Thanks to Micropub Adventures (Scott Sinclair) and Sheffield with Pubs (Niall Green), for joining several of us on a recent guided Pub Heritage walk. We took the Neepsend route (as in our walk-booklet) before going, via the New Barrack, into Hillsborough. The booklet is available from our website with paper copies obtainable at several local outlets.
We were very impressed by both the range and quality of the available beers, but also, by the many bar-staff we encounted – polite, professional and enthusiastic: an excellent advertisement for the city. Thanks for looking after us.
Neepsend pubs visited were: Church – Temple of Fun, The Old Workshop, Alder, Forest, Heist Brew Co. and the Gardeners Rest. We also passed the ruins of both Stones Cannon and Deardens High House Breweries. In addition, I played bar billiards for the first time in about twenty years, and managed to rack up over 1000 points. In all, an excellent afternoon.
Sheffield City Council have ruled regarding the recent retrospective planning application (25/030409/FUL) for the Royal Standard: Refuse with Enforcement Action.
‘The Local Planning Authority (LPA) consider that the impact of the works, principally the introduction of inappropriate windows and works to the entrance including the loss of historic fabric have a detrimental impact on the character and architectural and cultural heritage of the building which is a non-designated heritage asset. No clear justification for alterations has been put forward. The building could have been brought back into use in a manner that respected the character and history of the building. It is considered that the proposal is unacceptable and harms the character of the building itself and the immediate locality being contrary to paragraph 135 and 216 of the NPPF and policies BE5 and IB9 of the Unitary Development Plan and Policy CS74 of the Core Strategy.’
The current owners of the building made many alterations to this 19th century public house, without obtaining planning permission. Their retrospective planning application has been refused.
The Planning Officers Report states that: ‘It is therefore expedient to require removal of unauthorised works with a remedial scheme to be provided by the developer and agreed with the Local Planning Authority to reinstate the original building fabric.’
Abbeydale Brewery‘s Black Mass (a black IPA at 6.66% ABV) made it as a finalist in the “Barley Wines & Strong Ales” category of the Champion Beer of Britain awards. The winter ales categories were judged at Liverpool beer festival.
To reach the competition’s final in Liverpool all the beers had progressed through a year of local and regional blind judging heats.
The winner was London Brewing‘s Beer Street. Judges were blown away by this winner, with judging panel coordinator Christine Cryne describing Beer Street (4.0%) as: “A sparkling golden amber bitter, with spicy rye and a roasty nose, sweet biscuit on the flavour, where the spicy rye notes increase and linger in the dry and slightly bitter finish. Very easy drinking.”
Taking the Silver award was Cairngorm, Black Gold, 4.4%. A black session stout with red hues and oyster head. Aromas of black treacle and faint hits of dark fruits. Caramelised fruits on a sweetish chocolate base with some plums create a moreish stout. The dry finish is slightly sweet with some spicy notes.
The Bronze winner was Green Jack, Baltic Trader Export Stout, 10.5%. A dark ruby brown imperial stout, with aromas of sweet black treacle with some damsons. A rich smooth mouthfeel with bitter black chocolate, sweet molasses and damsons. The finish is sweet, smooth with bitter roasty notes remaining. Very warming.
The category winners now go forward to the final judging in May at CAMRA’s Cambridge Beer Festival where they’ll battle it out to take the crown of Supreme Champion 2026.
Reacting to the win, Director of London Brewing Senan Sexton said: “We’re absolutely delighted that our best bitter, Beer Street, has been named Champion Winter Beer of Britain 2026 by CAMRA. We’ve been brewing Beer Street since we founded the brewery in 2011, and it’s a real testament to the skill and dedication of our head brewer, Alex, that he has continued to refine and elevate the recipe over the years.
“This accolade means a tremendous amount to a brewery of our size. It’s not only a proud moment for our team, but also a fantastic boost that celebrates the enduring appeal of high-quality cask ales enjoyed in pubs across the UK.”
CAMRA’s Awards Director, Shelly Bentley, said: “Our Champion Beer of Britain competition is the only truly independent beer contest in the UK. Brewers can’t simply enter their beers into it; they have to be nominated by beer lovers or expert tasting panels.
“London Brewing are incredibly deserving winners of the winter crown, and everyone taking home a category win or top three placement should be proud that their beers have been declared the cream of the crop by expert judges.”
The Cannon Brewery site in Neepsend, the original home of Stones Bitter, is currently under regeneration. The brewery closed, almost thirty years ago, in 1999, when Bass acquired their Burton-on-Trent neighbour, Ind Coope, and decided that their Sheffield Brewery was surplus to requirements.
The Cannon Brewery was named in 1868 by William Stones (1826-1894) and purchased by Bass Charrington in 1968. William started brewing in 1847 with Joseph Watts. Following Watts’ death in 1854, Stones continued. In 1868 he bought the lease of the brewery of Shepherd, Green & Hatfield (the Neepsend Brewery), renamed it the Cannon Brewery and continued to brew there until his death. Shortly afterwards, the company was registered as William Stones Ltd. This success saw him become one of the richest men in Sheffield.
Stones Bitter was introduced by Head Brewer, Edward “Ted” Collins in 1948. It was popular with Sheffield’s steel workers and was originally available across South Yorkshire, Derbyshire, and Nottinghamshire. Increasing demand saw the beer brewed at other Bass breweries from the 1970s onwards. Distribution was extended to the rest of the north of England in 1977, and accompanied by a considerable marketing push, nationwide from 1979.
The beer’s popularity reached its peak in 1992 when it was the country’s highest selling bitter, selling over a million barrels. In 1994-96, the “Sheffield Gold” campaign was set in a steel foundry: it was filmed in the Czech Republic because Sheffield’s own foundries were considered to be too clean and automated for the desired gritty, industrial effect. The beer has been lauded as “one of Sheffield’s most famous exports.”
At closure, the site consisted of buildings of differing ages, character and size clustered round a large triangular internal courtyard. Little of the original Victorian and Edwardian buildings remained: the water tower and some internal features. In August 2024, Capital & Centric obtained hybrid planning permission. Their outline plans included the repurposing of several buildings, new builds of cultural and workspaces and over 500 homes, a new public square and an urban park. Subsequent investigation has shown the grain store to be in a critical state of disrepair: Regent Street Disease, corrosion of the steel frame within a masonry-clad building, is prevalent. There is also cracking of concrete on the façade and deterioration of the roof slab.
Demolition is now in progress: the end of a significant chapter in the history of brewing in Sheffield.
The planned redevelopment, with support from the South Yorkshire Mayoral Combined Authority, will see further growth of the community living around Kelham Island and Neepsend.
Here is a summary of events that were confirmed at the time of writing to offer an idea of what to expect – many more will be added after we’ve gone to press, check their website for the latest information – sheffieldbeerweek.co.uk.
If you fancy nipping between a number of venues by bus or tram then an all day travel pass from Travelmaster such as the Citywide ticket may prove good value. Public transport information can be found online at travelsouthyorkshire.com.
5 March, Fagan’s: 4pm – Kelham Island (Thornbridge) launch their Irish red ale (4%, cask) collab with Fagan’s at the pub. 7pm they’ll be playing the War Child Records Help (2) album, then from 9pm it’s their charity quiz with big prizes (VIP tickets for Tramlines and Kendal Calling).
6-15 March, Two Thirds Beer Co.: a Copenhagen-style taproom for one week, featuring four beers from Denmark’s Warpigs brewery. The selection ranges from a crisp Czech-style lager to full-flavoured IPAs.
6-15 March, Kapital Beer Hall: Czechtoberfest, featuring six different Czech beers on tap from independent breweries. A limited amount of Budvar Reserve (7.5%) will also be available using a traditional Czech side pour tap, rarely seen on UK taps.
7-15 March, Harlequin: The Art of Beer – exhibition of pump clips from local breweries from 2002 onwards curated by Richard Hough.
9-15 March, Aux Bon Vivant (27a Campo Lane. S1 2EG): Beer & Food Celebration – this French-focused cafe & deli have finally brought some Sheffield beers into the house, including Little Mesters IPA and Stout. Pierre will be creating the weekly menu with the beers in mind, pairing dishes to match each one.
13 March, Pangolin: Duration Brewing Great Farmhouse Expo – from 1pm they will have 7 lines of beer from this range including juicy pales on cask, a grisette and even a barrel aged lager!
13 March: Guided Pub Heritage Walk – Little Chicago, 4pm. Advance tickets required.
I was recently invited by George Bushell from the Shakespeare to join him and his colleague Charlie Slack at Loxley Brewery for a brewday. As part of Sheffield Beer Week, the Shakespeare is currently working with several Sheffield breweries and local businesses to produce a range of collaboration beers which will be available during Beer Week – watch the Shakespeare’s socials for details, but at time of writing these were planned to include:
Loxley – Bitter
Abbeydale – El Dorado Deception
Little Critters with Nam Song (Vietnamese restaurant in Broomhill) – Vietnamese coffee stout
Little Mesters/Emmanuales – NZ Rye Pale
Duality Brew Co with Freak St (Nepalese cafe in Walkley) – Juicy IPA
Triple Point – Miso Caramel Mild (and some special pins)
Not all are yet brewed and some may change! A launch is planned for Monday 9 March.
Loxley Brewery was started in 2018 by David Woodhead in a disused garage beneath the Wisewood Inn in Loxley. David, a friend of Wisewood’s owner Stephen Wesley, home brewed before taking on the new role and now mostly supplies beer to Wisewood, Raven (Walkley) and No3 (Sharrow) as well as producing bottle-conditioned real ale on premises. With his assistant Christian, David brews about 3 times a fortnight on the 5BBL custom-built kit.
George, Charlie and I all arrived when the mash was already on, and got to have a good chat with David and Christian about the brewery, and David’s brewing history and prior life in the steel industry. We did a lot of standing around with further talk during the sparge phase – in advance of the day the major elements I knew of for the brewing process were the amounts of waiting involved, with intermittent bursts of cleaning – all of which proved true.
We took turns to ceremoniously shovel bins of spent grain from the tun, which all goes to a good home as animal feed. We also weighed up the hops for the boil, probably our only other contribution for the day! I found it to be a very interesting day and having only had a basic understanding of the steps involved, it was a good learning experience for all the hard work that goes into every pint we sit down with.
At this point the Wisewood Inn had opened for the day and we celebrated what should be an excellent bitter with a pint and a chip butty!
A huge thanks to everyone at Loxley, the Wisewood Inn and the Shakespeare – keep an eye on their social media for upcoming events and where to drink the beer when it’s out.
A new initiative has been launched by the Welcome to Sheffield website, aimed at promoting the city’s various beer festivals around the UK. The Sheffield Inspires section of the website lists seven key themes that are being promoted, one of which is The Craft of Beer.
The pages cover a wealth of information about the local beer scene, breweries, pubs and festivals, and provides a great resource for potential visitors.
In 2013, Jules Gray opened ‘a labour of beery love’: one of the first ‘drink in’ beer shops in the UK, the multiple award-winning Hop Hideout. Originally based in a former Yorkshire Penny Bank on Abbeydale Road, 2019 saw a move to the Kommune food hall in the centre of Sheffield.
Hop Hideout’s taps when they were in the Kommune food hall
Five years later, after the rigours of Covid, brought relocation to the Grade II listed, Leah’s Yard (S1 4HP) when, it reopened after restoration. This early 19th century site was originally built as small workshops for the manufacture of hand tools.
Hop Hideout in Leah’s Yard
Brought up in County Durham, her journey to Sheffield included a bar-job in a local WMC, study at Sheffield Hallam University, time in both Birmingham and Manchester and after several other positions, working in technical support for a multi-national brewing company in Burton on Trent. After seven years, it was time to move on. A seminal conversation with Zak Avery, the founder of Beer Paradise and co-founder of Beer-Ritz (Leeds), led to an interesting question: ‘Why don’t you set up your own beer shop?’ The rest is history.
Jules also runs the annual Sheffield Beer Week (SBW, https://sheffieldbeerweek.co.uk/). This takes place during the second week in March, coinciding with International Women’s Day (8th). Organised by Jules and her colleague, Claire Tollick, the first incarnation in 2015, saw about ten venues, with events spread over the week: recent years have had over forty venues. SBW and Norwich City of Beer are the only two UK-based city-wide beer events which have been in place for over a decade.
She recalls the first year: ‘SBW was inspired by the early days of my newly launched beer business. I was getting excited by the independent beer sector. I noticed that there were lots of beer weeks in America, and also Norwich City of Ale was happening in the UK. It was joined up with the frustration of hearing a lot of people talk about near-by cities like Manchester or Leeds and not mentioning Sheffield. And living in the city and seeing it, a tangible beer history, culture, brewers … I was getting quite frustrated as to why people were not talking about Sheffield. And I thought wouldn’t it be great to shout more about the beer scene in the city that I had made my home. And I spoke to a friend who really supported the idea and about two months before the date we got the ball rolling.’
‘After the first-year people saw the economic benefits: increased footfall, a heightening awareness and celebrating venues, the breweries, and the culture, but also attracting people from outside the region to visit Sheffield to discover wonderful things that we sometimes take for granted. I just love it. I want people to get that joy and excitement across to other people. On the flip side you do need a bit of a cheerleader to raise awareness and join up the dots of the community. There is a tipping-point. You need more than one, it becomes a trail. You bounce off each other.’
The main aim of this independent beer focused event is to bring additional footfall. The first three years coincided with Sheffield hosting the annual SIBA Conference, this providing a ready source of beer-interested visitors. When the SIBA conference moved to Liverpool, Jules was both humbled, and reassured, by the local demand for SBW to continue. It was something people thought was really valuable.
She recalls: ‘At the time it felt like the local council weren’t valuing the culture, community and historic value of the brewing and beer sector, the businesses which were driving visitor footfall. This has definitely changed: momentum has grown. That momentum has led the Sheffield Inspires campaign to include ‘the Craft of Brewing’ as one of their five main strands. It’s been a gradual positive relationship development.’
In 2020, SBW was the last large beer event in the UK before lockdown. Personally, I recall leading a Pub Heritage Walk on Friday 13th March. This was my last ‘big go-out’ for a considerable period … 16th March saw official advice to avoid all non-essential contact, lockdown following on the 23rd. The following year saw a virtual event.
Dave Pickersgill at the last pre-Covid SBW heritage walk
2026 brings the 12th incarnation: a week-long festival (6-15 March) celebrating the region’s brewing landscape. Collaboration is key with Sheffield’s bars, pubs and restaurants joining forces with both local organisations and local, national, and international breweries to host a large variety of events. I led my first SBW pub heritage walk from Fagan’s in 2017: this year, in collaboration with local historian, John Stocks, a talk, and a walk, will concentrate on Little Chicago.
Indie Beer Feast
SBW commences with Indie Beer Feast, a two-day celebration of independent craft beer: brewery bars, street food, low intervention wines, and fine cider.
Until 2020, this took place at Abbeydale Picture House. After a break due to Covid, 2022 saw a move to the 1930s industrial space of Trafalgar Warehouse.
Pete Brown, Author of “Tasting Notes”
As usual, 2026 will see several collaborative brews, all focused on the theme of Sheffield synth city: a tribute to the pioneering electronic music which the city has produced. For example, St.Mars of the Desert are hosting an, as yet, unannounced local band while relatively new breweries Duality and Ticking Clock are working together. Designed by Lewis Ryan, the visual map for the event is taking inspiration from the 1981 Human League album, Dare, while the botanical inspired artwork has been designed by local illustrator, Sanpo. There is also an input from well-known beer writer, Pete Brown, who at an event hosted by Hop Hideout, will be interviewed by music and culture writer Daniel Dylan Wray about matching beer and music.
As Jules put it: ‘‘Sheffield Synth City’ allows us to blend the creativity of our independent breweries with the ground-breaking spirit of our electronic music pioneers. It’s powerful to showcase how innovation thrives across all creative industries in the Steel City.”
Reflecting back on SBW, she comments: ‘it’s an umbrella event‘…it’s something customers love, it really chimes with them, it creates a good buzz and excitement. There are lots of positives: learning and knowledge transfer. From both a trade and customer perspective, customers love it.’
‘Sheffield has so many things, the Home of Football, electronic music legacy, beer, and brewing. I think people don’t mention Sheffield, City of Stainless Steel and what drives the brewing industry. We don’t mention the impact we’ve had in the sector. To me, that’s a massive light-bulb revelation.’
The invention of stainless steel is often credited to Sheffield native, Harry Brearley, who in 1913, discovered that adding chromium to molten iron created a rust-resistant alloy. Stainless Steel is extensively used worldwide as a key part of the brewing process, from coppers to fermenting vessels to casks … it is an often un-noticed, but crucial part of the contribution of Sheffield to the worldwide beer industry: Sheffield could be seen as the ‘Home of Modern Beer.’
Beer tourism is a crucial cog in Sheffield; the footfall and financial benefit is a win-win for the local hospitality and brewing industries. Sheffield Beer Week is a crucial part of this jigsaw. We hope you all have an enjoyable time when you visit the best beer city in the world.
Jules Gray in Hop HideoutOutside Hop Hideout in Leah’s YardMerch at Hop HideoutLittle Chicago talk at the Crow Inn
The folks from Sheffield Beer Week joined Abbeydale Brewery’s team for a special brewday to produce a collaboration beer that will be available in various participating venues during beer week.
