Hello,
last night I went on a slightly different pub crawl with Tash. I have been resolutely dedicated to drinking in Shakespeares - as is always the case, and the Three Tuns recently. I thought, therefore, that it might be enjoyable to venture to some less often visited boozers after work.
I started by myself in the Fat Cat. It was busy, and I had to wait to get a seat, but was soon sitting down with a Wateralls pork pie and a pint of Bobs Brewing Yakima Chief. I quite like Bobs stuff and this was a perfect beer to start on at 5.0%. I went back for another half as well, whilst waiting for Tash, and bought some very very crispy hard pork scratchings. The scene was set.
Meeting Tash we decided to go somewhere near work and so popped in to the Harlequin. Here we both had pints of the Exit 33 Stateside Pale, also at or about 5%. This beer has a beautiful bitter aftertaste which creeps up on you, but has a very clean finish and of course bags of hops. By the time we left about 20.00 there was a band setting up in the back and the pub was very busy.
We walked through Hancock and Lant and stopped to see if there was anything happening with the proposal by Red Sky Inns to convert the toilets on Blonk Street into a bar. It seems implausible to look at the structure, it seems far too small, but there does appear to be room downstairs at river level and am guessing it goes back further under the road. Will be interesting to see what, if anything, happens on this plot.
Our next stop was the Old Queens Head, probably the oldest pub in Sheffield (I can't remember the name of the one near Graves Park which sells no real ale). The pub was also busy and still appears to be run by Czechs, with Czech food available on Monday nights, written in English and Czech. Tash's Dad was Czech and she can read a little but its a difficult language to master. I had a pint of Thwaites Nutty Black, a drop in ABV to 3.3%, and Tash a pint of Prospect Whatever, around 3.8% which was a slightly hoppy amber ale. I don't go in this pub very often so it was nice to see it popular, and still selling four real ales including a guest.
Our next stop was Sheffield's newest pub. The Centennial Brewpub is now open on Shoreham Street and features cask, keg and bottled beers. The brewery is enormous, and pleasingly gleamy bright, and there is seating down the side and a long bar with fresh snacks on the end. We both had a half of the Northern Monk True Pale on cask and a half of the EU IPA on keg at about £1million. It was good to see Louis who recently left Shakespeares, and the staff were friendly and knowledgeable.
Sitting towards the back we found the Northern Monk a little flat but Tash loved the EU IPA. Granted, we both agreed its overpriced at £6.00 a pint - that's virtually a pound a percent, but it was well rounded and tasty. Alas the snacks are also expensive - a scotch egg is £3.25, so we decided to miss out on food and have another half of the IPA and a half of their delicious Kolsch lager. The bar is now growing into its carpet warehouse home and is a nice place to visit for a few halves.
We finished the night in the Sheffield Tap. There was a Wild beers sour on keg called Sleeping Lemons which was delicious, so Tash had a pint of that, and we met Matty n here who had a quick half. I tried a half of the Thornbridge Ravenhaf, (am sure it wasn't called just Raven) described as a Black IPA. It had an overpowering taste of perfume. To be fair the staff swapped it for another of the Sleeping Lemons but claimed they could not taste perfume - even though it smelled and tasted perfumed. I have no idea what could be in the beer to make it taste like this. The Sleeping Lemons was lovely however.
So ended an alternative Friday night session, with a selection of different pubs providing mainly excellent ales in cask and keg, and in different styles. It was good to see so many pubs so busy, and will be interesting to see how the Senteniel bar develops over time.
Cheers!
Wee Beefy
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