Category: Festivals

Steel City 46 review

Posted on by Paul Crofts

Festival organiser, Paul Crofts, looks back at Steel City 46 and forward to 47

After a three-year break, we were finally able to return to Kelham Island Museum for our annual beer festival. For obvious reasons, the world has changed dramatically since our last festival in 2019, and we approached the 2022 event with a mixture of excitement and trepidation.

The general feeling amongst the organising committee was that there would be some pent-up demand for a festival, and that visitors would be keen to return to what has become a very popular event. However, information we were getting from CAMRA HQ was that visitor numbers at other festivals were down. There was also the background of rising prices and uncertainty about the future impacting how much people would have to spend.

Needless to say, the feedback from local breweries and on social media was positive. The hospitality industry has been particularly hard hit by the economic situation. The festival was seen as something that would help generate a bit of interest and encourage people back into going out and celebrating the Sheffield beer scene.

So when it came to opening time on the Wednesday, we were somewhat relieved to see a queue of punters actually wanting to come in! Over the next four days though, it became clear that despite a steady stream of visitors we were not going to achieve the attendance numbers we were hoping. Probably a combination of poor weather on some days, post-Covid wariness and a permanent change in some people’s habits meant an overall reduction on 2019 numbers. Luckily those that came spent a little more and by the time we closed on Saturday the committee were satisfied that we had produced another great festival.

One particularly popular feature was the half pint glasses, featuring the Henderson’s Relish logo. We ordered 35% more half pint glasses than usual in anticipation of these being popular and they sold out! Visitors also had a good range of food stalls to choose from, along with the usual exciting live music, with festival favourites Kelham Island Rapper doing their riotous routines in every bar.

Two noticeable changes this year were an expansion of the ticketed events, and a new keg bar position. Beer and cider tasting sessions, hosted by Hop Hideout and the Cider Hole, and pub heritage talks by Dave Pickersgill were an excellent addition to the festival, building on the 2019 talk by Roger Protz. The keg bar had to be repositioned due to the Millowners Arms becoming a commercial venture, and moved to the rear courtyard. A number of visitors commented that this felt separated from the rest of the festival, and we will probably look to find a better spot this year.

A couple of CAMRA employees who came up from the St Albans head office to work with us were impressed with what they saw and we believe it enhanced Sheffield’s reputation as well as justifying the decision to hold the 2023 Members’ Weekend here this April.

Steel City 47

Looking forward to this year’s festival we have looked at some of the changes forced on us by the pandemic and are planning several improvements.

It has been obvious for a while now that we have an enthusiastic but ageing band of volunteers, and the physical work of running the festival is becoming more of a challenge. We have a concern that this may now be putting off some people who might otherwise be only too willing to help. Therefore we have plans to use third-party companies to cover some of the more strenuous and time-consuming elements of the build. From discussion with a number of existing volunteers it appears these moves will be very popular and we hope that it will help in recruiting new volunteers as well as encouraging back some of our previous volunteers.

We also plan to work more on attracting new volunteers to specific areas. Something in particular that we want to improve is the number of people in our cellar team. Anyone who thinks this may be something they would be interested in can email festival@sheffield.camra.org.uk and we will be happy to give them more details on what is involved. We would like to have a larger team so we can share out the workload and make it easier and more enjoyable for everyone.

One pleasing aspect of this year’s festival, which will be vital for the coming year, is the great camaraderie between the volunteers. This was evident both during the festival and at the subsequent staff trip to Halifax. We’ll be keeping this going during planning meetings, with ongoing communication with all volunteers and by arranging a couple of social events over the summer.

Again, anyone wanting to know more can email us or call in to one of our planning meetings, which are held the third Tuesday in each month at the Gardeners Rest in Neepsend. I can guarantee that being part of our team will be both enjoyable and rewarding.

The dates pencilled in for Steel City 47 are 18-21 October 2023.

photographs by Dave Pickersgill

CAMRA Members’ Weekend 2023

Posted on by Dave Pickersgill

In April, we are hosting the 2023 national CAMRA Members’ Weekend at the Octagon Centre, University of Sheffield. It officially starts at 4pm on Friday 21 when both registration and members’ bar open. The AGM and conference occur over the weekend, with many trips and activities also taking place.

A full schedule will be available nearer the time. 

We’re expecting over a thousand CAMRA members to attend; most will register in advance so they don’t miss out on information about booking trips and activities. They will also take the opportunity to visit several of the many excellent breweries and pubs across the city. We’ll also require volunteers to assist with the many jobs that will need covering. 

Hope to see you there!

Register and volunteer at camra.org.uk/agm.

Christmas Snowflake

Posted on by Paul Crofts

Everyone involved with the recent Steel City 46 was delighted to discover that Sheffield Children’s Hospital put our name to one of their Xmas Snowflakes as a thank you for our £1,200 donation. We’d like to pass on those thanks to everyone who donated money at the festival.

Our snowflake is (or maybe was, if you’re reading this in Beer Matters) on one of the columns above the doors to the Memorial Hall at the rear of Sheffield City Hall.

This year’s Xmas Snowflake project has already raised over £360,000, which will go towards building a helipad and making facilities at Sheffield Children’s Hospital even better than they already are.

Sheaf View

Posted on by Guest

We’ve been busy sourcing some excellent beer for our second Winter Ales Festival. We’re confident that all bases are covered, there will be traditional styles, hop forward, unfined, soupy numbers, along with a healthy dose of ridiculous imperial keg beer, (that will be offered in ⅓ pints) There will be delicious pizza from Sunshine Pizza Oven to soak it all up and music playing in the beer garden to dance it off, if you’re that way inclined!

Here are some of the splendid breweries, old and new, that we’re lucky enough to be showcasing…

  • Neepsend Brew Co… We are very proud to have been affiliated with these guys from day one. Their fresh, generously hopped pales have always been a hit. We’ve barged our way into the brewery and chucked a handful of Sabro hops into a cask of their Radogost, hazy IPA and shoved some Cascade hops into their (award winning!!) session New England, Myron. They don’t do stouts as often, but my gosh… when they do!! We dug out a keg of Gogmagog from the back of the cold store, a 9% tonka and vanilla stout, brewed back in December 2020. It was exceptional back then, we’re hoping it’s even better now.
  • Torrside! Brewing in New Mills since 2015, we were late to the Torrside party, having first served their beer at our summer festival this year… We’re making up for lost time! They are masters of any style they turn their hand to, but boy do they know how to do smoked beer! I’m off to the brewery to collect a cask of “Persist and Resist”, a 5.6% ESB with beach, oak and cherrywood smoked malt. Ok, they do deliver to Sheffield, but who’d turn down a day out in the High Peak, a nose around the brewery and chance to swap my hard earned wages for some bottles of exceptional, small batch beer, the likes of which I may never taste again?!
  • Bang The Elephant. They’ve been on the scene since 2017, we were lucky enough to get some of their early brews through swaps with Neepsend. I remember doing a double take at their name, but it didn’t take me long to realise that this brewery deserved a name as bizarre as its beers! Don’t get me wrong, they do a banging APA, DIPA etc, however, adjuncts, barrel aged impy stouts are particularly their bag. We’ve got our hands on a keg of “WACK!” a 10.6% bourbon barrel aged Belgian Quad style beer. BtE themselves have described this beer as “A freak of Nature” so we’re certainly in for a treat!
  • Marble, celebrating their 25th birthday this year! My real ale drinking career (hobby, habit, whatever) started down south in the early 2000’s in a Young’s pub, so you can imagine my delight at moving up north and trying Marble beer for the first time. They were trailblazing then, but unlike many similar breweries, they’ve kept up with the trends and continue to be awesome! We have a cask of “Ogden’s Foreign Extra Stout” the winner of a home brew competition. It’s gone on to win at Stockport Beer Festival, so there is no doubt we’re on to a winner!
  • Lost Industry, the Sheffield legends! If it can be brewed, it shall!! Egged on by their mates (Steel City, Beer Ink, Weird Beard and many more!) they will brew owt, from a sensible oatmeal stout to an Iron Brew sour… and a lot in between!! We’ve got a cask of Watermelon Wheat Beer. I’m not sure it should be in a cask, but it is and we shall enjoy it!
  • Big Trip , new kids on the block! (well, sort of) This lovely duo have hailed from Night Jar (previously Slightly Foxed). I’m not sure where we found them. They don’t seem to be on the internet yet (the epitome of hipster!) They’re from Manchester(ish) and their beers are juicy, hoppy delights!

The beers mentioned are guaranteed to be on, but we also have a load of favourites from the likes of Ashover, Pentritch, Distant Hills, Mallinsons, Triple Point and many more!

We hope to see you all there!

Jo

The Winter Ales festival takes place at the Sheaf View from 4pm on Friday 11 November and on Saturday 12 November. The pub can be found at 25 Gleadless Road in Heeley. Nearest bus routes are 20/24/25/43/44/X17 on London Road or alternatively buses 1a/11/18/252 on Prospect Road.

Members’ Weekend in Sheffield 2023

Posted on by Dave Pickersgill

CAMRA holds its Members’ Weekend, AGM & Conference annually in April. While the primary purpose is to debate motions to steer the Campaign and to elect the Campaign’s new board of directors, the Members’ Weekend is also a chance for CAMRA members to socialise with like-minded individuals and to explore the beer scene of the host city. The 2023 event will be held at the Octagon Centre, University of Sheffield: April 21/23. It is expected that over 1000 CAMRA members will descend on Sheffield for the weekend, many extending their stay for a few days – most will explore our local pubs.

As part of the event, we (Sheffield & District CAMRA) are organising a Members’ Bar. This will be a beer festival only open to CAMRA members who register for the weekend that will be held in the Students’ Union, adjacent to the Conference venue. There will also be a series of organised trips and events. If you are a CAMRA member, please register, and attend the event. https://camra.org.uk/members-weekend-agm-conference/

Talks & Tastings @ SC46

Posted on by Dave Pickersgill

Following the successful tutored beer tasting led by Roger Protz at the previous Steel City Beer Festival back in 2019, the recent 2022 edition saw three tutored tastings plus a couple of talks.

Mike Pomranz, from the Cider Hole, led participants through four ciders. These included Ross-on-Wye Cider & Perry, Flakey Bark S.V.P. 2020 (6.4%) and Sheffield brewed, Exemption Ciderhouse, Steel City Spontaneous Speed Run (5.8%). The latter involved apples which were on thru tree a few weeks earlier. Mike gave us the benefit of his experiences across the Atlantic, providing wide-ranging comments and opinions.

Julia Gray, the owner of Hop Hideout and the driving force behind Sheffield Beer Week, led two tutored beer tastings, each concentrating on a different set of five beers, a mix of cask and key-keg. Skilfully weaving her story and comments about beer history and production, Julia led us on an exploration of beer styles. A bonus was unscheduled inputs from Dan and Martha (Saint Mars of the Desert Brewery) who provided a potted history of their experiences in brewing and talked us through one of their beers. This was the music equivalent of attending a gig by the Rolling Stones and seeing Bob Dylan drop-in.

Dave Pickersgill twice delivered a talk about Sheffield, heritage and pubs. On each occasion, the slides were identical but different pubs were explored as comments from the audience influenced the verbal input. Several books were sold (and autographed) and the speaker was embarrassed when one attendee described the talk as ‘inspirational.’

One of the volunteer staff team who fetched and served the various beers and ciders described his Friday afternoon as different, eye-opening and to be repeated.

Thanks to all our speakers and the staff who made it happen. We intend to host similar events at SCBF47, and at the forthcoming national Members Weekend. We hope to see you at a future event.

Festival specials

Posted on by Andy Cullen

A small number of new one off beers were brewed especially for our Steel City Beer & Cider festival and are likely to also appear in pubs afterwards.

Abbeydale Brewery produced a special edition of their Black Mass, in memory of the late Martin “SillyWabbit” Reville who was a long standing festival volunteer. The regular beer is a black IPA, the special is infused with coffee and is served from a wooden cask.

Collyfobble Brewery had former Dronfield CAMRA chairman Rob Barwell visit for a brewday to upscale one of his home brew recipes – you can read about that elsewhere in this issue!

Crosspool Ale Makers Society and Hopscotch Craft Brewers collaborated to put in an appearance with “GingerBix and Chill”. This 6% ABV beer has a biscuit aroma and a sweet but fiery flavour from ginger biscuits and habanero chillies. It is amber in colour and leaves a subtle but satisfying warmth on the back of the throat.

BrewSocial is another brewer that supplied a special edition of an existing beer. “Good as Gold” is a strong hoppy ale, pure gold in colour. Sweetish, but not cloying. Generous addition of El Dorado hops give a tantalising taste experience. This cask at the festival had been specially dry-hopped for added golden goodness!

Steel City 46 beermats

Posted on by Dave Pickersgill

Limited edition Steel City 46 beermats – available on eBay.

Three limited edition sets of 12 mint condition beermats, advertising Steel City 46 – Sheffield Beer & Cider Festival 2022 (SC46) will be auctioned on e-bay. On one side of each mat is the SC46 logo, with the reverse printed for the sponsor. The logo-side, when arranged, gives a large image of the festival poster.

There are 60,000 beermats available, 5,000 for each sponsor. Over the next few months, these will be distributed over Sheffield, the surrounding area and wider afield. However, a full set is very unlikely to be seen in one place at any one time!

Thanks to our sponsors:  Abbeydale, Acorn, Blue Bee, Bradfield, Chantry, Little Critters, Neepsend, Peak, St Mars of the Desert, Save the Leadmill, Tapped, and Triple Point.

All profits from these eBay sales will go the official SC46 charity – Sheffield Children’s Hospital. The festival will be held at Kelham Island Industrial Museum from 19-22 October 2022.

Steel City 46

Posted on by Paul Crofts

A lot has changed since we last held our festival in 2019. It goes without saying that the last couple of years have been extremely difficult for a lot of people, including the hospitality industry that we all hold so dear. Victims of the times include Kelham Island Brewery and Sheffield Brewery, both of whom would always appear on our bars, and we are extremely saddened they won’t be here again this year. 

There have been a few changes at the Kelham Island Museum too. The Millowners Arms is now being run as an independent venue, although they are working with us to be a part of the festival as normal. All this has meant a rejig of the festival layout. We have an extra room in the rear courtyard which will house our KeyKeg bar, and the Bradfield bar is switching to the Brearley Room, the old home of the keg bar. The marquee layout will also change slightly, but we’re sure that these improvements will make the festival better than ever. 

No change in the range of beer and cider on offer though! Over 300 beers including around 50 keg beers, over 40 real ciders and two bottle bars featuring continental beers. The Sheffield Beer of The Festival award will take place again on Wednesday evening. 

We have our usual array of live acts, and a great variety of food stalls, with extended vegetarian and vegan offerings this year. In addition to this we have our ever-popular tombola stall, traditional pub games and CAMRA merchandise desk selling books and t-shirts.  

This year will see three charities taking a stall. Sheffield Churches Council for Community Care (SCCC) will appear on Thursday, the Stan Shaw Memorial Appeal on Friday, and the return of the Sheffield WI cake stall on the Saturday. Our overall festival charity is Sheffield Children’s Hospital, which will be grateful for any of your unused beer tokens, or festival glass deposit. 

Although we’re not sure you’ll want to hand your glass back! We are delighted to announce that the half-pint glasses this year are being sponsored by none other than Henderson’s Relish. The distinctive orange logo will be gracing a 12oz conical glass which we’re sure will be in big demand. 

No article on the beer festival would be complete without a word of thanks to our dedicated and hard-working volunteers. Each year they arrive to set everything up, man the bars, run the various desks, do whatever needs doing to ensure the festival is the success it is, and then dismantle everything and put it back in to storage for next year. We cannot thank them enough for the time and effort they give. The festival simply would not happen without them. As a thank you, this year we are running a free staff trip to Halifax, and as an extra reward for the Sunday takedown volunteers we have a free buffet at a yet-to-be-decided venue. If you fancy joining our happy band please visit our website sheffield.camra.org.uk/festival to get more details on volunteering. We’re sure that you’ll enjoy it.

Don’t forget to look out for our festival beermats around the locals pubs. As we have done for the last three years, the festival side of the mats are all different and once you collect all twelve they fit together to form an image of the festival poster. 

We can’t wait to welcome you all back. 

Steel City Beer & Cider Festival, 19-22 October 2022, Kelham Island Museum, Sheffield.