Remembering pub names....and other things......

Hello folks.

            regular and more astute readers may be aware that since my stroke and more so since my recent brain injury, memories, whatever they are, have not been very high up on my agenda. Longer term readers may also note that throughout the nearly ten year history of my blog, accurate memories of liquids consumed and other aspects of crapulence have thus far regularly escaped me, or at the very least, presented themselves in my memory through a dizzying, contorted haze. So last night, when it took me an hour to find and recall the name of Yorkshiremen the grumbleweeds (not a pub), I was prompted to write.

Although, I can't remember what about....

Am kidding, obvs, but the main inspiration for this guesswork stemmed from a chat I was having with the lovely Vikkie and Matthew the other night. We talked at length about the downfall of pubs near where I used to work, starting with the Crinoline Bridge, now a cafe, and then on to a now demolished pub in Rotherham near the station. I was certain it wasn't called the station, and I remembered the awful seventies sun lounge decor that befell it prior to its closure and then demolition, but I couldn't remember its name. It was, of course, the Phoenix. It was on the bridge facing the steps down to the station. Vikkie occasionally used to pop in very briefly for a lager (in the absence of anything else) prior to meeting Matthew to catch a train. I only went in once, under the ownership of what may have been Turkish folk, finding that they sold absolutely nothing that I wanted It is alleged that if I had wanted to buy drugs or partake of prostitutional services the venue would have suited me more, but I realise, these are only allegations. No doubt unrelated to its soon to follow closure.....

We also discussed the demise of the nearby Kingfisher Old Mill pub which I used to enjoy popping into at dinnertime or sometimes after work when I worked nearby. Although I did not know it had also closed down, and I seemed to have removed a whole slab of memory, including its notorious period as a bikers pub, knowledge which, like with so many things, appeared to have escaped me.

Then there was my discussion with WK today about National Inventory pubs, an area which I usually do very well in, but which lead to confusion about the definition of parlour pubs and the number of times I have successfully visited the Sun Inn at Leintwardine - it was only once, on the same weekend the landlady died, and we got chatting to a man obsessed with such excellent pubs in the living room. I recall we liked the beer - very much. Not enough to recall its name however......(although it may have been Hobsons Bitter)

The main example of pub name tomfoolery came at the Bath Hotel about twelve years ago - it was probably in 2007 as I was working at Milton House at the time, although in the flooding in June my company that night had already moved to work next to the river so it could have been 2006....

We had already discussed, and failed to name all, of the Wentworth monuments. I can still recall Hoober Stand and the Needles Eye but as well as the small building which we managed, I can't remember now, and neither if us then, the name of the other high tower. This inspired us into a chat about local pubs and we wandered into a self filled sump of knowledge free flailing by wanting to know the name of the pub in Midshopestones outside Sheffield. With neither of our memories obviously working, between us we decided the pub "obviously" had an agricultural themed name.

And so followed, amongst many many others:  The Cow and Tractor, The Horse and Groom, the Fox and Chickens, the Hay Bail, The Swan and Ducklings, The Farmstead, The Wheat Arms, The Plough and Farrow...and so our guesswork went on. Indeed, this borderline mesmerising lack of knowledge went on for a horrific fifty minutes until, replacement pints in, a colleague from work wandered in. Quick as a flash I asked "hey man, what is the name of that pub in Midhopestones outside Stocksbridge?"

After a quick thought he said "its the Midhopestones Arms".

And it was. I mean, I know it changed to the Old Mustard Pot and I admit I have no idea of its current status, but in effect myself and Mr P had spent an hour of our valuable drinking time trying to imagine the nomenclature of a pub in Midhopestones whose identity was given away by that fact alone.

 And then there is the amount of time it still takes me to remember crayfish......

I have, I feel I ought to point out, been receiving and engaging in substantial support from SCBIRT (The Sheffield Community Brain Injury Team, or similar) in Upperthorpe, and although I thought I struggled in the tests carried out they confirmed that my performance was of a high quality, and suggested I could regain almost all of my background memories in the next four years. I would very much like to still be writing in that time, as well of course, of subsisting on the abject malfeasance of alcohol.

In the meantime I would ask you to perhaps afford me a modicum of misrememberance. And mispelling. And indeed other grammatical missuses......

Your very best of health

Wee Beefy

Pints from the few.....

Hulloo,

  the title is continued by the words "pubs I have been to this month". As a direct result of financial and physical (more financial) constraints, am going out much less these days, and thus have less to report. Despite the above, here are some fragmented "memories" (guesswork) of pubs visited and ales consumed, since payday.

On payday I met up with Tash to see Matty off, and to go for a wander and buy some food items. This turned out to be thirsty work and so we ended up in "an boozer" for refreshments. That was the Sheffield Tap, where Tash had a coffee and I a pint of Alechemy pale ale, which had a name and everything. Suitably refreshed we headed for the Moor and then for coffee before I headed for the Devonshire Cat. They were having their Lines brewery tap takeover, and I was interested to try their beers.

There were five of their beers on keg and I started on a pint of the hop flux, a New England IPA at 5.1% "on oats". I didn't get to speak to the brewers so had no chance to ask for more details of what was on the different other ingredients. Am willing to accept there were oats in the beer....

I Also had a half of their DIPA which had Nelson Sauvin Citra and Mosaic in it, but it was a victory for expectation over delivery, with the hop flavour too subtle for my liking. Myself and Mr P who had joined me also tried the Lignes de Brux on Ekuanot which was a 6.1% hoppy wild yeast ale collab with Trois Dames brewery. Mr P also had a half of the Brux Trois collab with Track brewing. All were very interesting beers, but not ones I would necessarily choose over more recognised favourites given the choice.

Up next to the Bath Hotel for a pint of something which has since escaped me, in a virtually empty pub, before heading to BrewDog for a half of something hoppy and of Tiny Rebel Imperial Puft imperial marshmallow stout.B oth were excellent.

On the 1st I popped in the Tap and Tankard for the very last time (not knowingly since had planned to go Saturday) and had two pints of Don Valley Brewery Hitch Cock pale ale. Bumped into Kev and Bill who told me the pub was not going to be demolished as John Lewis has not agreed to move so the road wasn't going to be built. Research eh!  After an emergency stop for a pint of Little Critters in the Huntsman I finished in the Old Queens Head for a bowl of garlic soup and a pint of Little Critters King Crow Imperial Espresso stout. Delicious!

I also recently popped in the Three Tuns where I had a half of the Titanic Plum Porter, mainly because, alas, the Blue Bee had run out. Afterwards I headed to Shakespeares to await the arrival of Tash. I had a couple of pints of the Kernel Mandarina, Bavaria, Citra and Centennial IPA at 7% which was on wonderful form, along with a half of the Cloudwater DDH pale NZ Chinook and a third of the 2015 Buxton Tsar. All excellent potations to warm the soul.

Later I headed to the Bankers with Tash for a pint of the Little Critters Golden Pale, then to the Cavendish for two halves of Brooklyn East India Pale, and finished in the Bath Hotel with a half of the Electric Bear NZ pale.

My final jaunt was last Friday when Mr G very kindly invited me out for a few pints, knowing I had insufficient funds to buy my own. We started in Shakespeares where I had three pints of the excellent Kernel above, before some annoying people with loud voices and chips came into the Clock room, after an hour of which we decided to move on.

Bar Stewards was our destination and in here Mr G kindly bought me two pints of the excellent Verdant Bloom IPA at a price which alas was nearly £2.00 more than that of the Kernel which was stronger, across the road. As I reassured him, the beer would be beautiful - and it didn't disappoint. I also got to see Steve and Cicely or similarly/spelled named persons who I used to know years ago in Walkley. A fab night of excellent company and beers throughout.

Now begins the lengthy wait for next pay day, although I do have four cans of hoppy goodness in stock to tide me over until the money trickles back....

Your very good health!

Wee Beefy

Pre Christmas pints

Good evening,

     am sure regular readers will know that I don't go out that often around Christmas time, usually entirely based on outrageously drunk and crucially, rude drinkers, feeling that the time of year gives them the right to behave in any way or say anything they damn like. Obviously this revulsion has not lessened, but have been more aware of getting a seat since have got my stick, and am still getting tired walking, so pre Christmas supping has been further reduced. Luckily this period of comparative sobriety should mean some details of beers drunk and where are actually correct.

Two weeks ago I went out for the team Christmas meal to Las Iguanas. It was great to see everybody for the first time in weeks, and I had a couple of bottles of Alhambra Reserva with my meal. I had also arranged to meet Meathouse in the Bath Hotel afterwards. Alas he cancelled as I was heading up, but I decided to pop in for one anyway. I got a pint of the Thornbridge and Magic  Rock collab which may have been called Exaltation, and which was a 5.5% alt style beer. I somehow managed to get the last seat in th pub, but it was fearsomely busy so I decided to head off for pastures near.

The Three Tuns came next and mercifully there was a seat. There was a Blue Bee American 5 Hop on and I had most of a pint of that, and since it was the end of the barrel did so for free. Some of the world's loudest humans were in, but not too near, but I still opted only to stay for one, passing on my Yule best wishes on leaving.

My final stop was in Bar Stewards and they had the Verdant I played bass on that tune double dry hopped on keg, so all other beers were not in contention, despite its somewhat keen price. As I had expected, this was hoppier but just as well rounded as the none DDH version and tasted fantastic. A great opportunity to catch up with Charlie, and to sup great beer, as the bar came to closing time.

My final escapade came on the Tuesday with my good friend Mr G. Knowing how paralysingly crap the 52a had become for Christmas I gave myself a while to get there but was still 15 minutes late. I did however walk quite fast with my stick to find Mr G waiting for me outside Shakespeares. Its almost like he knew about my poor financial status...

On entering he looked for lower strength cask, since he was driving and I spotted a Cloudwater on keg. Being as it was on "the stout line" I asked Chris to confirm what it was and to my delight it was their collaboration DIPA with Dry and Bitter called Mobile Speaker. I'll have a pint of that please I stated, and was advised that it was £8.10 a pint. I thought about mentioning to Mr G that it was Christmas, and then did, but he had already agreed. We repaired with our drinks to the clock room, initially sitting at the knee breaker table before escaping to our usual spot, the long table across the back.

I have known Mr G for over ten years and its always good to catch up with him and to find out how, of late, his new job is going. He is aware that I only have a short period where I can buy us both drinks and didn't even quibble when I finished my first pint and asked for another. I fully intend taking him out at the beginning of the month in return.

The conversation ebbed and flowed naturally and he had another half, before moving onto soft drinks. On seeing my get to half of the second pint he asked if I wanted another half. I answered honestly. I wanted a third and final pint. One of the bar staff said, on discovering it was me, that I was unstoppable. "Apart from his stroke" Mr G quipped. I laughed my head off. Its the kind of joke that only good friends can have.

One of the best things about this night was that it involved just one pub, two friends and some frankly fabulous beer. It was undoubtedly the lull before the storm, but was quiet on that night, and all the better for it. In comparison to other near Christmas nights out, even at such an excellent pub, this was probably the best. Your very good health Mr G.

One thing that I intend to do if I manage ti cut down is still go to the best pubs in Sheffield, but perhaps just stick to one. Am looking forward to putting this plan into action in the doom laden weekdays of January ahead. Remember, your boozers need you.

Cheers!

Wee Beefy

Broomhill crawl

Morning!

     myself and Mr P went out on payday for the second Wanderiains of the year. I had more or less finished my tablets (although have started some more the day after) so decided that, and the arrival of funding, would be a good reason to meet up for bose. Having been at the osspickuw anyway, I asked Mr P to meet me in the York in Broomhill.

I first went in the York when I was 17. I had long hair and a leather jacket and glasses and sounded oldish. I was drinking Bass at that age in the York, and was only asked my age once when buying a cider for younger looking but older than me Rob Noble. At the time, the York was a 15 minute walk away, traditional boozer, in Broomhill. Soon it became a fake oirish pub (am guessing around 1994) and apart from having a decent jukebox, where I once played all of Faith no More's Angel Dust, it was a poor version of the former. After a few refurbs and different owners its been run by the Forum/True North Group since 2012 or similar.

The York looks fab in its new guise, but is prone to high prices and the staff don't always recognise words such as hoppy. That said, the food is excellent and they usually have some decent ales on - this time there were four from Shiny in Derby so I had a pint of their  Disco Balls pale and another pale called memory loss if memory is memories. Mr P joined me just as the Disco Balls ran out so had a pint of the Shiny Pail, one of their series of two or three hopped pale ales around 4.0%. This was a good start to the nights slaking.

Round the corner and across the road is the Itchy Pig micropub. Its a regular feature of recent Brummell visits and features four real ales, many local, and three or four kegs plus cider and, inevitably given its name, numerous types and flavours of pork scratchings. No Ted this time but the younger bloke was behind the bar, and he didn't need to recommend my choice - a pint of Dark Star Revelation, that gloriously hoppy 5.7% IPA from Sussex. Mr P got a pint of the Abbeydale lower strength special, and we shared a pack of cheese-n-o, sat to the right of the bar.

The pub got quite busy before we left, which means about twenty or so people, and we had two halves of getting (or don't get?) caught in the rain by Blue Bee on keg. Am sure Josh told me it was primed with pineapple, but whatever it is with, it creates a slightly odd balance of sweet and very bitter. Still a good choice for a keg Blue Bee offering.

Back up onto the main road we went to the Little Critters brewery Tap at the Fox and Duck. This is a place I have warmed to since my first visit last year when I was slightly underwhelmed - I admit that this increase in residual temperature is down partly to an improvement in their fare. The pub was busy when we got in, mainly due to football being on, and we both had pints of C-hop from Little Critters, which I think in this case was Citra. The beer is nicely hoppy and not too full-mashy (am not suggesting its full mash, just that their weaker beers remind me of Frog and Parrot output) and was a lovely last beer in actual Broomhill, which we finished whilst watching some footy with some yout (plural).

Further down the road, bypassing the Broomhill Tavern and the Notty, we went in the University Arms. I haven't been in much of late, and it was good to see it was still very much open, still serving real ales and keg, and still popular. We sat at the end of the main room and supped, beer, which came from a handpump, in glasses. I have to admit that my memories of the beers we had that night are at best disparate from here on. Whatever I had was pale and about 5.0%, which is about what I would expect.

From here we headed to our final destination the Bath Hotel. Still, at the end of February, with almost no spirits (I understand the stock has finally been replenished) we both definitely had pints in here. Am not even going to guess what we had, but will claim it was incredibly strong. Since I remember Mr P saying "don't fall asleep" and then waking up by myself. Beefdozing is something am going to have to reign in during 2017.....

The above crawl is short in distance, but peppered with good pubs (and there are others of course in the area) and is, once again, another excellent demonstration of the quality of beers and venues in Sunny Sheffield.

Cheers!


Wee Beefy

Halcyon

Halcyon days.

          Warm summers, strong sunshine, autumn leaves, cold white frost an inch thick on frozen surfaces, huge downpours onto moist Spring ground, lovely rare steak and venison, lamb casserole, beautiful red wine. The feeling that its Friday morning when in fact its Saturday and you can close your heavy eyes and get back to sleep. All things that can easily, for me at least,  be associated with Halcyon. No longer, alas, with the Thornbridge beer of the same name.

I used to love Halcyon. It was, frankly, a completely terrific beer. Bundles of fruit and citrus hops balanced perfectly in a scrumptious mix to make the ideal fruity pale ale, but with beautiful lingering bitterness in the aftertaste. In 2012 I came back from a week of slightly less inspiring beers in Crete and went to the Bath Hotel for a pint. I wasn't actually enamoured with the selection of real ales and kegs so went for a bottle of Thornbridge Halcyon. I absolutely loved it.

This was the first beer that I loved in cask, on keg, and in a bottle. It was so well balanced, it hit all the right notes in my book for a wonderfully refreshing strong pale ale. Its arrival at any pub was a triumph of delivery over expectation because it was also almost always better than I hoped or imagined it would be.

Three weeks ago, likely more, I was in the Bath Hotel,  talking to Chris, or a man with a similar or entirely different name, who is currently running the pub. I have been going to the Bath less often lately but that isn't a reflection of beer quality, more of a different drinking pattern, less often being one feature. I noticed that Halcyon was on keg and was about £4.70 a pint, and ordered it with glee. And then I tasted it.

Um...someone forgot to add the citrus hops and mouthwatering fruit flavours for a start. And the bitterness was there, but was bleak and harsh and a little like paracetamol. I had expected a wonderful taste, and hadn't had some for a while, but this was a terrible re-enactment of a once wonderful beer.

I don't know enough about brewing to figure out what changes have been made to the recipe, or indeed why Thornbridge beer has become so poor - especially given the excellent pale they brewed back in September. I do think that an alleged merry go round of new brewers in quick succession may have destabilised the brewing, but if that is the case the solution is surely simple.... employ a good reliable brewer on a long term rather than short(est) term basis.

I am sure that running pubs makes Thornbridge more money than brewing beer does, so as a business I can forgive them for prioritising one over the other (if they indeed are) but I can't forgive them for ruining one of m,y former favourite beers ever, and making a rubbish version of Halcyon, worse even than the needlessly sweet Belgian version.

What lies ahead in 2017 for Thornbridge? I hope its better beer, simple as.

Yours in regret and disappointment


Wee Beefy

Recently, I have been mostly......

Drinking.

        Except, I now can't afford it, but never mind. Its all about the taste. And the location. Here are a few examples of that.

I went to the 2016 Shakespeares beer festival - details of which, late as always, will follow. IN the meantime I have noted a number of excellent beers, thus. It starts with Cloudwater DIPA 9 - a beer I have had in bottle and on keg. I had the excellent DIPA 8 at Hop Hideout and that was beautiful but the 9 edged it. Some have said they are tired of the DIPAs and I get that to some extent but its an interesting exercise in development. None have been woeful, many have been excellent, but I think maybe number 9 is the best yet. No doubnt I will say the same for number 10, but there ya go.

Last weekend they had Abbeydale Last Rites at 11% on at Shakespeares. It was for sale at £4.80 a  pint. To put that in context, I paid that or slightly more for it t the Moon festival in 2008. That is a very good price! Its also not clear how long they had it for, ageing in the cellar - Mr Chris W stated he "made the price up" after realising Chris B had bought the cask originally. Well worth a go - and its still on. Other highlights at the Speares have included an India red ale at 7% from Odyssey called Zombie Blood, a Simcoe Pale from Kernel at over 6%, the Black Iris NZ IPA on cask and the oddly coloured but very tasty Brew by Numbers Motueka.

In other news, the Bath Hotel has recently sold a Pig and Porter Red Saison on cask, which was on excellent form, as well as the Neepsend Pale which has  a name I have forgotten, an excellent cask pale which all three of us had with Richard.

Meanwhile the West Street Ale House has closed - I understand this is die to the impending demolition of the building so closure is inevitable but its still a shame, as it offered a choice not found in that area of West Street. The Hare and Hounds on Nursery Street has been demolished, so that's another Sheffield former real ale pub that I never visited.

In final bad news, it has emerged this week that Chris and Kate have not taken on the lease of the Boardwalk. Its a real shame as the ideas they had were fab but if they can find another venue then there is still the chance that an exciting new pub could await us in Sheffield!

A final mention goes to the Old Queens Head at Pond Hill where they had an Earl Grey IPA on from Thwaites Brewery. It was £3.20 a pint and tasted brilliant - another reason to visit this fabulous and oft overlooked pub near the bus station.

More news next week!

Cheers

Wee Beefy

Everybody's leaving....

Greetings readoids,

      please can I just make clear that this is absolutely not a post about Brexit, Breaxfast, Brexbyes or other nonsense about European membership or not. This is about people. Real people. Who have left their posts in Sheffield's finest drinking establishments to pursue other careers. Or learning.

It all started with Stef. She left "Shef" in September, working her last shift at the Bath Hotel at the end of August, to go to Brighton to an MA or similar in stuff, or immigration studies. Luckily I don't know  anyone who works in that field so I couldn't forewarn her. Am sure it will be a blast. Am not so sure that a manager has been found by uber successful outfit Thornbridge to run the pub without Stef, but there you go....

Other lost Thornbridgians are The man of Ash and Beccy who have departed their stint at the Hallamshire House. I spoke to Beccy a few months ago at the Beer Engine and they are planning on taking on a pub in Chesterfield. There is every chance she may have told me which one, you know, its name. There is 100% chance that I have forgotten since. I wish them both the very best.

Jamie, or Siobhan, left the Three Tuns at some point to go and study poncing about at R.A.D.A or similar. Myself and Meathouse thought up an annoying and childish song, albeit catchy, which we intended to sing to Siobhan, which simply went "Mark's got a name, Siobhan's got a nickname", during which part we would give him the rods. For all our sakes, its perhaps best that myself and Matty missed his leaving do. He would only have turned up in drag and sang show tunes anyway. Best of luck though mate.

Also leaving the Tuns is David, AKA Kate. I have seen her in Sheffield drinking houses since, the most recent of which is Shakespeares. This is in some ways ironic - since Mister Christopher Bamfordshire is leaving there, and in fact, has left there, to set up a new bar or pub at the Boardwalk with Miss David herself. Am led to believe this has been planned for some time so am hopeful that the venture will prosper under their joint stewardship. Am sure it will be ace.

Also leaving Shakespeares, or rather, also having left...is/was Sam. She also left to study things at University after what was probably a 4 month stint behind the bar. Derek, AKA Rebecca (I can't remember her real name am afraid, but Beccy is a good guess I think) is also studying, but bullishly remaining in employment at the great pub.

Some observers may worry that this sudden leaving spree may destabilise the great ship Sheffield pubs, but in fact Sheffield is a very steady and well maintained ship of ale and sails forth as strong as ever. Posts which may appear over the coming months will no doubt confirm that...

So, in fact, not everyone is leaving. Some people have left. Many remain. Godspeed you Sheffield pub staff! I look forward to drinking in your employers buildings very soon.

Ahoy!

Captain Beefchart

Sheffield beer survey crawl, 03 September 2016

Hellall,

       I promised young Matty that I would accompany him, as young members secretary, on his part of the survey of the Sheffield pubs selling real ales on a particular day. The crawl is (mostly) chosen by CAMRA and is designed to reflect the largest number of pubs selling real ales, or rather the smallest selling the most, for the Beer Capital Survey.

Being the Young member's secretary Matty decided to rashly ignore my sage advice on how to get to the first pub, the Cross Scythes on Derbyshire Lane. He caught the 20, and the driver said he would tell him where to get off. Numerous stops later, when Matty asked, the driver said he had forgot about him and told him how to get back to where the short walk started. Matty arrived half an hour late. Luckily, the bar staff confirmed he was their first customer.

Being so late I arrived only 5 minutes after he had left - I had planned to meet him at the Abbey on Woodseats but instead hared up to the pub to have a very quick half of Thornbridge Clerks Well, an excellent hoppy pale at about 6%, one of the beers of the day, then nipped out to catch the bus up to the next pub which Matty was already at.

The Mount Pleasant Inn front door was closed but I knew to get in round the back. The pub is currently being run by Gwyneth, landlord Stuart's daughter, and her husband. Sadly Stuart passed away at the end of June and they have only been running the pub for three or four weeks. From the ales on offer me and Matty both had halves of the Adnams Samba City, a clear wheat beer brewed to celebrate the Olympics - its refreshing and very easy drinking.  Lets hope the pub continues to be a successful community hub.

Down Cobnar Lane next in torrential rain, we arrived at the Abbey. Before we got there, there were more staff than customers (6 vs 5) and the pub was very quiet. We both had halves of the Moonshine from a range of two - the range of four if the others had been on however, hadn't changed since they reopened. As we chatted a staff member spotted a small rogue crumb on the table next to us and raced over to swipe it from the tabletop. He then went to clean a clean door. I know it was crap weather and mid afternoon on a day with no home matches but this doesn't bode well.

Off to the Woodseats Palace next, my first ever trip. Unless it used to be Kwik Save....I had  a half of O Hanlons Yellowhammer and Matty Burton Bridge Top Dog Stout and we settled down to chat and plan the rest of our crawl. Both beers were well kept and possibly cost £2.60 a pint.

Down to Heeley next through the torrential downpour, and we ended up at the Crown Inn. Now refurbished it sells four real ales at a decent price. I had a half of something hoppy, Hop Gun which may have been from Everards, and Matt a half of the Lost Boot from Charles Wells. We dried off here and chatted to the landlady, who very kindly gave us a bag for Matty's notes. By now the rain was heavier still.

Just up the road is the White Lion and in here Matty had a half of Abduction from Dancing Duck and a half of something else, whilst I had a pint of Hopjacker's Vics secret. All the beers in here, apart from Tetleys, were £3.15 a pint, which is very good value for the stronger ones. We sat in the lovely front bar snug and I asked Dave to share updates from me with the beer crawl page, as we were, and remained, the only two persons on the CAMRA beer crawl. And I am not a CAMRA member.

Up the hill to the Brothers next and we had pints of cask and halves of keg. Regrettably the identity of the cask beers has slipped my mind (it was strong) but I recall having the excellent Rango Mango from Abbeydale on keg and loving it. The pub was busy inside what with the weather but was a great place to stop, and Matty chatted with the bar staff about upcoming beers.

Down the hill again, to the Sheaf View, where we had halves of cask which may have been the Neepsend pale ale, but also may not have been. We sat in the back and worked out our route to the next pub whilst enjoying the ales.

Its a short trek from here to the Hop Hideout - and it had virtually stopped raining. We bumped into Andy C outside (with 3 accompanying folk) and tried to ascertain where they had been and were going - we found out we did not need to visit the Broadfield. At the Hop Hideout Jules and Will were on hand to dispense two excellent halves of sour on keg - a 7.2% one possibly from Lervig Brewery, and the excellent 6.2% Oud Beersel Gueze were sampled. An excellent and palette cleansing visit.

Up the road next to the Union, a pub I have not been in for ages, and Matty may never have been. Halves of Moonshine I think in here, mainly because the Taylors was about £3.60 a pint (and the recently run out Absolution was £3.80!?). Its a lovely, if pricey place to stop, but we needed to head for London Road.

We followed the 22 route and turned down past the new Tescos and came out more or less opposite the Cremorne. Here we both halves of the excellent Alchemist from Pictish, and shared a half of Last Rites from Abbeydale on keg. As this was nearly our last pub we downed our quarters before we left, for reasons absolutely unclear. Our penultimate pub was to have been the Club House, but we popped into the Albion anyway. They had one beer on, probably Farmers Blonde, which we supped quickly.

At the Clubhouse at the end of London Road we had halves each of the Clubhouse Pale and I had something pale from somewhere. We met up with Wee Keefy and he joined us for a half before we headed to the Beer Engine, our last pub.

The pub was busy but alas we missed the food, so both had pints of the 7%+ Wild keeper of the peace pale ale on keg as a finisher, and chatted before being joined by Em R. My memories appear to fade in here a little, no doubt unrelated to my having another pint. After this we all went to the Bath Hotel, where I can't remember what we had to drink at all, before they went to the Dev cat and I finished at Shakespeares on two halves of the excellent De Molen beers from the Tap Takeover. One was the strong beer possibly called heaven and hell and over 10%, and the other was the Amarillo pale ale at 7%.  At about midnight I announced I was sober enough to catch the bus home, and got on and fell asleep, waking at Woodhouse. The things I do for beer....

This was a highly enjoyable crawl, in atrocious weather conditions to start with, but it was strange to me that nobody joined us - although, Matty didn't have any charge on his phone so maybe that's why he couldn't update the young or other members, but am sure the event is well known in CAMRA circles. I was assured that nobody joined Patrick on his crawl and other people did their tours solo, but that just suggests that the Beer Capital of Britain is a crown that Sheffield CAMRA doesn't want.  Combined with Sheffield council's woeful dis-interest in Sheffield's claims to be the best place to drink real ale in the UK it is clear that Sheffield is missing a trick.

Its important to point out that I have already discussed the above with David, AKA Kate, the Sheffield CAMRA wallah. So bear in mind that my concerns have already been lodged.

A shame, but nonetheless a hugely enjoyable crawl.

Hic!

Wee Beefy

Since I've come back.....

Now then,

       the day after Yorkshire day - that's what today is. And yesterday was brilliant. Nothing to do with the annual celebration of Gods own County, just because it was me and Tash's anniversary.  Not a lot of great beer was supped, apart from Cloudwater DIPA 4 and 5 - a separate post will follow on that. Instead of any of the above, I wanted to tell you about some of the things I have experienced since I returned from the Sudreys.

I went in Shakespeares a lot - no change there admittedly, but some of their recent keg offerings have been exceptional. As have their cask as well, recent highlights of both have included the last of the Omnipollo tap takeover including Leon, their 6.5% IPA, their Apricot Sour, and the Alesmith Double Red IPA. Also, the tremendous bite of the Wild Beer Hibernating lemons at Tramlines, along with a Cloudwater White IPA, cans of the Beavertown Bloody Ell, with the frankly excellent Abbeydale Hop Smash on cask. Numerous other highlights, alas, have slipped my mind....

I also went to the reopening of the Horse and Jockey on Wadsley Lane. Having never been there before it was a bit of a trek to reach, but well worth it when I got there. I arrived about 20.00 to find the queue for the bar out onto he street, and inside it was 6 or 7 thick. I met up with Gav and Clare and bumped briefly into Liz Askam form the Barnsleys, and immediately tried to establish what was best to drink. I opted for a pint of Sentinel on keg - the staff didn't seem to know what it was, but it tasted wheaty - and a pint of Stancill pale ale, the name of which escapes me. We sat in the beer garden til it went dark, and I had a fabulous chicken and chorizo pizza from the Nether Edge Pizza Co. It would be nice to go back when its quieter to see some of the inside but on this evidence it looks to be a very successful reopening.

I also went to the Walkley Beer Co - this, along with the Bath Hotel is the second regular haunt of mine to win a pub of the month form the CAMRA which I did not attend - Gah! Many many apologies to Stef and Kit at the two venues. It just goes to show how little I know about my favourite pubs! On my last visits to the two I had Hopjacker Ultravox Vienna IPA in the Bath, which was excellent, and Buxton Axe Edge and a pint of Tempest Long White Cloud on cask. Stellar offerings as always from both.

Other recent visits have included those to the Three Tuns and Kelham Island Tavern. I had the excellent if surprising Tempest Marmalade on keg, an...um...marmalade strong ale which tasted of...marmalade. And hops. I also had some excellent Hop Smash from Abbeydale there as well. The Three Tuns continues to impress with numerous regular appearances from Blue Bee. Their excellent 6.5% NZ IPA is on at present and has a massive hop bite with fruity citrus notes and a long dry bitter finish - an excellent beer to start and end any day.

More posts - I promise - this week.

Cheers!

Wee Beefy

P.S - if you see any arrows or links on this post, DO NOT follow - am having a few issues with a virus so they will be dodgy......

Recent sessions

Good day,

      I wanted to cobble together some half remembers facts about recent sessions and other visitations  to local pubs. As always, facts are at best interpretative and often guessed at, some details will be plain erroneous, but the opinions expressed are genuine. After all, I don't have to remember opinions...

I have recently spent quite some time in the Three Tuns - indeed, this is where, whilst drinking with Tash, Matty and Richard at the beginning of the month, I discovered I had run out of funds...ha ha! The joy. We had been drinking the excellent Blue Bee Mango Number 5, a naturally hazy Mango IPA at 5%, which was on sparkling form. Other sessions here included one drinking West Pier by Brighton Bier Co, which was once again brilliantly hoppy, Blue Bee Oceanic Red, and their American Five Hop beer, numbered between 11 and 15684.

My last visit was en route to Shakespeares, and having seen Nate and Siobhan and the lovely Dave behind the bar, I was relaxing in the right hand part with Matty waiting for Tash to arrive, when who should turn up but the Ale Ambler. It was good to see the AA, and to briefly meet Tara and another lady from Mallinsons brewery, along with a young man with an A in his name from Huddersfield. Thanks for the pints AA!

Last night I had a proper session in the Bath Hotel. The wonderful Hopjacker Spanish Prisoners, a 5.9% Amber ale with Spanish marmalade in it, was on sale, and it seemed silly not to have five or six pints. So I did. The walk up West Street had featured numerous groups of entirely hammered men shouting abuse at one another and other random people so the Bath was a haven of almost tranquility. The excellent Hops and Dreams from Brew Foundation was also on on keg, although I did not try it.

In the past month I have been in the Hillsborough Hotel a few times. Once was with Matty after work when he was off and we had a good couple of pints of excellent but difficult to remember the name of beer, probably pale and hoppy, and very likely brewed locally. My next visit saw me pop in on a lovely sunny evening after work. There were only a few of us in and I supped another similarly obfuscately named beer which I enjoyed. Its a lovely place to relax in an evening and the beers are competitively priced as well. My last visit was last weekend with Tash en route to town where we sat outside, and then in as the sun went down, supping a beer which was made with beer. There is no point my even attempting to recall what it was alas.

A couple of weeks ago I met up with Fluffy and John in the Tap and Tankard after Fluff had run the Sheffield half marathon. The Brew Foundation hops and dreams was on as a guest and in excellent form, so  I had two pints in a short period of time. Afterwards we went to the Tuns for pints of Blue Bee before the Shakespeares and the Kelham Island Tavern.

This is somewhere I have been a few times recently as well. I remember going in with Matty and he had a pint of the 6.5% North Riding Anniversary beer and I a half of the Mikkeler Nuclear Hop at 8.0% on keg. Both beers were in impeccable condition, as were those that me and Tash tried recently, including pints of another North Riding beer and a Kernel beer on keg.

After which we went somewhere I have been in a tremendous lot this month - Shakespeares's. They have recently featured three or more Kernel beers, Simcoe, Cascade and a stupendous one with four hops in it, Ella, Simcoe, Centennial and Citra if memory serves. Other favourites have included the Cloudwater Black IPA on cask at 6.5% or similar, which was incredibly mellow but still a hoppy IPA at its heart, and the amazing Buxton Trolltunga Gooseberry sour pale ale on keg. Not sour enough if you love sour or hoppy enough if you are a hophead, instead a mesmerising blend of sour and bitter refreshment which went down superbly.

I went in with Dave H from work recently and we started sensibly on pints of Blackjack Devils's something, a 5ish percent pale, then slowly moved onto slightly less sensible options, including the last bottle of Schlenkerla dubbel rauchbier, a Cloudwater DIPA3, a Trappist Rochefort 10 as well as one of the Kernel pales on keg. A very enjoyable night was had by all, including Emily, who joined us half way through at a quite thirsty stage.

I will be paid on Friday so the week after next should be refreshing, in the meantime am having to cut back as have no more furniture to sell to fund supping. Drinking eh - what does it mean?. Like memories, we'll never know.

Hic!

Cheese


Wee Beefy

Beer tasting at the Bath Hotel and a Buxton Tap Takeover

Now then,

          this time last week I still hadn't sobered up from two nights of lovely ales and socialising - two nights which were part of Sheffield Beer Week 2016. I realise am a bit late posting this but have been otherwise engaged ever since. Here are some fragmented memories of both events.

Thursday 17th March is a well known date in Ireland. Its also a night when people in the UK drink Guinness in tents and realise they cannot handle their alcohol, whilst wearing outsize hats. Dear God. What a travesty. The Twat in the Hat night is one of my least favourite of the year but luckily this was when the Bath Hotel had their beer tasting of Thornbridge Hall bottles.

The night started well - I saw Jules in the back and told her I wasn't "here for the First pour, I don't want to try yet another disappointing Thornbridge beer". I was then telling her this was ironic, since I was here to sample their bottled fare, when she told me the other people on the table were the Thornbridge brewing team and owners. I told her I would not be changing my opinion.

Meeting with Matty and Mr Grant we sat down in a corner with a guy from Finland called Arnaut. Or similar. We were joined by Jules, and sampled a range of excellent aged bottled beers. We started with the Double Scotch Ale, at 8.5% and whisky barrel aged, which I didn't remember. This was an excellent Scottish style beer, and we followed this with the small bottled Russian Imperial Stout. This I do remember, and it was still in excellent condition. We also tried the Sour Brown, a soured American Brown Ale at 7% which in 2013 was a little before I started to appreciate sour beers - I now can, and enjoyed it.

 We continued next with a collaboration with St Eriks Brewery, a 10% Imperial Raspberry Stout which wasn't really to my liking, before finishing on the Bracia, bottled at 10% but now potentially a lot stronger. A wonderfully rounded, heavy, but tasty beer to finish on.

Friday was hazy but luckily I was off. I meet Tash and Mumrah in town for coffee and then headed to Shakespeares for a warm up to their Buxton Tap Takeover later. I had a half of the Buxton Bomba Generation bretted stout at 10% on keg, and a pint of Axe Edge on cask. In fact, I probably only had a third of the bomba, an intensely bretted, but wonderfully rich imperial stout.

After a quick pop to the newly opened West Street Ale House, and for some food, I bumped into Nate from Lost Industry Brewery and joined him and his friends back at Shakespeares at 17.15. The event started at 17.00. I queued to get in.

I started on another pint of Axe Edge and a half of Yellow Belly Imperial Stout on cask, based on claims it was about to run out - Chris tells me it sold in 52 minutes. This is a mighty 11% peanut butter biscuit stout (which is claimed to feature none of the above) and is the only time it has ever been sold on cask. I had a half to be on the safe side. Suffice to say, the beer was amazing!

I got sat down with Laura and Richard and Kirsty and talked and supped beer before spotting Buxton Brewer Chris who told us the other brewers would be coming to sit with us shortly. Colin and a man possibly called Rory came and sat with us, I talked to the man PCR for a while, as did my fellow drinkers. What a friendly, knowledgeable bunch they were.

Other beers tried on this night of exemplary Buxton brews were the matured Far Skyline Berliner Weiss which now tasted of white wine, the Wild boar and High Tor India Red on cask and the Belgian IPA on keg. By this time I had also bumped into Stef, Jules, Tony, Matt C and Nate again, and continued trying beers including another pint of High Tor on cask and a pint and a half of the Cloudberry Ice Cream IPA on keg, which was a far tastier and more beery beer than it sounds.

Alas I soon had to go catch the last First bus so left just as Katie and Lee turned up, but this was a fantastic penultimate event at Sheffield Beer Week for me.

I can't wait to start the ball rolling again next year.


Cheers!

Wee Beefy

Wednesday - Tiny Rebel and Great Heck, Sheffield Beer Week

Hullo,

     having missed the beginning of the bibulous event that is Sheffield Beer Week 2016 I was feeling a little better on Wednesday and opted to visit the Bath Hotel. They were having a Tiny Rebel Brewing tap takeover and meet the brewer evening. This was my first event at the beer week, and was very well attended.

Tiny Rebel Brewery are a small Welsh brewery with an interesting an successful range of real, keg and bottled ales. Starting after a warm walk up West Street we opted to try some keg first - I had a pint of the Fiasco Lupilus saison at 6.7% and Tash the Cali multi hopped Pale Ale. Both beers were distinctive hoppy and tasty, with the saison having an interesting taste in the background and the Cali being perfectly drinkable at about 5.7%. After we found a seat in the corner of the back room after finding the front packed, we set about sampling some other beers.

I did see the brewers, but in the melee it was difficult to find chance to chat with them. Stef, Fiona and the team were rushed off their feet and Mike P was around bringing bottles of beer in boxes into the pub kitchen, no doubt in preparation for the bottled beer tasting the next day. Myself and Tash tried Beer a birth, a sweetish barra birth cake inspired ale, along with a pint each of the Fubar and Dubbl Dragon, a Belgian Monastery style dark Ale at around 6%.

The Dubbel was quite a hefty brew so am glad we stuck to one, and the Fubar was hoppy with a slightly sweetish element - I remember that when I last visited Wales in 2013 I longed for a hoppy beer all the time I was there, with only a strong Celt Experience IPA really satisfying my need. That said, they are brewing for a market where less hoppy ales are still quite popular and lets face it Sheffield is still a place where predominantly hoppy beers are very popular. Overall this was an excellent start to my week with interesting, well kept beers.

After wards we met with Clare and Rich and Kath at the Devonshire Cat for the Great Heck Brewery  Tap takeover and meet the brewer - he wasn't difficult to spot with his red hat, although I did not get to speak to Denzil Valance either - or Denzil Dexter, the scientist form the Fast Show, as I mistakenly called hoim at least twice.

Here we were on pints of the Shankar IPA, and free samples of the Patrick stout which were being handed out. Accompanied by numerous packets of pork scratchings this was a fine way to celebrate the brewers craft.The Shankar is one of my favourite cask beers and was in fine form, and provided a fantastic hoppy end to the night.

Details tomorrow of Thursday and Friday;s beery adventures.

Cheers!

Wee Beefy

Its Sheffield Beer Week!

Now then,

        I'm a day late, mainly due to having the plague and vomiting through my eyes for two days. Well, not really. But sort of. So thus far Sheffield Beer Week has yet to begin for me. For the rest of yous, it began yesterday on Monday. For more info about its reason for existence, its collaborators and event details, do please follow this link . I myself will, assuming am back at work tomorrow, be attending two events for certain.

The first is on Thursday at the Bath Hotel a pub I have visited before. They are having a ticketed (£5.00 each) bottled beer tasting using some of the gems in the Bath cellar. In case you aged beer fanatics get the wrong impression, they haven't knocked down a wall and found some sixty or seventy year old strong ales. They have however amassed a quantity of strong and now "older" bottled Thornbridge Hall beers such as stouts and a sour brown, which will be opened and tasted.

I usually don't like being in town on the Twat in the Hat night as  sadly St Patrick's has become, but don't mind making the trip out to an old favourite to try some strong ales.

The other event I am attending is at Shakespeares, a pub I have also visited previously. On Friday they are hoping to have twelve (or maybe more) beers on cask and keg from the Buxton Brewery. The event is a meet the brewer and a showcase of their ales, and is free to get in - just turn up at the pub and buy them.

I am led to believe that I should look out for numerous strong stouts, Bomba Generation and a cloudberry ice cream IPA, a collaboration with Omnipollo brewery. The brewers will be there from the start at 17.00, to discuss.

Assuming I race through my Buxton samples I could always also go on that same night to Hop Hideout for a meet the brewer and beer tasting with Founders Ales. Its £10.00 a pop per person but Jules knows her stuff and it promises to be an interesting event - maybe worth contacting them first though, to find out of there are tickets left, since the HH is a small venue.

One final thing to mention is the fact that Sentinel Brewing Co on Shoreham Street are hosting two events (maybe more). Here is a link to their Facebook page for more details. I think they only got their alcohol license on 24 February so suspect this may be the first time they are open to the public as a venue.

Whichever events you attend enjoy yourself. Sheffield is a brilliant place to drink, brew, taste and discuss beer. Lets make Sheffield beer week a reflection of that.

Cheers!

Wee Beefy

A Saturday crawl to the Beer Engine

Hello,

       whilst yesterday myself and Christingpher spent hours battling mud and rain in the Derbyshire Dales, the Saturday before I was in town around mid afternoon and in need of somewhere to go. You know, to keep warm. And fed. And maybe watered....

I started in the Three Tuns where I bumped into the lovely Dave for a hug and to show her my valentines card for Tash. I had two pints of lovely Blue Bee Transatlantic Pale ale, a nice starter to an hour or five of supping. It was good to catch up with Nathan and later Siobhan, or Jamie, and I also had a delicious bacon sandwich. I did however fancy something a bit different so headed up to the Bath Hotel.

The pub was rammed when I arrived, with a  crowd of the noisiest people on earth stood and sat in teh front bar. After buying a pint of Blackjack I sat down with Dan Ransome and Kara and friends and told them that I had come for a relaxing pint - seems they had too, but this was not happening! They soon left and I sat by myself for a while before venturing to the bar to find out of Chris and Stef and Mark were OK, before finding out that long departed Dada barman Jamie would be in town and maybe the Bth that night. Alas I couldn't hang around to see him, maybe next time.

Whilst there I tried the hops and dreams from Brew Foundation on keg -  a great example of a beer that simply does not work on keg! Instead I had a pint of Blackjack and a half of Jaywick to tide me over.

Off next to the Devonshire Cat to try the rye IPA that Nathan had told me about - it wasn't to my liking, quite jarring and not very well balanced. It was either an Intrepid or Bad Co beer if memory serves. Instead I went for the pricey Siren Liquid Mistress on keg at over £6.00 a pint. As always this was a lovely flavourful beer, which I enjoyed supping whilst watching some rugby and chatting to Rich and Kath and Tom.

I was supposed to be heading home from here but on West Street I encountered a drunk mentalist supping Oranjeboom strong from a can - whilst doing which he didn't notice the 52 and ran into the road shouting and waving his arms. He then proceeded to kick the bus shelter and shout abuse. I was waiting for the 52A so assumed he would get on the bus with me so I jumped on the 95 instead and got off at the top of the Moor. A short walk took me down to he Beer Engine.

This is probably only my third visit this year but it ended up being just as good if not better than my last visits. Mind you, initially I was disappointed by the cask offerings, mainly dark or Intrepid or Bad Co or the now identifiably bland Hops and Dreams - which I can confirm tasted mainly of dreams. I spotted the Axe Edge on cask so asked for a pint but was told that had run out. In the end I opted for a bottle of Wild Sourbeast and supped that whilst talking once again to Rich and Kath.

At this point Baz turned up and asked me which one of the 5 beers he had on offer I wanted him to put on next. I immediately recommended the Bad Seed IPA at 7.2% on keg. By the time I had finished my lovely bottle of chocolate sour the keg was ready and I straight away ordered a lovely, thick, light orangey red IPA. It was tremendous. t may have been £6.00 a pint but it was worth every penny.

After a quick chat with David and Patrick and after Rich and Kath had departed I sat with Barry for a bit and had an enjoyable catch up. Another pint of the excellent IPA was purchased as well as a bottle of a Blackjack IPA at 10.1% which I am keeping safe in the fridge. I finished the IPA, now a trifle refreshed, and was very kindly assisted in getting home.

Once more, another fantastic afternoon, evening and night of drinking in Sheffield pubs ended perfectly.

Cheers!

Wee Beefy

Two short Sheffield pub crawls

Art-noo,

     in the last week I have been out a few times. Well, to be fair, its more than a few. I remain, as well as have been, a very thirsty chap lets face it.  Here though are details of two recent such ventures in libation, in sunny, snazzy Sheffield.

The first starts at a micropub. The Beer House on Ecclesall Road was Sheffield's second after Crookes Ale House and then Walkley Beer Co, and is very much symptomatic of its environs. That isn't a criticism, since Walkley Beer Co is as well. If anything its complimentary to recognize that a micropub manages to stick within the unwritten micropub "rules" as well as being popular locally. On this visit I had a pint of Bad Co Ace Gravity IPA and listened in on the conversations around me. Always a nice place to pop in, despite their Twitter claim of being Sheffield's first Micropub.....!

I walked from here towards town and then up to the Bath Hotel,  where I met Tash. I bought her a pint of the Hopjacker Steel City Brewing collaboration End of Days, an American Sour Brown. It was odd. Not as sour as I like it, but not as sweet or malty as a brown. Tash liked it more. After trying a pint of Blackjack which was quite tasty I tried the Jaipur on Keg - it tasted of paracetamol and soda water so I swapped it - very generously for a pint of Cloudwater Porter at 6.5% which was lovely. Any ideas what has gone wrong with Jaipur?

We caught the bus to Walkley next and went to the Closed Shop for food. We had pints of Blue Bee Ginger for Tash and Into the Void for me and both got Fish and Chips. Absolutely cracking! The tastiest fish I have had for a long time, lovely and tender with thrice cooked chips and mushy peas. Went down perfectly.

We finished the crawl over the road in the Hallamshire House. We had pints of Thornbridge Melba and Crackendale, and sat on a table with young persons in the back. We also tried a half of Thornbridge Jaipur X, no doubt expertly kept aside for months by the Man of Ash - this proved that despite experiences in 2016, not all Jaipur now tastes woeful. We finished on a bottle of Cloudwater IPA that I espied in the fridge - it may have been a bretted version, I couldn't read the label, but it was still lovely. A fab end to the night.

The next crawl started in Shakespeares - why of course! Myself and Tash were on pints of the ultimate sour beer, the Celt Experience Llamass Harvest at 5. something and £4.20 a pint. We thoroughly enjoyed it taking the enamel off our teeth and making our jaws and palates ache - and that isn't sarcasm.

Off for a change to the Ship Inn next, we haven;t been there for a while so it was nice to have a revisit. The pub no longer does food, or pork scratchings so the only sustenance is crisps - a pack of chorizo each followed with our pints, BrewDog Punk IPA for Tash and a Titanic White Star for me. Not as  busy as previously, although January and February weeknights are notoriously quiet, I was a little underwhelmed by the experience. I also didn't rate the beer range, as is often the case. A few older customers came in later and that livened the place up a little, but I think the next 6 months will be key for the Ship. Best of luck!

We went to the Kelham Island Tavern next and took advice on what was best and/or hoppiest. In a recurrent but unsurprising outcome I can't in fact remember what I had! It was however delicious. After I repeated Tash's pint order and we had devoured some delicious scotch eggs, we finished on a pint of the Kernel Simcoe Pale Ale on keg which was everything we hoped it would be. Fine hoppy goodness.

The above demonstrates the range of real ales and keg beers of all kinds available in just seven pubs in Sheffield, and we didn't even venture further than Ecclesall Road. Just a lovely way to spend a few hours each time chatting and catching up and generally putting the world to rights.

More information coming soon about a Saturday spent whiling away the hours in other Sheffield boozers.

Cheers!

Wee Beefy

Further excellence

Hello,

      over the first few days of 2016 I encountered some excellent beers. I posted about that. However, in keeping with that theme, I have encountered some other extra quality beers in cask, keg and bottle. Here is what I found...

I recently came across the Cloudwater Imperial stout. It was 10.1% and an eye watering £6.00 a pint on cask.

I naturally had a pint - and finished it in 20 minutes. This was not my most sensible move. Luckily, at Shakespeares, Matty was on hand to get another round, and after that he bought me another pint of the excellent Cloudwater. A fantastic beer to end any night - which I had a further (slower) two pints of at  a later date.

Last night I was in the Bath Hotel. They had the excellent Cloudwater IPA on at 7.4%. It was chuffing lovely. In the end, I bought pints for Matty and Tash and had 4 or 5 pints myself. Accompanied by an excellent roast pork sandwich this was the perfect night out!

We later went into BrewDog Sheffield. Tash sensibly had a half of a keg beer whilst me and Matty had a bottle of Fantome Saison to share. Thirsty as we were for this excellent saison, we had another bottle - a fantastic way to finish...

Finally, and I apologise for the brevity of this post (as possibly justified hereafter) but tonight after excellent pints of the Blue Bee into the Void and Oceanic Red (along with Acorn Gorlovka for Matty) at the Three Tuns,  we ended up once again in Shakespeares.

Here, as well as the Siren Orange Boom at 2.8%, an exemplary, refreshing, low gravity orange wheat, we also had, and  I tried, a pint of the Double Ace from Buxton, an, at least, triple IPA based on the excellent Axe Edge, at 10.1%. This, in some ways, may explain the brevity of this post!

A fantastic IPA, this featured vanilla as well as hoppy citrus flavours as well as strong chocolate orange character in the initial and after taste  - an astounding and hugely enjoyable beer.

The final beer is in bottle - Hitachino Nest Saison du Japon. Made with lemon and rice wine it is possibly the easiest drinking beer I have ever tried. Me and Matty drunk ours in about two minutes! A perfect but uniquely enjoyable palate cleanser in a line of stronger beers. We bought ours from Archer Road Beer Stop by the way....

And talking of which, tomorrow I will be out with Dave for a rerun of a previous pub crawl - I hope to , write that up soon....

Cheers!

(Hic - edited, as was a trifle refreshed when I posted the above....)

Wee Beefy

A mooch round Abbeydale and Heeley

Hello,

    last week I was out and about with Matty. Himself and my were out sampling a few pubs and the ales they sell. Its always good to take someone somewhere new, and Matty had not been to two of the intended pubs. Here's some details of what we found and saw and drank in Abbeydake and Heeley.

We started at Daves, better known as Archer Road Beer Stop. Despite rumours to the contrary, Davefromtshop is still selling real ales - he had Moonshine and Invocation on from Abbeydale when we visited. We were invited in the back for a chat and Dave insisted we try a couple of bottles between the three of us of Hambleton Thoroughbred Legend. This was a new beer, but which was a stronger version of the established golden ale but stronger and hoppier, around 6.5%. We all tried the beer, which was very tasty, and Dave intends to get the whole range in. It was good to introduce Matty to the shop, and was a great start to our night.

Down to Athol and then Little London Road next we were soon on Chesterfield and visited the Tramsheds. This is my second visit and the venue did not disappoint. Although, when we asked if there were any sour beers, I did have to name some, but they offered us a can of Magic Rock Salty Kiss which is excellent, so Matty had that, and I had a hop Oil IPA called Hophunter from Sierra Nevada which was delicious. Matty also got chatting to Alan behind the bar, who he knew from school.

We headed up to the Brothers Arms next, and lined our stomachs with two curried scotch eggs, in my first visit for months. I had a pint of the Blue Bee Ginger and am certain that Matty had something hoppy, perhaps from Revolutions brew. The Brothers was busy as always and we enjoyed sitting in he room on the left, catching up, making plans and watching a steady flow of people heading to and from the bar.

Just down the road is the Sheaf View. This was likewise busy, and we were surprised to find the room at the back virtually empty after we got our pints - a beer I can't remember the name of for me, and a beer I can;t remember the name of for Matty. We got chatting to Dave Staves and enjoyed our more memorable than this post would suggest, real ales. Another cracking visit.

Down onto Chesterfield Road was our penultimate pub the White Lion. We both had pints of Dancing Duck in here, and Matty also tried a strong dark beer which I think was a plum Porter. Details eh - who has them? The beer was reasonably priced as usual and we sat in the beautiful front snug, soaking up the atmosphere and chatting to the guy whose table we had joined.

We left here late on and went to meet Tash and Mr Scatt in the Bath Hotel. Alas we arrived after last orders but luckily halves of a beer had been bought for us. The pub was still quite busy despite it being late and we stayed here for a while before getting a taxi home.

As always, his could be part of a much longer crawl with many different pubs involved. And once again, the crawl demonstrates that there is a large number of different styles of venues selling an interesting range of beers in all formats very close to each other. Long may that continue!

Cheers

Wee Beefy  

Three days of Birthday drinks

Hello,

           on Friday it was Tash's birthday. We both booked the day off work and had many plans to celebrate. We met up with a handful of friends in a number of pubs to sample glorious ales. I can remember what Tash's age is, but it would be rude to let that be known. I can also, however, remember most of what we drank with whom, and where.....

After work on Thursday, having left quite late, we headed across the river to the Harlequin. Matty was already there with Chris and we found the pub packed. Half an hour before we had arrived a retirement do turned up - a scrum was fought through to get to the bar and we were lucky to find somewhere to sit. Matty was on the 7% or more Speyside stout from Exit 33 and recommended the Club 33 from the same brewery. In the end, I bought him another pint of that and me and Tash a pint of the Five Towns beer. The four of us then sat down to watch the crowd enlarge and the noise level raise higher. Great for the pubs coffers am sure, but we didn't fancy staying.

We walked round to Tesco to get supplies and headed for Shakespeares where we met Tony. I bought a pint of Tempest Amber ale for me and halves of the excellent Cloudwater IPA at 8% for Tash and Matty and we sat in the clock room for a catch up.  Another round of Cloudwater followed for all of us. halves of course, and we started discussing plans for Tash's birthday, and my Mum' at the end of the month.

We finished the night in the Three Tuns drinking the excellent, hoppy, Blue Bee Rakau pale ale. It has an initially citrus slightly fruity bitterness and then finishes with an incredible dry bitter aftertaste. Matty had gone home by now and after another piont each and a chat with Unpro and his German brewer friends Mark and Sebastien we headed home.

Friday saw us up and out later than planned but it was nice to get a lie in! We quickly went to a couple of shops and got to the Sheffield Tap about 17.30. Oakham Inferno was the beer for me Matty and Tash at an eye watering £10.80 for 3 pints (its 4.0%!) and we got some stools round a table and sat down to await Rachael and Wee Keefy.

After they arrived, further pints of the Inferno followed before WK decided to buy three strong bottled beers to try. Having dissuaded him away from buying a strong USA sharing bottle at £23.00 we opted for a Trappist Rochefort Double at 7.1% for him, a can of Magic Rock Cannonball at 7.4% for Tash and a fantastic bottle of Loch Ness Prince of Tranquility Barrel aged imperial stout at 10.1% for me. WK liked his Trappist I think, everyone liked the astounding clean hoppiness of the Cannonball and all of us were blown away by the alcohol and smooth balance of flavours in the Loch Ness. An excellent beer from Drumnadrochit.

From here we headed up to the Dove and Rainbow, me via a snack after my hefty beer, and I had a pint of the Blue Bee Tempest (or maybe Hambleton Nightmare, or maybe neither!) and Tash as she was a mature regular, was given a bottle of Chaumet perry to drink for her birthday. Needles to zay, Matty dispensed with this. From here most people went home and me and Tash went down to the Shakespeares to finish.

Shakespeares had alas run out of the Cloudwater but I bought Tash a pint of the excellent Kernel Centennial pale ale on keg and me a pint of another Tempest red ale I think, on cask. We met up with Tony once again and he very kindly gave Tash a bottle of the 8% Cloudwater Winter IPA for her birthday  - which is now in my fridge awaiting tasting by Tash. A further pint each of the Kernel followed plus we got chatting to the lovely Katie, and also spotted Dave, who admired my Tweed jacket - big hugs to Tash for this gift! A late taxi home, followed by pizza at 03.00 rounded off the night nicely.

Yesterday was a much more relaxing day - we opened the Pinot Noir and supped a couple of small glasses each around 19.00 before leaving the house in the snow about 22.00. We got to the Bath Hotel at 22.40 and found excellent Hopjacker Kansas City Shuffle and Anarchy Brew Co Quiet Riot on cask, both at 5.5%. We started on a pint each of those two followed by a pint for me and a half for Tash of the Hopjacker. When Matty arrived we had a pint each again, and a final pint and a half before catching a taxi about 01.00. Great as always to see Stef and despite some of the loudest people on earth drinking in their it was still a great two hours supping.

Looking forward to enjoying more excellent ales in the coming weeks, and to celebrating two more friends birthdays in January.

Hic!

Cheers


Wee Beefy

A Monday night in the bath. Hotel.

Now then,

           less than a week ago I met Tash in town after work. It was a Monday night, and Christmas was fast approaching. The previous night we had been in the Rutland til late drinking and moshing after seeing a fillum at the picture house. Tonight we were meeting to enjoy a coffee. I didn't meet Tash until gone 19.00 and we'd both had a hard day. No prizes for guessing which decision we made then, about where to go...

I mean, am sure the Bath Hotel could have done us a coffee, but we didn't really want one. And when we got in Sheffield's only National Inventory pub and saw a Cloudwater Extra Special IPA on cask on the bar, it frankly seemed silly to have a hot drink. The Cloudwater IPA was 7.2% and on at what is a very reasonable for the Bath £4.20 a pint. I set up a tab, got us a seat and ordered two pints. We then spent a short time drinking and catching up with the staff. Followed by another short time....

Mark was working and possibly Paul. We sat at a table near the drinking corridor where Scott and Stef and Sean were chatting, next to what I imagine is one of the Bath's first Christmas trees  - a bloke came in a taxi and said he had a spare one to give away so they accepted it and dressed it, naturally, in pump clips and baubles and tinsel. We wrote a card to the staff (at least, all those whose name we could remember) and handed it over before Scott came over and Stef, Scott mainly to wish us a very happy Christmas and New Year (you too mate). More pints of the excellent Cloudwater IPA were bought and supped. This was an outstanding IPA, and devilishly easy to drink despite its strength. Perhaps one of the beers of the year.

Tash had another chat with Stef and we were joined by Sean (other Sean) and Matty fresh from Meadowhell. He had bought bags of reduced price sandwiches and was doling them out amongst the four of us. He bought us more pints of Cloudwater IPA and we continued socialising. At some point, I lost one of my sarnies and some fish cakes - I understand they weren't found in the Bath so are probably rotting somewhere between the road and our front garden!

As time went on more IPA was bought and we were joined first by Pete Green who seemed a trifle refreshed, but was his usual friendly charming self, and also by Kat. More sarnies were doled out and the pub started to slowly empty whilst we ordered more pints of Cloudwater and Matty bought  a number of people halves.

A final round of IPA's came our way before we bought shots of Lagavulin to finish on - I think actually Tash may have migrated to another drink by this stage but I finished on the Cloudwater IPA, over four hours after I started, and six pints down. What an amazing night. What an amazing pint!

Many thanks to Matty for his generosity and him, Tash, Stef, Sean, Pete and Kat for their company. Although I was, unsurprisingly, slightly zombified the next day at work, this was the best nights out all Christmas.

And in case am not back in again until 2016, I would like to wish all the staff at the Bath Hotel a very merry New Year. Here's to a prosperous 2016.

Cheers!


Wee Beefy

An Ale Amble round the edges of Sheffield centre

Hello,

         yesterday I was pleased to meet up with Charlie, AKA renowned beer blogger from the aswiftone beer blog Ale Ambler. We had not met up for a couple of years and we decided to meet in the Sheffield Tap to start a short pub crawl.in the grey, darkening streets of sodden Sheffield

The days tarted well I had arranged to meet Charlie the night before -desit having been a trifle refreshed at the time, and despite having lost my phone, I remembered that I was meeting the AA at
12.30. I hadn't however, remembered to get ready for 11.45. I was burning my bacon at that point. And trying to contact the AA via Facebook. Luckily I found his Twitter account and messaged him. I found my dead phone 10 minutes before I left, and met the AA at 13.08. Luckily things improved form here on.

In the Sheffield Tap it was busy and I spotted the AA at the bar. He had a half of Arbor Oz Bomb and me a First Chop AVA. We repaired to the brewery room where the smell f brewing hung in the air, and I sat and gently shook whilst Double A made notes. I was still mildly drunk from the night before you see. Both beers were lovely. Especially the Arbor.

Coats and scarves done up we walked out of the Tap into a wall of water and struggled along Brown Street, Sidney Street and up onto Arundel Street. Double A is fond of street art - as opposed to graffiti (the difference between which is different to many) and we stopped off at a wall near the pub to look at some.

The Lord Nelson is a small, back street, corner local, owned by Greedy King, but still retaining its character and selling a good range of real ales and bottles  - and black pudding pork scratchings. I also noticed bottles of West Brewing St Mungo's lager in the fridge - not something I have seen anywhere for a while.

We had a pint and a half of Pennine Happy New Year 2016 - maybe a little early but it isn't how I would expect a celebration ale to taste. That said. it was beautiful. Very quaffable with a balanced bitterness and very easy to drink. The AA also had a half of Bradfield Belgian Blue. This was as I predicted - poorly balanced and sweet (and with no identifiable blue). Absolutely nothing with how it was kept I should point out. It was in here as well that I decided to recharge my phone. Alas, two minutes in, the lead fell out and I didn't notice. It would be two pubs later before I got my phone charged!

The AA liked the lord Nelson - now with I love Fanny's T-shirts to order, for those confident that people would realise the pub was known as that. He liked what they had done with the space and the fact that there were four separate drinking areas still. Definitely a pub we will revisit.

Along back streets and through Decathlon car park we were soon in the underpass and heading for the Beer Engine. Sadly Tol Barry was not around - he would be in later. The AA will have to return to Sheffield to meet him.

On the bar was a great selection of real ales and kegs - sadly rather too many dark ones for me but the Siren Oatmeal Pale Undercurrent was on at £3.40 a pint so I had a half of that and the keg four Hopmen of the Hopocalypse. The AA meanwhile had a half o the Wild Beer Millionaire, a salted caramel chocolate ale which we were warned was quite sweet. It was an immensely strong flavoured beer at 4.7%, and although I preferred my delicious Oatmeal Pale and Hopmen, the AA found it quite easy to drink.

As usual there was an interesting range of music on and trade was steady, if not busy. One thing I will point out about the Beer Engine is the toilets - soft loo roll, heating, handwash and a hand dryer and hot water. None of which are difficult to provide, but usually only two of which are available in other pubs. Its nowhere near as important as the quality of the beers however. Since they are also excellent and well thought through, this makes the Beer Engine a fab place for a pint.

Up Eccy road next and we arrived from the continuing downpour at the Portland House. On the bar there were four Welbeck and Leeds best and a Celt Experience beer called something an Brett. The guy behind the bar asked of we were here to try it, and given the choice we were. The AA was not aware of brettanomyces - part of the Saccharomycetaceae family of myacies, for ease of reference! The only reference I could muster at the time was that they featured in Imperial Russian Stouts, and that breweries were now trying them out for the unique unusual flavour. The beer was certainly in possession of that - it was an unusual but possibly over-bretted beer, but definitely one that challenged our taste buds. The other thing here was that I managed to charge my phone o 26%.

We caught a bus back into town and went to collect the AA's haul of shopping from Wateralls and a cheese specialist - where I also purchased some Brampton Impy Dark Derby cheese. After a quick chat with Sean from Beer Central we headed up to the Devonshire Cat. The AA got a half of Shiny Sorachi and I the Hop Studio Obsidian Black IPA. We sat in my usual place and found that we couldn't use the sockets to charge my phone....

 Never the less, we enjoyed our beers, but me rather more than the AA whose Sorachi flavoured beer was overpowering! We also bumped into new manager Liz formerly of the Sheffield Tap. December, it seems, is s busy time of year to start your new job...

Up the road next for me and The AA's final pub the Bath Hotel. I got a pint of Harbour Pale and he a half of Jaipur on keg. We sat in the back and watched the fire very slowly fail to get going and then be drowned by more coal. A shame, since we were soaked. I had a further pint of Jaipur and Matty joined us whilst we waited for Tash, but the AA admitted he had reached his limit and we soon left for him to get his train. Thanks so much for your company Ale Ambler! Glad to have introduced you to a new Sheffield pub or two.

I headed off to BrewDog next to wait for Tash - as the crawl was finished we could now drink beer in the cntre. We shared a bottle of the Fantome Saison.  The bar was quite packed and the music was fantastic as it so often is. We also had two halves of the Aberdeen BrewDog Ghost Writer and the Prototype Black IPA, along with a venison pie and mash and gravy - which was very tasty, but really needed to have come on a plate as opposed to in a box.

Our final stop of the night was in the Tap and Tankard where we had two halves of the Green Jack gone fishing and a half of Double Top Shanghai. I also bought Tash a double gin and tonic as she was feeling a little unwell. The music changes from being rock and dub to awful pop later one - a deliberate ploy no doubt to persuade customers to leave. It worked, and we left about midnight.

This was another fantastic pub crawl in Sheffield featuring a mix of different pub styles and beer styles. Great to catch up with the Ale Ambler, and this day out proves that there are plenty of other Sheffield crawls for us both, and indeed us three, to do in the future.

Cheers!

Wee Beefy