Category: Opinion

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 something I have noticed to be quite significant, as the merit of Sheffield is its community feel, with these being the core ones for people my age. Through the Sheffield and District CAMRA committee I have been brought into one of the strongest communities going, the Sheffield beer scene. During last year’s Steel City Beer and Cider Festival, I noticed that one of our volunteers was sporting the GBBF volunteer t-shirt from 2018. The mantra read ‘Cask and Keg and Bottle and Can’. This really hit a chord with me and I think this perfectly sums up Sheffield! Cask For me, Sheffield is cask beer. From the 24 breweries in the branch region, to the hundreds of pubs that keep well, promote strongly and offer quality cask beer, to the activities of the local CAMRA branch in Pub of the Month (POTM) competitions and local events, cask beer is at its strongest in Sheffield. Neepsend, Blue Bee, Little Critters, Lost Industry, Steel City, Toolmakers, all of the breweries creating exciting and new and inventive cask beers while maintaining the classic styles of the more traditional brews, there can be no favourites with so much quality. You only have to attend our festival to see the range and class of cask offerings from the city. …and Keg So to completely contradict myself in saying there can be no favourites, for Keg beer I think you can get no finer brewery, not just in Sheffield but nationally, than Abbeydale. The range of styles, range of serves and sheer excitement and inventiveness of their beer has advanced my personal appreciation and knowledge no end. …and Bottle and Can I have found that introductions to good beer often happen at home. Sheffield is lucky to have places like Hop Hideout, Beer Central, Archer Road Beer Stop and Turners which stock a vast range of local, national and international beers in a variety of styles, strengths, combinations and collaborations. Sheffield also has some great pubs where bottles and cans form a major part of the overall offering. Places like the Bar Stewards, Ecclesall Ale Club, the Rutland Arms and the Devonshire Cat all have substantial ranges of bottles and cans offered alongside their hand pulls, which can be enjoyed in the pub. Poppy

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 member I’m not one of those people who thinks cask ale is good and everything else is rubbish; I’m a fan of good beer in general, whatever it’s served from. However, writing this column has really encouraged me to try more cask beer and learn to really appreciate the amount of skill and care that goes into brewing, storing and serving a consistently excellent product. I’m writing this just as Sheffield Beer Week is drawing to a close. It’s been another fantastic year and credit must go to everyone involved, not least the pubs, bars and bottle shops that come together to celebrate beer in its myriad forms. To mark the occasion, I’ve chosen some of my favourite beers from various events I’ve visited over the week – I’ve managed to whittle them down to three but there could have been many more. Here’s looking forward to next year! What: Mango Magic (6.0%) – Little Critters and Kelham Island (both Sheffield) Where: Old Queens Head When Kelham Island Brewery sent me their brewery news through for last month’s Beer Matters, there was news of a then-unnamed mango IPA in collaboration with another Sheffield brewery, Little Critters, which immediately piqued my interest. I think the combination of mango and beer really works, with the sweetness of the fruit balancing out the bitterness of the hops. There was so much mango that it almost looked like a milkshake, but it was the body and smoothness that made this very drinkable. What: Sligo (5.4%) – Welbeck Abbey (Worksop) Where: Red Deer Tuesday evening of Sheffield Beer Week took us to the Red Deer for our Pub of the Month presentation. The weather outside was abysmal, but fortunately there was a great selection of real ales to lift the spirits. This was the pick of the bunch for me, a deliciously smooth oatmeal stout. Deep black in colour with a small but creamy off-white head, on tasting this had the ideal blend of roasted malt and hints of caramel sweetness. The perfect warmer for a cold evening! What: Vision Quest (7.0%) – Turning Point (Kirkbymoorside) Where: Shakespeares I’d actually gone to Shakespeares for the Battle of the Beers event (well done again, Sean!) but it was this rather strong pale ale that won the night for me. North Yorkshire-based Turning Point are fast becoming one of my favourite breweries and this was another fine example of their craft. Crammed full of Mosaic hops, this was fresh and juicy with all the characteristic tropical fruit aromas and citrussy flavours. Definitely one to look out for again. Dominic Nelson

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 given to farm workers (“saisonniers”) to keep them hydrated, modern saisons have evolved somewhat and tend to come in between 6 and 8% ABV. Flavourings such as fruits and spices are often added to the recipe to create a range of varieties, each with their own unique characteristics. The Fantôme beers on keg downstairs were tasty enough, but I was here for the bottle tasting, which promised a journey through the brewery’s extensive repertoire of beers, including some rare vintages and a few brews which had never been released to the public. Our hosts for the evening were brewer Mike James and renowned beer sommelier Roberto Ross. Mike is from Derbyshire and formerly brewed at Buxton Brewery back in the days when they were starting to become popular, and more recently has been running the cuckoo brewery, Landlocked. The pair have been involved with Fantôme for a couple of years, and Mike’s official title at the brewery is “master of magic”! We kicked off with Blanche (4.5%), not in fact a saison at all but a classic Belgian witbier (think Hoegaarden). This was a great example of the style with hints of coriander and orange peel. Next up came Saison d’Érezée Hiver – labelled at 8%, but as with many Fantôme beers it actually went into the bottle at around 7.5%. As these beers are bottle-conditioned they continue to ferment, so the strength you drink it at can vary depending on how long the beer has been aged. Hiver is, of course, the French word for winter and this beer was packed with warming winter spices which complimented the “funky” saison flavours beautifully. We were then treated to a few of the brewery’s core range, including Saison (the secret ingredient is magic), Chocolat (made with real Belgian chocolate) and Fantôme de Noël (full of Christmas spices), before some of the rarer and more interesting beers started to make an entrance. In true Belgian style, the dregs were poured into each taster too – the yeast is where all the flavour is! The bottle of Magic Ghost looked unassuming enough, but on pouring the beer was vivid green in colour; Mike explained that this was due to the addition of green tea and spinach extract during the brewing process. The theme of tea continued with Gunpowder Mild, a collaboration brew with Landlocked. This beer (one of the last to be brewed on Fantôme’s original kit before its recent replacement) was a unique mixture of a saison with a Victorian mild, with various types of gunpowder tea used in place of hops to provide aroma and bitterness. One of my highlights of the night was Fantôme in Flowers – another collaboration effort, this time with Berlin-based Australian brewers Parasite Produktions. As the name promised, this was a more delicate beer, laced with lavender and beautifully refreshing. Next up came a couple of never-to-be-released experimental saisons – truly a once-in-a-lifetime experience. Our final beer of the night was one from the archives. Dating from 2007, not even Mike and Roberto knew what to expect from this bottle of Sante-11. When bottled, this had apparently been a fairly standard saison with typical adjuncts such as coriander, oregano and black pepper. However, it turned out that 12 years had certainly had an effect – when poured, the beer had taken on an almost cheesy aroma and had huge chunks of yeast suspended in it. Luckily it tasted better than it smelled (and looked), a complex spiciness with maybe just a hint of sourness starting to creep in. All in all, we had a fantastic evening and at £15 per person it was an absolute bargain. If you’re into Belgian beers and come across Fantôme beers, I’d definitely recommend giving them a try! Dominic Nelson

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 look forward to this time of year as those who have been abstaining for Dry January realise what they’ve been missing and begin to ease themselves back into their old habits. That said, it was nice to see this year that more pubs have been embracing the month, for example, by offering more alcohol-free beers, and using it as an opportunity to attract new potential customers, who will hopefully keep coming back and supporting their local.

Those who didn’t give up the real ale for a month were, as always, treated to some excellent beers around the pubs and clubs of Sheffield. I used the month to try out some pubs that I don’t visit that often – some of them weren’t quite to my personal taste, but in plenty of others I was rewarded with a warm welcome and the pleasing sight of a bank of handpumps offering an interesting choice of ales. Either way, you never know where you might find your new favourite watering hole, so why not get out there and try a new pub for yourself?

What: Never Mind the Kent Hops (5.0%) – London Brewing Co (Finchley)
Where: Lescar
It’s not too often I pick a bitter for this column, but this one was Extra Special(!). The beer poured a rich brown colour, with the slightest bit of haze and a small creamy head. The aroma was complex, with a slight maltiness complimented by hints of pine and berries. Upon drinking, the initial flavours of caramel and berries gave way to a dry, hoppy finish which lingered for some time and left you wanting to go back for more. A great example of the style.

What: Mosaic (4.5%) – Great Heck (near Goole)
Where: University Arms
Using a single hop to flavour a beer can be a risky strategy, but when done right the results can be exquisite. Great Heck’s range of single-hopped golden ales is consistently good, but this is the best I’ve had so far, with the Mosaic hops imparting a deeply fruity, tropical flavour along with a pleasant bitterness that made this beer very drinkable. It was appealing on the other senses too, with its perfectly clear golden colour in the glass and a crisp, hoppy aroma on the nose.

What: Papa Jangles Voodoo Stout (4.5%) – Totally Brewed (Nottingham)
Where: Itchy Pig Ale House
Regular readers will know I’ve never made any apologies for my love of dark beers. While I understand the reasons that not all pubs offer stouts and porters on cask, it’s always a highlight for me when they do. This was a nice example of a traditional stout where the dark malt is allowed to take centre stage. My pint was almost black with an attractive tan head, and upon tasting it had classic bittersweet characteristics of chocolate and roasted coffee flavours. Great stuff.

Next month, I’ll be bringing three of my favourite beers from some of the Sheffield Beer Week events taking place around the city.

Dominic Nelson

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 on offer – a perfectly kept pint of London Pride down in deepest Berkshire sticks in my memory. As much as I enjoy trying new beers and breweries, sometimes the classic ales can be just as satisfying when treated with respect.

As I sit and write this column with two months’ worth of cask ale check-ins to try and whittle down to a top three, I can’t help but wonder what 2019 will have in store. Will we see the continued dominance of pale and hoppy beers, or will porters, stouts or even milds start to see a comeback? And as hops get more expensive, who knows what kind of weird and wonderful flavours will end up in our nonik glasses this year. Whatever we end up with, I’m sure we’ll all have fun trying it.

What: Plump Penguin (5.0%) – Little Critters (Sheffield)
Where: Bankers Draft
Plum porter, hasn’t that been done before? Well of course, it’s by no means a new idea but this seasonal brew from Sheffield’s own Little Critters is one of the best takes on the concept I have tasted. The juicy, fruity flavour of the plums was perfectly balanced with the bitterness of the roasted malt, and the smooth, rich mouthfeel was reminiscent of the Titanic Brewery original. The perfect beer for those cold winter nights, it’s a shame it’s only available two months of the year!

What: Fakir (3.7%) – Empire (Slaithwaite)
Where: Fat Cat
Session beers can sometimes get a bit of a bad reputation, and often I can’t argue with that, but done properly they can be just as enjoyable as their more robust siblings. This low-ABV pale from was on the pumps at the Fat Cat, so I had reason to trust that it might be one of the better ones and I was not left disappointed. The beer poured a lovely straw colour and the aroma of the American hops was evident straight away. On tasting, the lower strength allowed the hops to come to the fore, without being overwhelmingly bitter. Definitely one you could stick with for the evening.

What: Storm (6.0%) – Ramsbury (Marlborough)
Where: Gardeners Rest
When I arrive at the bar to find a brewery I’ve not tried before, I don’t usually need much encouragement to rectify that. Wiltshire’s Ramsbury Brewery don’t make it up this way too often, but on this showing they’re more than welcome to make a return. This American pale ale, brewed using hops grown locally to the brewery was a nice amber colour in the glass with a slight hint of haze. Bursting with hop aroma on the nose, upon tasting the hop flavours balanced nicely with a slight boozy sweetness. Will certainly be looking out for this brewery again in the future.

Dominic Nelson

With well over 200 cask beers to try during the Steel City Beer & Cider Festival, it’s impossible to try them all even with four days to do it so it usually requires some planning beforehand to make sure you get to sample all the interesting ones. But the best made plans often go astray and we definitely ended up trying a few that weren’t on our original lists! However, with such a great selection on offer as always, it was difficult to go far wrong whatever we chose. Here are three each of Poppy and Dom’s favourite beers from the festival, in no particular order: Poppy Imperial/Lost Industry/Raw – Let’s Get Ready to Crumble: I often find white stouts a bit sweet, especially when they are dessert-flavoured, but this one was evenly balanced and very palatable. It was my drink of choice behind the bar, and it seemed pretty popular with the people I recommended it to as well, especially our chairman Glyn! Fat Cat – Bitter: Anyone who knows me knows I’m a bitter girl, and I’m a firm believer you can test the quality of a brewery by the drinkability of their bitter. I “sampled” this beer quite a few times during the festival, and thought it was a good transition between a traditional bitter and a red ale. HopJacker – Phoenix: I know, it’s another beer from upstairs (the marquee was a long way away, OK!). APA was a style I was first introduced to at the Potteries Beer Festival a few years ago and I quite enjoy the mellower flavour compared to an IPA. This one was a good example of the style and it was a nice introduction for visitors I spoke to who hadn’t tried APAs before. Dom Kirkstall – Black Band Porter: After a bit of a tumble (if you were anywhere near the cider bar on Saturday afternoon, you’ll know what I mean!) I needed something to calm my nerves and this porter did just the trick. Flavours of chocolate and caramel came to the fore in this wonderfully smooth and tasty dark ale. Steel City – Black Cascade: I’ve always been a fan of black IPAs and I thought this one was a great example. The style has gone out of fashion a bit lately, but personally I have always enjoyed the combination of hop bitterness and the slightly sweet, roasted flavours of the dark malt. If I didn’t have a rule not to drink the same beer twice, I would have gone back for a second pint! Anthology – Dry Hopped Pale Citra/Mosaic: Luckily there was some of this beer for the staff take down on Saturday evening as I had somehow missed it during the week. This unfined beer had a rather milky appearance and a fantastically fruity hop aroma. The Citra and Mosaic hops both offered distinctive flavours and combined well to make a wonderfully drinkable beer.

I got a little bit ahead of myself at the end of last month’s article when I promised to bring you three of my favourite beers from the Steel City Beer & Cider Festival; printing deadlines mean that as I write this the festival is still a couple of days away and we are all waiting with bated breath for the delights that this year is sure to have in store. So for this month you’ll have to make do with my usual selection of three excellent cask ales from around the handpumps of Sheffield. The shorter nights have started to come in and already we’re starting to see darker and stronger beers appearing in pubs, so for the first time in a while there’s a stout among the choices below. Without further ado, here are my top three: What: Mentha (5.0%) – Neepsend (Sheffield) Where: Beer Engine Mint and chocolate is a classic flavour combination and while putting the two together in beer form is not entirely novel, this was an excellent example of the craft. This mint-laden milk stout was described as a Mint Aero in a glass, but I would say it was closer to an After Eight, the slight bitterness coming through reminding me more of dark chocolate. A lovely deep brown colour with an ephemeral tan head, this was incredibly smooth to drink and a second pint was almost too tempting. Great stuff. What: Planet Rock Honeydew Melon (4.5%) – Thornbridge (Ashford in the Water) Where: Stag’s Head It’s almost unheard of that I choose beers from the same brewery two months in a row, but after trying this one it would have been hard not to. Like the Melba from last month, this beer had a touch of a certain well-known wood staining product about it – exactly what it said on the tin. I can imagine that this one would split opinions, but for me the refreshing character of the melon was well balanced with the light hoppiness, making for an immensely drinkable pint. What: Border Town (4.2%) – Bad Seed (Malton) Where: Devonshire Bad Seed Brewery are usually a good bet for an above-average beer and this was no exception. This unfined rye pale ale was slightly hazy on pouring but settled to a pleasant golden colour after a few seconds. On drinking, the subtle peppery spiciness of the rye was complimented well by tropical fruit and citrus flavours from the Cascade hops. Rye beers will never be for everybody, but this one would definitely be a good introduction for those who haven’t tried the style yet. Next time out we will definitely be featuring some of the top beers from the Steel City festival, and I’ve enlisted the help of Poppy, whose GBBF-themed Casks of the Month from a couple of months ago proved very popular! Who knows, there might even be more than three beers… Dominic Nelson

It was great to see some beers from further afield featured in Poppy’s Casks of the Month column last time out. GBBF was a great event and the range of beers on offer was simply staggering – I would have been hard pushed to only choose three! It’s back to business as usual this month though as we return to three of the best real ales spotted on Sheffield’s handpumps. A couple of weeks off work recently, as well as a stack of Good Beer Guide congratulation letters to deliver, have proved a good opportunity to try out a few pubs I visit less frequently. There’s nothing better than when a pub slightly off the beaten track rewards your journey with a selection of interesting and well-kept ales. Here are three of my favourites from the last few weeks: What: Stormin’ Norman (6.5%) – Great Heck (near Selby) Where: Devonshire Cat Not for the faint of heart, this beer certainly satisfied when I was in the mood for something a little stronger and hoppier than the average golden ale. A modern revival of one of the brewery’s old favourites, my pint had a rich golden colour with a pristine white head. The aroma was full of tropical and citrus fruits, with mango and grapefruit particularly coming to the fore. Upon drinking, the palate was remarkably well balanced, with malt in the background and dominant hops masking the percentage very well. What: Melba (5.2%) – Thornbridge (Ashford in the Water) Where: Cross Scythes I’m always a bit wary of beers that claim particular flavours, such as this peach IPA, but in this case there was no cause for concern. Originally brewed as a special beer for Thornbridge’s now defunct Dada bar, this one has been around for a while now but was in excellent condition on a recent visit to the Cross Scythes at Norton Lees. The beer delivered exactly what it promised, with both aroma and flavour characterised by definite, but not overpowering, peach. Very refreshing. What: Saltwick Nab (4.2%) – Whitby Where: Ale House Upon asking for a half of this best bitter, I was advised that it might be better to have a taster first to make sure I would like it. Not a promising start you might think, but I actually found this to be very decent. A deep amber colour in the glass, this was a little sweeter than your average bitter, with the malts bringing a pleasant hint of toffee which balanced the traditional English hops well. A nice, sessionable bitter. Next month, I’ll be bringing you my top three beers from the Steel City Beer & Cider Festival. What better excuse to try as many as possible? Dominic Nelson

In August, I was lucky enough to receive a press pass for CAMRA’s Great British Beer Festival at the Kensington Olympia. Myself and Beer Matters editor Dom travelled down to London on Tuesday morning for the opening session of the festival. We had a great day and saw plenty of members from Sheffield & District branch as well as meeting new people from all around the country. As a keen tegestologist (beer mat collector!) it was great to meet people with similar interests, as well as handing out plenty of Steel City Festival beer mats. The day also saw the birth of a new family member for me, Georgie, so it was a great day all round. At the festival I tried many wonderful beers, so I thought I would have a go at writing Casks of the Month. Breaking with Dom’s tradition of choosing beers from around Sheffield, here are my top three from GBBF: What: Raspberry Citra IPA (4.2%) – Lacada (Portrush) This beer from Northern Ireland was a first for me from this brewery. The beer itself was hazy and had a slight pinkish tinge. It tasted distinctly of raspberries but had a good hoppy flavour similar to a double IPA. This hoppy and fruity offering was arguably my favourite beer of the festival – my biggest regret was not having a full pint of it! What: Phoenix Cherry Mild (4.5%) – Lenton Lane (Nottingham) Somewhat controversially, one of my favourite styles of beer is the mild. There were quite a few on offer at GBBF but the best for me was this cherry mild from Nottingham. The beer was extremely drinkable and had so much cherry flavour it almost tasted like fruit juice. As a fan of Belgian kriek beers, this was great and I could definitely see myself spending an evening drinking this one. What: Blueberry and Vanilla Stout (5.0%) – Tarn Hows (Ambleside) I went to stand B11 hoping to find Dave Pickersgill, however I was served by a lady who recommended this interesting-looking stout. I think one of the great things about festivals is that volunteers who genuinely love beer can share their passion. Stouts are not a style I typically go for, but this had a beautiful combination of flavours. Although I actually bought this for Dom, I ended up drinking it all myself! Poppy

I almost feel bad for saying it but I’m not the greatest fan of this hot weather we’ve been having recently. The fan has become a permanent fixture in our flat and we’ve had the air conditioning on every day at work. One good thing about it, however, is that it’s a great excuse to get out and try some cool, refreshing beers, although I will admit I’ve recently taken to having a glass of water alongside my pint – after all, it’s important to stay hydrated! There have been some great pale ales on around Sheffield over the last few weeks, perfect for the summer weather. Sunfest was a great success as always and had some fantastic beers on offer: Five Towns’ Always Crashing in the Same Car (rhubarb belgian tripel) and Steel City’s MPHIBUDDHNZNEIPA (mango and passionfruit IPA “soup”!) were two highlights for me. However, for this column I’ve stuck with tradition and gone for three hand-pulled beers from around the pubs of Sheffield, rather than festival beers. Here they are in no particular order: What: Nelson Sauvin Pale – Brewsmith (Ramsbottom) Where: Beer House, Ecclesall Road Nelson Sauvin is definitely a love-it-or-hate-it hop, but I have to say that I’m a fan of it. This pale wasn’t single-hopped (Gelana and Cascade also featured) but its presence was certainly notable, with hints of tropical fruits and grapefruit coming through alongside a more astringent vinous flavour. In the glass, this had the appearance of a classic pale ale, with a straw-coloured body and small but fairly creamy white head. On drinking, the light carbonation made it very pleasant and refreshing on a balmy evening. What: Rising Tide – Turning Point (Kirkbymoorside) Where: Cremorne, London Road This wasn’t the first time that I’d tried this sessionable pale ale, but this was the best condition I’ve had it in so far. Poured a slightly hazy light amber colour with a very thin head. The aroma was packed with citrus fruits and on tasting there was a nice level of bitterness balanced out by the biscuit-like flavours from the malt which were more prominent than I had expected. Very nice pint from this North Yorkshire brewery. What: Red Lion – Ashover Brewery (Ashover) Where: Railway Hotel, Bramall Lane This beer from the ever-reliable Ashover Brewery has been around before but this was the first time I’d seen it in a while and I think it’s been improved. This was a very interesting American red ale, with a vivid copper colour in the glass and a nice foamy head. An aroma of toffee and blackberries and floral hops delivered exactly what it promised on drinking, with a nice balance between the sweet caramel of the malt and the bitterness of the hops. Dominic Nelson