New Keg Bar for Steel City Beer & Cider Festival
This year’s festival will see an important addition to the beer offering. A keg bar is being installed for the first time at the festival to showcase CAMRA-approved cask-conditioned KeyKeg beers. Several local brewers have been producing keg beers that fall within CAMRA’s definition of Real Ale and we are pleased that we now have the means of offering them to our visitors. All the equipment for the bar is being kindly provided by Abbeydale Brewery and will be sited in an additional room made available to us by the Kelham Island Museum. 12 different keg beers will be on sale and we are delighted that we are able to include this popular development within the UK brewing scene in our festival. The whole subject of Keykeg beers has been a controversial one for some time from CAMRA’s point of view, but now that approval has been given for cask-conditioned keg beers, we can showcase some of the excellent beers available, showing a different side to modern brewing.
FESTIVAL TIME!
By the time you get this copy of Beer Matters the Steel City Beer & Cider Festival will be just a few weeks away. So here’s a last quick rundown of what all you eager visitors can expect.
Over 300 Beers & CidersWhy not visit our website to look at the full beer and cider list to see what beery delights are available to try. Several brewers have produced one-off specials for the festival.
New KeyKeg barDon’t faint! This year sees the introduction of a KeyKeg bar offering CAMRA-approved cask-conditioned KeyKeg beers. This will be in our new extra room downstairs.
International Bottle BarsYou can also try a range of International bottled beers if your tastes run further afield. With a bottle bar in each of the main rooms, you don’t need to leave your friends to get that extra-strong belgian sour you’ve been thinking about.
Fancy Dress FridayVolunteer types will already know that Friday night is fancy dress night, but customers are encouraged to come in fancy dress too. There’s no prizes, but a good chance your photo might end up in Beer Matters. This year’s theme is Sci-FI so we’re expecting some interesting costumes.
Kelham Island MuseumFor the third year running the festival is taking place at the atmospheric and hugely popular Kelham Island Museum. The Museum will be running their famous Steam Engine at 6pm and 8pm on Friday.
Live MusicThe upstairs room will be featuring great live bands in the evenings, and the Loxley Silver Brass Band on Saturday Afternoon. Thursday night is soul band The Basement, Friday night is rock’n’roll with Vegas 6, and rockabilly outfit The Slingshots round things off Saturday night.
Food StallsFestival regulars will know that we have a great selection of hot food, and this year is no exception, with several stalls returning once again.
If you want more details on the festival, please visit sheffield.camra.org.uk/festival. (For anyone who spotted the subliminal message in the above article, well done! Visit the website, then click on “Get Involved” to claim your prize!)
VOLUNTEERS STILL WANTED
If you’ve been thinking of volunteering, but haven’t got round to it, the good news is that there’s still time. Just head over to sheffield.camra.org.uk/festival and click on Get Involved to offer your services. Don’t worry if you don’t have any experience of working at a festival, we’ll find something nice and simple to ease you into it.
Don’t forget that you’ll get free beer tokens, a free festival t-shirt (although numbers are limited so best be quick), and a volunteers trip out to a Manchester brewery and later in the year.
If you’re still not sure about anything you can always email members of the committee directly to ask any questions you might have.
And… we’ve said it before but it really is true…the biggest benefit to volunteering is that you’ll have the satisfaction of being part of the team that delivers another successful festival.
The annual Steel City Beer & Cider Festival is now only a few short months away, and we are on the lookout for more volunteers to help make the festival even better than before. If you have a day or two, (or more, or just half a day even) you could spare between 17th and 23rd October and fancy the idea of being part of our team, please get in touch. Staffing forms are now up on our website sheffield.camra.org.uk/festival.
There are a variety of roles available depending on your experience and availability, and all volunteers receive a FREE festival T-shirt as well as free entry and free beer tokens. Although, of course, the biggest reward is the satisfaction of being part of an enthusiastic team that makes the Festival such a highlight of the Sheffield calendar!
For anyone who would like to offer their services as a Bar Manager, we are also having a training day to run through how the bars work in a bit more detail. This is being held at Blue Bee Brewery and is allied to a brew day, so all attendees will get the chance to be involved with brewing a festival beer in addition to the training. It takes place on Saturday 17th September, starting a 9am till around 4pm. If you wish to attend this day, you will need to email us on festival@sheffieldcamra.org.uk so we know how many people will be there (and how many pizzas to order for lunch!)
One of the more inexpensive options for this years festival is sponsoring a cask.
For only £50 + vat you or your company can sponsor a specific cask and have the pleasure of showing your friends or colleagues your support for one of Sheffield’s best festivals.
With a highly visible new label design, you can incorporate your company logo and details, and with 4 free entry tickets included in the price, you will be able to invite your guests to see (and taste!) your sponsored beer.
The picture shows the newly designed layout, seen here with the details for The Commercial at Chapeltown, our first label sponsor.
Anyone interested should contact sponsorship@sheffieldcamra.org.uk for more details.
The first sponsored items for this years festival have begun to appear at pubs, clubs and various venues across the city. Beermats! Lots of them. A number of sponsors have kindly contributed to a bumper print run of 90,000 mats, which started appearing in early July to put the festival in front of the 100,000 people who come into Sheffield for the Tramlines Festival.
A total of 13 sponsors took advantage of our special rate to help promote both the festival and their business. The mats will be released in phases up to the Festival in October, so collectors will need to be eagle-eyed to get one of each.
Alternatively for the serious collectors, we have put together three collectors sets containing one of all 13 designs and will be auctioning them on ebay once a month over the summer with proceeds going to the Childrens Hospital Charity.
Here’s what to look out for
Thanks again to all our beermat Sponsors
Travelmaster
Abbeydale Brewery
Stancill Brewery
Acorn Brewery
Bradfield Brewery
Emmanuales
Little Critters Brewing Co.
Lost Industry Brewing
Network Taxis
Shakespeare’s
Sheffield Brewery Co.
Thornbridge Brewery
True North Brew Co.
The Three Valleys Festival takes place across the Dronfield area on Saturday 4th June featuring 15 pubs and a club all with real ale. Many of the venues will also feature food and music. Entry to all the venues is free of charge.
We are running a Sheffield CAMRA branch social to this event, catching the 12:05 train from Sheffield station to Dronfield. A return ticket costs £4.60 (remember to buy your ticket at the station before boarding, it may cost more on train).
As it is getting quite close now, here is the Beer Matters guide to the festival.
Getting there:
There are a number of local bus services in Dronfield that pass participating venues, including Stagecoach 43/44 and TM Travel 14/16. There are also some free feeder buses operated by Linburg running to the festival from Totley (11:56 from Cross Scythes or 12:00 at Shepley Spitfire), Bradway (12:03 from bus terminus), Dore & Totley rail station (11:40), Mosborough (11:43 from British Oak), Eckington (11:53 from bus station), Ridgeway (11:55 from opp church) and Marsh Lane (12:00 from opp Butchers Arms).
The most popular way of reaching Three Valleys Land however is by train, Dronfield Station will be at the heart of the festival. Trains on the Leeds-Sheffield-Nottingham route call at Dronfield every hour.
Getting around:
A free festival bus service will operate from midday until 9pm linking all the venues at regular intervals (every 15-30 minutes). The buses run on two routes, both serving Dronfield Station. The station will see 8 departures per hour. route A goes to Dronfield town centre, Dronfield Woodhouse, Hill Top, Hallowes, Unstone and Whittingon Moor. (Note there will be some extra buses on part of this route badged as route C). Route B goes to Coal Aston, Hundall and Unstone.
Note that the free bus service can be very popular, some people choose to get a taxi rather than wait for the next bus. New this year is the arrival of Uber at the festival who will have a number of cars around Three Valleys Land that can be ordered on their phone app. If you are new to Uber look out for the 3 Valleys promotional code which will get you your first ride free (up to the value of £15). Other taxi operators in the area include City Taxis and Network Taxis.
Some of the venues are of course walkable. From the station it is a reasonable stroll to the Dronfield Arms, White Swan, Three Tuns, Pioneer Club, Green Dragon and Manor House Hotel.
What’s on?
Coach & Horses, Dronfield: Honey Bee Blues Club is hosting live music from 4pm featuring Alex Haynes, Ash Gray & the Burners and Black Thunder Revue. Beer from Thornbridge plus guests. Food from Chariot’s Kitchen. (Festival bus A, local bus 43).
Derby Tup, Whittingon Moor: An extended beer range will be offered featuring Pigeon Fishers, Castle Rock and others. (Festival bus A, local buses 43,44,50,50a,X17).
Dronfield Arms, Dronfield Bottom: An extended beer range will be accommodated across 3 outside bars as well as the pub bar, live music throughout the afternoon starting from 12:30 and a disco in the evening from 7pm. There will also be a pizza stall and an auction to raise funds for Coal Aston Cricket Club. (Festival bus A and C, local bus 44).
Green Dragon, Dronfield Church Street: A party in the car park with beer, cider, food and music!
Horse & Jockey, Unstone: Live music with the Watchsnatchers in the afternoon and Rachel Louise in the evening. Beer and food also feature. (Festival bus A and B, local bus 43/44).
Hyde Park Inn, Hill Top: Beer, food, music and a great beer garden. (Festival bus A and C)
Jolly Farmer, Dronfield Woodhouse: Extended Real Ale selection from the glass fronted cellar, meet the brewer, normal pub dining available plus festival food. (Festival bus A and C. Local buses 43 and 16a).
Manor House Hotel, Dronfield High Street: Abbeydale beer tent, live music from Sam Wain and food from I Love Ostrich, all outside. Normal food and drink service at the hotel bar inside. (Festival bus A and C).
Miners Arms, Dronfield Woodhouse: Beer and food, enjoy inside the pub or in the garden. (Festival bus A and C, local bus 16/16a).
Miners Arms, Hundall: A rural, scenic hillside location, tap takeover by Pictish Brewery in the pub and a great range of guest beers and ciders outside plus food by Deli-Licious and entertainment. (Festival bus B, local bus 14).
Pioneer Club, Dronfield: A family atmosphere here with a bouncy castle for the kids, ice creams, hog roast and other hot foods, music and an outside bar showcasing the new Drone Valley Community Brewery. (Festival bus B, local buses 14,15,44).
Royal Oak, Coal Aston: An opportunity to relax in a genuine, traditional village pub with a selection of classic ales. (Festival bus B, local bus 44).
Talbot, Dronfield Woodhouse: Outside bar showcasing beers from Peak Ales, Fish & Chips and live music – Rattled in the afternoon, G Men in the evening. (Festival bus A and B, local bus 16,43).
Three Tuns, Hallowes: Brewery bars outside in a marquee showcasing Barlow Brewery and Drone Valley Community Brewery, guest beers on the pub bar. Range of cider and perry available on all bars. Various food stalls serving Pizzas, lamb pittas and hog roast. Live music throughout the afternoon and evening commences 2pm. (Festival bus A and C, local buses 43/44).
White Swan, Dronfield Bottom: Beer, Cider, BBQ and entertainment. (Festival bus A and C, local bus 44).
Yew Tree, Coal Aston: Outside real ale bar, burger van, live music throughout the afternoon from 2pm to 7pm. (Festival bus B).
Don’t Panic – It’s Steel City Beer & Cider Festival 42!
As Douglas Adams (not Corporal Jones!) once said – 42 is the answer to Life, the Universe, Everything and which Beer Festival is this? (That sentence has been reclassified as “Mostly True”)
Yes, it’s the 42nd Steel City Beer & Cider Festival and we have a brand new sci-fi looking logo for it. You’ll soon be seeing this dotted around magazines, posters and beer mats around the city as we get underway with promoting what is undoubtedly the highlight of the year for beer lovers in Sheffield. And beyond for that matter, no doubt.
We are also extremely pleased to announce that this years chosen charity is the Sheffield Children’s Hospital. We’re sure everyone in the city knows the great work done by the hospital and probably knows someone who has benefitted from their excellent care. We’ll be having the usual collections during the festival and encouraging everyone to donate their leftover beer tokens (whatever they are!)
You’re all reminded that we’re always looking for more volunteers, so if you fancy being part of the team, drinking free beer and wearing a free t-shirt, visit the website and sign up.
Don’t forget that sponsorship opportunities are now available for the festival – email sponsorship@steelcitybeerfestival.co.uk for details – and don’t worry about the Kelham Island Museum being demolished to make way for a hyperspace bypass. It probably won’t happen.
Still early days, but here’s an update on the preparations.
We now have an almost-full committee and have started planning meetings. If you want to help and simply haven’t got round to it, now’s the time. Just turn up at one of the meetings and we’ll find you a job! Dates are on the CAMRA website or in Beer Matters.
NEWS
There’s a couple of bits of good news already. Firstly, the Kelham Island Museum have offered us an extra room, which means we’ll be able to have more visitors and more beers for them to drink.
Secondly, the Sheffield Childrens Hospital has been chosen as this year’s charity, and we’re sure all our visitors will be just as generous as previous year’s in supporting this great local institution.
SaxBob has been his usual efficient self and already booked all the entertainment for the festival, almost seven month’s early! We’ll not spoil the excitement by announcing it just yet, but trust us, it’s a great line-up.
VOLUNTEERS
As always we’re looking for plenty of volunteers and you can contact us at any point to register your interest. Last years festival was staffed by 137 volunteers giving 2,882 hours of time, which averages at 21 hours per person.That might sound a lot, but as it seems more like fun than work the time just flies by.
You’ll make a few new friends, get to drink some FREE beer (always good) but more importantly you’ll finish the festival with the satisfaction of being part of a successful team. And don’t forget the free festival t-shirt and glass!
SPONSORSHIP
For anyone considering sponsorship this year, we’ll have several options announced soon, but in the meantime here’s one to get you started. At this years Festival we are giving pubs/breweries/businesses/individuals the chance to be involved by sponsoring a cask of beer or a box of cider for £60. (£50 + vat) In return you will be acknowledged in the festival programme, on the festival website and have a cask/box end label with your name on it. If you are interested please contact steelcitysponsorship@sheffieldcamra.org.uk
TOMBOLA
We’re also on the lookout for more items for our popular Tombola. If any landlord, brewery or collector wishes to rid themselves of any brewery related items such as brewery/beer festival glasses, pump clips, bar towels, beermats, books about beer/breweries etc., they would find a good home on the tombola stand at the Festival either as prizes or as items for sale for the festival charity. If you can help please email andrewmorton77@outlook.com
We’ll keep the updates coming throughout the summer, but feel free to contact us any time at festival@sheffieldcamra.org.uk if you want to get involved in any way.
Paul Crofts
Well, it’s that time of year again. Christmas seems like a distant memory, Tryanuary has been and gone (hopefully trampling the stinking carcass of Dryanuary underfoot as it goes!) and beer festival planning starts. October might seem a long way off but organising a successful festival takes a lot of time and effort.
As always it starts with appointing a committee. The first meeting sorted out most positions but there are still some vacancies for anyone willing to get more involved. The main requirement is enthusiasm, but we’ll try our best to find positions that suit whatever skills you can bring. A budget has been set and sent to head office for approval, which should be a formality following the success of last year’s festival.
We are also needing more volunteers. Last year we had 137 volunteers who worked tirelessly to ensure that over 5,000 visitors enjoyed themselves drinking nearly 19,000 pints of beer or cider without any major problems.
We are hoping to increase visitor numbers and extend the bars this year, which will of course need more bar staff. We are also wanting to increase the numbers of people working the various stands such as tokens, admissions, membership, games etc. And it goes without saying that we will need more people to help with build-up and take down.
The build-up is particularly satisfying as you get to see the bars and stalls being assembled, and everyone involved feels a real sense of pride at what they achieve ready for the opening day.
Over 200 casks will need positioning on 40 metres of stillage, fitted with all the necessary cooling equipment, and then tapped and vented ready for serving.
Around 20 bars need to be assembled, bolted together and beer engines fitted.
Membership tables, token tables and games tables all need setting up in position, and the correct banners erected.
Token sets need readying for that initial rush of visitors.
All our existing glasses need washing and bringing round to the entrance desks.
And of course it all needs doing in reverse once the festival is over.
Days are split into smaller sessions so you don’t need to work a full day and you can even do an evening spot without needing to take a day off work. Volunteers receive a festival tee shirt, free festival glass and beer tokens to spend at the bars. More importantly you’ll have the satisfaction of being part of a team and helping to make this year’s festival even more successful than last year.
So if you feel you’d like to get involved, or would like to have a chat with one of us about it, you can contact us at festival@sheffieldcamra.org.uk.
Alternatively why not come to one of the planning meetings held the third Tuesday of each month as detailed in Beer Matters diary, or a CAMRA branch meeting, or even one of the Pub Of The Month presentations where you’ll be able to find one or more of the planning committee who will be happy to discuss things in detail.
We look forward to seeing you
Thank you to the following people who donated items for the tombola at the recent beer and cider festival: Pete Gardener, Andy Stephens, John Silburn, Steve Cook, Josh Jepson, Malcolm Dixon, Alan Gibbons, Lewis and Trevor from the Kelham Island Tavern, Reet Ale Pubs, Diane and Duncan from the Fat Cat, Rob Carroll, Dave Pickersgill,. Kate at the Three Tuns, Andy and Julie Lee, all those who donated anonymously by leaving items on the tombola during the festival and anyone we have forgotten. Cheers.
Andy Morton
Steel City Beer Festival returns to Kelham Island
After a successful switch last year from Ponds Forge to Kelham Island, the 41st Steel City Beer Festival returns to Sheffield’s “Valley of Beer”. Taking place within the Kelham Island Museum on Alma Street over 4 days from Wed 21st to Sat 24th of October the festival will be even bigger than last year, and will be officially opened by guest of honour, Sheffield ‘s Master Cutler, David Grey MBE. The festival’s nominated charity this year is the Master Cutler’s Challenge.
Real Ale fans from all over Yorkshire and even further afield will arrive to sample the best the UK brewing scene has to offer. Expect to see over 200 different beers and around 30 ciders and perries from some of the countries finest breweries and cider makers. A mix of old favourites and new or rare speciality beers from around the UK will be available on cask in 3 separate bars within the museum, with drinking and seating areas split across 2 levels. All 18 of Sheffield’s breweries will be represented and a number of unique beers are being brewed specially for the festival.
Once again live music will be featured on 3 of the evenings. Thursday night sees the Leeds City Stompers playing their brand of retro blues, Friday night is local blues-rock legends Downtown Roots, and Saturday features Loxley Silver Brass Band in the afternoon, and an evening set from the high energy Rock ‘n’ Rollaz. As an interesting twist on the festival entertainment, close-up magician Ben Z will be mingling with visitors on Friday and Saturday and amazing them with his sleights of hands. Festival Entertainment Officer Bob Swift said “I am delighted to have booked some of the best acts in the region for this year’s festival who will be appearing on a large stage with first class professional sound and lighting systems. Live music is a big part of the local real ale scene and the festival will offer a very high standard of entertainment”.
More stalls are planned for this year. The usual wide selection of food stalls will be there as well as a dedicated bottle bar so beer fans will be able to take home some of their new found delights. Traditional pubs games are on offer at one of the stalls, including cheese skittles, shove halfpenny and bar billiards (Wednesday only) The Campaign for Real Ale (CAMRA) will also have a stall selling a variety of books on beer, pubs and brewing.
Further information can be obtained by visiting the website sheffield.camra.org.uk/festival. Anyone wishing to volunteer to help during the festival, or take up one of the few remaining sponsorship opportunities, can also find relevant information on the website.
![IMG_0544[1]](https://sheffield.camra.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2014/11/IMG_05441-e1415980358401-300x225.jpg)
![Steel City 42 barrel sponsor 0.1 [898397]](https://sheffield.camra.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2016/07/Steel-City-42-barrel-sponsor-0.1-898397-300x212.png)
One of the more inexpensive options for this years festival is sponsoring a cask.
For only £50 + vat you or your company can sponsor a specific cask and have the pleasure of showing your friends or colleagues your support for one of Sheffield’s best festivals.
With a highly visible new label design, you can incorporate your company logo and details, and with 4 free entry tickets included in the price, you will be able to invite your guests to see (and taste!) your sponsored beer.
The picture shows the newly designed layout, seen here with the details for The Commercial at Chapeltown, our first label sponsor.
Anyone interested should contact sponsorship@sheffieldcamra.org.uk for more details. 
![beermat pallet [898406]](https://sheffield.camra.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2016/07/beermat-pallet-898406-300x533.jpg)
The first sponsored items for this years festival have begun to appear at pubs, clubs and various venues across the city. Beermats! Lots of them. A number of sponsors have kindly contributed to a bumper print run of 90,000 mats, which started appearing in early July to put the festival in front of the 100,000 people who come into Sheffield for the Tramlines Festival.
A total of 13 sponsors took advantage of our special rate to help promote both the festival and their business. The mats will be released in phases up to the Festival in October, so collectors will need to be eagle-eyed to get one of each.
Alternatively for the serious collectors, we have put together three collectors sets containing one of all 13 designs and will be auctioning them on ebay once a month over the summer with proceeds going to the Childrens Hospital Charity.
We are also extremely pleased to announce that this years chosen charity is the Sheffield Children’s Hospital. We’re sure everyone in the city knows the great work done by the hospital and probably knows someone who has benefitted from their excellent care. We’ll be having the usual collections during the festival and encouraging everyone to donate their leftover beer tokens (whatever they are!)
You’re all reminded that we’re always looking for more volunteers, so if you fancy being part of the team, drinking free beer and wearing a free t-shirt, visit the website and sign up.
Don’t forget that sponsorship opportunities are now available for the festival – email 
