Category: News

As part of Heritage Open Days (HOD) 2015 and 2016, we led a Pub Heritage Walk. This will be repeated (twice) as part of HOD 2017 (7th.-10th.September). This short walk takes in some of the entries in the CAMRA ‘Yorkshire’s Real Heritage Pubs’ book. Also included are a number of ‘try also’ pubs which include aspects of architectural merit. Places are limited (to 15) and may be booked via Eventbrite. The tours are both on Friday 8th.September (14:30 and 17:30 start):  http://tinyurl.com/k46742k http://tinyurl.com/kqmg6jz For the past two years, The Sheffield Tap has also contributed to HOD. In 2016, there were 86 events in Sheffield, feedback being overwhelmingly positive from both organisers and the public. Full details about HOD are available from the national website www.heritageopendays.org.uk . Also useful is ‘Sheffield Heritage Open Days’ on Facebook  and on twitter, @sheff_hods . Hence, following the success of Sheffield Beer Week, it seems appropriate for more local breweries and pubs to take part. Interested parties are encouraged to contact the local organisers: hods@sheffieldcivictrust.org.uk . Contributions could include a brewery visit, cellar tours, short talks .. all providing excellent opportunities to spread the word about the best beer scene in the World. This year, we hope to see lots of participation from the Sheffield Beer Scene! – Dave Pickersgill and Liz Godfrey (Sheffield Civic Trust)

Our branch AGM last month saw a number of committee members stepping down – Kate Major (Chair), Tony Kennick (treasurer) and Richard Short (Secretary). All three have left the committee as a result of needing to concentrate on other things going on in their lives – in the case of Kate taking over a pub (Rutland Arms), so our beery paths are still likely to cross! Thanks to all three for all the great work done during their time volunteering with us. We welcome a few new members – including new Chairman Mick Saxton – and some of the old faces will be changing roles, this will all  be confirmed at the committee meeting which takes place the day this issue of Beer Matters is delivered, so more on it next month. We’ll also be taking a look at the amendments to the Pub of the Month rules proposed at the AGM by Richard Hough which was voted to be referred to the committee, the result of this will be presented to the next branch meeting.

Drinkers have been let down by the Chancellor’s decision to increase beer and cider duty in today’s Budget – which will see the price of their pints rise. The announced two penny a pint increase in beer duty is the first rise in five years. It marks a U-turn by the Chancellor as he risks returning to the days of the much-hated Beer Duty Escalator which contributed to 75,000 job losses, 3,700 pub closures and a 24% fall in beer sales in pubs. Colin Valentine, CAMRA’s National Chairman says: “UK beer drinkers, pubs and brewers have been let down by the Chancellor’s decision to increase beer duty for the first time in five years. “The announced two penny a pint increase marks a return to the days when the much-hated Beer Duty Escalator contributed to 75,000 job losses, 3,700 pub closures and a 24% fall in beer sales in pubs. The rise in beer duty will ultimately hit consumers in their pockets and lead to pub closures across the country. “The government’s U-turn on beer duty is a real missed opportunity to support consumers. The UK still pays one of the highest rates of duty across Europe, only consuming around 12% of the beer yet paying nearly 40% of all beer duty in the EU. Further beer duty increases will lead to unsustainable price increases in pubs. The decision completely ignores the pressures that are being faced by the beer and pub sectors.” Unique role of pubs in England recognised by business rate relief The Government has recognised the unique role that pubs play in our communities in England by introducing a new temporary £1,000 discount on business rates bills for all pubs with a rateable value of less than £100,000. CAMRA has warmly welcomed this relief and has called for it to be made permanent and increased further in future Budgets. While this discount will provide welcome relief for the majority of pubs, not all will benefit as the relief does not apply to the largest pubs so a minority are still faced with very large business rate increases. Colin Valentine, CAMRA’s National Chairman adds: “We are delighted that the Government has recognised the vital role that pubs play both in our local communities and our economy by introducing a new rate relief specifically for pubs in England. “The announcement of a new rate relief for pubs in England is a ground-breaking step which recognises both the importance of pubs and the unfair impact of the business rate system on pubs. This new relief offers huge assistance to pubs and is a step towards CAMRA’s ambition of securing a £5,000 rate relief reduction for all pubs. “While this is welcome news for most pubs, some of the largest pubs will be excluded from the new relief. For example, the CAMRA award winning Baum pub in Rochdale will be unaffected by this discount. The Baum pub’s rateable value is going up by 376.6%, and the pub will pay an additional £47,327 per year once transitional rate relief ends. “CAMRA is calling on local councils to use the new discretionary fund announced today to support those pubs that will still be hit by massive business rate increases over the coming years.

It’s almost time for another Annual General Meeting – where does the time go?! We’ve had a great year, from seeing the introduction and growing popularity of the District Pub of the Season awards, to all the success of the ACV battles with Sheffield City Council. The branch now has well over 1500 members, and it’s still growing! To keep this upward trajectory going strong and to broaden our campaigning horizons we need new people and new ideas to join us in the committee. There are various positions which can be tailor-made for you, so you can be as involved as you like. And if you’d prefer to dip your toe in the water (or should that be beer?), rather than jump straight into a fully blown committee position, there are plenty of smaller roles within the branch, so there’s something to suit everybody. So if you have a penchant for pub history, an affection for accounting, or you’re a pretty prolific beer scorer, get in touch! It’s always great to see new faces, but even more exciting to hear new perspectives and ideas for moving our campaigns forwards. If you have any more questions, email chair@sheffieldcamra.org.uk or come along to one of our branch meetings or the AGM itself!

A former local government worker who left the rat race to devote her days to baking beautiful brownies has pioneered a unique recipe which is taking sweet-toothed shoppers by surprise after adding a secret ingredient to her culinary creations… beer! Heather Moore, who lives in Middlewood, set up her booming brownie business We Luv Brownies in October 2014. After spending time perfecting and refining her culinary creations, Heather recognised that she needed to grow her business and turned to Launchpad; a unique business scheme delivered across the Sheffield City Region designed to help new entrepreneurs transform ideas into a commercial reality. A visit to her local brewery, Bradfield Brewery, inspired Heather to add beer to her recipe and to her surprise she discovered the end result was a richer tasting brownie which intensified the chocolate flavours. Her unique creation proved to be an instant hit at local farmers markets, but like many other new entrepreneurs she recognised that if the business was going to succeed she needed to develop a regular customer base, allowing her to transform her hobby into a full-time commercial venture. Through the Launchpad programme Heather received advice from an experienced business advisor who worked with her to develop new markets for her products. Today Heather produces over 300 brownies each week which can be found in coffee shops throughout Yorkshire and are also proving to be a surprise hit in some of the city’s pubs. Heather’s Stout and Belgian Blue beer based brownies are just one of the eight varieties she makes, as well as best sellers Blondie, Salted Caramel and a selection of gluten free flavours. She is now planning to expand her business further by selling online as well as relocating the business from her own kitchen to commercial premises. Heather Moore, We Luv Brownies, said: “I’ve always enjoyed baking and my recipes were well received by friends, family and work colleagues, but selling to a complete stranger for the first time was something which both excited and terrified me in equal measures. “Leaving a secure career and taking a step into the unknown was a leap of faith but I decided to give it a try. Running your own business can be daunting for anyone, but Launchpad helped me to understand the nuts and bolts of what it takes to run and grow your own business as well as giving me the confidence in face to face interaction with customers and in my business idea as a whole. “One of the greatest challenges I faced was finding customers but through the support I’ve received from Launchpad, I’ve managed to successfully develop a network of over 20 local cafés, retail outlets and even pubs which regularly place orders for my brownies. “The Launchpad scheme played a huge role in helping me to develop my business and they are now helping me to scale the company further. To do this I’m looking at recruiting my first members of staff as well as possibly leasing premises which will help me to increase the numbers of brownies I produce.” Joan Binns, Business Advisor, SCR Launchpad said: “Our work with Heather helped to give her the confidence in her vision. The scheme is aimed at helping people who have never run a business before and by spending time attending the free workshops and accessing the one-to-one support available through the programme, Heather has gained invaluable business lessons, but perhaps more importantly the knowledge and confidence to believe in her idea. “Some of the best business ideas are driven by a passion for a hobby and the success Heather has enjoyed is a perfect example of how, when benefitting from the right support and advice, a business idea can be transformed into a commercial reality.” Launchpad is a unique scheme which forms part of the Sheffield City Region Growth hub. Funded by the European Union Regional Development Fund and delivered by Local Authorities within Sheffield City Region and the Princes Trust, the programme provides free help and support to budding entrepreneurs in the Sheffield City Region who are thinking of starting their own business, or have started trading within the last two years. For more information on the Launchpad programme and how it operates throughout the Sheffield City Region, contact the SCR Growth Hub Gateway on 03330 00 00 39 or visit www.scrlaunchpad.co.uk ENDS

Sheffield has a fantastic beer scene with a number of small breweries and a long list of great pubs and bars plus specialist beer shops along with various festivals and other special events through the year. We also have an active CAMRA branch of course. Something Sheffield has never really been good at though is promoting how good it is to the outside world, although some of course do appreciate a laid back vibe and a culture of modesty! Sheffield Beer Week is now in its third year, founded and co-ordinated by Jules of the Hop Hideout beer shop and tasting room to help Sheffield celebrate and promote its beer and pub scene with a number of venues making a special effort putting on events during beer week and local brewers producing some special beers for the occasion, with details of all the events pulled together at www.sheffieldbeerweek.co.uk and supporting social media activity on Twitter – follow @SheffBeerWeek. Beer Week is timed to co-incide with two conferences being in town that attract people from the beer and pub industry across the UK and the beer scene across Europe. The Society of Independent Brewers (SIBA) hold their BeerX event at Ice Sheffield which includes their AGM, conference, trade show and awards ceremony along with their Beer Alive Festival which is open to the public Friday to Sunday. Beer Now is a conference also being held at Ice Sheffield that has developed from an existing regular series of events for beer bloggers to get together – this conference expands the remit to beer tourism and marketing.

BEER MATTERS DISTRIBUTION We currently print 3,500 copies of the magazine which are delivered by courier from the printers to the Rutland Arms where volunteers, who we really appreciate, collect a stock and take them out to pubs across our branch area which is huge – the entire city of Sheffield plus Killamarsh and a big chunk of the Derbyshire Peak District. At the moment we have no record of who is taking the magazines and where they are going, which means from time to time some pubs get missed out and on other occasions some pubs get more than one delivery. Additionally distribution from the Rutland is getting problematic at times for all involved – this is a small pub that is much busier than when we first started using it as a base – obviously the format with good beer, quality food, a jukebox and staff with personality is working! Therefore we will be making some changes soon and starting from scratch. we’ll be moving to a different City Centre pub as our main distribution base and are also considering introducing some secondary out of town distribution points to help those that live in, and deliver to, locations that are a fair distance out of town. At this point we ask that ALL volunteers that deliver magazines get in touch with Andy Shaw, who has agreed to volunteer as our new distribution co-ordinator, to sign up to a specific delivery run so we have a record of where magazines are going. Andy will advise you of where to collect the magazines from when you sign up for your run. His email address is andshaw@gmail.com. CIDER PUB OF THE YEAR We’ll be choosing our Cider Pub of the Year winners at the March branch meeting. These will be put forward to the Yorkshire and Derbyshire county rounds of the national competition. If you know a pub in our area that is a good place to drink real cider and perry let us know and nominate it as a potential Cider Pub of the Year. Our winner last year was the Harlequin on Nursery Street. Our friends in Dronfield branch have already announced their winner – the Travellers Rest at Apperknowle, which will also go forward into the Derbyshire round of the national competition. SHEFFIELD PUB OF THE YEAR / DISTRICT PUB OF THE YEAR Member voting has now closed for our main Pub of the Year competition and our team of volunteer judges are all in the process of individually visiting the top pubs from the vote to see which is the overall winner. They will be scoring pubs based on the same criteria used in CAMRA’s national competition – the majority of the score is based on beer qualiity, however other factors that set one good beer pub above another are also taken into account such as value for money, service, cleanliness, sympathy with CAMRA’s aims, participation in community and clientele mix.