Hellall,
as my bank account clearly attests, the last two weeks have been quite refreshing. There have of course been events to attend, but mostly me and Tash have split our time around different pubs and sampled numerous excellent beers in doing so. Here are some details of that, along with news of some reopenings.
We start, as always, in Shakespeares. I recently had several pints f the excellent Buxton Axe Edge at 6.9%, sold on cask at £3.90 a pint. This is whopping IPA with bags of hop flavour but is well balanced and easy, too easy, to drink. Last night I was in with Tash supping the Steel City collaboration strong ale - Hoppy Barley Wine. Its 9.4% and actually very well balanced - tons of hops but lots of malt in the background help to keep the beer and the tastes together nicely. The collaboration is between Steel City, Raw and Waen breweries, and costs, reasonably for it's strength, £4.80 a pint. Myself and Tash had a pint last night, whilst warding off the attentions of a drunken racist who was determined to share his absurd and frankly pointless prejudiced opinions with us.
We also had a pint of Mallinsons Baton Rouge red ale, and some delicious Buxton Far Skyline Berliner Weiss. I was in the night before as well with Matty, and sampled the keg saison Zinnebier and the Baton Rouge again, as well as the Citra on keg and the Alechemy Koala T. a bizarre but refreshing orange and lemon pale ale. Once again, Shakespeares serves up a wide range of different beer styles.
A couple of trips to the Bath Hotel recently saw us on keg once again, the last weekend we played cards against humanity there with Matty and "Rando" (who won, by being funnier than us by our pulling cards at random from the answers pile) and we supped pints of the Wiper and True Ella, which I may have previously told you is a fantastic beer. On our next visit we tried the Belgian version of Halcyon, also on keg, and possibly stronger - I can't say I like it as much as normal Halcyon, but it was worth trying, along with a half of Melba IPA on cask.
Last night I was in the Walkley Beer Co and was shocked to find all 3 casks and 1 keg still available! I had a delicious pint of Arbor NZ Bomb with Dan and Rob who I'd seen at the Punchbowl reopening, along with an exceptional half of Kernel Mosaic on keg - bursting with flavour and perfectly showcasing the flavours of Mosaic hops.
Two recent visits to the Andrew Inns Three Tuns have seen impeccable ale choices - the first time I had a pint of the 3.9% Comet pale ale from Blue Bee which was a dead heat choice with Mallinsons Citra - I chose the Comet as its a less regularly encountered hop. It was punchy and bitter and very refreshing. Last night I had a fantastic pint, as did Tash of the excellent Return of the Geek Mosaic Pale at 6.0%, also from Blue Bee. This was bursting with flavours, but was a very different beer from the Kernel earlier, not last because it was on cask.
Prior to this me and Tash popped in the Church House. Now no longer maligned by the absurd marketing segmentation of Scottish and Newcastle (as was) the pub has carved itself a niche as a rock pub, with bands and DJ's and, alas karaoke. I was disappointed to find so many pump clips turned round, especially on a Saturday night, but in fact the Robisons Trooper was on good form. I had a pint and a half and Tash two double whisky and coke whilst we listened to some long unheard tunes.
We recently visited the Gardeners Rest after a walk and had pints of the Sheffield Brewing Company Stonecutter IPA, as well as a red ale from Pin up Brewing. We sat in the beer garden initially, listening to the pagoda amplify our voices as we raised our heads - a logical but surprising event!
News now of upcoming events. Firstly, signs are that work is well underway at the Ship on Shalesmoor. No idea of a reopening date yet but the company behind it is Artisan beers - their website suggests it will retain its name as the Ship but operate as the Artisan Tap. Information is hard to come by apart from it appears to have been bought by them from Greedy King - since I doubt anyone would be able to arrange the deal the previous landlord did with them, this is potentially a positive development. If anyone has been to one of their ther three pubs in the UK, please let me know.
Also, on the 22nd September the Red House on Solly street is set to reopen - it promises to sell local real ales and craft beers (whatever that means!). I first went in the Red House in 1993 and drank Wards Bitter on cask and had something to eat at lunch. It was a friendly, paneled local pub then, but gradually changed into more of a venue, with, if memory serves, pretty terrible beer! It will be good to see some decent beer on, but am not sure what will happen to the facilities for bands to play.
More info on the above two openings and other news, as soon as I get it.
Cheers!
Wee Beefy
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