Category: Breweries

Next new single hopped IPA is Sticklebract, a 5% New Zealand hopped  beer which packs a powerful pine, citrus aroma. Also we have Sunstorm 4.5% pale straw coloured beer brewed using Galaxy and Warrior hops.

Following the success of our North American IPA, Orange Wheat Beer and Belgian Saison,  the latest in our range of different beer styles is West Coast Pale. At 4.3% this features the American hops Cluster, Columbus and Cascade to give hints of sherbet and black pepper, with a fabulous citrus flavour.  This should still be on the bars of Sheffield at the beginning of July. Also be on the look out for newest specials Trance Sister (3.8% golden pale), Dr Morton’s Eternal Combustion Engine (4.2% pale and dry hopped) and the Sunfest Special Dr. Morton’s Survival Kit (4.1% pale featuring the excitingly named ‘Experimental #30D’ hop!) Talking of Sunfest, it’s that time of year again when we take over The Rising Sun car park in Nether Green from 10th-13th July. There will be 100+ beers and 20+ ciders on offer, mainly new and/or special beers from breweries both near and far. Aside from the beer we have plenty to keep you entertained with live music in the evenings, dance groups and the infamous Dog Show on Sunday afternoon, and if you are feeling peckish, the Whirlow Hall Farm hog roast is returning on the Saturday. Anyone wishing to volunteer at this years festival, please contact the pub on 0114 2303855. To get to The Rising Sun on Fulwood Road, you will need to hop on a 120 or 83A bus heading to Crimicar Lane/Fulwood and there is a stop just outside the pub! Our chosen charity this year is Cavendish Cancer Care and 10p from every pint of the Survival Kit will be donated to that fantastic cause. You may well have seen our collaboration with Founders brewery in Michigan in May, which saw the creation of 3712. This flew out almost as fast as a transatlantic jumbo! Seeing how well this went down we have teamed up with another brewing great, however slightly closer to home with an away trip to Raw at Staveley. As this goes to print there has been no decision made yet on the style or strength, however it should be ready to be launched at Sunfest. Make sure you come down and say hello, we should be there all weekend! Last but not least, due to public demand we have been asked to provide Tramlines with our winning Tramlines #2 beer from last year. This will be available from mid-July and throughout the festival.

The new brewery premises at a rural farm location near Ashford in the Water are almost ready for occupancy. The new brewery equipment is expected to arrive in June with installation and commissioning to take place in July. The new brewery site will enable much greater capacity for brewing the core range of beers whilst it is planned that the exisiting barn brewery on the Chatsworth Estate will be turned into a visitor centre with limited brewing capacity being retained to facilitate experimental and special one-off brews. Whilst the setting up of a new brewery is taking place in the background, Peak Ales continues to brew to capacity. However, the popularity of their cask ales has impacted on a reduced ability to produce bottled beers for the take-home market. A third brew of the ever popular seasonal ale – Summer Sovereign – is planned to take place as soon as a production slot can be found.

Beer number six in our light versus dark series arrives in July. Mind Control 6.9% Double IPA. Mind bending and hypnotic with a double helping of a trio of the best aroma hops the world has to offer. Citra gives citrus and jasmine, Chinook blackcurrant and elderberry and Nelson Sauvin gives fresh crushed gooseberry. A completely mesmerizing strong pale ale. This beer will also be available in minikegs from the brewery shop – the ultimate BBQ beer? For people who want to remain vertical we also have for July our pale and golden Sweet Home Alabama 4.2% Summer Beer. A very light tasty ale brewed with the finest blend of Cascade and Amarillo hops for an aromatic hit of berry fruits and a sorbet citrus zing perfectly complimented with British lager malt. A golden beer for a golden summers evening. Tramlines Music Festival dates for your diary – Kelham Brewery/Fat Cat car park. Friday Evening 25 July ‘Everly Pregnant Brothers’ and Saturday Afternoon 26 July ‘Lucy Spraggon’ and ‘Steel City Rhythm’  

Making its annual return for June is Summer Breeze 3.5%, a New Zealand pale ale. Perfect for the warm summer day. This light refreshing golden ale uses the choicest hops from New Zealand. The legendary Riwaka hops add a zesty grapefruit flavour whilst Wakatu adds a resinous floral character. Tipple malt adds a slight biscuit malt character to round off this glorious summer pint. Crimson Steel 4.0%, number five in our ‘Jim Connolly’ Light versus Dark series, is back. It’s a dangerously hoppy amber ale brewed with premium American hops for a charmingly pungent aroma of zesty citrus with a hint of nettle and aniseed. The colour comes from crystal and amber malt which balances the massive hop hit. Courageously hopped delicious ale. If you were lucky enough to get a ticket to see the Arctic Monkeys at Finsbury Park over the May bank holiday you should have spotted the Kelham beer tent working hard to supply our Easy Rider to 100,000 thirsty festival goers. Don’t forget the Kelham Brewery shop for your BBQ beer requirements. 9 pint cans, 18 pint and 36 pint boxes are available.

Steel City’s bank-holiday-enforced hiatus continued through May, but Dave did manage to find time between trips to Austria, Poland, and France to travel to the slightly less exotic Mexborough, to brew not one but two collaborations with Dale at Imperial. Well, sort of! Dave and Dale decided to indulge in a spot of parti-gyling, brewing 8bbl of Transatlantic pale ale and splitting it into two fermenters, one of which had dark malt and more hops added! On the Light Side is The Evil Empire Strikes Back, a Steel City-style Transatlantic pale ale with Maris Otter and wheat malts, Magnum for bittering, and a big flame-out charge of Galaxy, Citra, Willamette and Centennial. On the Dark Side is The Evil Empire Strikes Black which has added dark malt and Chinook hops. Both have yet more hops added in the conditioning tank.

After sifting through 100s of entries the judging panel for the Best Drink Producer, led by Victoria Moore and Pete Brown, has awarded the accolade for 2014 to Thornbridge Brewery. The BBC award is made to the company that uses “carefully sourced ingredients and skill to produce an outstanding drink”. Pete Brown commenting on the judging at Thornbridge said “Every time I go there, there are new surprises, and they had plenty more this time. Thornbridge are exploring the vast library of beer styles that already exist around the world, mastering them in turn. Having made their name with cask ale and then American style craft beers, they’re now exploring classic German styles such as Kolsch and Weizen” With the number of entries in the category doubling in 2014 Victoria Moore said the task was “incredibly tough” but that Thornbridge was “the one we were talking about weeks after the visit”. “Absolutely delighted” said Jim Harrison about winning the Award, “whilst we have won many awards in the brewing industry to win one across a wider range of drinks, given the tough competition, is indeed an honour and a reflection on the quality we aim to achieve at Thornbridge”. Thornbridge’s Head Brewer Rob Lovatt was also delighted “I’ve just returned from the World Beer Cup with a medal for our beer and so to win this award so soon after is a real testament to the hard work all my team put in day in and day out”

We welcome a new member of staff to Acorn towers this month, Ben Tysoe will be taking on the role of sales manager for the South Yorkshire region. Many of you may know Ben as he was the manager of the Devonshire Cat in Sheffield for 10 years. New beers for June include: Sur Votre Velo (on your bike) 5%. This is the first beer that Bruce Woodcock, our youngest brewer(aged 23) has put together. Brewed with Halcyon pale ale malt. The hop additions contain American Mount Hood, Chinook and Cascade then dry hopped in the fermenter with Cluster hops. The results are very impresive with floral and citrus aromas and a grapefruit undertone. England’s Dreaming 4.5%. Our football beer makes another appearance ready for the World Cup. Light golden in colour and brewed with 3 varieties of English hops – First Gold, Warrior and Bramling Cross, this could be a winning combination!