Category: Breweries

How has it got to July, or as it’s known here at Abbeydale “Sunfest month”, already?! We all can’t wait to put Sunfest on at the Rising Sun for the 11^th time this year and hope to see (or have seen, depending on when you read this!) many of you there between the 6^th and 9^th of July. Make sure you try a pint of our beer brewed in support of Cavendish Cancer Care too, with 10p from every pint going to the charity. In other news! Firstly, we’re very excited to announce we will be brewing three collaborations this month. We will be creating a historical collaboration brew with renowned beer historian Ron Pattison and Jules from Sheffield Beer Week. Look out for our strong Scotch ale coming soon, with some of the brew being kept back and aged in wooden barrels to be released during Sheffield Beer Week 2018! We’re also rustling up another fruity concoction (as yet unnamed) with the pups at Brewdog Sheffield, to be released towards the end of the month. And finally, two of the team are heading over to Barcelona for the return leg of our collaboration with the lovely guys from Insituto de la Cerveza Artesana, who brewed Encantada with us earlier in the year. In terms of beers making their way onto bars this month, we’ll have our latest Beerhead, Schemer (3.8%), plotting his way into your pint glass! Dry hopped with Azacca for a hit of mango on the aroma, and a piney, citrusy flavour. The aforementioned charity beer will be on offer too, Triple C, hopped with three different hops beginning with C! Doctor Morton is up to his old tricks shaking his Bag O’ Nuts (4.1% pale) and finally we have a release of Arson (4.4%) with brand new artwork. Expect fruity aromas with hints of biscuit and caramel complemented by a bitter orange finish. Cheers all! Laura

Stancill heads to the South Pacific There’s been plenty of happy talk at Stancill Brewery this month, which is taking a trip to the new world with its latest special, South Pacific. Promising to be the perfect pint enjoyed every enchanted summer evening, the recipe has been carefully refined since its original launch, resulting in a powerfully hopped IPA which features New Zealand Waimea hops. The New Zealand hop variety is balanced with English Olicana hops to create a beautifully blended beer which features notes of citrus and tropical fruit flavours which are balanced with a complex bitterness, resulting in a refreshing, easy-drinking summer drink. Perfect for enjoying in your favourite beer garden, tailored to suit the Great British summer, come rain or shine. One sip and you’ll be whistling a happy tune! Record sales for Shiny Sheff A special beer produced to commemorate the 35th anniversary of the sinking of HMS Sheffield during the Falklands War proved to be so popular that all casks brewed were sold within a week of the beer going on sale. Veteran crew members took part in a special launch at Stancill Brewery to sample the new beer and proceeds from each cask sold were used to support Penistone’s Armed Forces Day. The beer proved to be so popular that a second brew of the beer was produced, helping to raise additional funds for the popular event which supports veterans across South Yorkshire. Both South Pacific and a very limited amount of Shiny Sheff are now available at selected pubs throughout Sheffield, as well as in the brewery’s two pubs, the Norfolk Arms in Grenoside and The Horse & Jockey in Wadsley. CAMRA members can benefit from a 20% discount on the complete range of Stancill ales at both brewery taps.

Kelham Island are extremely happy to announce the launch of our new kegged beer to the collection. KIB One, a 4.2% light hoppy kegged beer, will be ready to hit pubs just in time for the summer and perfect for any beer garden. We have two specials this month: California Drinking, 4.8% A California Common or Steam Beer, which is brewed with ale malt and then fermented with a German lager yeast, gives this beer a robust malty character, enhanced by citrus, spicy, herbal aromas from a blend of German and US hops. Full Nutty Jacket, 4.3% An American style brown ale, brewed with a quartet of coloured malts to give you the full nutty flavour and US hops give this beer a slightly earthy, pine aroma with fruity notes.

Steel City are still awaiting the go-ahead at their potential new home, but the away collaborations are still flowing. Bunch of Cnuts, brewed at Imperial, is doing the rounds at present, and is like a liquid Tunnocks Teacake, big chocolate and raspberry jam flavours backed up with slightly more subtle coconut. Meanwhile, the Black Metal collab Kvassphemy has finally turned up in Sheffield and has started appearing on bars. Black as Satan’s heart and sour as a lost soul, with bready notes from the rye and a slight cherry fruitiness. The next collab at Imperial was a double brew, the main brew being a 6.3% IPA named Strong & Stable and a smaller batch being liquored back to 4.5% and blackened, and named Coalition of Chaos (a pretty good way to sum up Imperial v Steel City collabs!).

We are now entering our second year and celebrating our first anniversary with a special brew, Double Ar. Coming in at a whopping 7.2%, this is a ‘double’ version of our first award-winning beer, Ar: American red. Tasting notes are as follows: “What better way to celebrate our first anniversary than to beef up our first award-winning beer. Double Ar is a hunky 7.2% red ale with heaps of toffee and chocolate malt, fruit, citrus and berry character. Rich with berry, pine and citrus over granary toast and bonfire toffee. Pleasantly sweet with balancing bitterness. Big and warming, smooth but sparking with a dry fruity finish.” Due to the whopping ABV this will be sparsely available in cask with only 6 being racked, around 18 kegs and the remainder in 330ml cans. Also in the tank we have: TpM: The pale Mistress. Brewed specially for the Mistress Cutler’s Challenge with a minimum of £10 per cask and £5 per case going in aid of the Childrens Hospital and Cavendish Cancer Care charities, TpM will be available in a limited edition run of 15 casks with the remainder in 330ml bottles. The beer is a cracker, based upon our biggest seller, SG, this is a more robust 4.8% and has Centennial hops alongside the Aurora for a more lemon citrus character.  “Brewed specially to support the Mistress Cutler’s charities 2017, this premium ale is a ray of sunshine evoking golden summer days with every refreshing mouthful of soft peach and ripe lemon.” AcW: Apricot cumin Wit. Our Summer seasonal keg beer is a twist on the classic orange and coriander flavourings added to the Belgian style Wit beer. Destined mostly for keg and can, we will make a very limited run of 6 casks available. Get it while you can, it’s delicious!

Exit 33 Brewing’s special for the month is Hopnotised, 4.0% ABV. A golden beer which takes elements from three of their favourite beer recipes. Hop flavours abound with a liberal use of late and dry hopping techniques using Azacca, Simcoe, Chinook, Mosaic and Citra hops. Balance and colour is provided by the sweet Munich malt. We have been lucky enough to source some special malt. Chevallier malt has been resurrected from the world seed bank and is once again been grown in small amounts. In the UK, it was at peak utilisation in the late Victorian era covering some 80-90% of the barley area, it fell out of favour due to newer varieties. ‘I tasted the malt grains at a brewers roadshow in Nottingham last month and the depth of flavour blew me away’. We will be brewing a traditional English golden bitter but as ever with a twist. Burton ales which were popular at that time were generally hopped using Fuggles and Goldings. We will be using a Slovenian hop called Cellia as its parent hops were Fuggles and Goldings. We’ll probably also brew a more traditional darker brown ale to let the malt flavour shine through.

Over the coming months, The Sheffield Brewery Company will be hosting a series of guided brewery tours for individuals and small groups. The Sheffield Brewery Company is one of the few remaining breweries built on a traditional tower brewing system. Come and learn about the brewing process, the story of the brewery, and the history of our fabulous building from our head brewers on a guided tour. After the tour, you will be able to sample the beers for yourself in a tasting session, fresh from the source, and relax in our glorious venue. Brewery tours will take place on Saturday afternoons on 8 July, 2 September and 4 November. Tickets are available online at sheffieldbrewery.com/brewery-tours. We also offer venue hire and large group tours with food, as well as Brewer For A Day packages. Visit the above web address for details about The Brewery Experience. In other news, we’re pleased to announce that due to popular demand, we are adding Razor Paste (5.6% razor sharp IPA packed with ample Citra and Mosaic) to our regular line ups of beers. Watch out for it hitting the bars in both cask and 330ml bottles very soon. Keep an eye out on our website for news and details with all the latest happenings with The Sheffield Brewery Company, including our Brewery Tap Room opening dates on the first weekend of every month, with a host of live music, food and great beer.

Acorn Brewery have announced their new range of limited edition beers for the summer season. Summer Pale, 4.1% ABV, is back by popular demand. This beautifully hopped and balanced session ale is the taste of summer. Freebird, 5.1% ABV, is a golden American-hopped ale brewed with Chinook, Cluster and Cascade hops, imparting a crisp bitterness and a highly zesty aroma. Ultra IPA, 5% ABV, is the latest in the brewery’s series of US-hopped IPAs. This rich golden IPA has a spicy, zesty aroma. Scarlet Oak, 4.5% ABV, is a rich, red coloured ale with berry fruits and toasted malt flavours.

Opening on 15 July 2017, the Collyfobble Brewery, based at The Peacock in Barlow, promises a selection of beltingly good ales from their stunning barn conversion overlooking the beautiful Derbyshire countryside. As well as distributing their new range of Derbyshire-inspired ales to pubs and bars throughout Barlow and beyond, the Collyfobble team will be welcoming customers into their beautifully renovated barn to enjoy a one-of-a-kind brewing experience. Master brewer Matthew Clark has been in the brewery game for over 10 years, previously working for Thornbridge Brewery before joining the Collyfobble team. What he doesn’t know about crafting the perfect pint isn’t worth knowing.

Stancill Brewery to commemorate Armed Forces Day with new special Veterans from HMS Sheffield are set to benefit from Stancill Brewery’s latest summer special, which has been brewed to mark the 35th Anniversary of the sinking of HMS Sheffield. Crew members of the destroyer gathered at the brewery in May as part of weekend dedicated to remembering the sinking of the ship which saw 20 people lose their lives, when the ship was hit by an Argentinian air strike on 4th May 1982. Servicemen returned to Sheffield to take part in a special memorial service held at Sheffield Cathedral and to unveil the new beer produced by Stancill at part of this year’s Penistone Armed Forces day. Named “Shiny Sheff” in honour of the nickname given the battleship, the 4.0% golden ale is an easy drinking golden ale which feature fresh citrus and floral notes, resulting in a refreshing, easy drinking session beer. There have been three battleships bearing the name HMS Sheffield. The first was built in 1936 and used during the Second World War. Unusually the ship featured stainless steel fittings built in Sheffield, rather than the standard brass ones used at the time in an attempt to reduce cleaning duties. All ships bearing the name HMS Sheffield include fixtures and fittings produced in the steel city, leading to the nickname Shiny Sheff. Thomas Gill, Managing Director, Stancill Brewery said: “We were approached by organisers of Penistone Armed Forces day to run a bar at the event, who wanted to do something special to remember those who lost their lives on HMS Sheffield in 1982. As well as supporting the event on the day, we wanted to go one stage further and proceeds from every cask of Shiny Sheff sold will also be used to support the event. “It was truly humbling to meet some of the crew who survived the attack on HMS Sheffield, and based on the positive feedback we received from the crew members I can’t see the beer being around for long!” Stancill turns to the Dark side As regular readers of beer matters will know, Stancill Brewery has recently given a rare opportunity for one home brewer to live out their dreams and work with head brewer Dean Pleasant to see their beer on the pumps in pubs in Sheffield. Demand for the competition proved to be high, and after drawing up a shortlist featuring twenty of the city’s finest home brewers, ten were invited to submit beer to the final judging panel which took place at the Horse & Jockey, Wadsley. Each beer was judged based on originality, flavour, suitability for production and innovation, with the top prize being scooped by John Kendall, who works as a team manager at Northern Rail. John began brewing just two and half years ago when his brother-in-law gifted him a brew kit. The kit helped to fire John’s imagination and he quickly progressed to whole grain brewing. His winning beer, “The Dark One” is a black IPA was one of the first recipes he produced and combines hints of dark chocolate and liquorice with tangy grapefruit and lychee aftertaste. After proving that he was top of the hops, and impressing a tasting panel comprising of industry experts and representatives from Stancill Brewery, John will work with Stancill Brewery, brewing the beer inside the brewery. Brewing is expected to take place soon and the beer available later in the summer. **STOP PRESS** Stancill Brewery has acquired its first pub in Sheffield’s city-centre. It is expected to open its doors in June. More details to follow.