After what feels like the longest autumn ever, we’re feeling very ready for some seasonal merriment and thankfully our brewteam have been working hard to make sure there’s plenty of beer to bring you all tidings of comfort and joy!
Before all of that though, just in time for election week we’re releasing Purgatory (4.1%), a feeling we’re probably all feeling familiar with by now! It’ll be a quaffable pale ale with Citra and Delta hops. And after that I think we’ll all be ready for some Hibernation (4.2%), a hazy pale with Centennial, Simcoe and Cascade hops.
Heading closer towards 2020 we’ve also got Prophecy 4.5% coming up, plus Reveller, a tasty 3.9% session pale ale to get you in the party mood.
In January, we’ll have the return of the ever-popular Citra hopped Duck Baffler, our most requested Dr Morton’s and becoming something of a new year’s tradition here at Abbeydale! And joining the Brewers Emporium range we plan to release a new version of our Serenity Session IPA, and an as-yet to be confirmed iteration of our Wanderer “weird & wonderful” beer! We’re also really excited for one of our first brews of next year to be a collaboration with Beatnikz Republic. It’s DIPA time!
And just to finish off, because apparently I didn’t make this joke last year and I don’t wish to waste another opportunity (sorry), may I wish you a beery Christmas, and a very hoppy New Year!
Cheers,
Laura
Steel City celebrated their tenth anniversary with a ‘Decade of Bitterness’ event at the Crow featuring beer and cake (cheers Sue!). The anniversary brew Hop Manifesto Reloaded was launched at the event and is now doing the rounds in the usual suspects, and some one-off beers were also available including a tonka version of Stout Wars. Hop Manifesto Reloaded is brewed to the ‘Transatlantic Pale Ale’ style Dave and Gazza made their name with all those years ago, with a UK-style pale malt base and American-style hop additions, when IPAs still had bitterness rather than being brewed to taste like fruit juice #makeIPAbitteragain.
For winter rather than brewing a beer for the season Dave opened three barrels that had been maturing between six and nine months. Firstly, the final instalment of the Burn the Kirsch series is Holmenkollen, this started life in the same way as the Fantoft Edition, a cherrywood-smoked rauchbier with cherries, but then aged nine months in a Bordeaux red wine barrel with more cherries. The result is a deep red brew with soft fruity smokiness cut by sour cherry and wine. Next up is Corvus Corone – the Crow from Bordeaux, this is the sour brut IPA brewed with Kate, Chris and Adam from the Crow and aged in a Bordeaux wine barrel with grapes. The end result is almost like a sour wine, with the sharp acidity complimented by the tart grapes. Finally, The Rum Thieves is the megacollab Lactose the Intolerant chocolate coconut milk stout aged in a 21-year-old [REDACTED] rum barrel, the rum going perfectly with the chocolate and coconut.
The latest brew is a collaboration, who’d have thought it, this time with one of Germany’s most innovative breweries, namely Freigeist. Dave met Sebastian several years ago and a collab has been mooted ever since, and has finally happened. Mein Herz Brennt (German for ‘My Heart Burns’ but also a track by German metallers Rammstein) resurrects a near-extinct style, Berliner Braunbier. As well as being darker than the better-known Berliner Weisse, the Braunbier was historically more sour and had more hops (or indeed, had hops). Being Steel City, this was interpreted liberally to mean lots of Wai-iti and Lemondrop. Part of the batch had blackcurrant added, and some has been hidden away in a wine barrel with goji berries for a few months 
As ever, Kelham have a couple of monthly specials brewed.
Santa Baby is a 5.9% South Pacific IPA that packs a punch! It may be cold outside, but this Aussie Christmas beer will warm your cockles. Packed with the freshest South Pacific and American hops this festive brew is full flavoured and deliciously juicy.
Our second Christmas offering is Bar Humbug, a pale session ale at 3.9%. Subtly hopped this blonde ale is lightly flavoured with fresh zesty notes, so you can enjoy it all Christmas long. Whether or not you enjoy the festive season we shall leave up to you…
Finally, on the twelfth day of Christmas our brewery sends to you… Cocoa Noel. The most popular brew from our Foraged & Found range, Cocoa Noel is a chocolate stout that comes in at 5.5%. Roasted cacao shells are a waste product generated from the artisan chocolate making process. These crisp and delicate shells hold fragments of flavoursome cocoa nibs which we include in our mashing process. This festive stout has an unctuous velvety-smooth mouthfeel, balanced with the subtle aftertaste of bittersweet dark chocolate. 
Lost Boys is a complex brew crafted using British Propino barley blended with Kentish Pilot, and new world hops. This robust 4.8% golden ale is a tribute the swathes of young men that were lost during The Great War. Within the Welbeck Chapel a cast bronze plaque records the names of the fallen, many of whom served in the local regiments; the Sherwood Foresters and the Nottinghamshire Yeomanry. Hearty, bready undertones from the malt and a sharp bitterness from the Pilot hops are uplifted by tropical fruits from the American varieties.
Our second offering is Fruit Arcade, a juicy American ale at 4.7%. The Fruit Arcade was a large glass house at Welbeck which famously housed a phenomenal collection of tropical fruits from all over the world. This included one of the first successful cultivations of Pineapples. This recipe uses a blend of hops from three different regions to give a fresh and clean fruit punch flavour , with an overarching grapefruit flavour from Chinook.
Last but by no means least we have our next offering from our Foraged & Found range. Smashing Pumpkins is a 5.7% auburn pumpkin pale, brewed using over 100kg of farmer Mark’s locally grown pumpkins. Displaying a high level of natural sweetness, the pumpkins have been paired with a secret mix of autumnal spice to make a deliciously warming, red beer. 
It’s beginning to look a lot like……Farmers Belgian Blue Season!
Acorn Brewery of Barnsley have brewed a couple of seasonal beers for Autumn.
Phantasm is a 4.5% ABV very pale yellow ale. It is well hopped with Polish Pulawski, German Barbe Rouge to give citrusy, white grape and wild berry aromas. UK Target hops are used to give a sharp bitterness.
Powder Plot is the bonfire night themed beer and is a 4.5% ABV light amber coloured ale with strong floral, herbal, citrus and hints of spiced berries.