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
Showing posts with label Blackjack beers. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Blackjack beers. Show all posts
Sunday, 21 February 2016
Monday, 23 December 2013
The good and the bad on the weekend of the mad
Hello,
against my better judgement and infused with a decent amount of surprise I found myself out on black Friday and Twaturday. I hadn't planned to do either, mot properly anyway. However, much like I "definitely" wasn't going out last Christmas Eve (I was in DAda for 3 hours) I seemed to inexorably gravitate to the pub - and in doing so waded through the sea of crapulent chaos that somewhat inevitably raged around it.
I'll start with the good stuff. I was hoping to meet a refreshed Miss N in some undecided venue after a visit to the hospital but found she was orf home to recover, so ended up meeting Wee Keefy and his mates for some pints in the Dog and Partridge.
Slowly getting back to the kind of melee of punters that used to define any Christmas or New Year trip to the Dog, the pub is winning back drinkers who drifted away in the dark days when real ale disappeared and the developers got interested. A good range of local and further afield micro brewery guests along with Black Sheep are available, and the first beer I tried was the Okells St Nick. A pint of which was bought for me by Connor, who I'm not sure if I should describe as the landlord or manager (along with Sarah, who knows her bloggers....), to replace a tired half of some Cross Bay I'd had a few weeks ago. I said then on being offered a replacement that unfortunately I hadn't time for a replacement half on that occasion, so this was a pleasant surprise.
Wee Keefy and Mr Pre-wash were in residence along with other of WK's colleagues and we got sat down to continue making a dent in the real ale . Halves of Blackjack Ginger Stout and Tring Moongazer followed - I had been on the latter at the Three Tuns earlier. The stout was impressive if sightly overpowering and he Moongazer was a very enjoyable drop. So much so that further pints of it followed, and I should point out in the interests of honest and fair reporting, that I didn't pay for many of them, along with a whole pint of the fearsome but impressive stout.
As well as focusing on real ales, the Dog aims to be more of a locals pub, a move that quite apart from the geographical separation, would show it to be different from the throngs of West Street boozers that are as homely as a cactus settee. I can see a few more trips will be called for over the coming months to test out this claim...
The other plus point was my unexpected Saturday sojourn. Having been out for a cracking meal at the Sportsman at Crosspool we had repaired with Miss N to Wee Keefy's for some entertainment. At the Sportsman, beer of choice was Top of the Hops (which I thought was a Great Yorkshire Brewery beer?) but would, had it come on an hour earlier, have been Fullers and Steel City Steel. When I asked when it would come on the manager said "its still a bit cloudy" which elicited a wry smile and the word over-hopping from myself...
Later, having been persuaded to go out "just for one" we needed up in the maelstrom which is the Bee Hive with WK, Miss N, Carlos, Alison, Paddy, Jambon, Half Pint and Jack, and after an epic struggle made it to the bar to buy a pint of Bee Hive bitter, AKA Bees Knees. Despite this not being exactly my favourite venue I stayed for another, mainly because WK very kindly paid for it - after, it was suggested that we went for a pint in the Bath Hotel. So it was settled. The night was not yet finished...
Thornbridge Pollards was on the bar along with a few other tempting treats but as soon as I spotted the Burning Sky Saison I knew it was a no-brainer. It was going to be an enjoyable but rather expensive end to the night. We were probably in the pub for three hours, catching up and sharing great company and supping, in mine and Miss N's case, copious quantities of saison. This was a fantastic night with good friends which may even have got me into the Christmas spirit.
Alas there are two sides to black weekend or whatever its called. And so as not to ruin the joyous tales before it, I'll summarize the downside in a few lines :
A fight outside at least two pubs and inside one.
The already widely reported but no less horrendous damage to the last remaining full size Wards window at Shakespeares.
And a pint of 5.9% beer costing £4.60 at the Sheffield Tap, coupled with my not having looked at the price (or been warned of it) before asking for it. Not attributable to any particular event of course, just an unpleasant surprise for customers enjoying finishing their weekend with a couple of drinks.
Humph.
Anyway, there is a lot coming up over the next week or two so hopefully I can finally finish work for the year and get some blogging done, but in the event that I don't make to the keyboard, then I would like to wish everyone a very happy Christmas.
Cheers!
Wee Beefy
against my better judgement and infused with a decent amount of surprise I found myself out on black Friday and Twaturday. I hadn't planned to do either, mot properly anyway. However, much like I "definitely" wasn't going out last Christmas Eve (I was in DAda for 3 hours) I seemed to inexorably gravitate to the pub - and in doing so waded through the sea of crapulent chaos that somewhat inevitably raged around it.
I'll start with the good stuff. I was hoping to meet a refreshed Miss N in some undecided venue after a visit to the hospital but found she was orf home to recover, so ended up meeting Wee Keefy and his mates for some pints in the Dog and Partridge.
Slowly getting back to the kind of melee of punters that used to define any Christmas or New Year trip to the Dog, the pub is winning back drinkers who drifted away in the dark days when real ale disappeared and the developers got interested. A good range of local and further afield micro brewery guests along with Black Sheep are available, and the first beer I tried was the Okells St Nick. A pint of which was bought for me by Connor, who I'm not sure if I should describe as the landlord or manager (along with Sarah, who knows her bloggers....), to replace a tired half of some Cross Bay I'd had a few weeks ago. I said then on being offered a replacement that unfortunately I hadn't time for a replacement half on that occasion, so this was a pleasant surprise.
Wee Keefy and Mr Pre-wash were in residence along with other of WK's colleagues and we got sat down to continue making a dent in the real ale . Halves of Blackjack Ginger Stout and Tring Moongazer followed - I had been on the latter at the Three Tuns earlier. The stout was impressive if sightly overpowering and he Moongazer was a very enjoyable drop. So much so that further pints of it followed, and I should point out in the interests of honest and fair reporting, that I didn't pay for many of them, along with a whole pint of the fearsome but impressive stout.
As well as focusing on real ales, the Dog aims to be more of a locals pub, a move that quite apart from the geographical separation, would show it to be different from the throngs of West Street boozers that are as homely as a cactus settee. I can see a few more trips will be called for over the coming months to test out this claim...
The other plus point was my unexpected Saturday sojourn. Having been out for a cracking meal at the Sportsman at Crosspool we had repaired with Miss N to Wee Keefy's for some entertainment. At the Sportsman, beer of choice was Top of the Hops (which I thought was a Great Yorkshire Brewery beer?) but would, had it come on an hour earlier, have been Fullers and Steel City Steel. When I asked when it would come on the manager said "its still a bit cloudy" which elicited a wry smile and the word over-hopping from myself...
Later, having been persuaded to go out "just for one" we needed up in the maelstrom which is the Bee Hive with WK, Miss N, Carlos, Alison, Paddy, Jambon, Half Pint and Jack, and after an epic struggle made it to the bar to buy a pint of Bee Hive bitter, AKA Bees Knees. Despite this not being exactly my favourite venue I stayed for another, mainly because WK very kindly paid for it - after, it was suggested that we went for a pint in the Bath Hotel. So it was settled. The night was not yet finished...
Thornbridge Pollards was on the bar along with a few other tempting treats but as soon as I spotted the Burning Sky Saison I knew it was a no-brainer. It was going to be an enjoyable but rather expensive end to the night. We were probably in the pub for three hours, catching up and sharing great company and supping, in mine and Miss N's case, copious quantities of saison. This was a fantastic night with good friends which may even have got me into the Christmas spirit.
Alas there are two sides to black weekend or whatever its called. And so as not to ruin the joyous tales before it, I'll summarize the downside in a few lines :
A fight outside at least two pubs and inside one.
The already widely reported but no less horrendous damage to the last remaining full size Wards window at Shakespeares.
And a pint of 5.9% beer costing £4.60 at the Sheffield Tap, coupled with my not having looked at the price (or been warned of it) before asking for it. Not attributable to any particular event of course, just an unpleasant surprise for customers enjoying finishing their weekend with a couple of drinks.
Humph.
Anyway, there is a lot coming up over the next week or two so hopefully I can finally finish work for the year and get some blogging done, but in the event that I don't make to the keyboard, then I would like to wish everyone a very happy Christmas.
Cheers!
Wee Beefy
Wednesday, 20 November 2013
I don't get bored, get bored, in the Broad field
Evening,
with recent rounds up of linked venues and breweries it's time to reprise my 2012 visit to the Forum Bars Broadfield Ale House on Abbeydale Road - conveniently situated next to the Hop Hideout, which you may remember from being a new specialist beer shop, and everything. My initial two visits heralded good and bad impressions but apart from a spate of visits later that year I've been a bit of s stranger. Lately, a flurry of visits have afforded me the chance of a re-review, thus...
back in the warm late September Miss N and myself had a day boozing in the Tap, grabbing a coffee in coffee shop-cum-restaurant-cakery-cum-off license Sellers Wheel, before heading to the Broadfield for a beer in the garden. On that occasion the first two beers we spotted were ours for the session. Miss N waded in recklessly to several pint of the Hardknott Infrared and I switched between that and Ilkley Norseman. Both beers were well kept although they could perhaps have been a bit cheaper, and were perfect for the third quarter of our session. It was nice to sit outside and enjoy ale in the sunshine and there is a reasonable amount of space to do so.
The other Saturday was Nat's 40th - and we had "prepared" for it with a session in the Rutland as I reported last time. Reaching Abbeydale Road and hoping to catch the party of revelers as they headed down from Woodseats we nipped in the Broadfield for a beer and started texting the throng. Finding a space at the right hand side bar in the incredibly busy pub I caught the barman's eye and asked what other beers were on offer. Initially I was contemplating a Bradfield Pale but as soon as he said On The Edge Berliner my mind was set on that!
The former Sheffield beer festival award winner was every bit as good as I had hoped - eminently quaffable and utterly refreshing this ale was not to enjoy a lengthy life - probably lasting twenty minutes, and then only because we were searching for a seat instead of drinking. So good was it that, even having established that the party were not that far away, we had to stay for another to make sure. This visit showed up the minor downside to the Broady - that being that its undoubted popularity makes it claustrophobicly busy at times.
This weekend I was at a loose end twice whilst in the vicinity. After my drink at te Rising Sun Friday I was dropped off on Sheldon Road and popped into Vintedge for a sneak preview of Hop Hideout. Since they weren't officially open it seemed cheeky to hang around so I made my excuses and escaped to the Broadfield for a beer or two. Finding a spare seat on a Friday night is a bit of a problem - but I managed it, and set about assessing my options. I opted for a pint of the Black Iris stout at 5.0% - alas I couldn't tell what the name was but it had a picture of a mans face on. So it was that one. And it tasted good. Next up I had a pint of Magic Rock Curious, and a half of Blackjack Dunkel on Keykeg. The Magic Rock offering was on good form and the Dunkel a nice chewy half to slow down my earlier rapacious intake.
Saturday I was back at Hop Hideout for the pzazz of the opening day, and hoping to be committed to celluloid as well - alas that leap into stardom never came about but I still found my way round to the Broadfield for an earlier and quieter visit. This time the Bradfield Pale was my starter of choice, which stood up well to the free taster of Northern Monk Imperial Stout that I'd had at the shop. It was also good value at £3.00 a pint. I then moved onto another half of the Blackjack Dunkel, along with half of their Texas Holdem on cask, a well rounded feisty bitter which came to £3.40 for the two. Both were once again in good nick, especially the Bradfield.
This shows that after an initially perhaps cautious start the Broadfield, not least because its an outlet for On The Edge beers, has adopted a policy of featuring interesting and varied guests which showcases some of the better upcoming and established microbreweries in the UK. Obviously as a drinker I'd prefer less space to be allocated to eating but that's the only gripe really, which means its always worth popping in if you are up at that end of town.
Cheers!
Wee Beefy.
with recent rounds up of linked venues and breweries it's time to reprise my 2012 visit to the Forum Bars Broadfield Ale House on Abbeydale Road - conveniently situated next to the Hop Hideout, which you may remember from being a new specialist beer shop, and everything. My initial two visits heralded good and bad impressions but apart from a spate of visits later that year I've been a bit of s stranger. Lately, a flurry of visits have afforded me the chance of a re-review, thus...
back in the warm late September Miss N and myself had a day boozing in the Tap, grabbing a coffee in coffee shop-cum-restaurant-cakery-cum-off license Sellers Wheel, before heading to the Broadfield for a beer in the garden. On that occasion the first two beers we spotted were ours for the session. Miss N waded in recklessly to several pint of the Hardknott Infrared and I switched between that and Ilkley Norseman. Both beers were well kept although they could perhaps have been a bit cheaper, and were perfect for the third quarter of our session. It was nice to sit outside and enjoy ale in the sunshine and there is a reasonable amount of space to do so.
The other Saturday was Nat's 40th - and we had "prepared" for it with a session in the Rutland as I reported last time. Reaching Abbeydale Road and hoping to catch the party of revelers as they headed down from Woodseats we nipped in the Broadfield for a beer and started texting the throng. Finding a space at the right hand side bar in the incredibly busy pub I caught the barman's eye and asked what other beers were on offer. Initially I was contemplating a Bradfield Pale but as soon as he said On The Edge Berliner my mind was set on that!
The former Sheffield beer festival award winner was every bit as good as I had hoped - eminently quaffable and utterly refreshing this ale was not to enjoy a lengthy life - probably lasting twenty minutes, and then only because we were searching for a seat instead of drinking. So good was it that, even having established that the party were not that far away, we had to stay for another to make sure. This visit showed up the minor downside to the Broady - that being that its undoubted popularity makes it claustrophobicly busy at times.
This weekend I was at a loose end twice whilst in the vicinity. After my drink at te Rising Sun Friday I was dropped off on Sheldon Road and popped into Vintedge for a sneak preview of Hop Hideout. Since they weren't officially open it seemed cheeky to hang around so I made my excuses and escaped to the Broadfield for a beer or two. Finding a spare seat on a Friday night is a bit of a problem - but I managed it, and set about assessing my options. I opted for a pint of the Black Iris stout at 5.0% - alas I couldn't tell what the name was but it had a picture of a mans face on. So it was that one. And it tasted good. Next up I had a pint of Magic Rock Curious, and a half of Blackjack Dunkel on Keykeg. The Magic Rock offering was on good form and the Dunkel a nice chewy half to slow down my earlier rapacious intake.
Saturday I was back at Hop Hideout for the pzazz of the opening day, and hoping to be committed to celluloid as well - alas that leap into stardom never came about but I still found my way round to the Broadfield for an earlier and quieter visit. This time the Bradfield Pale was my starter of choice, which stood up well to the free taster of Northern Monk Imperial Stout that I'd had at the shop. It was also good value at £3.00 a pint. I then moved onto another half of the Blackjack Dunkel, along with half of their Texas Holdem on cask, a well rounded feisty bitter which came to £3.40 for the two. Both were once again in good nick, especially the Bradfield.
This shows that after an initially perhaps cautious start the Broadfield, not least because its an outlet for On The Edge beers, has adopted a policy of featuring interesting and varied guests which showcases some of the better upcoming and established microbreweries in the UK. Obviously as a drinker I'd prefer less space to be allocated to eating but that's the only gripe really, which means its always worth popping in if you are up at that end of town.
Cheers!
Wee Beefy.
Saturday, 10 August 2013
Friday Night Likes
Morning slakers,
last night I was meant to be taking Chala to the Blake for the first time ever - alas, she bailed on me as she had to go and undertake some Thangor* management (her Mum is recovering from an op and needs watering at regular intervals). Despite this upset to my plan, I forged on alone, in the spirit of adventure. And being thirsty.
I headed to Shakespeares as is only normal, and although Mister Christopher and Robenbacher were on duty, there was a distinct dearth of CAMRA folks. I had assumed that I'd bump into the usual crowd but it dawned on me that it was probably GBBF weekend. That event that gets held every year and which I went to once in the 1990's. Can't say I was blown away, but I've no doubt its changed by now.
Anyhoo, consumer groups or no I had to slake my thirst so started on a pint of Raw Cascade and a half of the XT brewing Pi Dark Mild. Not perhaps the finest example i have tried, and alas the Raw was running out, but it still tasted of lovely quality hops and had a fantastic reddish hue which made t look extra appealing.
I finished on a quite fantastic beer - Arbor mosaic at 6.8% was in the cellar as it wasn't quite ready to come on. Seeing it in the glass you could tell why since it was murky orange, but good God it tasted better than it looked. Light biscuit malt, punchy mosaic hops and the fruitiest flavour since Melba combined to make this my beer of the week, if not the month (faint praise since its only 10 days in...). Served just cool enough, had I not been harbouring plans to escape to Walkley I could have sat there supping this beer all night. I can't wait to get back and try it it when its on the bar - I highly recommend you do the same.
A short trek followed walking the 31 route to compensate for my having a while to wait for it - the upshot of which was it only cost me £1.30 to get to the Blake. Luckily the route is running as normal so the uphill slog is much more manageable. On the bar at the Blake there were a few pale beers to choose from and one caught my eye but having taken the money for it the beer promptly went off. The barman suggested I might like the 6.9& Kelham Island mind control - and very kindly let me have a pint for £2.60. Which was nice!
Although this did make me worry about upcoming bouts of relaxation, I happily supped this surprisingly bitter but well balanced strong golden ale, sat in the room on the left. Its an oft rolled out observation every time I visit the Blake but I really don't get there often enough. Hopefully, myself and the A.A will be there in about 3 hours time....
A struggle uphill found me wanting food so I headed for a food outlet near the famous Byrans (Bryans?!?) chippy - only to be informed by the grumpy lady behind the counter that they weren't a chip shop, an observation that was filtering in to my head as I spoke. Still, I knew I could head round the corner for New Cod on the Block where I bought a fishcake butty and received a smile and some goodwill before I headed to the Closed Shop.
Mr Stephens was on hand to serve a range of decent ales once more, and with no thought of what else may be on offer I went for the Blackjack, um, thingy, since it was a Blackjack beer. (it now transpires through the magic of looking that this brown ale was called The River - and was rather nice, as per the below) Once again there were no recognisable faces in the crowd but I enjoyed sitting in the beer garden via the other entrance (stop it...) supping my rather delicious pint of hefty flavoured but rounded beer.
I nipped over to the Hallamshire House next for a half of McConnells vanilla stout from a slightly disappointing range, and headed down stairs to meet the Man of Ash and the lovely Dave. I can quite understand the attraction of the downstairs outside bit and the garden, even at night. Its warm and cool enough to be comfortable and feels a little like being on someone's back garden when there is a party going on in the house. Mind you, the smokers in the crowd all wanted to go back inside so in the end that's what I did too.
I then returned to the Shop to try a Doncaster brewery pale ale that was coming on after the mild - which I should point out I had a fantastic pint of wen I visited briefly on Monday. The quiet and calm of that visit reminded me of the good old days when there was no customers and no-one bought anything. Apparently, this is "bad for business" - bloody capitalists!
Anyway the pale ale was excellent but alas I didn't want to be out late so headed back to the 52 route home to prepare for the mammoth exercise in pub crawling that starts at the Sheffield tap in...an hours time.
I may see some of you later - either way, make sure you visit Shakespeares and get some o' that Arbor darn yer! (not literally).
Cheers!
Wee Beefy
*sorry, I forgot the explanation - Thangor is better known as Thangor the Unpleasable. I hope that helps.
last night I was meant to be taking Chala to the Blake for the first time ever - alas, she bailed on me as she had to go and undertake some Thangor* management (her Mum is recovering from an op and needs watering at regular intervals). Despite this upset to my plan, I forged on alone, in the spirit of adventure. And being thirsty.
I headed to Shakespeares as is only normal, and although Mister Christopher and Robenbacher were on duty, there was a distinct dearth of CAMRA folks. I had assumed that I'd bump into the usual crowd but it dawned on me that it was probably GBBF weekend. That event that gets held every year and which I went to once in the 1990's. Can't say I was blown away, but I've no doubt its changed by now.
Anyhoo, consumer groups or no I had to slake my thirst so started on a pint of Raw Cascade and a half of the XT brewing Pi Dark Mild. Not perhaps the finest example i have tried, and alas the Raw was running out, but it still tasted of lovely quality hops and had a fantastic reddish hue which made t look extra appealing.
I finished on a quite fantastic beer - Arbor mosaic at 6.8% was in the cellar as it wasn't quite ready to come on. Seeing it in the glass you could tell why since it was murky orange, but good God it tasted better than it looked. Light biscuit malt, punchy mosaic hops and the fruitiest flavour since Melba combined to make this my beer of the week, if not the month (faint praise since its only 10 days in...). Served just cool enough, had I not been harbouring plans to escape to Walkley I could have sat there supping this beer all night. I can't wait to get back and try it it when its on the bar - I highly recommend you do the same.
A short trek followed walking the 31 route to compensate for my having a while to wait for it - the upshot of which was it only cost me £1.30 to get to the Blake. Luckily the route is running as normal so the uphill slog is much more manageable. On the bar at the Blake there were a few pale beers to choose from and one caught my eye but having taken the money for it the beer promptly went off. The barman suggested I might like the 6.9& Kelham Island mind control - and very kindly let me have a pint for £2.60. Which was nice!
Although this did make me worry about upcoming bouts of relaxation, I happily supped this surprisingly bitter but well balanced strong golden ale, sat in the room on the left. Its an oft rolled out observation every time I visit the Blake but I really don't get there often enough. Hopefully, myself and the A.A will be there in about 3 hours time....
A struggle uphill found me wanting food so I headed for a food outlet near the famous Byrans (Bryans?!?) chippy - only to be informed by the grumpy lady behind the counter that they weren't a chip shop, an observation that was filtering in to my head as I spoke. Still, I knew I could head round the corner for New Cod on the Block where I bought a fishcake butty and received a smile and some goodwill before I headed to the Closed Shop.
Mr Stephens was on hand to serve a range of decent ales once more, and with no thought of what else may be on offer I went for the Blackjack, um, thingy, since it was a Blackjack beer. (it now transpires through the magic of looking that this brown ale was called The River - and was rather nice, as per the below) Once again there were no recognisable faces in the crowd but I enjoyed sitting in the beer garden via the other entrance (stop it...) supping my rather delicious pint of hefty flavoured but rounded beer.
I nipped over to the Hallamshire House next for a half of McConnells vanilla stout from a slightly disappointing range, and headed down stairs to meet the Man of Ash and the lovely Dave. I can quite understand the attraction of the downstairs outside bit and the garden, even at night. Its warm and cool enough to be comfortable and feels a little like being on someone's back garden when there is a party going on in the house. Mind you, the smokers in the crowd all wanted to go back inside so in the end that's what I did too.
I then returned to the Shop to try a Doncaster brewery pale ale that was coming on after the mild - which I should point out I had a fantastic pint of wen I visited briefly on Monday. The quiet and calm of that visit reminded me of the good old days when there was no customers and no-one bought anything. Apparently, this is "bad for business" - bloody capitalists!
Anyway the pale ale was excellent but alas I didn't want to be out late so headed back to the 52 route home to prepare for the mammoth exercise in pub crawling that starts at the Sheffield tap in...an hours time.
I may see some of you later - either way, make sure you visit Shakespeares and get some o' that Arbor darn yer! (not literally).
Cheers!
Wee Beefy
*sorry, I forgot the explanation - Thangor is better known as Thangor the Unpleasable. I hope that helps.
Sunday, 4 August 2013
Three valleys 2 - The Ridge, plus other stories..
Hello,
following trouble caused by simpletons at the last Three Valleys Festival in June, I can't pretend I wasn't surprised to almost immediately read about the Ridge beer festival - essentially the Three Valleys but with some pubs that weren't included or couldn't participate in the event in June, taking place in August. The dust had barely settled on what actually happened when the promise of another round of bus linked venues was announced. How would the Ridge match up to the wider crawl?
Well, in the end I only made it to two venues! Time restrictions meant I was only able to get as far as the Travellers at Apperknowle (which I understand now has no bus link to Sheffield thanks to Tin-pot Travel's withdrawal of the bus service) having started, and lingered, in the Dronfield Arms.
The last three years has seen me somehow bypass this venue despite it having perhaps the best beer range both this time and in June. So I put that right - but not before I "warmed up" sat in the sunshine outside the Sheffield Tap supping a rather pricey Otley Colombo t 4.0% and £3.30 a pint. Damn! Ignored my own rule again! Always stick to the Tapped beers.....
The Dronfield Arms had a bar outside featuring six beers, 4 or 5 in the pub, with beers replaced when they ran out. On the outside bar all beers were £3.00 a pint of £1.50 a half. Plastic glasses, mind,but judging by how quickly it became busy it's very unlikely they could have afforded to hire in enough real glasses to keep up with demand.
My first drink was a half of Scarborough brewery Cascade, a pleasing pale bitter with a good balance of hops. I then tried half of the Blackjack Mosaic, at the suggestion of the A.A, who I had met up with at the Arms after he'd sensibly caught the 12.05 train. You can read his review of our short crawl here. This was probably the beer of the day for me, in fact I had two halves in the end, a lovely well rounded hoppy beer, nicely showcasing the mosaic but with a curious yet satisfying creamy malt background - trust me it tasted better than this sounds!
By now I'd been joined by Ally and Malc, along with Rod, the lovely Dave, Patrick, Daves 1 through 5 and Brian. The last 6 folk had real names to be fair, but I wasn't planning on remembering any of them, so simply gave them my own monikers. Much easier. Eh Dave....
I tried some of the Doncaster Porter but it was a little dry if anything so went inside for a glass of water and a half of beer - and immediately uncovered a pricing mystery. Notwithstanding that I could have accidentally been overcharged, I had a half of Great Heck Powermouse at 3.6%, and a glass of water. It came to £1.70. Now, I don't expect to pay a chuffing penny for water, even if it had been in a glass, nor do I expect to pay a 20p surcharge for a half. So assuming neither dubious practice is enforced, the only other explanation is that this weak beer (not in flavour though) was £3.40 a pint. Which is ridiculous, not least because all the beers outside at higher strengths, were clearly cheaper.
Granted I should have queried this but in fairness after 3 aborted attempts to leave the last thing I wanted was to tarry further en route to my next destination. During which time I also bumped into Rupert and James the Hat, tried a halves of Raw Apollo and the excellent Slaters Haka, sat on some hay bales and endured some country and western tinged Irish music. You can't win em all it seems.
Next up was the bus to the Travellers, although had I been more blessed for time I'd have popped in the Royal Oak at Coal Aston, en route to which I bumped into John and Mozza, before alighting at the bustling busy and brilliant Travellers Rest at Apperknowle. Set in fantastic countryside, overlooking the Moss Valley, the Travellers had a selection of beers on in a makeshift outside bar and about 6 inside. I tried a half of Blue Bee Octothorpe which was just as crisp and hoppy as I'd hoped. A perfect light beer on a hot summers day.
Alas all too soon I was heading back to the Station to catch the 17.05 train back with the AA, before I met up with Feasty and friends in the Red Deer. Our Saturday night shindig consisted of food and beers, but I was taking things significantly slower than normal on account of my earlier efforts. In the end, along with an orange juice, I had a pint and a half of the Green Jack Golden Ale, which was very nice at £2.95 a pint, to wash down my meal. I can't say I was impressed by the dry sun dried tomato pesto linguine, but my companions seemed to enjoy their choices, before we moved on.
A "classic" WB shortcut brought us to Shakespeares where I started on a pint of Blue Bee Light Blue, and where we also met up with Jules and Will. I moved onto the Pheasantry DA after that, following a catch up with straw-master Dave, and we stayed there for a good few hours supping copious amounts of this pleasant dark ale, until it was really time to go home.
So, not a thorough investigation of the Ridge festival but what I encountered was really good - obviously the buses initially excelled themselves by leaving the station 3 minutes early at the sight of passengers arriving - with only two passengers on board, but other than that the service was good, and crucially the beer range and quality was excellent. A very enjoyable day out in short.
Wee Beefy
following trouble caused by simpletons at the last Three Valleys Festival in June, I can't pretend I wasn't surprised to almost immediately read about the Ridge beer festival - essentially the Three Valleys but with some pubs that weren't included or couldn't participate in the event in June, taking place in August. The dust had barely settled on what actually happened when the promise of another round of bus linked venues was announced. How would the Ridge match up to the wider crawl?
Well, in the end I only made it to two venues! Time restrictions meant I was only able to get as far as the Travellers at Apperknowle (which I understand now has no bus link to Sheffield thanks to Tin-pot Travel's withdrawal of the bus service) having started, and lingered, in the Dronfield Arms.
The last three years has seen me somehow bypass this venue despite it having perhaps the best beer range both this time and in June. So I put that right - but not before I "warmed up" sat in the sunshine outside the Sheffield Tap supping a rather pricey Otley Colombo t 4.0% and £3.30 a pint. Damn! Ignored my own rule again! Always stick to the Tapped beers.....
The Dronfield Arms had a bar outside featuring six beers, 4 or 5 in the pub, with beers replaced when they ran out. On the outside bar all beers were £3.00 a pint of £1.50 a half. Plastic glasses, mind,but judging by how quickly it became busy it's very unlikely they could have afforded to hire in enough real glasses to keep up with demand.
My first drink was a half of Scarborough brewery Cascade, a pleasing pale bitter with a good balance of hops. I then tried half of the Blackjack Mosaic, at the suggestion of the A.A, who I had met up with at the Arms after he'd sensibly caught the 12.05 train. You can read his review of our short crawl here. This was probably the beer of the day for me, in fact I had two halves in the end, a lovely well rounded hoppy beer, nicely showcasing the mosaic but with a curious yet satisfying creamy malt background - trust me it tasted better than this sounds!
By now I'd been joined by Ally and Malc, along with Rod, the lovely Dave, Patrick, Daves 1 through 5 and Brian. The last 6 folk had real names to be fair, but I wasn't planning on remembering any of them, so simply gave them my own monikers. Much easier. Eh Dave....
I tried some of the Doncaster Porter but it was a little dry if anything so went inside for a glass of water and a half of beer - and immediately uncovered a pricing mystery. Notwithstanding that I could have accidentally been overcharged, I had a half of Great Heck Powermouse at 3.6%, and a glass of water. It came to £1.70. Now, I don't expect to pay a chuffing penny for water, even if it had been in a glass, nor do I expect to pay a 20p surcharge for a half. So assuming neither dubious practice is enforced, the only other explanation is that this weak beer (not in flavour though) was £3.40 a pint. Which is ridiculous, not least because all the beers outside at higher strengths, were clearly cheaper.
Granted I should have queried this but in fairness after 3 aborted attempts to leave the last thing I wanted was to tarry further en route to my next destination. During which time I also bumped into Rupert and James the Hat, tried a halves of Raw Apollo and the excellent Slaters Haka, sat on some hay bales and endured some country and western tinged Irish music. You can't win em all it seems.
Next up was the bus to the Travellers, although had I been more blessed for time I'd have popped in the Royal Oak at Coal Aston, en route to which I bumped into John and Mozza, before alighting at the bustling busy and brilliant Travellers Rest at Apperknowle. Set in fantastic countryside, overlooking the Moss Valley, the Travellers had a selection of beers on in a makeshift outside bar and about 6 inside. I tried a half of Blue Bee Octothorpe which was just as crisp and hoppy as I'd hoped. A perfect light beer on a hot summers day.
Alas all too soon I was heading back to the Station to catch the 17.05 train back with the AA, before I met up with Feasty and friends in the Red Deer. Our Saturday night shindig consisted of food and beers, but I was taking things significantly slower than normal on account of my earlier efforts. In the end, along with an orange juice, I had a pint and a half of the Green Jack Golden Ale, which was very nice at £2.95 a pint, to wash down my meal. I can't say I was impressed by the dry sun dried tomato pesto linguine, but my companions seemed to enjoy their choices, before we moved on.
A "classic" WB shortcut brought us to Shakespeares where I started on a pint of Blue Bee Light Blue, and where we also met up with Jules and Will. I moved onto the Pheasantry DA after that, following a catch up with straw-master Dave, and we stayed there for a good few hours supping copious amounts of this pleasant dark ale, until it was really time to go home.
So, not a thorough investigation of the Ridge festival but what I encountered was really good - obviously the buses initially excelled themselves by leaving the station 3 minutes early at the sight of passengers arriving - with only two passengers on board, but other than that the service was good, and crucially the beer range and quality was excellent. A very enjoyable day out in short.
Wee Beefy
Wednesday, 17 April 2013
The Shakespeares sessions.
Now then,
alas the above is not a musical reference, just an indication that this week, I have been mostly in.... Shakespeares. And why not? Lots of people rightly recognise it as a fantastic pub. Heres a few fine details that support that theory.
Friday after work I was in need of a cheer up. I had been suffering with dropsy and malaria, and was desperate to go out on the ran tan, as absolutely no-one says anymore. Tempted as I was by a trundle to Commonside, the option of walking for just 5 minutes to a pub won me over, and I slipped away to Shakespeares.
It was fairly busy and there was an impressive array of beers on. I started with a pint of Blackjack Double Bluee, a gloriously tasty, well balanced bitter beer that demanded two goes. I have heard great things about Blackjack but not always tasted great things. This was a brilliant example of a night beer. A beer that defines, and is drunk throughout the whole of the, night. However, other delights would tempt me.
I bought a pint of Ascot Anastasia stout next, which I loved at the Kelham Decade fest but which was surprisingly smokey and not that well balanced - which was a shame. So I decided to "go cellar" and was rewarded by a very enjoyable pint of Hopcraft Abrek black IPA. I think. The things is, even having kindly been passed the pump clip, my mind wasn't willing to accept that the beer wasn't called something easy like Jeff, or brick or cat. So please forgive me if I get the name wrong. Whatever it was called it was an enjoyably bitter and hoppy (they're different, see) black IPA that did everything I expected. My first Hopcraft beer, and one that makes me think I'll try more if spotted.
Another Bluee followed (not a fit, but a pint of beer) before I ambled up to DAda to get the whole bottled beer offer wrong (it even bloody says on my bottle club card "Monday to Thursday" but in my optimism I bought one on a Friday. Dumpling). I also had a very enjoyable half of Acer from Bristol Beer factory but this was overshadowed by my regretting the purchase of the bottle and basically wanting to go home. Alas I didn't get back to sample the Brizzle bur. Curses.
My next Shakespeares session was preceded by a trip to the Gardeners Rest with J9. An almost pleasant walk through the Don's adjoining industrial wastelands brought us into, and then outside of, the Gardeners, me with a pint of Chantry Saxonia, J9 with a half of St Loius Kriek. Sat in gale force winds, I tried to make out it was springily warm by sitting there in a T-shirt whilst our crisps and my jacket blew onto the floor. By pint 2, a chunky and not unhelpfully cloudy Monster IPA from Celt Experience, the jacket was back on.
A second amble had us arrive at Shakespeares and looking forward to cooling back down in the sheltered beer garden. I had a pint of the excellent North Riding Aspiration Nation - feel free to laugh, but my phone says I drank Patanpo! A lovely refreshing bitter at under 4%, this really hit the spot, and I had two pints just to make sure. J9 meanwhile was on the Kriek. That's not an ailment.
After this a minor blot appeared on the Shakespeares copy book. They had run out of saison! Ye Gads! I instantly thought about decamping to the Wellington to sort out this situation but luckily renowned saison fan Dave U was on hand to direct me to his Steel City Brewing Metal Fatigue beer, brewed, in, erm, celebration of Maggie Thatcher. 'sdeath. This was very very nice and I had several glasses of it, before I became unable to type anything legible. Luckily I remember J9 had a bottle of Orval. And no doubt, Scasa means something, to somebody, somewhere...
I am sure it was sensibly priced and very tasty as well.
So ended our Shakespeares sojourn, and we walked into town for J9 to wend her way home, although we had to decamp from the bus stop in the face of a worrying crying man. Once we reached the Rutland Arms, which you may remember from being the pub of the month, I bade my drinking companion farewell, then popped in for a very delicious bacon butty, plus a pint of Arbor Snuffy Jam, and, one hopes, only a half of heir superb Yakima IPA.
All we need now is for Shakespeares to organise another of their excellent beer fests and their name could be synonymous with superlatives evermore.
Cheers!
Wee Beefy
alas the above is not a musical reference, just an indication that this week, I have been mostly in.... Shakespeares. And why not? Lots of people rightly recognise it as a fantastic pub. Heres a few fine details that support that theory.
Friday after work I was in need of a cheer up. I had been suffering with dropsy and malaria, and was desperate to go out on the ran tan, as absolutely no-one says anymore. Tempted as I was by a trundle to Commonside, the option of walking for just 5 minutes to a pub won me over, and I slipped away to Shakespeares.
It was fairly busy and there was an impressive array of beers on. I started with a pint of Blackjack Double Bluee, a gloriously tasty, well balanced bitter beer that demanded two goes. I have heard great things about Blackjack but not always tasted great things. This was a brilliant example of a night beer. A beer that defines, and is drunk throughout the whole of the, night. However, other delights would tempt me.
I bought a pint of Ascot Anastasia stout next, which I loved at the Kelham Decade fest but which was surprisingly smokey and not that well balanced - which was a shame. So I decided to "go cellar" and was rewarded by a very enjoyable pint of Hopcraft Abrek black IPA. I think. The things is, even having kindly been passed the pump clip, my mind wasn't willing to accept that the beer wasn't called something easy like Jeff, or brick or cat. So please forgive me if I get the name wrong. Whatever it was called it was an enjoyably bitter and hoppy (they're different, see) black IPA that did everything I expected. My first Hopcraft beer, and one that makes me think I'll try more if spotted.
Another Bluee followed (not a fit, but a pint of beer) before I ambled up to DAda to get the whole bottled beer offer wrong (it even bloody says on my bottle club card "Monday to Thursday" but in my optimism I bought one on a Friday. Dumpling). I also had a very enjoyable half of Acer from Bristol Beer factory but this was overshadowed by my regretting the purchase of the bottle and basically wanting to go home. Alas I didn't get back to sample the Brizzle bur. Curses.
My next Shakespeares session was preceded by a trip to the Gardeners Rest with J9. An almost pleasant walk through the Don's adjoining industrial wastelands brought us into, and then outside of, the Gardeners, me with a pint of Chantry Saxonia, J9 with a half of St Loius Kriek. Sat in gale force winds, I tried to make out it was springily warm by sitting there in a T-shirt whilst our crisps and my jacket blew onto the floor. By pint 2, a chunky and not unhelpfully cloudy Monster IPA from Celt Experience, the jacket was back on.
A second amble had us arrive at Shakespeares and looking forward to cooling back down in the sheltered beer garden. I had a pint of the excellent North Riding Aspiration Nation - feel free to laugh, but my phone says I drank Patanpo! A lovely refreshing bitter at under 4%, this really hit the spot, and I had two pints just to make sure. J9 meanwhile was on the Kriek. That's not an ailment.
After this a minor blot appeared on the Shakespeares copy book. They had run out of saison! Ye Gads! I instantly thought about decamping to the Wellington to sort out this situation but luckily renowned saison fan Dave U was on hand to direct me to his Steel City Brewing Metal Fatigue beer, brewed, in, erm, celebration of Maggie Thatcher. 'sdeath. This was very very nice and I had several glasses of it, before I became unable to type anything legible. Luckily I remember J9 had a bottle of Orval. And no doubt, Scasa means something, to somebody, somewhere...
I am sure it was sensibly priced and very tasty as well.
So ended our Shakespeares sojourn, and we walked into town for J9 to wend her way home, although we had to decamp from the bus stop in the face of a worrying crying man. Once we reached the Rutland Arms, which you may remember from being the pub of the month, I bade my drinking companion farewell, then popped in for a very delicious bacon butty, plus a pint of Arbor Snuffy Jam, and, one hopes, only a half of heir superb Yakima IPA.
All we need now is for Shakespeares to organise another of their excellent beer fests and their name could be synonymous with superlatives evermore.
Cheers!
Wee Beefy
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