Category: Breweries

Here’s a little story for you: last November, we had a mobile bottling company travel from the highland reaches of Scotland, fully loaded with a bottling rig on the back of an articulated lorry, to package three of our beers, one of which should have been our award winning Sheffield Porter. The only problem was the combination of our relatively new brewer’s obsession with a London ESB yeast strain and lack of technical data on said yeast meant our award winning Sheffield Porter came in at a sessionable 3.5% ABV, instead of the 4.4% Porter everyone has come to know and love. The labels were already printed, but the beer – which tasted lovely and true to character – was the wrong finishing gravity. No matter what we did to rouse the yeast (including recirculating it, warming it up, and playing it Arctic Monkeys on repeat for days on end… okay, I made that last one up!), the gravity would not budge; we were going to have to bottle this beer under a new name. Bugger! For those unaware, The Sheffield Brewery Company resides in an original Victorian factory, now up-cycled into a brewery, renown for making polishes. Whilst stood by a table displaying the original tins used during our brewery tours, desperately seeking a name, we randomly noticed two little words that just rolled off the tongue: Brunswick Black. Of course! It seemed so obvious; what a great name for a beer. So much so, it inspired Nigel Williams (board member and ex-landlord of the Ranmoor Inn) to sporadically say, ‘Finely Polished Beers’. And so, not only was a new beer born, which is available in bottle shops, restaurants, delis and farm shops in and around Sheffield. A new brand was born. Why do we tell you all this? Because behind our beers and brewery is a great story; a story worth telling. So we have decided it’s time to tell the story – not only ours, but of all Sheffield, past, present and future – by rebranding our core range. If you’ve ever visited The Sheffield Brewery Company on a tour, purchasing and collecting beer up from our off-licensed brewery, or when we’re open monthly to coincide with Peddler Night Market, you may have noticed some of the classic posters from Sheffield brands, Whitbread and Wards, among others. Along with the polishes and typography of the era, these iconic posters have inspired our new designs. Not only did we want to capture all things Sheffield and draw upon our building heritage with the polish names, but we wanted to create something that looked both contemporary and classic at the same time. Along with all this, we have relaunched our website, www.sheffieldbrewery.com, and released our now seasonal special, the truly hoptastic Get Thi’Sen Outdooerz, available throughout the spring and summer months, in both cask and unfined, naturally hazy, craft keg. Exciting times for The Sheffield Brewery Company. When in Sheffield, drink Sheffield beer!

The latest special in the ‘Hopjacked’ series of single hopped pale ales features Columbus hops, which should give it something of a sherbert nose and peppery finish. It weighs in at a reasonable sensible strength of 4.8% ABV and as with all Hopjacker beers is unfined and therefore suitable for Vegans. Another new beer brewed recently, unnamed at time of writing, a 4% session pale, lightly bittered but heavily hopped at flameout with Dr Rudi, Cascade & Ahtanum. Meanwhile Edd the brewer has been involved in a collaboration brew with RAW brewery of Chesterfield called MaiPA – a 6% Maibock inspired IPA brewed with German malts.

Did you know that there are 57 breweries in Sheffield and the surrounding area alone? According to recent statistics, the United Kingdom has in excess of 1700 breweries, producing anything from traditional bitters to white wine oak barrel aged cucumber saisons. When I started Emmanuales, I used to sit on my back doorstep brewing my 25L length batches, dreaming of the dizzy heights of what it must be like to be one of those commercial brewers. You can probably imagine what a nightmare it must have been, then, to be dumping my first industrial sized, 981L batch of Jonah and the Pale due to a technical issue: heart wrenching! This came the day after discovering our The Gospel According To… series failed to carbonate in bottles for reasons that still remain a mystery, and won’t be seeing the light of day any time soon. Hardly the stuff dreams are made of for an aspiring craft brewer. However, true to style, the story ends with resurrection and life. Having brewed it all over again, we have just launched our first round of cask and keg beer, with bottles to follow imminently. Two of our flagship beers, Jonah and the Pale (5.0% Transatlantic Pale Ale) and Ryejoice (5.4% Red Rye) are now available on tap for the first time. This has been a huge achievement two years on from launching Emmanuales. In addition, along with a revised version of Glory, Glory Aleluia (5.1% American Amber Ale) with a new hop schedule including Ekuanot, Citra, Mosaic, Columbus and Azacca, we will also be releasing Beer Thou My Vision, a session Pale Ale, just in time for running the bar at The Big Church Day Out music festivals in Stafford and Bath. It’s been a long, hard road. It’s involved sacrifice, being covered in yeast, moving two tonnes of malt in one day by hand, doing endless research and reading on microbiology, a lot of cleaning, late night design work, and drinking plenty of beer. But it has been worth every moment.

Spring specials from Stancill Brewery Stancill Brewery have been exploring the ebony and ivory of the beer world and have spent time developing a new, not-to-be-missed chocolate porter as well as experimenting with a new hop variety to create what promises to be one of their hoppiest beers to date. Jarrylo is a new pale 4.8% brew and takes its name from the US hop variety featured in the new beer. It is the first time Stancill has brewed with the Jarrylo hop variety and the result is a fruity, slightly spiced beer which is as refreshing as it is unusual. The hops are named after Jarilo, the Slavic God of springtime and in folklore the God is celebrated with spring festivals held in his honour. Unlike many US hop varieties which can often be intense and overpowering, the Jarrylo hops add plenty of subtle flavours, resulting in a dry aftertaste. Dean Pleasant, Head Brewer at Stancill Brewery said:  “Jarrylo is a relatively new variety of hop which provides a hint of banana and pear which also adds a little spiciness. It’s commonly used in saison and Belgian-style beers. The result of our latest brew is a very pale beer which is packed with flavour. Since unveiling the brew it’s created a lot of interest and I can’t see it hanging around for long” The delicate flavours found in Jarrlyo are a stark contrast to Stancill Brewery’s other new spring special, which has been developed with chocoholics in mind! Coco is a new 5.0% chocolate porter, which brings together everything you should expect in a typical porter with an intense chocolate finish. Brewed using a selection of dark chocolate and cocoa nibs to intensify the flavours of the chocolate malts featured in the beer, the result is a well flavoured brew. The coffee flavours of the brew give way to a powerful chocolate finish, resulting in a well flavoured beer which is already shaping up to be something very special. Jarrylo and Coco are both available at Stancill’s brewery taps: The Norfolk Arms in Grenoside and The Horse and Jockey in Wadsley, as well as at selected pubs throughout Sheffield. CAMRA members can benefit from a 20% discount on Stancill ales in both pubs, which makes a pint just £2

Monday 10th April 2017 saw the worldwide launch, in bottle, of Thornbridge’ s Mango Halcyon. Halcyon Imperial IPA has been a successful core beer within the Thornbridge range for a number of years and has gained a committed and loyal following. So why brew a mango version? Rob Lovatt, head brewer at Thornbridge, tells us why. “One of the main fruit aromas I always get from Halcyon is mango and so it seemed a natural choice to use mangoes in trying to develop a fruit version of this IPA. To produce a beer like this is not without a challenge to ensure that when using real fruit, as we have done, that the sweetness does not clash with the bitterness. We want a harmony of flavours but in a drink that is still unmistakably a beer despite us using over a tonne of mangoes into 20,000 litres of beer during the secondary fermentation process. ” Rob and his team recognised that haze in a beer of this type was always going to be evident but that was part of the challenge. “It’s pointless even considering trying to get it bright,” says Lovatt “so we centrifuged the first third of the beer and then transferred the rest of the raw beer back on top. This results is the perfect level of haze and yeast count whilst still retaining bags of juicy mango flavour.” So a challenge yes but, one we think we have met and are delighted with the finished beer.” The marketing campaign surrounding this beer launch included the opportunity to win the experience of being a ‘faux Lord’!

If you are reading this before May 6th, don’t forget to buy your tickets for our ‘P*ss up In The Brewery’ (assuming there are tickets left!) for a unique experience to drink our beer just yards away from where it was brewed! If you are reading this after May 6th, then we hope you enjoyed yourself! Right then! Onto beer news! Our mega collaboration with Magic Rock, Northern Monk and Siren was a monumental success, with all cask and kegs being sold before the release date, and the cans selling out (from the brewery) fairly soon after! You should still be able to grab a one from your local reputable bottle shop. We’ve got some new specials and some old favourites returning, some with a facelift! Both Larceny (4.2%) and Revelation (4.1%) have had facelifts and a tweaking of the recipe, and we are delighted to be bringing them back to your local.  Fabulous new designs from Luke Bailey and Ross Evans, and you’re sure to see more of their distinctive work on our pump clips coming up. Last year, Pat and Sue took a trip to Barcelona, and on their travels happened upon a brewpub called Abirraderro who brew beers under the name Istituto de la Cerveza Artesana. They brew a beer to a Neolithic recipe that was unearthed at a nearby archeological dig. This was an unhopped ‘Gruit’ beer (meaning herb), very popular in medieval times prior to the Reinheitsgebot purity law in 1516. Pat and Sue were so impressed with this beer, they invited Daniel and Iñigo over to brew with us and we have done a slightly modified version! Instead of hops, we have used mugwort, yarrow, juniper berries and heather flowers, alongside some lightly smoked malt to emulate flavours garnered from more ancient malt drying techniques.  It’s ABV will be quite high at 7.4%, and has been fermented with both our own house yeast strain and a Belgian Abbaye strain. We are splitting the brew half into some oak barrels to be mixed with wild yeasts and bacteria to age for nearly a year, while the other half is has had copious amounts of fresh raspberries and Brett Lambicus. This will be our ‘Encantada’ and should be available from the start of the month.

After a busy start to 2017 with the launch of not just our new look core range, but also our brand new Brewers Emporium series, we show absolutely no sign of slowing down! BIG NEWS first… we are throwing open the doors of the brewery for the very first time, to hold a massive party on the premises on Saturday 6th May! This will be a ticket only event, intended to raise awareness for something even bigger. The brewery is 21 years old this year, you might say we’re all grown up and moving out! We have completely run out of space in our current premises and are bursting at the seams and in need of a new home. Come along to see just what we’ve been up to and hear about our exciting plans for the future, all alongside drinking plenty of beer as course! We’ll have some one-off casks and kegs of our own available alongside a cracking selection of guest beers from our good friends around the country. It’ll be a fantastic day with a real festival atmosphere – there’ll be food trucks outside and live music curated by Now Then magazine, as well as the opportunity for brewery tours and exclusive tastings. We are planning that by the time you read this, our project will be live! Search for Abbeydale Brewery on crowdfunder.co.uk or look on our website for the link and grab your tickets before they sell out. Phew! After that massive announcement I suppose we’d better get on with what beers we have available this month. Our Beer Head series returns with Marauder (3.9%), swashbuckling it’s way across the palate with Mount Hood and El Dorado hops, promising a delicate herbal aroma and flavours of grapefruit and apricot. We’ve also got the return of one of our most popular beers, Dr Morton’s Duck Baffler, a pale ale packed chock full of Citra hops for a light aroma with lemon and passionfruit, and a refreshing bitter finish. Next up, we’ve been so excited to tell you all about our next collaboration, Four Degrees of Separation – a reunion back here at Abbeydale for three guys who were here in the early days of their career, and are now at Northern Monk, Magic Rock and Siren! This one’s going to be a big, bold and oh so juicy IPA, weighing in at 7% and taking full advantage of our mammoth hop store with our favourite hops from around the globe. Rounding off the month is our second iteration of sour beer Unbeliever – this time we’re releasing a Gose at 3.9% brewed with coriander seeds and sea salt for a classic gose flavour. Hope to see you all on May 6th!

Spring has sprung, Sheffield is in bloom, and – most importantly – the World Snooker Championships are upon us. To celebrate and promote the internationally renowned event, we are launching Crucible Best with a brand new pump clip and set of beer mats. Be sure to sit down with a pint of our Best Bitter at The Museum, The Graduate and many other city centre pubs that stock our beers around the Crucible Theatre. Available this April is our latest special, Khaki Blanco. This 4.3% NEw Zealand Pale Ale carries through all the hallmarks of New World hops – passionfruit, pine, lemon zest and gooseberries – delivered by hefty amounts of Rakau, Moetueka and Nelson Sauvin. Be on the look out for our new range of bottle conditioned, limited edition beers. We’ve been busy bottling our range of Finely Polished Beers over the last month and will be releasing Razor Paste (5.6% IPA), Brightshine (4.0% Crisp Golden Pale), Knife Powder (4.7% American IPA) and Khaki Blanco (4.3% New Zealand Pale) in 330ml bottles very soon, available from the brewery and local stockists. We’re also pleased to announce that the brewery is now officially an off-license, meaning you can purchase beer direct from our doors. If you’re having a party, a wedding, an event, or just looking to purchase some beer for yourself, we sell a range of beers in different volumes including bottles, pins (40 pints) or even a full ferkin (80 pints). Call us on 0114 272 7256 to place an order or email sales@sheffieldbrewery.com Visit our new looking website for all the latest news and further details on our beers and fantastic brewery venue www.sheffieldbrewery.com

We have begun a range of ‘Brewer’s Choice’ bi-monthly specials, with the new 80/- Scottish Ale (4.5%) (‘Pint of Heavy’). Regular pales are the IPA (5.2%), Gosforth Gold (4.0%), and our most popular 4.8% Fanshawe Blonde. The two bitters Dronny Bottom Bitter (3.7%), and Dronfield Best 4.3% are in stock. And our famous Darks: Unstone Oat Stout, Coal Aston Porter (both 4.5%) and the majestic Stubley Stout (5.2%). All are also available in bottles. Our first cider ‘Treeshekker’ (7.65%) is going down well at a number of outlets. Hand crafted by our local volunteers, using locally ‘Shekken’ apples. If you are near the brewery on Saturday 25th March (10am to 3pm) you are welcome to our Open Day. A bar, and the full range of bottles will be available. Also on the 20th April. Discounts for Members. Join us, own a brewery. Just £10 for life.