Category: Breweries

Steel City have had a busy spring, or at least the bits of it for which Dave was in the country. The dry-hopped sour Medusa (5.0%) went down well, and she has now been joined by her two sisters. Euryale has been aged four months in a white wine barrel with grapes, while Stheno was also aged in the wine barrel but was then bretted. Euryale (5.5%) is doing the rounds now while Stheno (5.5%) will be out later in the year. Also on the sour side, a 6.66% Flemish-style Oude Bruin named Danse Macabre (after the Flemish metal band, but you all knew that) is out now.         June saw the ‘Den of Iniquity’ megacollab take place, featuring 9 breweries and 2 pubs. It was an excellent brewday, apart from the brewing! A stuck mash AND a stuck transfer made for a long day, but fun was still had by all, with beer, a barbeque and some cricket – this was possibly the first time the brew process has been delayed because the brewer was batting and wouldn’t go in to sort the brew until he was out (clean-bowled by Dale from Imperial). The brew is a parti-gyled white stout, the versions being Chocolate & Honeycomb, Rum-Barrel aged Cherry & Vanilla, and a green(!) stout featuring matcha tea. The coalition of chaos was Steel City, Lost Industry, Neepsend, Twisted Angel, James & Kirkman, Mill Valley, Beer Ink, Imperial and Raw plus the Rutland Arms and Shakespeare’s. At long last some bottling has taken place, so look out for the special Stout Wars 3-packs (two different sets) as well as bottles of Demons Are Back, Medusa, Euryale, My Wine In Silence, The Blood The Wine The Roses, HIBUDDHNZNEIPA and Danse Macabre. Dave Unpronounceable

I was recently invited by Mark Simmonite down to his new venture, Dead Parrot Brewery, to have a look around, learn about their plans and try the beer. The brewery is located on Garden Street, not far from Fagan’s, the Three Tuns and Butlers Balti. It is surrounded by construction sites with new blocks of student apartments going up in a complex that was previously home to Sheffield City Council Parking Services. Dead Parrot’s brewing kit is mostly what was installed at Mark’s previous venture, The Brewhouse and Henry’s, which never quite got up and running as Aardvark Brewery. However, there are also some long defunct bits from the cellar of the Frog & Parrot on Division Street (managed by Mark’s brother Nick), which used to be infamous for its very strong malt extract brew Roger & Out. When Greene King bought the pub they closed the brewery on health and safety grounds. The brewery building is a long thin one with two rooms: the main brewing room and a cold room where the cask store and conditioning tanks are located. For the first year or so Dead Parrot will be concentrating on brewing and selling beer. Once that core function is on a solid foundation then phase two is to refurbish their other building in the complex and open a brewery tap room. The idea is that bar will be open every weekend to come and enjoy the beer at source plus about four times a year they will hold special events such as beer festivals with music in the courtyard. The first beer to appear on the bars of Sheffield – including the Green Room and Frog & Parrot, amongst others – was Aurornis Xui, named after a bird-like dinosaur which is obviously long since extinct. It is a 4.6% ABV ale brewed with Citra, Simcoe and Pearle hops bringing plenty of flavor but balanced with a strong malt character that you’d expect in a traditional best bitter, I guess kind of like an American red ale. Also tried at the brewery was Bohemia at a very sessionable 3.7% ABV, described as a Pilsen Blonde brewed with Mosaic and Pearle hops, designed to be easy drinking and refreshing like a lager but with enough flavour and bitterness from the hops to keep an ale drinker happy. Still in the fermenter at the time of my visit was the third beer to be brewed, a stout. Currently they are building up a portfolio of core beers that sell well before then having a little more fun brewing an ongoing series of interesting one-off specials – they are very keen to have a go at brewing a sour at some point! It looks like Dead Parrot will be one to keep an eye on and they have some quite exciting plans. If you spot one of their beers at a pub or festival give it a try and see what you think, you can follow their developments on Instagram and Twitter @DeadParrotBeer. Andy Cullen

We have been up and running since March; as far as I know we’re Sheffield’s newest and smallest brewery. We brew each batch by hand and currently brew between 50-80 litres per run. We’re planning on upscaling shortly and are on the look out for a 2.5bbl or 5bbl system as we’re getting more orders than we can currently fulfil! There are only 2 of us working in the brewery at Crosspool, myself and Joe. We’ve been friends for 30 years and thought it would be a good idea to open the brewery after trialling our range as hobby home-brewers. We brew and condition all our beers within our own premises. We hold quarterly tasting events to showcase the core range and our occasional/seasonal brews. The first one was on June and there will be another one at the end August/early September. Details will be announced on our website: www.drinkhopscotch.co.uk. We are currently available on the bar at the Springvale Tavern, Commonside and Guzzle Micropub in Woodseats. The beers they serve change but generally rotate through our core range of Pale Ale, IPA, New England IPA, Brown Ale and Stout with the odd seasonal or occasional brew thrown in for special occasions! We’re talking to a few people about supplying bottles but we’re planning on sticking mainly to cask in the short-term. As well as our regular brews for outlets, we also brew to order for events such as weddings and festivals. Our occasional ones include a Double IPA, a pilsner and a dunkelweiss. We’ve also got some more exciting experiments planned for the next year! All our beer is unfined and with the exception of the IPA (which contains honey) they are all vegan-friendly. Mark Booth

It’s been a while since we’ve contributed to Beer Matters but that owes more to my lack of organisation than a lack of news as we’ve certainly been busy. We’ve brewed plenty of new beers and brought a few old favourites back in recent weeks and months. Just a few of these include: Godgifu (4.5%), an experimental English Pale Ale brewed with new hop varieties from the Charles Faram hop breeding program; Idaho 7 IPA (5.5%), our latest single hopped IPA brewed with a new US hop variety; Babayaga (4.4%), a Mosaic and Ekuanot red rye ale; Demeter, an American hopped IPA brewed with wheat, oats and spelt; Jambhala (3.9%), a six-hop pale ale; (pause for breath…) Massa (5.1%), a marzipan stout; Hildur (4.8%), a wheat beer with rhubarb; Lubin (5.2%), an oak-smoked wheat stout; and Brizo (4.2%), a Columbus, Citra and Nelson Sauvin-hopped pale. Alongside these we have our usual myriad pale ales jammed full of interesting hops. We have also been opening up our new brewery bar for tap room sessions once a month (usually the first Saturday of the month, but keep an eye on our Facebook and Twitter accounts for specifics) and had a blast for each session so far. They have got busier each time and we’ve had loads of lovely feedback and kind words from customers, so thank you very much to everyone who has come along to one. If you haven’t been yet but drinking beer direct from the source in a relaxed, friendly environment sounds like your cup of tea we would love to see you at the next one. The next outside event we’ll be involved in will be running the beer tent at the Folk Forest in Endcliffe Park alongside fellow Sheffield brewers Blue Bee, Exit 33 and the Sheffield Brewery Company. The festival takes place on 21-22 July and is organised by the excellent folks at Regather. We’ll be nestled among the trees serving Sheffield-made beer alongside a host of independent food stalls and producers and a stellar line-up of music for what promises to be a great weekend. Gavin Martin

It’s been all systems go here so far this summer here at The Sheffield Brewery Company.  Our Brewery Tap Room events are growing in popularity, our bottling rig is in full swing, and our new limited-edition releases are flying out of the door.  Following the success and fantastic feedback we had with Liquid Metal – a 3.7% small IPA, now available in 330ml bottles – we have some fantastic new beers available and coming up this month. In June, we collaborated with Frazer’s Coffee Roasters to produce Berlin Black (5.7%): everything you’d want in your breakfast (oats, cereal, cold brewed coffee, milk, and sausages… well, smoked malt!) but in a stout. In celebration of this year’s Tramlines festival and headline act, Noel Gallagher’s High Flying Birds, we’ll be releasing a beer aptly named after a classic Oasis song. It’s also the name of a polish that Joseph Pickering and Sons produced in the Albyn Works, which is on display if you come to our tap room. Morning Glory (3.6%) features some of the newer English varieties of hop – Jester, Olicana and Ernest – and we added over 10 kg of dried elderflowers to the brew kettle, giving off the most amazing aroma! We’ll also be releasing our first DIPA, Renovator (8.0%), in keg and bottle, hopped with ample amounts of your favourite American hops. All these beers will be available in 330 ml bottles from various places in and around the city. Don’t forget to join us on the first weekend of every month for our Brewery Tap Room opening, where you can try these beers and many more for yourself, including music and street food from various artists and vendors.  We’re glad to see more and more of you turning out to our events and the positive feedback we’re receiving from you all. As ever, check out www.sheffieldbrewery.com for more details on our beers, events and happenings in and around the brewery. Nick Law

Farmers Blueberry Ale (4.4%) is returning to the brewing schedule for July. Commonly referred to as a summer version of the much-loved Belgian Blue, it’s a malty session ale with fruity, spicy overtones and a not-too-unfamiliar blue tint to the head. Bradfield Brewery’s Unimog (pictured below) will once again be taking part in the annual Bradfield Tractor Rally, this year raising money for Bluebell Wood Children’s Hospice, the Rally will see over 100 tractors travelling a route covering Storrs, Dungworth, Stannington, Bradfield and Oughtibridge, before finishing at The Nags Head, Loxley. Making a guest appearance will be Farmers Red Diesel Ale – on offer at £2 a pint! The event will see tractors arrive at the Nags Head from 2:30pm onwards and there will be a BBQ, family entertainment, charity auction and tractor display. Further information can be found on the Facebook page @TractorRally2018. Jackie

Isn’t this year just flying by?! Here at Abbeydale we can’t quite believe it’s already Sunfest time again, and for the 12^th year the Rising Sun will be hosting an epic weekend showcasing 72 cask and 30 keg beers from ourselves and many of our beery pals. Hope to see (or have seen… depending on when you’ve picked this up!) you there between 5-8 July. As usual we will be launching our annual charity beer at Sunfest, this year in support of Bluebell Wood Children’s Hospice. Brewbell Wood (like what we did there?!) will be a 4.1% classic Abbeydale pale with Rakau and Motueka hops for a fruity body with hints of pine. We’ve got a couple of other new beers out this month brewed in collaboration with real Sheffield institutions. You might have spotted our deliciously light and easy drinking Tramlines Session IPA (3.8%) out and about after its release last month – Tramlines itself takes place from 20-22 July (the tenth time the festival has taken over our fair city!) and we can’t wait! We’re also releasing a big and bold IPA in collaboration with our friends at Peddler Market, exact details still to be confirmed as I write but guaranteed to be perfect to accompany all that tasty street food. From the Brewers Emporium we have Wanderer 4 (4.5%), this time a re-imagining of our Japanese Citrus Pale previously released in 2016 – a light and crisp pale ale with ride added to the malt bill and infused with oranges, lemons and yuzu fruit. And finally from the Doctor Morton’s range we will be releasing Myar Skikt, a 4.1% pale with a bitter finish. Originally named as a brewer’s apology following a brew that went awry, but went down well enough to warrant us making it again! Until next month! Cheers, Laura

Happy summer! We’re looking forward to July as the installation of our new fermentation tanks will be complete and it’s our annual team break to the amazing Moonbeams festival hosted by our pals at Wold Top Brewery! We’ve also got 3 new specials to share with you this month. We’ll start with and old favourite, Cathedral Beeches (3.7%). This bitter is full of heady herbal aromas from British Phoenix hops, making it surprisingly delicious and certainly more interesting than many of its counterparts. Our next special is one of our favourites, Pineapple Lodge (4.8%), named after a grade II Listed building in the heart of the Welbeck village. The balance of malt with American and New Zealand hops make this IPA satisfyingly full flavoured. Notes of tropical fruits are balanced with a rich and deep malt backbone from specialty Vienna Malt, giving an almost pineapple-like flavour. Lastly from our Brewers Choice range we have Mark’s Lager & Lime (4.4%). Whilst Mark is a valued member of the brewery team, it quickly came to our attention that he drinks lager. His tipple is a carefully chosen pint of mainstream lager, pepped up with either a twist of lime cordial or perhaps preceded by a dash of ‘R White’s’. The brewers have decided this has to stop. They have brewed Mark his very own ‘Lager & Lime’ using the finest quality British lager malt and fresh zest and juice from Brazilian limes. Don’t forget to grab your brewery tour tickets! July has already sold out so grab your August or September tickets before they go too! If you’re interested grab tickets via our website at www.welbeckabbeybrewery.co.uk.  Tickets cost £10 per person and include a guided tour and 2 free pints! Jess Low

On 15 July we will be 10 years old!  We sold our first cask to the Riverside pub, followed by the Harlequin, and we’re still here millions of pints later! To celebrate, we are brewing a special one off beer called Time Flies (5.0%), with 10 different dry-hopped versions rotating through the pumps at our tap, the Harlequin. Our special for July is Double Citra (4.3%), a refreshing pale ale hopped exclusively with Citra hops from the American Pacific Northwest. Dry-hopped during fermentation it exudes delicate fruity characteristics including wonderful tropical citrus aromas. July’s charity quiz night at the Harlequin will be supporting the Multiple Sclerosis Society, everyone is welcome and all proceeds will go directly to the charity. Meanwhile, Sheffield Pride Festival returns to Endcliffe Park on Saturday 28 July.  The guys from the Itchy Pig Ale House are providing the bar service and we have been asked to brew the festival beer. We’ll be brewing Out Out (4.5%), a pale hoppy ale with our fave American hops. Pete Roberts

Stancill’s latest offering is a brand new triple-hopped IPA golden ale. Simply called IPA (6.0%), the beer will be launched under the brewery’s ‘Full of Dank’ range. Featuring a triple hop combination of Mosaic, Galaxy and Simcoe hops, introduced to the brew at different times, the hop characteristics are carefully layered resulting in an aromatic, full-flavoured beer. IPA is a beer designed with summer in mind – the perfect accompaniment to barbeques or simply enjoyed whilst soaking up the summer rays in your nearest beer garden. In an unusual twist on traditional IPAs, Stancill’s Dank IPA is unfined. Not only does this make the beer vegan-friendly, but according to head brewer Dean Pleasant, the removal of finings also allows the subtle hop flavours to develop and mature in the drink: “There’s a long held view amongst many drinkers that a cloudy pint is a bad pint. Clear beer is typically produced by adding agents such as isinglass to the beer. This process can help to improve the clarity of the drink, making it look more appealing, however one of the downsides of this process can be that it removes some of the delicate subtle hop characteristics. We wanted those subtle and delicate flavours to come out in our IPA and I’m really pleased with the end result.” IPA is available in keg and cask, and a limited number of cans have been produced. Meanwhile, Stancill has unveiled a truly patriotic pint to commemorate the latest addition to the Royal Family. Promising to be a drink fit for any prince, King Louis (4.0%) is an easy drinking golden ale. Brewed using Maris Otter malt and summit hops, managing director Thomas Gill decided to name the beer in honour of the newborn prince after realising that the chances of Prince Louis actually succeeding the throne were likely to be slim: “Louis is fifth in line to the throne and so we decided to welcome him into to the world with a new beer named in his honour. King Louis is our second beer to brewed in honour of the next generation of the royal family. Our first, Charlotte, proved to be an instant hit when we first produced it in 2015, but we wanted to revisit the recipe and I’m sure that our latest offering will be every bit as popular as its earlier incarnation.” King Louis is currently available at The Albion (London Road), The Closed Shop (Commonside), Horse & Jockey (Wadsley) and the Norfolk Arms (Grenoside).