Neepsend Craft Beer Festival

 Hello again readers - as usual am a bit late reporting events......

Also - if am honest - I  wasn't actually planning on going - it was only because my good friend J offered two free tickets for the Saturday session that I went at all - so I went with Meathill, obviously.

It was held at Peddlers Warehouse, right next door to the Factory Floor - there was a decent queue to get in, and you showed your ticket on your phone at the door, where you received a tag and a glass and a free pint card (where you could also choose your favorite cask pint) - in fact, the Sheffield cask bar was the first place I visited for a pint of Duality Citra on the Dock of the Bay - a tasty 4.1% session pale, followed by a half of the fabulous Neepsend Double Century IPA at 7.2%. One of the advantages of this festival was an old fashioned printed  list - of the cask beers, which I admit proved very beneficial in this post!

Other features included Pangolin Micropub and Bottle shop from Hillsborough, Quality Ferments drink  importers, a Low and No alcohol bar, and a fabulous selection of street food vendors - as you now I no longer eat food, but I did get some fabulous German Sausage from Get Wurst, with tasty  loaded fries.

So what about the keg beer bars?

Well, I have to say the selection was very good! Highlights included Anthology, Atom, DEYA, Neon Raptor, Dark Element, Sureshot, Zapato and Vibrant Forest - I had a fab pale ale from  Anthology, a strong stout at around 10% from ATOM, a marvellous cloudy IPA from Vibrant Forest, a strong Zapato ale, a dark and hoppy ale from Dark Element from their caravan, and having masticated, I finished on 2 whole pints of DEYA DIPA (possibly saturated in Citra?) from the lovely folks on their bar!

Sadly I was probably only there for a few hours or so as I was going to the secret Birthday do for my chum Dave "Hudares" Howard from the world of music, taking place at Sidney and Mathilda, but despite the shortness of my visit I have to say I thoroughly enjoyed it.

One last comment is that, discussing this festival with a person in the Harlequin where i started on two pints, one cftp, the other kftf, I was told that some of the brewers that had served there had been disappointed by the attendance, and it hadn't been considered a success - all I can say is that it seemed well attended in my experience, there had been plenty of locally brewed cask (from the past), the food had been excellent, and I had really enjoyed meeting representatives from all of the breweries I had bought from! I do also suspect that the spiraling costs in the brewing and hospitality sector could have likely undermined some of the excellent features of the festival, and maybe reduced visitor numbers?

Either way - am sending a big thanks to the organisers, traders and suppliers at the Neepsend Craft Beer Festival!

Warmest regards

Wee Beefy

Sheffield Beer Week 2018

Well,

     late as always, here are my thoughts on the fourth explosion at a Sheffield beer factory that is Sheffield Beer Week. I did my usual number of events, and enjoyed every one immensely. Here are details of those events, and highlights.

Following a chance discussion in Hop Hideout I was able to get a couple of ticket to the Indie Beer Feast on the opening Saturday March the 10th. It started early and I managed to get in before 12.00 with my friend Mr P. It was held in the picture house part of Abbeydale Picture House, which I have never been in before. Mr P meanwhile had, when he was 8, to watch Sink the Bismark with his parents.

There were loads of people there I recognised, and many breweries serving a good range of ales, and. crucially for me these days, plenty of seating! Myself and Mr P sat in the oldest looking chairs towards the back of the auditorium and soon spotted Malc and Ally and others from the extended social hug of the Sheffield beer scene.

I think I started with a North Brewing Co beer - in one of a few nods to Indie Man Beer Con there was no beer list, but I  had already seen it on the Internet, in a process so cool it made my beard grow longer. I know my second beer was a wonderful DIPA from Mad Hatter brewery,. whom I had a quick chat with, and the third a third of the super dry hopped ale from Sierra Nevada.

I also had beers from Runaway (possibly), Torrside, Abbeydale, Black Iris, another from North and Mad Hatter and thoroughly enjoyed them all - I got to take the glass home as well which I have used for almost all my home tastings ever since. I finished off in Hop Hideout with a wonderfully soupy sour and a Magic Rock beer. A fab fest!

On Monday I was in my second home of Shakespeares trying a few of the barrel aged beers on offer. Being cautious I only allowed myself twp thirds - one of the excellent Harviestoun Ola Dubh, and the other a 15% Juel Maelke, which Chris told me meant Christmas milk, which I misunderstood as Chris's milk, a wholly less appettising undertaking....

I returned to Shakespeares and Bar Stewards on Tuesday, not for any events but just to drink excellent beer, including a can of the Cloudwater small Citra Ekuanot at the Stewards.

Wednesday I met up with Brotaar and we sort of attended the Atom brewery meet the brewer event at Kerbedge at West One. Arriving late I only got to chat to them for a few minutes but got to try a sour, a pale and a 7% dark ale which WK loved. We caught up with them again in BrewDog where amongst other things I tried the Lost Industry coconut cream ale and the Steel City Rogue one.

Thursday I was keeping up to date by once more visiting Shakespeares and Bar Stewards, before Friday night was the fantastic Northern Monk Tap Takeover at the latter. I started on halves of their Striding Edge 3% Light IPA and New World IPA at 6%. Very similar levels of juicy hop in both was a testament to the quality of the Striding edge. Having caught up with the sword of Justice and his mates I went to the outside bar and met up with Michael Sallot, who have probably not seen since my stroke. It was great to catch up, and also to try a Loka Polly beer on keg.

I went on to try three IPAs, Underworld, Helvellyn and the pick of the bunch Slam Dank, and got chatting to the brewer and marketing sales guy who I had a good long chat with before meeting Vikkie and Matt for moe Loka Polly and a great catch up, before a wobble back to the bus stop. A cracking night!

The final event I attended was the Cloudwater Howling Hops takeover at Shakespeares on Saturday afternoon. Although I really enjoyed the DIPA the two double dry hopped pale ales tried were also of note, and Adam recommended the Pale XXX from Howling Hops on "cask" which was a wonderfully easy drinking pale ale. I spent most of the time with the Lycetts, and then Rich and Kath, getting a trifle refreshed on my meagre funds, and courtesy of to the kindness of the  team Lycett.

Every year so far the Beer Week event has grown in stature and improved in quality as well. There were many many more events that I wish I could have gone to but as previously I still had a wonderful week.

Thanks and well done to Jules and all those involved in organising this wonderful event, showcasing the best of Sheffield, local, national and international beers and Sheffield's fabulous boozers!

Wee Beefy  

Sheffield beer week, thus far (ish)

Hulloo,

        am writing this post partly as an apology for all those wonderful folk who have worked tirelessly to get the event off the ground initially, and running for its third year. Have not really planned to do much this year for various reasons, apart from the Beavertown and Weird Beard Tap Takeovers at the Hallamshire House and Shakespeares respectively. Meanwhile, all I have done so far is go to the Three Tuns and Shakespeares.

In there on Monday I found a slip of paper on my table as I indulged in some Berlin IPA from somewhere overseas. It was wonderful, very citrus hoppy which I hadn't been expecting. It was strong so perfect to start with, and had a very refreshing taste but with a big slab of hops in the background.

The slip of paper said Imperial Stouts cellar list, and listed three very strong dark beers. These were Abbeydale and Beer Ink Smore than a feeling at 9% (which I didn't have because it said it tasted of Smores, and I don't know what they are!), and Steel City and Lost Industry Pastor of Muppets at 11.5% which had communion wafers in the cask and is a pale stout blended, or perhaps brewed with the addition of, Chateneuf Du Pape, one of my favourite red wines. The final was Atom Neutron Star, a 12 or 12.6% vanilla coffee stout.

Halves of the latter were ordered from the cellar and I sat in the front room supping them, along with finishing my IPA. I spent much of that time talking to a Sheffielder called Matt - someone who I have no doubt seen many times but only just got to tale to. Hello! Please remember to be impressed that I think I can remember your name....

Beers wise, both stouts were excellent. What I like about the Atom brewery is that they know how to make surprisingly easy drinking very strong beers. Their philosophy of using herbs, botanics and flowers in their beers and am led to believe, almost no hops, makes them stand out, and this beer was no exception. It tasted its strength, of course, but didn't cloy or hang in the mouth. It was smooth and powerfully delicious, like a faerie oil slick of loveliness....

The Pastor of Muppets was also excellent - not so much pale, likely because of the hue of the red wine which if I recall is fairly dark, but sumptuous to taste - am not sure I could identify flavours of wine but this was, in a good way, unlike almost any stout I have had before. Another outstanding offering.

No doubt at some point I will google smores and attempt the Abbeydale beer as well. I finished, strangely with halves of Alechemy, just because I love their stuff, and what may have been the excellent Breakfast IPA V3 from Neepsend and Hopjacker. Both well below the percentages of the others. Five of the excellent ales that night were brewed in Yorkshire. Tha norrs.

Am hoping to have further updates in due course but as I said I haven't planned that much. And, for info, as well as the excellently East Lancashirely pronounced Chinooook from Blue Bee, the Three Tuns also had the excellent Blue Bee Waimau single hopped pale ale on. Not linked to Sheffield beer week I don't think, it was nonetheless an excellent beer which told me a lot about its inclusion in and the flavours it imparted in their excellent Land of the long white cloud pale ale recently.

For those of you more organised, dedicated, and perhaps with a surfeit of funds (!) here is a link to the list of events between now and the past and future.

lease do everything you can to support and enjoy this wonderful annual event.

Cheeeeeers!

Wee Beefy