dr Morton’s Duck Baffler”, a sessionable 4.5% ABV classic pale ale brewed with Citra Hops which impart a zesty and refreshing flavour to the beer. All three are available in cans to order direct from the brewery 
The newest brew at Neepsend Brew Co is Hiero, a 4.6% American pale hopped with Summit, Centennial and Eureka. The majority of this beer will be available in can (available to order 
Crosspool Ale Makers latest beer available in cans is Straight Outta Crosspool, a gluten-free West Coast IPA.
Abbeydale Brewery currently have a variety of 24 different beers available in cans and for those wanting to create a beer advent calendar for December they are offering a variety box containing one of each of the 24 beers to order online with free home delivery (alternatively click and collect is available from the brewery). The selection is diverse ranging from the 3.8% Daily Bread traditional bitter up to the 12.4% Strawberry Tigers and Rooftop Jacuzzis stout! Some of the beers are also available individually in 9 pint mini casks.
Eyam Brewery have introduced a “1665 series” which sees some of their regular beers jacked up a few notches. The latest release in this series is a Black Death Imperial Vanilla Stout at 11% (their regular Black Death Vanilla Stout is 7% ABV) offering deeper, more complex flavours than normal! It is available in 750ml bottles.
Abbeydale Brewery normally host Funkfest at the brewery in September, showcasing beers from their “Funk Dungeon” project along with other sour and mixed fermentation beers from guest brewers. With the Covid pandemic this hasn’t been possible, so they are taking it to people’s homes with limited edition Funkfest beer packs available to order from their website from 5th October and local bottle shops selling suggested guest beers. This will run alongside online tutored tastings and video tours of the brewery over the weekend of 30th October to 1st November!