Pulling together to support pubs and clubs Pubs face a huge tax burden, including VAT, excise duties, business rates, corporation tax and other pub-specific costs. In total £12.7bn in taxes are paid across the beer and pubs sector per year. Tax makes up around one third of the cost of a pint sold in a … Continue reading Ask your prospective MP to sign the Pledge for Pubs
According to the Long Live The Local campaign; more than 3000 pubs have closed their doors for good in the last 3 years and over the course of the next 5 years more than 1 in 10 pubs will join them, costing thousands of jobs in the process. It’s long been known that the pub … Continue reading A way forward through diversity
It was way back in 1984 when I wrote my first ever article for Beer Matters. The first of many I was to write over the next few years. It was an article bewailing the fact that various breweries were using low interest loans to free houses in return for their product, narrowing the choice … Continue reading Beer Matters 500: Sheffield’s beer scene – 15 years of change (1984-1999)
I first joined CAMRA at Sheffield beer festival when it was held at Hallam Student Union’s Nelson Mandella Building, which has since been demolished. I was actually recruited to join a national committee before I attended any local branch event – it was a new initiative to better recruit and involve younger members in the … Continue reading Now and then… from the editor’s chair: the beer scene and CAMRA
My earliest beery memories of Sheffield are sad ones. I recall going past Whitbread’s enormous Exchange Brewery which the group upgraded at a cost of £12 million then closed a couple of years later, such was the profligacy of the beer giants at the time. There were two Bass breweries in the city and I … Continue reading Beer Matters 500 – From Roger Protz
At the end of March myself and Dom will be leaving Sheffield to spend some time exploring the beer scenes in Eastern Europe. Unlike many 20-somethings setting up in the city, I’m not from Sheffield nor have I studied at either of its universities. Though I never really thought about this before moving, it is … Continue reading Poppy’s Sheffield roundup
As you might have heard this could well be my last Casks of the Month column, for a while at least. I’ve had great fun over the last couple of years visiting all of Sheffield’s great pubs and sampling all the delicious beers on offer. Anyone who knows me knows that despite being a CAMRA … Continue reading Dom’s Casks of the Month
The Rutland Arms on Brown Street began Sheffield Beer Week in style with a bottle showcase and tap takeover from the legendary Belgian brewery Fantôme. Founded in 1988 by the eccentric but masterly Dany Prignon, the brewery specialises in the saison style and is especially popular over in the United States. Originally a low-strength beer … Continue reading A beer for all Saisons
As I write this, it’s a day of unseasonable warmth – a perfect day to head to the pub, you might say! The days are starting to get longer and the sun is coming out more so we’ll all be looking forward to more pub trips in the weeks and months ahead. The pubs also … Continue reading Dom’s Casks of the Month
It’s a hard life writing about beer! No sooner had I recovered from the festival than Christmas and New Year appeared on the horizon, bringing with them the usual raft of pub trips, from after-work outings to family catch-ups. Luckily most of the pubs I visited over the festive period had some great quality ales … Continue reading Dom’s Casks of the Month