Summer is finally here and to celebrate we’re brewing erm… Summer, a 3.9% cask only release hopped with Vic Secret, Enigma and Galaxy for a tropical, approachable and aromatic pale ale.
Also heading to a bar near you this month is Doctor Morton’s Ship’s Biscuit (4.1%) – a classic, clean and mellow easy-drinking pale with Galena hops. Light and fruity with a pleasant berry and blackcurrant character.
And our new series inspired by Mythical Creatures from around the globe continues with the sea-witch Caecelia. Galaxy and Cascade hops give tropical and stone fruit notes including peach and passionfruit, coupled with a gentle spiciness and an enticing bitter finish in this 4.0% pale.
From the Brewer’s Emporium and available in cask, keg and can, we’ve got something special which is all new from the Indulgence series. In collaboration with Trupig vegan chocolatiers we have Trublerone Stout (5.5%), recreating their take on a triangular treat in beer form! Sweet, silky and moreish with decadent notes of cocoa and roast almond encompassed in a velvety-smooth finish. Plus, it’s time for the bi-annual return of the ever popular Mosaic single hopped Cryo Heathen (5.0%). And finally, this one’s unlikely to make an appearance in cask but from our sour series Unbeliever we have a 4.5% Passionfruit Sour on the way. Tangy, juicy and tropical with a mouth-watering zesty finish.
Eyam brewery are hosting an open day on Saturday 15 June. As well as a bar serving their beers the event will feature a Sunshine Pizza truck, music and meet the brewer. Capacity is limited so advance tickets are recommended – they only cost £2.50 and include your first pint. The brewery is located in Great Hucklow at Cartledge House Business Centre. Buses 65 (Sheffield-Buxton) and 173 (Castleton-Bakewell) stop a few minutes walk away.
The newest beer from Chantry Brewery is “Living on the Ceiling”, a 4% ABV pale ale which made its debut on their tap room bar on the weekend of 12/13 April including the Saturday when a Spandau Ballet tribute band were playing there.
Fuggle Bunny Brew House have announced their calendar of Saturday special tap events, supplementing their routine Friday bar sessions. They will be on 25 May, 29 June, 27 July, 28 September, 26 October and 30 November. The Saturday events often include entertainment and a food vendor.
Doctor Morton has an all-new beer on the way from his Chrononautical essentials range – Dinosaur Sedative (4.1%) is the only solution you need to keep your pterodactyl under control. Hopped with Cascade and Vic Secret for notes of zesty citrus fruits coupled with a refreshing pine character and a moreish bitter finish.
From our beautiful series of collaborations with artwork inspired by vintage railway travel posters, we’ve teamed up with our friends at Fell Brewery to create Fall for the Lake District (see what we did there?!) – a 4.5% transatlantic pale where UK grown Harlequin hops meet American classics Simcoe and Chinook for a vibrant beer with notes of pine, passion fruit, peach and pineapple.
And from the Brewers Emporium, we’ve got the return of our ever-popular Splendour (4.4%), a dry-hopped pale ale with the addition of literally buckets full of fresh oranges, and West Coast pale ale Pine Range (4.5%), floral and full-bodied with a clean malt bill allowing the big-hitting hop combination of Columbus, Cascade, Chinook and Mosaic to shine through.
Finally, it’s not being released this month, but we are planning a very special brewday with one of our most iconic beers making a very welcome return – Last Rites will soon be on the way…
Bradfield Brewery continue with their programme of seasonal ales with Plum Bitter hitting the bars in March with CruciBull due to be released whilst the world snooker is on at the Crucible theatre then looking ahead to May they have a cherry beer planned. On the bottled side of things the latest bottling of Belgian Blue is gluten free.
Chantry Brewery’s Full Moon Pale Ale is now gluten free.
Little Critters new dark mild – Bentley’s Bark – made an appearance at the Rotherham Real Ale & Music festival. It is 4.2% ABV and brewed with cane molasses along with UK malt and hops giving it a touch of sweetness as well as a smooth texture and deep flavour.
Collyfobble brewery, based in Barlow near Dronfield, is brewing a mild for May.
One of the more recent Fuggle Bunny Brew House beers which was featured at Rotherham Real Ale Music festival was Chapter 11 – 2AM Hoppy, a 3.9% ABV session IPA. Although fairly lightweight in terms of alcohol content, the flavour is a bit more heavyweight with citrus notes and plenty of bitterness! The brewery continues to host tap sessions every Friday and they are just a short walk from Halfway tram terminus.
Neepsend Brewery marked International Women’s Day with a collaboration brew with Jo from the Anglers Rest in Bamford. Look out for this beer in cask on the bar at the Anglers soon.
Steel City Brewing’s “Cask of the Red Death” was rate by Untappd users as the best Imperial / Double Outmeal stout in England for 2023.
Drone Valley Brewery, a community enterprise based in Unstone near Dronfield, have released a new session IPA. It is brewed with a couple of New Zealand hop varieties – Nelson Sauvin and Motueka so expect a distinctive citrus flavour, however it is a very sensible 3.2% ABV! Meanwhile their tap room has now moved to summer opening hours – Friday 4pm to 8pm, Saturday 3pm to 8pm and Monday 4:30pm to 7:30pm. They will also be opening on the first Sunday of the month from 2pm to 7pm. Buses 43 and 44 go there.
On the day before the Rotherham Real Ale & Music festival opened at Magna, all the beers from Yorkshire were judged for their own Champion Beer of Yorkshire competition.
Rotherham Real Ale & Music Festival organiser Dr Stephen Burns at Chantry Brewery
The winners…
Mild – Timothy Taylor, Dark Mild.
Session Bitter – Timothy Taylor, Boltmaker
Premium Bitter – Chantry, Special Reserve
Session Blonde/Pale – Ossett, Melon
Premium Pale – Bradfield, Farmers Pale
IPA – Triple Point, Debut
Porter – Doncaster, Liquorice Lump
Stout – Great Newsome, Liquorice Lad
OVERALL JOINT CHAMPIONS..
Chantry, Special Reserve & Triple Point, Debut.
Triple Point has also won awards at Sheffield’s Steel City Beer & Cider Festival for their Debut IPA
First up is our big news for the month… almost a decade after we last brewed one (3,577 days to be precise), WE’RE MAKING A MILD! This one’s made it into the plan at the behest of our marketing team, who’ve had a petition on the go since 2021. From our Restoration series, it’s a classic 4.0% Dark Mild, characterised by a smooth, malt-driven sweetness, balanced by a touch of roast character and hints of coffee. The ultimate British hop, Fuggles, provides a gentle bitter finish. Comforting, rounded and mellow. Mildly excited for this one.
After that bombshell, back to the pale, hoppy beers we’re most well-known for! And we’ve got a cornucopia of them coming up this month – our single hopped series returns with Through the Hopback Citra, 4.0% and with an overt citrussy character and a thirst-quenching finish. We’re bringing back our Ossett Brewery collaboration, Discover Ossett (4.1%), too – this was our quickest selling special last year, a beer created from a mixture of the recipes for Deception and White Rat, with Nelson Sauvin, Amarillo and Columbus hops.
The ever-popular Alchemy (4.2%) is due to make its annual appearance, our very own liquid gold single hopped with Amarillo for a lovely satsuma-esque flavour. And finally, we’ll have the first in a new series out at the end of the month. It’s still under development as I type but will be themed around mythical creatures from around the globe!
And finally from our Brewers Emporium, look out for a couple of soft and juicy hazy pales which will both be available in cask as well as keg and can – Hinterland, a 4.5% Sabro and Vic Secret New England style session IPA, and the latest from our Wanderer series, a single hopped Mosaic NEIPA at 6.2%.
Our Pale Ale series, which is brewed and bottled onsite here in the Loxley Valley, now have been accredited to the new CAMRA One To Try scheme, which promotes the sale of live beer in small pack. All these, plus our core range, which are all bottle conditioned, are now available in 500ml bottles from all good beer shops and online, www.loxleybrewery.co.uk
Bradfield Brewery‘s current seasonal beers include Farmers Irish Dexter (A deep red coloured ale with a sweet malty flavour and a dry finish) which has been available since 19 February and Farmers Plum Bitter available during March.
Lots of excitement at Triple Point Brewing with the brewery expanding into the warehouse area following the arrival of a number of new vessels of varying capacity – 5,000 litre, 2,500 litre and a pilot vessel. The pilot kit means they can play around brewing new experimental beers in smaller quantities. March then sees the brewery’s bar hosting a number of Sheffield Beer Week events as well as the team pouring their beer at Indie Beer Feast. That is just the warm up however, for Friday 15 March sees the brewery’s 5th birthday bash, kicking off at 7pm across the tap room and warehouse areas which will be open until 1am with four special birthday beer releases on tap (including a limited edition pilot brew from each brewer), birthday cake and a DJ playing music from 2019, the year Triple Point launched.
Dave Unpronouncable from Steel City Brewing believed only a madman would cask a 7% stout these days, so obviously, that’s what he did. This minikit production was available to try exclusively at the Wellington in Shalesmoor and was called “I’m Sparticus and So’s My Wife”. It was a strong stout brewed with muscovado sugar and molasses.
February saw Stancill‘s Valentines special hit the bars. “Juliet” is a 3.9% ABV pale ale.
A recent new beer from Lost Industry Brewing available in both cask and keg form is “Woodpecker from Mars”. It is a 5.2% ABV pale ale brewed with Mosaic and Amarillo hops, delivering a light, crisp and fruity beer. You can usually find their new beers at their tap bar, Lost in West Bar.
Acorn Brewery of Barnsley are currently running a series of IPAs brewed with experimental hop varieties supplied by Charles Faram. The latest beer release in this series is CF299.
A recent beer release from Chantry Brewery of Parkgate, Rotherham, has been “Magical Hopster Tour”, a 4.1% ABV pale ale. One of their tap pubs – the Chantry Inn – is in Handsworth, Sheffield and is usually a good place to try their beers, alternatively the brewery itself has a bar that is open as a live music venue at the weekend and it can be easily reached from Sheffield on the Tram Train.
Jolly Boys Brewery of Redbrook, Barnsley, have changed the recipe of their 3.8% ABV Blonde. It is still brewed with Yorkshire Malt and British grown hops but the flavour is now more leaning towards new world with subtle notes of citrus, melon and stone fruit. Their tap pubs are located on the Arcade in Barnsley town centre and on Moorthorpe station.
March means it’s time for Sheffield Beer Week! We’re delighted to be playing a small part in the 10th anniversary celebrations of this fantastic citywide festival. We’ve got a few special beers to celebrate – our collaboration with Sheffield Beer Week itself, Cloud Peak (4.8% Cryo Session IPA) makes a welcome return, as does heritage pale ale Sheffield Rocks (4.1%) … joined this year by all-new Sheffield Stout! A 4.5% classic stout inspired by the history of the city we call home. Expect a pronounced roasty body and flavours reminiscent of rich dark chocolate. A gently spicy hop character provides balanced bitterness before rolling into a smooth and long-lasting finish.
From our Stained Glass series, we’re heralding the arrival of Springtime (4.1%). A light and tropical pale ale to welcome the new season! Vista hops bring sweet, fruity notes of tangerine, cantaloupe melon and orchard pear, with an aromatic hint of green tea alongside.
And from the Brewers’ Emporium, a new series is on the way. We’re diving into the world of new and and exciting hop products, with Aquanaut (4.6%) searching for hidden depths of aroma and flavour. Immerse yourself in the intense tropical notes of Spectrum Galaxy and Lupomax Azacca, followed up with a piney, resinous finish from Incognito Centennial.
Finally, we have a very special collaboration with the iconic Sheffield electronic music duo I Monster. Fly P.A. is a 4.7% dry hopped pale ale brewed to celebrate the 20th anniversary reissue of their album “Neveroddoreven” and their 2024 tour. Featuring Galaxy and Sabro hops for a tropical fruit explosion. A beer that’s perfect for dreaming amid the flowers, for a couple of hours, on a beautiful day.
In early 2020, Carlsberg and Marston’s announced a joint venture: the Danish corporation taking 60% of the new Carlsberg Marston’s Brewing Company (CMBC) with Marston’s holding 40% and receiving a cash payment of over £270M. At the time, we commented that we had concerns regarding the future of the internationally unique Burton Union System as used in Marston’s Albion Brewery. http://tinyurl.com/498ss642
Almost four years later, these concerns have come to fruition: CMBC have announced plans to retire the historic Union System, a method of brewing using an arrangement of wooden barrels and pipes which recirculates beer and yeast during the fermentation period. This system was developed in Burton-on-Trent, patented in 1838, and used extensively for many years. Brewing scientists regard the system as unparalleled for the production of bright, clean, strong-tasting pale ales.
For example, Draught Bass, the best-selling cask beer in the 1970s was brewed using the Union System. Over the following decades, Bass fell into decline, in both quality and sales. The turning point came in the early 1980s, when Bass decided to rip out the System that had been used to produce its flagship Pale Ale for over 150 years.
Across town, Marston’s established their Union System in 1898 when they relocated from their Horninglow Brewery (built 1834) to their current site, the Albion Brewery on Shobnall Road. Described by Roger Protz as, ‘The Cathedral of Brewing,’ there are ten sets of Burton Unions in a single brew-house, mostly used to produce, Pedigree (4.3% abv), a beer originally introduced in 1952. In recent years, volumes of Pedigree have declined and only four of the sets were in use during 2023. Until earlier in January, the Marston’s website described Pedigree as ‘the only beer to come through the Burton Union System. It gives Pedigree it’s one-of-a-kind taste. No Burton Union. No Pedigree. End of.’
After 125 years of use, including over seventy of Pedigree, Marston’s are now to follow the lead of Bass, leaving, world-wide, only one variation on this unique brewing method. The Firestone Walker Brewing Company (Paso Robles, California, USA) use a modified Burton Union system: forty, 65-gallon, American oak barrels.
This decision will see a unique, and historic, part of Britain’s brewing heritage extinct. Ideally, CMBC would reverse their decision or, at least, make the Union Sets, in situ, available to others. This is unlikely to happen – I’d hope to see them, as, at least, a working museum piece. However, with the recent closure of the National Brewery Museum, this is unlikely. For many years, one of the Bass Union sets was on display in the museum car park.
It seems Carlsberg have no care for the heritage they have acquired in the UK – in addition to this backward step, recent years have seen the closure, or disposal, of several cask breweries: Eagle, Jennings, Ringwood and Wychwood. In their home country, Carlsberg have a reputation as a patron of the arts and a respecter of heritage and tradition. However, not in the UK, where a race to the lowest common destination seems to be the plan.
Carlsberg: probably the worse respecter of brewing tradition in the world.
