Hello,
I am informed by a number of reliable sources (hoping not to be hoist by my own petard here!) that tonight will be the last night of trading at DaDa on Trippet Lane Sheffield. I understand the business and therefore assumedly the building (?) has been sold and therefore, of course, DaDa will be no more.
This is disappointing, but not entirely surprising news. I used to like DaDa especially because it was quiet. I was well aware that this was not good for the business, and so it proved. This, even against the backdrop of numerous managers and excellent members of staff, many of whom have gone onto manage other Thornbridge pubs. On that basis, the renowned quietness and inability to attract drinkers other than on Friday and Saturday nights is somewhat a puzzle. Or is it?
My first impressions of DAda or DaDa or similar weren't all that positive. Here is my blog post from November 2011 which sets out my concerns about its decor and lack of prominence for cask ales. Although I came to love Dada (no use fannying around with extra capital letters now eh?) I think some of my initial observations rang true when I last visited om January and had a half of pale ale before meeting Tash. Its not comfortable. Its noisy. It lacks atmosphere.
The strange thing is, Thornbridge has won national awards as a pub owning brewery. Like its brands or venues or not, its hardly unsuccessful in respect of running bars and boozers. The problem with Dada was, nobody really got what it was about. In fact, Dada never really got what it was about.
I understand the design was the brainchild or dream of the directors of Thornbridge. And it shows. Its not really the kind of place someone not in their middle age would want to go. It is pleasingly unconventional, but not enough to woo those seeking an unusual night out, whilst not being sufficiently traditional to win over many of the CAMRA crowd. It is and was a beer bar where people were for the most part, not there for the beer. The concept didn't work and it seems Thornbridge, possibly out of blind determination to stick with their vision of the bar and its themes, didn't want to change it.
On Thursday I was in the Bath Hotel drinking the rather amazing Jaipur X, a special keg 10% version of the excellent pale ale. I was with former Dada regulars Mike, Josh, Amy and Ben. As Mike summarised, the final straw was the two absurd huge frozen Heineken posts that were installed on the bar to absolutely no-ones rejoice. That, and long term staff like James, Emily, Steff and Jamie having left, started, or rather accelerated, what had been a slow decline. The music got louder. The gas ran out more often than it should. They stopped serving bar snacks. They bought near out of date keg beer to sell cheap. It was a venue that needed to do one thing to change which it couldn't. It needed to not be Dada.
Its important to point out that I have had some cracking nights in Dada. I have also drunk some amazing beers. I have met friends in there, and supped til closing time, I have reveled in the Halcyon, the Chiron, the Schlenkerla and the Melba and others. I have enjoyed its silence, its lack of customers, and its ska. Unfortunately, not enough other people did.
So long, ta-ra and it was good knowing you Dada.
Wee Beefy
Showing posts with label Dada Trippet Lane. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Dada Trippet Lane. Show all posts
Saturday, 7 February 2015
Monday, 12 January 2015
Latest libations
Ay up,
I wrote earlier about not having an anhydrous January - please note, I realise that anhydrous relates principally to chemicals or crystalised salts - but in this respect is a reference to having no beer or other alcoholic drinks in a pub. I'm quite keen on the standpoint of drinking in January and as you will have seen last week, the Bath Hotel assisted in this respect by offering the stunning Rule of Thirds from Magic Rock, Beavertown and Siren Craft breweries. Here is what and where else I have been maintaining my position.
The Three Tuns continues to offer excellent food cooked by Phil and now another person, and I recently saw Mr Stephens, MD of Andrew Inns, a company I made up, in his own pub. Dave continues to run things behind the bar and recently they have sold the excellent Amarillo IPA from Blue Bee, their Reet Pale Ale and the Brass Castle Brewery Sunshine at 5.7%. Habit dictates that I had rather a lot of that!
I also went in DaDa the other day, twice in fact recently. I first found an unusual milk stout - not actually white in colour but very pale. Seemingly very clever but alas it didn't taste like stout. Instead I plumped for the Celt Experience Latene, which I tried and loved, but was very surprised to pay £4.20 a pint for. My initial question was "oh, is this really strong?" but it turned out to be 3.5%. To be fair the manager came over and explained why it was so expensive, and amends were made, but I still think that if you are going to sell a beer at that price you should tell people - especially considering the almost twice as strong Thornbridge Jaipur was right next to it at £3.40 a pint. I also went in Saturday and had a half of Pale but alas did not record the name or price....
Friday saw us back in the Bath Hotel drinking the Rule of thirds and Thornbridge's English hopped IPA Coritani at 7.4%. This was a surprisingly easy to drink beer and went down very easily. We followed this with a trip to BrewDog where we were once again overjoyed to find they had large bottles of Fantome saison in - this time their Hiver winter saison, at £10.00 a bottle.
Alas BrewDog close before midnight so we upped and left and went instead to Bungalows and Bears. Not exactly a haven of real ale it does still sell at least 2 and I had something which I was told was an American Pale Ale. Being in a busy bar I didn't bother asking who brewed it but it was an acceptable if not overtly hoppy offering - Tash drank a bottle of Redchurch Camden Gold which was also very easy to drink.
Saturday saw us down at Shakespeares and along with a pint of the excellent Welbeck Abbey Santa's IPA (or similar...) I had a pint of something from Hopcraft. or that might have been the night earlier in the week. Essentially, I am not fully back into recording of beers mode so apologise for my lack of detail. I can confirm however, tat I enjoyed our beers in the Shakespeares.
Details soon of some of the festive bottled beers that I have supped over the last 3 weeks.
Cheers!
Wee Beefy
I wrote earlier about not having an anhydrous January - please note, I realise that anhydrous relates principally to chemicals or crystalised salts - but in this respect is a reference to having no beer or other alcoholic drinks in a pub. I'm quite keen on the standpoint of drinking in January and as you will have seen last week, the Bath Hotel assisted in this respect by offering the stunning Rule of Thirds from Magic Rock, Beavertown and Siren Craft breweries. Here is what and where else I have been maintaining my position.
The Three Tuns continues to offer excellent food cooked by Phil and now another person, and I recently saw Mr Stephens, MD of Andrew Inns, a company I made up, in his own pub. Dave continues to run things behind the bar and recently they have sold the excellent Amarillo IPA from Blue Bee, their Reet Pale Ale and the Brass Castle Brewery Sunshine at 5.7%. Habit dictates that I had rather a lot of that!
I also went in DaDa the other day, twice in fact recently. I first found an unusual milk stout - not actually white in colour but very pale. Seemingly very clever but alas it didn't taste like stout. Instead I plumped for the Celt Experience Latene, which I tried and loved, but was very surprised to pay £4.20 a pint for. My initial question was "oh, is this really strong?" but it turned out to be 3.5%. To be fair the manager came over and explained why it was so expensive, and amends were made, but I still think that if you are going to sell a beer at that price you should tell people - especially considering the almost twice as strong Thornbridge Jaipur was right next to it at £3.40 a pint. I also went in Saturday and had a half of Pale but alas did not record the name or price....
Friday saw us back in the Bath Hotel drinking the Rule of thirds and Thornbridge's English hopped IPA Coritani at 7.4%. This was a surprisingly easy to drink beer and went down very easily. We followed this with a trip to BrewDog where we were once again overjoyed to find they had large bottles of Fantome saison in - this time their Hiver winter saison, at £10.00 a bottle.
Alas BrewDog close before midnight so we upped and left and went instead to Bungalows and Bears. Not exactly a haven of real ale it does still sell at least 2 and I had something which I was told was an American Pale Ale. Being in a busy bar I didn't bother asking who brewed it but it was an acceptable if not overtly hoppy offering - Tash drank a bottle of Redchurch Camden Gold which was also very easy to drink.
Saturday saw us down at Shakespeares and along with a pint of the excellent Welbeck Abbey Santa's IPA (or similar...) I had a pint of something from Hopcraft. or that might have been the night earlier in the week. Essentially, I am not fully back into recording of beers mode so apologise for my lack of detail. I can confirm however, tat I enjoyed our beers in the Shakespeares.
Details soon of some of the festive bottled beers that I have supped over the last 3 weeks.
Cheers!
Wee Beefy
Thursday, 13 November 2014
November nidorousness (so far)
Hello,
having set myself up to drink now and again in November this allows me the opportunity to record some actual nights out and supping and stuff. Here am that....
On 31st October I started my drinking at Dada with a fantastic but somewhat hastily dispatched pint of the Dark Star American Pale Ale on keg for something like £3.50 a pint. I was in a rush as meeting Miss N in Boots but she was delayed, allowing me extra time to sup this fantastic tipple. We later met folks in the Sheffield Tap and had pints of Magic Rock. Or similar. Or not....and at Chandlers in Chesterfield where we went to celebrate Halloween, there was no real ale. But the Erdinger was good.
On Sunday we went to the Polish beer tent at the continental market. Two draught beers were on but I'd had them before, Zywiec and Lech, so we had bottles - I had Kaszetelan Nierpasteryzowane unfiltered lager, and Miss N had Tatra, as one of er cats used to be named that. Matty joined us and he and then we moved onto, bottles of Warka Strong, a nutty darker lager at 6.5%. My work colleagues however recommended the 7.0% Debowe Mocne which is brewed by Tyskie and tastes of nuts. Well, it takes all sorts!
From here we walked down to the Rutland to enjoy Blue Bee Nycto Black IPA and Oyster Stout and too much High Wire. The jukebox was temporarily ours (so little recent stuff) and we soon settled down to a night of relaxation. One interesting note was that a 6.2% Siren Craft Brew Porter, served by cask, was on at £6.20 a pint. That is correct. Probably. Matty was told they added 40% to the cost they bought the beer at to get that price - am not sure if that is a lot but either way it must be very overpriced in the first place. Suffice to say I didn't buy any, on principal. The High Wire on keg was nearly £2.50 less a pint so we supped that instead. It was matchless by the way.
A last one followed at the Sheffield Tap which was about to close for refurbishment - it should have reopened fully today if not last night.
Other recent visits have included the Red Deer - recently they also had the excellent Nycto from Blue Bee on, which is a good development for those of us with a love of very hoppy beer. We went there to meet Matty and got ourselves a quiet table in the corner to write a birthday card for our friend Double M and supped the beer by the fire.
The Bath Hotel tonight had at least 4 excellent beers on - Summer Wine Brewery Diablo at 6% and Thornbridge Pollards, both on cask, and Buxton Axe Edge Pale (6.8%) and Far Skyline on keg. Tonight we stuck firmly to Fentimans Victorian Lemonade and Dandelion and Burdock but the other night we tried both the Diablo and the Axe Edge - both were on excellent form.
Finally, a bit of bad Bath news - I found out tonight (though I hear its been on Twitter already) that Edd is to leave the Bath Hotel. This is a shock for me and a real shame to see such a great member of staff leave the pub, which has become a firm favourite of mine under Edd and Steff's stewardship. No news yet on who will take over but its a shame to lose such a high caliber member of staff.
More news soon!
Wee Beefy
having set myself up to drink now and again in November this allows me the opportunity to record some actual nights out and supping and stuff. Here am that....
On 31st October I started my drinking at Dada with a fantastic but somewhat hastily dispatched pint of the Dark Star American Pale Ale on keg for something like £3.50 a pint. I was in a rush as meeting Miss N in Boots but she was delayed, allowing me extra time to sup this fantastic tipple. We later met folks in the Sheffield Tap and had pints of Magic Rock. Or similar. Or not....and at Chandlers in Chesterfield where we went to celebrate Halloween, there was no real ale. But the Erdinger was good.
On Sunday we went to the Polish beer tent at the continental market. Two draught beers were on but I'd had them before, Zywiec and Lech, so we had bottles - I had Kaszetelan Nierpasteryzowane unfiltered lager, and Miss N had Tatra, as one of er cats used to be named that. Matty joined us and he and then we moved onto, bottles of Warka Strong, a nutty darker lager at 6.5%. My work colleagues however recommended the 7.0% Debowe Mocne which is brewed by Tyskie and tastes of nuts. Well, it takes all sorts!
From here we walked down to the Rutland to enjoy Blue Bee Nycto Black IPA and Oyster Stout and too much High Wire. The jukebox was temporarily ours (so little recent stuff) and we soon settled down to a night of relaxation. One interesting note was that a 6.2% Siren Craft Brew Porter, served by cask, was on at £6.20 a pint. That is correct. Probably. Matty was told they added 40% to the cost they bought the beer at to get that price - am not sure if that is a lot but either way it must be very overpriced in the first place. Suffice to say I didn't buy any, on principal. The High Wire on keg was nearly £2.50 less a pint so we supped that instead. It was matchless by the way.
A last one followed at the Sheffield Tap which was about to close for refurbishment - it should have reopened fully today if not last night.
Other recent visits have included the Red Deer - recently they also had the excellent Nycto from Blue Bee on, which is a good development for those of us with a love of very hoppy beer. We went there to meet Matty and got ourselves a quiet table in the corner to write a birthday card for our friend Double M and supped the beer by the fire.
The Bath Hotel tonight had at least 4 excellent beers on - Summer Wine Brewery Diablo at 6% and Thornbridge Pollards, both on cask, and Buxton Axe Edge Pale (6.8%) and Far Skyline on keg. Tonight we stuck firmly to Fentimans Victorian Lemonade and Dandelion and Burdock but the other night we tried both the Diablo and the Axe Edge - both were on excellent form.
Finally, a bit of bad Bath news - I found out tonight (though I hear its been on Twitter already) that Edd is to leave the Bath Hotel. This is a shock for me and a real shame to see such a great member of staff leave the pub, which has become a firm favourite of mine under Edd and Steff's stewardship. No news yet on who will take over but its a shame to lose such a high caliber member of staff.
More news soon!
Wee Beefy
Wednesday, 12 February 2014
Chuff me! Its February!
Now then,
I read a blog a month or two ago by Mudgie highlighting the paucity of posts from prominent bloggers. With the notable exception of post-ophiles Boak and Bailey, he was musing here about his own easing off on posting. I remember thinking that as well as not being notable, this was also my experience - I seem to have slumped to an average 9 posts a month which is, if nothing else, a rather odd amount. Granted, since November there have been significant pressures on my time, but 2013 was much more sedate than 2012. So what would this year bring?
Well, this is only my second post in February.
But don't worry, that isn't it. There is also actual information. I said actual, instead of factual on purpose. Because a fortnight or more of drinking, even when making notes some of the time, is a feat to remember. Here's some notable fragments.
At Shakespeares the North Riding series continued with Mosaic which I managed to miss (Gah!), Jester, 3rd anniversary 60 minute IPA and summat else. All of which were in fine fettle, and went down alarmingly well. Other excellent grog spotted included Citra Noir from Mallinsons which was on sparkling form, a red ale from Black Iris which was a nice change from hoppy stuff, a Brewshed stout, and something with a funny name (see- "journalism", posts passim...)
On the last Friday in January and the following Friday leaving do's and birthdays occurred. Miss N had her official birthday do on 31st which was payday, meaning more people could attend.Somehow, the Dove and Rainbow had managed to secure a cask of Bradfield Belgian Blue. Between us we demolished most of it. On the next Friday I was on Blue Bee Lustin for Stout, but somehow contrived to make it last for an hour, since I was already a trifle refreshed when I arrived.
Earlier that night a sojourn to the Riverside was required as Bam Jiggot was off to get a real job, i.e not one in the farce plant that is the civil service. To my delight, the excellent Great Heck Citra was on, so I forced myself to have several very enjoyable pints of that.
The Red Deer was also visited, once after an annoying stand outside an openinghourssign-less Bath Hotel, whose opening hours I couldn't recall, but which was shut at 18.30 on a Sunday. Humph. The Deer meanwhile was open and had an excellent pint of Broadside on offer, which I supped, whilst Mr Devden and friends drank the Moorhouses Black Cat Mild, at £2.95 a pint.
The Rutland had been a handy stop off a couple of times and featured the excellent Permanent Revolution pale ale and Monkey Business Belgian style ale from Hopcraft, along with Magic Rock Cannonball, Summer Wine Mokka milk stout and their excellent Diablo pale ale - alas, as is often the case, all the Summer Wine output was key keg, but some cask was reported in DAda....
DAda also very nearly yielded an exciting pint of the Thornbridge Crimerion breakfast stout, alas this ran out before we could try it, but forced into a corner I ended up buying a pint of previously excellent but long less so Jaipur - and bloody loved it! Also notable was the Founders breakfast stout in bottle. It was probably chocolate and vanilla coffee stout or something. Either way it was chuffing ace. The Summer Wine cask came on Saturday night and I haven't made it in yet this week.
I also got to the Fat Cat where I enjoyed several excellent Wateralls pork pies and a rather splendid pint of Twisted Oak Downhill Porter, as well as visiting the Harlequin, which is a rare venue for me. Me and Miss N optimistically started on pints of the Great Heck Yakima IPA, before sharing a bottle of Sierra Nevada Torpedo. Meanwhile, the York had some very tasty food on and numerous pints of Acorn Spalter and Winter Pale plus a Belgian brew from Roosters.
The Three Tuns tempted us with Blue Bee Solidus, Lustin for Stout and excellent Welbeck Abbey Harley, as well as the company of Dave and Doctor Bob, before we headed for the Sheffield Tap, which forms the bookend of this library of libation.
On that night we drank the excellent Redemption Pale and quite a lot of excellent Roosters High Tea, which is different, if not slightly better, that their mad hatters earl grey IPA. Other pints supped in there include Magic Rock Dark Arts, as you would, Tiny Rebel Cwlch, the excellent Red Willow Faithless xxxx which we had numerous pints of, and finally we went mad and bought a bottle, of all things.
Having recently purchased a bottle of Brew By Numbers Saison, I spotted their citra saison in the Tap and decided to go for it. Washed down with an Oakham Citra for nor exactly a comparison, and though pricey, the saison was amaison. Do yo see what I did there? Good. So, whilst the above seems reckless, it represents just over two weeks of supping for two people, so its not that bad. Although, two further posts are to follow about February's exploits....
FINALLY - don't forget its the Closed Shop 1st birthday celebration tomorrow - which is being held at the Closed Shop. Seriously. I heartily recommend a visit f you have time and waterproofs.
Cheers!
Wee Beefy (hic)
I read a blog a month or two ago by Mudgie highlighting the paucity of posts from prominent bloggers. With the notable exception of post-ophiles Boak and Bailey, he was musing here about his own easing off on posting. I remember thinking that as well as not being notable, this was also my experience - I seem to have slumped to an average 9 posts a month which is, if nothing else, a rather odd amount. Granted, since November there have been significant pressures on my time, but 2013 was much more sedate than 2012. So what would this year bring?
Well, this is only my second post in February.
But don't worry, that isn't it. There is also actual information. I said actual, instead of factual on purpose. Because a fortnight or more of drinking, even when making notes some of the time, is a feat to remember. Here's some notable fragments.
At Shakespeares the North Riding series continued with Mosaic which I managed to miss (Gah!), Jester, 3rd anniversary 60 minute IPA and summat else. All of which were in fine fettle, and went down alarmingly well. Other excellent grog spotted included Citra Noir from Mallinsons which was on sparkling form, a red ale from Black Iris which was a nice change from hoppy stuff, a Brewshed stout, and something with a funny name (see- "journalism", posts passim...)
On the last Friday in January and the following Friday leaving do's and birthdays occurred. Miss N had her official birthday do on 31st which was payday, meaning more people could attend.Somehow, the Dove and Rainbow had managed to secure a cask of Bradfield Belgian Blue. Between us we demolished most of it. On the next Friday I was on Blue Bee Lustin for Stout, but somehow contrived to make it last for an hour, since I was already a trifle refreshed when I arrived.
Earlier that night a sojourn to the Riverside was required as Bam Jiggot was off to get a real job, i.e not one in the farce plant that is the civil service. To my delight, the excellent Great Heck Citra was on, so I forced myself to have several very enjoyable pints of that.
The Red Deer was also visited, once after an annoying stand outside an openinghourssign-less Bath Hotel, whose opening hours I couldn't recall, but which was shut at 18.30 on a Sunday. Humph. The Deer meanwhile was open and had an excellent pint of Broadside on offer, which I supped, whilst Mr Devden and friends drank the Moorhouses Black Cat Mild, at £2.95 a pint.
The Rutland had been a handy stop off a couple of times and featured the excellent Permanent Revolution pale ale and Monkey Business Belgian style ale from Hopcraft, along with Magic Rock Cannonball, Summer Wine Mokka milk stout and their excellent Diablo pale ale - alas, as is often the case, all the Summer Wine output was key keg, but some cask was reported in DAda....
DAda also very nearly yielded an exciting pint of the Thornbridge Crimerion breakfast stout, alas this ran out before we could try it, but forced into a corner I ended up buying a pint of previously excellent but long less so Jaipur - and bloody loved it! Also notable was the Founders breakfast stout in bottle. It was probably chocolate and vanilla coffee stout or something. Either way it was chuffing ace. The Summer Wine cask came on Saturday night and I haven't made it in yet this week.
I also got to the Fat Cat where I enjoyed several excellent Wateralls pork pies and a rather splendid pint of Twisted Oak Downhill Porter, as well as visiting the Harlequin, which is a rare venue for me. Me and Miss N optimistically started on pints of the Great Heck Yakima IPA, before sharing a bottle of Sierra Nevada Torpedo. Meanwhile, the York had some very tasty food on and numerous pints of Acorn Spalter and Winter Pale plus a Belgian brew from Roosters.
The Three Tuns tempted us with Blue Bee Solidus, Lustin for Stout and excellent Welbeck Abbey Harley, as well as the company of Dave and Doctor Bob, before we headed for the Sheffield Tap, which forms the bookend of this library of libation.
On that night we drank the excellent Redemption Pale and quite a lot of excellent Roosters High Tea, which is different, if not slightly better, that their mad hatters earl grey IPA. Other pints supped in there include Magic Rock Dark Arts, as you would, Tiny Rebel Cwlch, the excellent Red Willow Faithless xxxx which we had numerous pints of, and finally we went mad and bought a bottle, of all things.
Having recently purchased a bottle of Brew By Numbers Saison, I spotted their citra saison in the Tap and decided to go for it. Washed down with an Oakham Citra for nor exactly a comparison, and though pricey, the saison was amaison. Do yo see what I did there? Good. So, whilst the above seems reckless, it represents just over two weeks of supping for two people, so its not that bad. Although, two further posts are to follow about February's exploits....
FINALLY - don't forget its the Closed Shop 1st birthday celebration tomorrow - which is being held at the Closed Shop. Seriously. I heartily recommend a visit f you have time and waterproofs.
Cheers!
Wee Beefy (hic)
Friday, 24 January 2014
Second century begins at Tapped
Hello,
am not suggesting that the Tapped Brew Co is about 1900 years behind the rest of us, am just trying not to use the word century or hundred in this post about their...ninety ninth plus one brew. I can see this will be a fruitless exercise however....
Anyway, on Tuesday the Tapped Brew Co had an event on at the Sheffield Tap where you could see the whole brewing process from start to finish in one night, and taste some of their hundredth brew. It was called 100 Cent, and used centennial hops. Do you see what they did?
Admittedly the merit in being twice as good as 50 Cent is difficult to measure but if we get over it not being called Centenary, we can appreciate the beer for its ingredients. I am led to believe it was Mojo with the change being to make it with 100% centennial hops.... but I wasn't paying attention. What am I, your information monkey?! Ge darda yere....! No, really, I sort of think it was Mojo rebadged. It was a very tasty brew whichever way you looked at it. Especially since I love centennial hops - Mallinsons single hopped centennial was my beer of the 2012 Sheffield beer festival, so I was instantly sold on the tastes we had.
Having been delayed by hospital responsibilities I was quite late arriving so we only wandered into see who and what was there at the end, and to soak up the wonderful smells that brewing creates. It was interesting seeing the next size of kit up from Blue Bee and to try and spot beer twitterers and bloggers (I didn't). If you want to know how to brew beer by the way, this barely factual post here tells you everything the author knew about brewing beer. That's as much as I'm willing to promise.
The evening was also an opportunity to sample some other excellent ales and formed one of the highlights of a week of rather good beer. The Magic Rock Chipotle Punchline, a mightily maverick but hugely satisfying chocolate chilli porter, had just enough bite (a difficult balance to measure) and just the right amount of bitterness to work. It was also a beer that probably worked best in its Keykeg guise, given its powerful blend of flavors. Either way it was very good.
The other notables this week were found in just two venues. DAda, as I alluded previously, had Red Willow Heartless chocolate porter featuring 85% cacoa single origin Colombian chocolate. Again, the trick here was to expertly blend the bitterness of the chocolate, the hops and the sweetness afforded by the malt, to make something palatable and eminently suppable. Heartless was just that. It was not, a Wednesday night beer. It was a beer for a long Saturday. We had a couple of pints to show willing though....
The final duo came from Shakespeares Ale and Cider House. There was a North Riding Galaxy single hop in the cellar, and I bloody love galaxy as a hop so it was nailed on that I'd have that - it was exactly what I hoped for, lovely citrus bitterness but none of the dryness that single hop beers sometimes allow to creep in with more astringent hops. This was accompanied by pints of the Hopcraft "The Beast" IPA at 6.5% and £3.30 a pint. There were plenty of hops to get your taste-buds round but it wasn't a 6.5% drink, and there were no unpleasant lingering aftertastes or other untidiness to distract you from enjoying it. As I did. Thrice.
Its often said that older and more experienced people know best. As the bairns at Tapped Brew Co roll out their 100th brew, Hopcraft are already a go-to brewery for me, and Magic Rock and Red Willow are renowned established brewers. With quality like that to aspire to, the prospects for newer breweries, and those supping their beers, look mighty fine. May things only improve!
Cheers
Wee Beefy
am not suggesting that the Tapped Brew Co is about 1900 years behind the rest of us, am just trying not to use the word century or hundred in this post about their...ninety ninth plus one brew. I can see this will be a fruitless exercise however....
Anyway, on Tuesday the Tapped Brew Co had an event on at the Sheffield Tap where you could see the whole brewing process from start to finish in one night, and taste some of their hundredth brew. It was called 100 Cent, and used centennial hops. Do you see what they did?
Admittedly the merit in being twice as good as 50 Cent is difficult to measure but if we get over it not being called Centenary, we can appreciate the beer for its ingredients. I am led to believe it was Mojo with the change being to make it with 100% centennial hops.... but I wasn't paying attention. What am I, your information monkey?! Ge darda yere....! No, really, I sort of think it was Mojo rebadged. It was a very tasty brew whichever way you looked at it. Especially since I love centennial hops - Mallinsons single hopped centennial was my beer of the 2012 Sheffield beer festival, so I was instantly sold on the tastes we had.
Having been delayed by hospital responsibilities I was quite late arriving so we only wandered into see who and what was there at the end, and to soak up the wonderful smells that brewing creates. It was interesting seeing the next size of kit up from Blue Bee and to try and spot beer twitterers and bloggers (I didn't). If you want to know how to brew beer by the way, this barely factual post here tells you everything the author knew about brewing beer. That's as much as I'm willing to promise.
The evening was also an opportunity to sample some other excellent ales and formed one of the highlights of a week of rather good beer. The Magic Rock Chipotle Punchline, a mightily maverick but hugely satisfying chocolate chilli porter, had just enough bite (a difficult balance to measure) and just the right amount of bitterness to work. It was also a beer that probably worked best in its Keykeg guise, given its powerful blend of flavors. Either way it was very good.
The other notables this week were found in just two venues. DAda, as I alluded previously, had Red Willow Heartless chocolate porter featuring 85% cacoa single origin Colombian chocolate. Again, the trick here was to expertly blend the bitterness of the chocolate, the hops and the sweetness afforded by the malt, to make something palatable and eminently suppable. Heartless was just that. It was not, a Wednesday night beer. It was a beer for a long Saturday. We had a couple of pints to show willing though....
The final duo came from Shakespeares Ale and Cider House. There was a North Riding Galaxy single hop in the cellar, and I bloody love galaxy as a hop so it was nailed on that I'd have that - it was exactly what I hoped for, lovely citrus bitterness but none of the dryness that single hop beers sometimes allow to creep in with more astringent hops. This was accompanied by pints of the Hopcraft "The Beast" IPA at 6.5% and £3.30 a pint. There were plenty of hops to get your taste-buds round but it wasn't a 6.5% drink, and there were no unpleasant lingering aftertastes or other untidiness to distract you from enjoying it. As I did. Thrice.
Its often said that older and more experienced people know best. As the bairns at Tapped Brew Co roll out their 100th brew, Hopcraft are already a go-to brewery for me, and Magic Rock and Red Willow are renowned established brewers. With quality like that to aspire to, the prospects for newer breweries, and those supping their beers, look mighty fine. May things only improve!
Cheers
Wee Beefy
Sunday, 19 January 2014
Reasons to be cheerful
Evening
its been a fortnight of firsts and two weeks of reassuring regulars here at Beefotronic PLC. Having trekked through the East end to find new and untried boozers last weekend, in between times and thereafter I have been sticking to what I know. Below is a sample of some of the ales and pubs encountered in Sheffield lately, and news of a new brewery tap for you to try out.
Immediately after my Don walk I met Miss N in the Red Deer. It was entirely rammed, as it is on a Saturday night but we patiently acquired a seat and plenty of company, to sup pints of excellent Roosters Wild Mule. I haven't always got on with Roosters beers for one reason or another but this one really hit the spot.
Afterwards, and a couple of other times recently, we were in DAda. On every occasion it was on I sampled the excellent Burning Sky saison which was on at a price cheaper than the Bath and the Sheffield Tap. When that ran out I sought solace in redoubtable old stager Halcyon from Thornbridge. There's a Red Willow chocolate stout in the cellar but over the last week there has been nothing but Thornbridge cask wise, yet in a moment of recklessness I tried a pint of Kipling for the first time in ages. Having dismissed it as being past its best and no longer a decent beer I was pleasantly surprised to find it in good nick and I even admit to having had a few pints of it. Like I said to Jamie, you can't complain a beer is shit without trying it. Other quality ales sampled recently include the Schlenkerla Rauchbier at £4.00 a pint, which is possibly too heavy for a whole pint but an excellent finisher nonetheless.
The Rutland was my destination yesterday and I tried the Magic Rock Rapture on cask, and the 8 Ball and High Wire NZ on keykeg. Both are quality beers but I was annoyed with myself for not remembering that I didn't rate Magic 8 Ball on keg - with any luck it will resurface on cask one day...
Meanwhile Shakespeares continues to be good at being good. Recent treats have included the excellent Cross Bay Zenith, which is a really well balanced beer, and the cask De Ranke Pere Noel at a very reasonable price - £3.40 for a 7% beer. I also finally got to try (and enjoy) Potion Number 9 from Penzance brewing Co, beloved of Boak and Bailey, along with the excellent Tornado from the Little Ale Cart brewery, and the Geeves Imerial Stout at 8% - an excellent finisher. On my last visit on Friday, the Imperial brewery Burning Amber was a very palatable session beer, and the Great Heck Black Jesus specifically wasn't - yet was every bit as good as it was at the Sheffield beer festival.
The Sheffield Tap nearly provided the beer of 2014 with the impeccable Hardknott Vitese Noir, as covered in my last post and also recently sold a palatable Bristol Beer factory UPA, and a rather chewy Buxton Dark Knights. The Buxton was potentially too bitter for a stout but the UPA was very well balanced. Despite this am still not sure I "get" Bristol Beer factory's cask output.
An impromptu trip to the University Arms heralded a rather fine pint of Crouch Vale Anchor Street Porter at £3.00 a pint. It was notable that as well as the Acorn Old Moor Porter that had been on earlier that day, all the real ales were below £3.00 a pint. Definitely something to bear in mind if you are thinking of having some real ale in the area.
Finally, the new brewery tap I mentioned. In Rotherham, the Prince of Wales Feathers on Westgate has been bought (seemingly months ago - get me for being up with developments!) by Chantry brewery and reopened and renamed as the New York Tavern. Selling the full range of Chantry brewery beers the pub is, I read with horror. the last on Westgate - I know its a long time since I traveled to Rotherham but that's ridiculous! Here is a link to their website should you need details that I am short of having never visited - although, I may never venture in, based on them advertising "world bottle beers". I don't want to seem pedantic, but it should be "bottled"....
Either way this reopening is further great news in a town with, if we are to be brutally honest, little to offer the real ale drinker beyond the Bridge Inn and the Blue Coat. So, there you have it, choice and value for money and reasons for optimism. What more could you want from January?
Cheers!
Wee Beefy.
its been a fortnight of firsts and two weeks of reassuring regulars here at Beefotronic PLC. Having trekked through the East end to find new and untried boozers last weekend, in between times and thereafter I have been sticking to what I know. Below is a sample of some of the ales and pubs encountered in Sheffield lately, and news of a new brewery tap for you to try out.
Immediately after my Don walk I met Miss N in the Red Deer. It was entirely rammed, as it is on a Saturday night but we patiently acquired a seat and plenty of company, to sup pints of excellent Roosters Wild Mule. I haven't always got on with Roosters beers for one reason or another but this one really hit the spot.
Afterwards, and a couple of other times recently, we were in DAda. On every occasion it was on I sampled the excellent Burning Sky saison which was on at a price cheaper than the Bath and the Sheffield Tap. When that ran out I sought solace in redoubtable old stager Halcyon from Thornbridge. There's a Red Willow chocolate stout in the cellar but over the last week there has been nothing but Thornbridge cask wise, yet in a moment of recklessness I tried a pint of Kipling for the first time in ages. Having dismissed it as being past its best and no longer a decent beer I was pleasantly surprised to find it in good nick and I even admit to having had a few pints of it. Like I said to Jamie, you can't complain a beer is shit without trying it. Other quality ales sampled recently include the Schlenkerla Rauchbier at £4.00 a pint, which is possibly too heavy for a whole pint but an excellent finisher nonetheless.
The Rutland was my destination yesterday and I tried the Magic Rock Rapture on cask, and the 8 Ball and High Wire NZ on keykeg. Both are quality beers but I was annoyed with myself for not remembering that I didn't rate Magic 8 Ball on keg - with any luck it will resurface on cask one day...
Meanwhile Shakespeares continues to be good at being good. Recent treats have included the excellent Cross Bay Zenith, which is a really well balanced beer, and the cask De Ranke Pere Noel at a very reasonable price - £3.40 for a 7% beer. I also finally got to try (and enjoy) Potion Number 9 from Penzance brewing Co, beloved of Boak and Bailey, along with the excellent Tornado from the Little Ale Cart brewery, and the Geeves Imerial Stout at 8% - an excellent finisher. On my last visit on Friday, the Imperial brewery Burning Amber was a very palatable session beer, and the Great Heck Black Jesus specifically wasn't - yet was every bit as good as it was at the Sheffield beer festival.
The Sheffield Tap nearly provided the beer of 2014 with the impeccable Hardknott Vitese Noir, as covered in my last post and also recently sold a palatable Bristol Beer factory UPA, and a rather chewy Buxton Dark Knights. The Buxton was potentially too bitter for a stout but the UPA was very well balanced. Despite this am still not sure I "get" Bristol Beer factory's cask output.
An impromptu trip to the University Arms heralded a rather fine pint of Crouch Vale Anchor Street Porter at £3.00 a pint. It was notable that as well as the Acorn Old Moor Porter that had been on earlier that day, all the real ales were below £3.00 a pint. Definitely something to bear in mind if you are thinking of having some real ale in the area.
Finally, the new brewery tap I mentioned. In Rotherham, the Prince of Wales Feathers on Westgate has been bought (seemingly months ago - get me for being up with developments!) by Chantry brewery and reopened and renamed as the New York Tavern. Selling the full range of Chantry brewery beers the pub is, I read with horror. the last on Westgate - I know its a long time since I traveled to Rotherham but that's ridiculous! Here is a link to their website should you need details that I am short of having never visited - although, I may never venture in, based on them advertising "world bottle beers". I don't want to seem pedantic, but it should be "bottled"....
Either way this reopening is further great news in a town with, if we are to be brutally honest, little to offer the real ale drinker beyond the Bridge Inn and the Blue Coat. So, there you have it, choice and value for money and reasons for optimism. What more could you want from January?
Cheers!
Wee Beefy.
Monday, 9 December 2013
Drunken spells with a slight chance of twats later
Yo ho humbug!
yes kids its that time of year again. Twat O Clock! Fancy a pint in a normally decent pub now full of twats? You can! For every night between now and Christmas guarantees nailed on twattishness at every turn. Even quiet pubs have decked out the halls with twats of all shades of festive cheer! Vomit, urine, WKD....
OK, I admit, the above is a bit cynical really because having managed to attend three Christmas "do's" on two consecutive nights I can confirm that its still possible to have a decent night, at this time of year, even if few of the people you are sharing the occasion with are bothered about the fine drop. Thus .....
Friday I read with a heavy heart that our team Christmas do, which was otherwise admirable for featuring a scheduled five and a half hours of drinking prior to the meal, was to begin in Yates. Early considerations included - why would you drink in Yates whilst sober? In fact, why would you drink in Yates at all? Well, because not everyone is so mardy about ale as I am and some people for reasons that I can't fathom like to dance and drink coloured shit with spirits in. And it pains me to admit that I probably should get over it. I still think starting at Yates is like having a kebab and then going out however...
In the end I only wandered in as the group were leaving so alas cannot report on the ale situation. Meanwhile, over the road is Lloyds Number One. I know its a Wetherspoons type of thing but it does sell real ale and so I was straight on to a couple of pints of Bradfield Belgian Blue. A seasonal favourite of mine, which makes me think I may be going soft, it was probably £3.00 a pint or something (I wasn't researching, although I concede this is no worse than my usual level of reportage) and went down very well.
Up next was Revolution De Cuba, whose high prices seemed to have kept the place tolerably busy, and whose drinks list kept the cocktail guzzlers happy. Beer wise they had Anchor Steam Ale in bottles so it wasn't all that bad. From here I switched do's and headed to meet Miss N in All Bar One. Granted they had Doom Bar on but I went for the Meantime Pilsner at £4.30 or similar instead. It had more hops in....
Members of Miss N's entourage wandered off to the Bessemer across the road, and against our better judgement we followed suit. Alas we missed the Moonshine but I had a half of Directors out of curiosity and Miss N a half of Hobgoblin from the remaining three beers. I'm not going to pretend its my kind of place but it sold real ale and people seemed to be happy. Not that I advocate such things, but if being happy is what they like then I suppose that's fine....
Off to DAda next, albeit having shaken off the do, and it was solid. I mean, I know the building is, but in a bar queuing sense. Here was my first wall of customers of the festive season. Luckily a pint of Thornbridge Christmas ale on Cask for Miss N and a pint of Chiron for me were purchased, and we found a space to have a chat before heading off once more in true Xmas do style.
The Three Tuns once again had some good Raw beers on and the lovely Dave behind the bar. Young Patrick was also in attendance and we stopped in there for a couple of pints of the Raw porter, which I think was Anubis but am unsure. It was bloody nice whatever it was. We ended the night at Shakespeares where we both had pints of late hopped Steel City All Hallowes which had hops in it and everything, and was also quite nice. And I definitely didn't fall asleep...
The next night we started at a rammed Sheffield Tap and were spoilt for choice. Pints in here were Hardknott Katalyst, a lower gravity extra hoppy pale, Buxton Rednik Stout (many) and the excellent Magic Rock Dark Arts (at least two). Understandably, despite queues in the heaving bar, I was reluctant to leave this beer utopia behind.
Yet we did as we headed for the Dove and Rainbow to see a friend's band play. The range is always a little underwhelming here but does usually feature at least one local beer with hops in it - so I had a few pints of the Abbeydale Absolution in the three hours we were there. Not a regular haunt as I have noted before but I actually had to admit that it was far and away the least intolerable pub in terms of sheer overcrowding that I experienced over the two nights.
Our final stop was DAda once again where I laughed at signs on the walls and tables on the left stating "reserved from 19.00" for an area comprising six empty tables and with four people sat at one table. Mind you, it was nearly midnight. Here I had two pints from the promising new Burning Sky brewery based in the south. Aurora was an intensely bitter pale ale and probably only let down by the dryness of the bittering hops, whilst Plateau was also a beer, which I drank about 01.20. That serves as my excuse for having no memories more specific than "I liked it".
All of the above suggests that once you have attuned yourself to the sheer volume of punters and the real possibility but not guarantee of extreme twattishness, it is possible to have a pretty decent night out at Christmas. And in Sheffield at least, you can expect to find some decent real ales in the majority of the venues you visit.
Cheers!
Wee Beefy.
yes kids its that time of year again. Twat O Clock! Fancy a pint in a normally decent pub now full of twats? You can! For every night between now and Christmas guarantees nailed on twattishness at every turn. Even quiet pubs have decked out the halls with twats of all shades of festive cheer! Vomit, urine, WKD....
OK, I admit, the above is a bit cynical really because having managed to attend three Christmas "do's" on two consecutive nights I can confirm that its still possible to have a decent night, at this time of year, even if few of the people you are sharing the occasion with are bothered about the fine drop. Thus .....
Friday I read with a heavy heart that our team Christmas do, which was otherwise admirable for featuring a scheduled five and a half hours of drinking prior to the meal, was to begin in Yates. Early considerations included - why would you drink in Yates whilst sober? In fact, why would you drink in Yates at all? Well, because not everyone is so mardy about ale as I am and some people for reasons that I can't fathom like to dance and drink coloured shit with spirits in. And it pains me to admit that I probably should get over it. I still think starting at Yates is like having a kebab and then going out however...
In the end I only wandered in as the group were leaving so alas cannot report on the ale situation. Meanwhile, over the road is Lloyds Number One. I know its a Wetherspoons type of thing but it does sell real ale and so I was straight on to a couple of pints of Bradfield Belgian Blue. A seasonal favourite of mine, which makes me think I may be going soft, it was probably £3.00 a pint or something (I wasn't researching, although I concede this is no worse than my usual level of reportage) and went down very well.
Up next was Revolution De Cuba, whose high prices seemed to have kept the place tolerably busy, and whose drinks list kept the cocktail guzzlers happy. Beer wise they had Anchor Steam Ale in bottles so it wasn't all that bad. From here I switched do's and headed to meet Miss N in All Bar One. Granted they had Doom Bar on but I went for the Meantime Pilsner at £4.30 or similar instead. It had more hops in....
Members of Miss N's entourage wandered off to the Bessemer across the road, and against our better judgement we followed suit. Alas we missed the Moonshine but I had a half of Directors out of curiosity and Miss N a half of Hobgoblin from the remaining three beers. I'm not going to pretend its my kind of place but it sold real ale and people seemed to be happy. Not that I advocate such things, but if being happy is what they like then I suppose that's fine....
Off to DAda next, albeit having shaken off the do, and it was solid. I mean, I know the building is, but in a bar queuing sense. Here was my first wall of customers of the festive season. Luckily a pint of Thornbridge Christmas ale on Cask for Miss N and a pint of Chiron for me were purchased, and we found a space to have a chat before heading off once more in true Xmas do style.
The Three Tuns once again had some good Raw beers on and the lovely Dave behind the bar. Young Patrick was also in attendance and we stopped in there for a couple of pints of the Raw porter, which I think was Anubis but am unsure. It was bloody nice whatever it was. We ended the night at Shakespeares where we both had pints of late hopped Steel City All Hallowes which had hops in it and everything, and was also quite nice. And I definitely didn't fall asleep...
The next night we started at a rammed Sheffield Tap and were spoilt for choice. Pints in here were Hardknott Katalyst, a lower gravity extra hoppy pale, Buxton Rednik Stout (many) and the excellent Magic Rock Dark Arts (at least two). Understandably, despite queues in the heaving bar, I was reluctant to leave this beer utopia behind.
Yet we did as we headed for the Dove and Rainbow to see a friend's band play. The range is always a little underwhelming here but does usually feature at least one local beer with hops in it - so I had a few pints of the Abbeydale Absolution in the three hours we were there. Not a regular haunt as I have noted before but I actually had to admit that it was far and away the least intolerable pub in terms of sheer overcrowding that I experienced over the two nights.
Our final stop was DAda once again where I laughed at signs on the walls and tables on the left stating "reserved from 19.00" for an area comprising six empty tables and with four people sat at one table. Mind you, it was nearly midnight. Here I had two pints from the promising new Burning Sky brewery based in the south. Aurora was an intensely bitter pale ale and probably only let down by the dryness of the bittering hops, whilst Plateau was also a beer, which I drank about 01.20. That serves as my excuse for having no memories more specific than "I liked it".
All of the above suggests that once you have attuned yourself to the sheer volume of punters and the real possibility but not guarantee of extreme twattishness, it is possible to have a pretty decent night out at Christmas. And in Sheffield at least, you can expect to find some decent real ales in the majority of the venues you visit.
Cheers!
Wee Beefy.
Sunday, 1 December 2013
Bars and kegs and coffee - for beer lovers.
Good afternoon,
as well as having a thoroughly enjoyable night out at Shakespeares, whom you may have noticed me refer to previously, this week I have also gone off the rails and recklessly ended up in places where I don't normally get to. Including, shock horror, two bars with NO REAL ALES...! Despite that I have survived virtually unscathed and am here to tell you the details.
Friday I met Miss N along with Rach and Ade in the Dove and Rainbow. There was some decent music playing and I didn't look too out of place despite having come from work via the hospital, but I wasn't encouraged to find ale drinkers Rach and Ade on Guinness - "the beer's a bit crap now that stout's gone off so we are on emergency beer" they explained. Looking down the bar there were the usual suspects from national and local breweries (Trooper and Hobgoblin) so in the end I plumped for Blue Bee Nectar Pale. It was £3.00 a pint and looked fab but tasted a little, um...burnt? Still, it was drinkable enough and it was nice catching up with the R and A.
Saturday saw us in Sellers Wheel. Initially I thought they'd gone mad and put a beer on handpump but it was just the angle of the sign on one of the cakes - had I been able to see better am sure that the confectionery's identity may have made it obvious there wasn't a beer on of that name...
As it was we had excellent coffee (as was the idea) along with Lemington (Lemonton?) Squares which are rich coconut covered slabs of delicious cake that are enjoyably filling. Feeling a bit sugar laden after, we had halves of Hop Studio Pilsner and Thornbridge Versa to cleanse the palate. The Pilsner does just that but the Versa was perhaps the better of the two, being both refreshing and strongly flavoured. There is also a decent range of bottled beers from quality breweries to choose from.
Heading back into town we popped in a new venue - or a newly renamed one. The Jaipur Arms is the bar at the Best Western Hotel between Arundel Gate and High Street. Proclaiming food and Thornbridge beer it seemed like a great idea, with four beers listed on the board. Alas, this is a rather optimistic listing since there are only two keg fonts - and no hand pumps. Granted the Tsara was nice, and the decor OK for a hotel bar, but I think they've missed a trick in not having any of the real stuff on. Although, I hadn't heard anywhere that they had taken over what I imagine was the existing hotel bar so maybe its a bit too low key to risk a live product.
From here I took Miss N to the Church House. When it first opened there were 5 or 6 handpumps and they admirably strove to always have a dark beer on from the Caledonian range. Now goodness knows how many managers down the line, there are 4 handpumps, and there were three beers to choose from - Deuchars, Caledonian XPA and Autumn Red. The Red was pleasant enough but it was such a long wait at the bar that the seasons may have changed during it.
One member of staff suddenly appeared to assist the two who were rushed off their feet serving a customer next to me with the longest and most complex order ever and a large number of people at the other end of the bar - but he just went to the first person he saw in the larger group, except that group had formed after I'd got there. The two staff there at the beginning them both went to attend to the same group at the opposite end of the bar before both remembering at the same time that I was there for a drink. I know its Saturday night but ten minutes is a long time to wait for two halves.
Meanwhile, the decor remains the same and there was a mixed clientele savouring the food aromas and relaxing in comfy seats. I can't see that anything has changed in a way that will attract more customers or that has improved the experience of the customer in terms of service or choice, so I expect the pub to struggle on with no-one knowing where it is. In their favour (from my point of view) there appears to always be a seasonal beer on so maybe one of Caley's excellent stouts will make an appearance soon. However, a year and one day after it reopened its still a place to nurse a half in and remains traceable on the internet mainly via some blokes beer blog, as opposed to their FB page or fairly out of date barbook page....
Our final stop of the night was in a strangely quiet DAda, where all four of the handpumps were dispensing some of Thornbridge's poorer cask offerings - Kipling, Marples and Wild Swan. Luckily the excellent Saint Petersburg was flying the flag for the good old days. I had a half of that and Miss N a half of the excellent Chiron, before she moved onto a pint and I a half and a half of Halcyon. To be fair, one reliably excellent feature of the Thornbridge portfolio is Halcyon - and it was damned excellent as always.
DAda my be a regular haunt of mine but its slowly metamorphosing from its original incarnation two years ago into a reliable source of excellent Keykeg and bottled beers, and when Daddy T allows, a decent guest cask ale or two. Plus there is the promise of Gluhkriek for Winter. And, whilst not a beer related bonus, it does have a rather fabulous big red leather sofa to snuggle up on and listen to some music. Simple pleasures but ones that help to make it worth going back.
Cheers!
Wee Beefy.
as well as having a thoroughly enjoyable night out at Shakespeares, whom you may have noticed me refer to previously, this week I have also gone off the rails and recklessly ended up in places where I don't normally get to. Including, shock horror, two bars with NO REAL ALES...! Despite that I have survived virtually unscathed and am here to tell you the details.
Friday I met Miss N along with Rach and Ade in the Dove and Rainbow. There was some decent music playing and I didn't look too out of place despite having come from work via the hospital, but I wasn't encouraged to find ale drinkers Rach and Ade on Guinness - "the beer's a bit crap now that stout's gone off so we are on emergency beer" they explained. Looking down the bar there were the usual suspects from national and local breweries (Trooper and Hobgoblin) so in the end I plumped for Blue Bee Nectar Pale. It was £3.00 a pint and looked fab but tasted a little, um...burnt? Still, it was drinkable enough and it was nice catching up with the R and A.
Saturday saw us in Sellers Wheel. Initially I thought they'd gone mad and put a beer on handpump but it was just the angle of the sign on one of the cakes - had I been able to see better am sure that the confectionery's identity may have made it obvious there wasn't a beer on of that name...
As it was we had excellent coffee (as was the idea) along with Lemington (Lemonton?) Squares which are rich coconut covered slabs of delicious cake that are enjoyably filling. Feeling a bit sugar laden after, we had halves of Hop Studio Pilsner and Thornbridge Versa to cleanse the palate. The Pilsner does just that but the Versa was perhaps the better of the two, being both refreshing and strongly flavoured. There is also a decent range of bottled beers from quality breweries to choose from.
Heading back into town we popped in a new venue - or a newly renamed one. The Jaipur Arms is the bar at the Best Western Hotel between Arundel Gate and High Street. Proclaiming food and Thornbridge beer it seemed like a great idea, with four beers listed on the board. Alas, this is a rather optimistic listing since there are only two keg fonts - and no hand pumps. Granted the Tsara was nice, and the decor OK for a hotel bar, but I think they've missed a trick in not having any of the real stuff on. Although, I hadn't heard anywhere that they had taken over what I imagine was the existing hotel bar so maybe its a bit too low key to risk a live product.
From here I took Miss N to the Church House. When it first opened there were 5 or 6 handpumps and they admirably strove to always have a dark beer on from the Caledonian range. Now goodness knows how many managers down the line, there are 4 handpumps, and there were three beers to choose from - Deuchars, Caledonian XPA and Autumn Red. The Red was pleasant enough but it was such a long wait at the bar that the seasons may have changed during it.
One member of staff suddenly appeared to assist the two who were rushed off their feet serving a customer next to me with the longest and most complex order ever and a large number of people at the other end of the bar - but he just went to the first person he saw in the larger group, except that group had formed after I'd got there. The two staff there at the beginning them both went to attend to the same group at the opposite end of the bar before both remembering at the same time that I was there for a drink. I know its Saturday night but ten minutes is a long time to wait for two halves.
Meanwhile, the decor remains the same and there was a mixed clientele savouring the food aromas and relaxing in comfy seats. I can't see that anything has changed in a way that will attract more customers or that has improved the experience of the customer in terms of service or choice, so I expect the pub to struggle on with no-one knowing where it is. In their favour (from my point of view) there appears to always be a seasonal beer on so maybe one of Caley's excellent stouts will make an appearance soon. However, a year and one day after it reopened its still a place to nurse a half in and remains traceable on the internet mainly via some blokes beer blog, as opposed to their FB page or fairly out of date barbook page....
Our final stop of the night was in a strangely quiet DAda, where all four of the handpumps were dispensing some of Thornbridge's poorer cask offerings - Kipling, Marples and Wild Swan. Luckily the excellent Saint Petersburg was flying the flag for the good old days. I had a half of that and Miss N a half of the excellent Chiron, before she moved onto a pint and I a half and a half of Halcyon. To be fair, one reliably excellent feature of the Thornbridge portfolio is Halcyon - and it was damned excellent as always.
DAda my be a regular haunt of mine but its slowly metamorphosing from its original incarnation two years ago into a reliable source of excellent Keykeg and bottled beers, and when Daddy T allows, a decent guest cask ale or two. Plus there is the promise of Gluhkriek for Winter. And, whilst not a beer related bonus, it does have a rather fabulous big red leather sofa to snuggle up on and listen to some music. Simple pleasures but ones that help to make it worth going back.
Cheers!
Wee Beefy.
Monday, 18 November 2013
Older boys
Oh aye,
we can all fanny about cavorting with the new starlets on the Sheffield beer scene and sampling the output of camelopardelic jesters with donkey themed beers, but yer know, that's not a long term plan. Sometimes you gotta go with what yer know. Luckily what yer know is often what yer like in Sheffield. Wherein another 40th and a few nights socialising near work have seen me enjoy a celebratory roll call of established Sheffield beer stalwarts.
First up is ickle babbeh DAda. Soon about to or having just had its second birthday, the oddly themed ale destination continues to be a favourite of mine with a winning combo of great beers and likeable staff. Relishing the prospect of a DJ (he spins rekkids, for our younger readers...) on Saturday we set about drinking quite a bit of good quality ale, including Red Willow. We started on the impeccable Smokeless smoked porter on cask, before moving onto the rather stronger Soulless black IPA on Keykeg. Further rounds included bottles of Hardknott Infra Red and some of their Azimuth on Keg before we finished on Halcyon. Plenty of thoroughly excellent beer to be had as there is so often.
Next up is another slightly longer established haunt - but not by much. It's Shakespeares, who are barely two and a half years old. Last week I "had" to attend several amber conferences with persons from work, and it seemed daft not to nip into the nearby award winner. First up on Tuesday was my friend Mr Marsh. He and I used to "work" at the exams board and much japery was had - for reasons of libel, I can't really name the individuals who made our tenure there so amusing but Frenjamine John, Mrs Christine and Terry outer-organs were villains and pantomime fools in equal measure.
Pints of Arbor Tasmanian Devil IPA were my companion until Miss N joined us and I moved on to the Mallinsons Citra - also tasted was a rather excellent pint of Ascot Anastasia stout, although the Arbor probably shaded it . We also bought a bottle of Nogne Global Pale at about £4.00 - not their strongest beer but at least almost sensibly priced for a bottle in a pub.
Wednesday saw me catch up with Christingpher where I moved onto pints of the excellent hoppy Mallinsons Kahatu. Myself and Miss N also partook of a bottle of the Emmelise espresso stout and a half or two of the Arbor Down Deeperest, now on at £5.00 a pint and still tasting rather fab even though its been " a while" since it was tapped.
Finally, Thursday saw Miss H accompany me for the first time in a year or so and it was Mallinsons all the way again, along with some Arbor when Miss N joined me after an epic shift at Chez gulag. All in all a great line up of beers from the venerable bard and a great venue to boot.
Friday saw me in town at the Rutland Arms, which is now nearly 4 and 5th years old, for some much needed food and some rather less important real ale. Miss N was steadfastly on the Gorlovka where as I was taking it a little easier on a beer which hasn't been named yet - we both finished on halves of excellent Magic Rock High Wire after I had a fantastic chorizo burger. We were also there on Saturday the week before last. Heading to meet Miss N at the Tap I found myself early in town and had to use up the time afforded to retrieve my scarf from the Rutland where I had drunkenly left it the night before. Such was the exhausting magnitude of this event I had to stop for a pint of Hop Studio XS and a half of the Acorn Bishops IPA.
A swift detour to see Matt and Miss N in the Tap heralded a taste of Tiny Rebel Fubar and a pint of the excellent Ilkley Black before we returned to the Rutland to be a little reckless. Despite the seemingly laudable undertaking of a steak and ale pie and chips (which was fantastic) this sensible layer of protection against crapulence was undermined in no uncertain terms by Magic Rock Human Cannonball. At 9.2%, even 4 halves of this beer, I can confirm, makes one a trifle drunk. And so it was to be. But it was damned good fun doing it.
The final stager is Abdeydale brewery. Now officially very old, I was visiting there the other day to catch up with Dan and was given a tour of the brewery, now about 5 times larger than when I first visited in the late nineties. Most of the rooms contained equipment, merchandising and casks apart from one which was surprising. Faced with a range of large stainless steel vessels spanning its length, Dan told me this was "where the magic happens". No wonder he doesn't do much brewing these days - quite how he has time to fanny around performing card tricks and rabbit out the hat deceits when he should be mashing is beyond me...
A quick trip to the breweries only pub, The Rising Sun at Nether Green followed. For reasons of journalistic independence I went for a non Abbeydale beer - Magic Rock Clown Juice, which was rather ace. Cadence forbids me from reporting what young Daniel had to drink however....
A good catch up followed along with a taster of the Four Yorkshiremen of the Apocalypse which I understand was inspired by Ali Capper the well known British hop campaigner and grower, and which is a brew featuring exclusively British hops. Slightly tamer in taste than I expected it did however have a lovely aroma which I recognised straight away.
Abbeydale are a great example of an expanding and diversifying Sheffield beer success story - and they don't look out of place with quality like the Rutland, Shakespeares and DAda one bit. A resounding indictment of the quality of real ale in Sheffield.
Cheers
Wee Beefy
we can all fanny about cavorting with the new starlets on the Sheffield beer scene and sampling the output of camelopardelic jesters with donkey themed beers, but yer know, that's not a long term plan. Sometimes you gotta go with what yer know. Luckily what yer know is often what yer like in Sheffield. Wherein another 40th and a few nights socialising near work have seen me enjoy a celebratory roll call of established Sheffield beer stalwarts.
First up is ickle babbeh DAda. Soon about to or having just had its second birthday, the oddly themed ale destination continues to be a favourite of mine with a winning combo of great beers and likeable staff. Relishing the prospect of a DJ (he spins rekkids, for our younger readers...) on Saturday we set about drinking quite a bit of good quality ale, including Red Willow. We started on the impeccable Smokeless smoked porter on cask, before moving onto the rather stronger Soulless black IPA on Keykeg. Further rounds included bottles of Hardknott Infra Red and some of their Azimuth on Keg before we finished on Halcyon. Plenty of thoroughly excellent beer to be had as there is so often.
Next up is another slightly longer established haunt - but not by much. It's Shakespeares, who are barely two and a half years old. Last week I "had" to attend several amber conferences with persons from work, and it seemed daft not to nip into the nearby award winner. First up on Tuesday was my friend Mr Marsh. He and I used to "work" at the exams board and much japery was had - for reasons of libel, I can't really name the individuals who made our tenure there so amusing but Frenjamine John, Mrs Christine and Terry outer-organs were villains and pantomime fools in equal measure.
Pints of Arbor Tasmanian Devil IPA were my companion until Miss N joined us and I moved on to the Mallinsons Citra - also tasted was a rather excellent pint of Ascot Anastasia stout, although the Arbor probably shaded it . We also bought a bottle of Nogne Global Pale at about £4.00 - not their strongest beer but at least almost sensibly priced for a bottle in a pub.
Wednesday saw me catch up with Christingpher where I moved onto pints of the excellent hoppy Mallinsons Kahatu. Myself and Miss N also partook of a bottle of the Emmelise espresso stout and a half or two of the Arbor Down Deeperest, now on at £5.00 a pint and still tasting rather fab even though its been " a while" since it was tapped.
Finally, Thursday saw Miss H accompany me for the first time in a year or so and it was Mallinsons all the way again, along with some Arbor when Miss N joined me after an epic shift at Chez gulag. All in all a great line up of beers from the venerable bard and a great venue to boot.
Friday saw me in town at the Rutland Arms, which is now nearly 4 and 5th years old, for some much needed food and some rather less important real ale. Miss N was steadfastly on the Gorlovka where as I was taking it a little easier on a beer which hasn't been named yet - we both finished on halves of excellent Magic Rock High Wire after I had a fantastic chorizo burger. We were also there on Saturday the week before last. Heading to meet Miss N at the Tap I found myself early in town and had to use up the time afforded to retrieve my scarf from the Rutland where I had drunkenly left it the night before. Such was the exhausting magnitude of this event I had to stop for a pint of Hop Studio XS and a half of the Acorn Bishops IPA.
A swift detour to see Matt and Miss N in the Tap heralded a taste of Tiny Rebel Fubar and a pint of the excellent Ilkley Black before we returned to the Rutland to be a little reckless. Despite the seemingly laudable undertaking of a steak and ale pie and chips (which was fantastic) this sensible layer of protection against crapulence was undermined in no uncertain terms by Magic Rock Human Cannonball. At 9.2%, even 4 halves of this beer, I can confirm, makes one a trifle drunk. And so it was to be. But it was damned good fun doing it.
The final stager is Abdeydale brewery. Now officially very old, I was visiting there the other day to catch up with Dan and was given a tour of the brewery, now about 5 times larger than when I first visited in the late nineties. Most of the rooms contained equipment, merchandising and casks apart from one which was surprising. Faced with a range of large stainless steel vessels spanning its length, Dan told me this was "where the magic happens". No wonder he doesn't do much brewing these days - quite how he has time to fanny around performing card tricks and rabbit out the hat deceits when he should be mashing is beyond me...
A quick trip to the breweries only pub, The Rising Sun at Nether Green followed. For reasons of journalistic independence I went for a non Abbeydale beer - Magic Rock Clown Juice, which was rather ace. Cadence forbids me from reporting what young Daniel had to drink however....
A good catch up followed along with a taster of the Four Yorkshiremen of the Apocalypse which I understand was inspired by Ali Capper the well known British hop campaigner and grower, and which is a brew featuring exclusively British hops. Slightly tamer in taste than I expected it did however have a lovely aroma which I recognised straight away.
Abbeydale are a great example of an expanding and diversifying Sheffield beer success story - and they don't look out of place with quality like the Rutland, Shakespeares and DAda one bit. A resounding indictment of the quality of real ale in Sheffield.
Cheers
Wee Beefy
Saturday, 9 November 2013
Beer - perfect for "when I jetmjnh aidus. (Hijjs)"
Beer text.
A message that makes perfect sense to the sender, despite a distinct lack of co-ordination between their brain, fingers and eyesight. The kind of message which is always of the utmost importance, delivered with the highest expediency, and which will always read back just fine the next day.
But, I hear you ask, what sequence of events might make one clamber aboard the magic beer typewriter? What manner of tavern haunting and amber research could warrant such an action? Here's a few details of my thirst for knowledge over the last few days to put you in the picture....
Wednesday was Wanderians day so we headed up into town with the intention of having a change - and visiting the Sportsman on Cambridge Street. On entering there were two handpumps turned round. Journalistic rigor meant I had to ask if the beer was on, even though it clearly wasn't - and the nice man informed me that Trooper and another real ale would be on tomorrow. Still, that represents a hundred percent increase in the number of real ales in the Sportsman, should it happen.
Mr P was unswayed by the suggestion of Henrys and reluctant to trek to the Bath so we adjournment to DAda. DAda have recently introduced a new concept - comfortable seating. Which means that no matter how hip, pretentious or genuine you are, you needn't sup your ale sat on a fold-able metal chair. Which is nice. To celebrate, we had pints of the rather excellent Thornbridge Otters Tears, brewed for the Indy Man beer conference that everyone but me went to. A perfect hoppy citrus bite and a very drinkable body made for an excellent drink. Mr P moved down a percentage to sup a pint of the Red Willow Headless, whilst I stuck with the tears. I finished on two halves - one of Hardknott Azimuth, which was fantastic, and one of the ever excellent Thornbridge Halcyon.
I say "finished" but in reality Mr P was sensible enough to go home whilst I, labouring under the self delusion of needing to "go sopping" headed to West Street where I accidentally went to the Bath Hotel. Here I had an excellent pint of Pictish Chinook, which was on good form, if steep at £3.40 a go.
Last night as an end of week reward for our having had housemaids knee for 5 days we were supposed to be going to the Tap. Arriving we noticed a party of students carrying massive models of buildings had made passage to the bar almost impossible and there was a bad smell and an even worse atmosphere. So we decamped to the Rutland Arms. We had pints of the excellent Brew Company Oat Stout and sat outside in the beer garden for a chat and some restorative fresh air.
Back inside we noted the Hopcraft New Dawn Fades we'd had our eye on had faded altogether so we had pints of Acorn Bishop IPA. Another Excellent single hop IPA (I imagine Bishop is a hop?) which didn't seem to last very long. So we had another pint, this time accompanied by a half of Magic Rock High Wire which was £2.16 a half on the Keykeg. This 5.5% beer was on top form and not served too cold, so didn't really last very long. So much so in fact that we had to order another half, along with some food - a plate of Italian cheese, meat, olives and bread which was much needed.
We had been sat upstairs but as the pub was less busy we headed down to commandeer the juke box and to buy several more pints of High Wire. For our final rounds, Miss N stayed on the High Wire and I moved onto Hop Studio XS which was also on fine form. It was nice to bump into the Sheffield Sound Collective (Pete, Dan, Mark, Daniel and Vinnie) and friends who were back from seeing seminal 90's band Cud. We hooked up with them for the last hour before having a final round of drinks and getting a rather inexpensive taxi home.
And yes, as you may have guessed, somebody did make the mistake of trying to send a text. As you do when you've had about 7 pints. And it was every bit as nonsensical as the words in the post title. In fact, it virtually was the post title....
Cheers!
Wee Beefy
Note - if you can suggest 3 English words that I might have been attempting to text then you, and indeed I, could win the prize of knowledge......
A message that makes perfect sense to the sender, despite a distinct lack of co-ordination between their brain, fingers and eyesight. The kind of message which is always of the utmost importance, delivered with the highest expediency, and which will always read back just fine the next day.
But, I hear you ask, what sequence of events might make one clamber aboard the magic beer typewriter? What manner of tavern haunting and amber research could warrant such an action? Here's a few details of my thirst for knowledge over the last few days to put you in the picture....
Wednesday was Wanderians day so we headed up into town with the intention of having a change - and visiting the Sportsman on Cambridge Street. On entering there were two handpumps turned round. Journalistic rigor meant I had to ask if the beer was on, even though it clearly wasn't - and the nice man informed me that Trooper and another real ale would be on tomorrow. Still, that represents a hundred percent increase in the number of real ales in the Sportsman, should it happen.
Mr P was unswayed by the suggestion of Henrys and reluctant to trek to the Bath so we adjournment to DAda. DAda have recently introduced a new concept - comfortable seating. Which means that no matter how hip, pretentious or genuine you are, you needn't sup your ale sat on a fold-able metal chair. Which is nice. To celebrate, we had pints of the rather excellent Thornbridge Otters Tears, brewed for the Indy Man beer conference that everyone but me went to. A perfect hoppy citrus bite and a very drinkable body made for an excellent drink. Mr P moved down a percentage to sup a pint of the Red Willow Headless, whilst I stuck with the tears. I finished on two halves - one of Hardknott Azimuth, which was fantastic, and one of the ever excellent Thornbridge Halcyon.
I say "finished" but in reality Mr P was sensible enough to go home whilst I, labouring under the self delusion of needing to "go sopping" headed to West Street where I accidentally went to the Bath Hotel. Here I had an excellent pint of Pictish Chinook, which was on good form, if steep at £3.40 a go.
Last night as an end of week reward for our having had housemaids knee for 5 days we were supposed to be going to the Tap. Arriving we noticed a party of students carrying massive models of buildings had made passage to the bar almost impossible and there was a bad smell and an even worse atmosphere. So we decamped to the Rutland Arms. We had pints of the excellent Brew Company Oat Stout and sat outside in the beer garden for a chat and some restorative fresh air.
Back inside we noted the Hopcraft New Dawn Fades we'd had our eye on had faded altogether so we had pints of Acorn Bishop IPA. Another Excellent single hop IPA (I imagine Bishop is a hop?) which didn't seem to last very long. So we had another pint, this time accompanied by a half of Magic Rock High Wire which was £2.16 a half on the Keykeg. This 5.5% beer was on top form and not served too cold, so didn't really last very long. So much so in fact that we had to order another half, along with some food - a plate of Italian cheese, meat, olives and bread which was much needed.
We had been sat upstairs but as the pub was less busy we headed down to commandeer the juke box and to buy several more pints of High Wire. For our final rounds, Miss N stayed on the High Wire and I moved onto Hop Studio XS which was also on fine form. It was nice to bump into the Sheffield Sound Collective (Pete, Dan, Mark, Daniel and Vinnie) and friends who were back from seeing seminal 90's band Cud. We hooked up with them for the last hour before having a final round of drinks and getting a rather inexpensive taxi home.
And yes, as you may have guessed, somebody did make the mistake of trying to send a text. As you do when you've had about 7 pints. And it was every bit as nonsensical as the words in the post title. In fact, it virtually was the post title....
Cheers!
Wee Beefy
Note - if you can suggest 3 English words that I might have been attempting to text then you, and indeed I, could win the prize of knowledge......
Wednesday, 6 November 2013
An ale amble from Commonside to town and some pubs inbetween.
Ay up
it's not all festivals and epic county wide beer crawls here in the Beefosphere. Oh no. There's also, um, returning to beer festivals. And meeting folks from the far North. Near Barnsley.
The AA was in Sheffield on Saturday to come and try some ales at Shakespeares beer festival, which you may recall my mentioning previously. Like any sensible chap he intended getting food before imbibing too much and had come to know the nosh at the Closed Shop, where I met up with him. A fine range of ales was on offer from which I chose the Otley - I think it was their wheat beer (Dave? Any idea?!) ad I ordered my first shaky pint of the day to accompany my meal.
As befits his want the AA was studiously on halves - in this case of the same. So both of us failed to record the beer's name. How errant we bloggers can be...
A fantastic steak and ale pie and chips wit roasted veg was my choice (£6.95) and the AA was on an impressively large burger and chips. This was a very tasty meal which lined my stomach nicely for my festival reprise. It also helped me sup a half of the Ilkley Mary Jane IPA, far stronger than ordinary Mary Jane at 6.0%. Slightly heavy it packed a punch in terms of flavours and wasn't swamped by bitterness, although there was plenty there - a more traditional but no less enjoyable IPA.
From here we walked down to Shakespeares in a siling swirling downpour before settling down for a few beers. This time I was trying some new breweries. At least, after I had tried the Five Towns again. Now on hand pump it seemed a little drier and less enjoyable which was a shame. Meanwhile the AA was on a half of Cornish Crown 1 Hop 11 Grains. At least, that's what my beer list says, but my memory claims it was from Coastal. Either way it was very nice.
We were going to try the Geeves HIPA but it had run out since our arrival so I had a half of the Wild Boar Mad Pig, a very weak and not particularly accomplished beer, whilst the AA tried a half of the Pumpkin porter - which he liked but was adamant he wouldn't want a lot of. Ironic considering our finisher....
Our penultimate round saw me on Mithril Clocks Back and the AA a half of the Arbor Single Hop which he liked, before we both had a half of the Arbor Down Deeperst Black Saison. Suffice to say we weren't having another after this and soon the AA was heading North whilst I wandered up to DAda. Its important to clarify that, in no way is my inability to recall what I had in there, related to Arbor. It is (probably) entirely the result of my only being in for a short period before I headed off to meet Miss N and Matt in the Tap.
En route to which I ventured in the Dog and Partridge for a swift half. I spotted the Cross Bay seasonal and went for that but it was a little tired. I mentioned it to one of the staff and he offered me a free replacement which was good customer service (I had more or less finished it) - except I had to head off! In fairness they offer a try before you buy policy as far as I know so I could have done that and despite this being a third tired or off beer I've had there in a year I think that whilst a bit more checking is required, their willingness to remedy such issues is a positive feature.
Finally I arrived at the Sheffield Tap, none the worse far having downed at ;least 2 thirds of my last Arbor half in Shakespeares. It seemed only sensible to have a pint and a ha;f of the Magic Rock Dark Arts on cask, which I did. It was on impeccable form as Magic Rock beers seem to have been of late. And it also provided both the perfect end to a Sheffield pub crawl and the necessary encouragement to head home to bed.
Cheers!
Wee Beefy
it's not all festivals and epic county wide beer crawls here in the Beefosphere. Oh no. There's also, um, returning to beer festivals. And meeting folks from the far North. Near Barnsley.
The AA was in Sheffield on Saturday to come and try some ales at Shakespeares beer festival, which you may recall my mentioning previously. Like any sensible chap he intended getting food before imbibing too much and had come to know the nosh at the Closed Shop, where I met up with him. A fine range of ales was on offer from which I chose the Otley - I think it was their wheat beer (Dave? Any idea?!) ad I ordered my first shaky pint of the day to accompany my meal.
As befits his want the AA was studiously on halves - in this case of the same. So both of us failed to record the beer's name. How errant we bloggers can be...
A fantastic steak and ale pie and chips wit roasted veg was my choice (£6.95) and the AA was on an impressively large burger and chips. This was a very tasty meal which lined my stomach nicely for my festival reprise. It also helped me sup a half of the Ilkley Mary Jane IPA, far stronger than ordinary Mary Jane at 6.0%. Slightly heavy it packed a punch in terms of flavours and wasn't swamped by bitterness, although there was plenty there - a more traditional but no less enjoyable IPA.
From here we walked down to Shakespeares in a siling swirling downpour before settling down for a few beers. This time I was trying some new breweries. At least, after I had tried the Five Towns again. Now on hand pump it seemed a little drier and less enjoyable which was a shame. Meanwhile the AA was on a half of Cornish Crown 1 Hop 11 Grains. At least, that's what my beer list says, but my memory claims it was from Coastal. Either way it was very nice.
We were going to try the Geeves HIPA but it had run out since our arrival so I had a half of the Wild Boar Mad Pig, a very weak and not particularly accomplished beer, whilst the AA tried a half of the Pumpkin porter - which he liked but was adamant he wouldn't want a lot of. Ironic considering our finisher....
Our penultimate round saw me on Mithril Clocks Back and the AA a half of the Arbor Single Hop which he liked, before we both had a half of the Arbor Down Deeperst Black Saison. Suffice to say we weren't having another after this and soon the AA was heading North whilst I wandered up to DAda. Its important to clarify that, in no way is my inability to recall what I had in there, related to Arbor. It is (probably) entirely the result of my only being in for a short period before I headed off to meet Miss N and Matt in the Tap.
En route to which I ventured in the Dog and Partridge for a swift half. I spotted the Cross Bay seasonal and went for that but it was a little tired. I mentioned it to one of the staff and he offered me a free replacement which was good customer service (I had more or less finished it) - except I had to head off! In fairness they offer a try before you buy policy as far as I know so I could have done that and despite this being a third tired or off beer I've had there in a year I think that whilst a bit more checking is required, their willingness to remedy such issues is a positive feature.
Finally I arrived at the Sheffield Tap, none the worse far having downed at ;least 2 thirds of my last Arbor half in Shakespeares. It seemed only sensible to have a pint and a ha;f of the Magic Rock Dark Arts on cask, which I did. It was on impeccable form as Magic Rock beers seem to have been of late. And it also provided both the perfect end to a Sheffield pub crawl and the necessary encouragement to head home to bed.
Cheers!
Wee Beefy
Friday, 4 October 2013
I really must try to go to Shakespeares more often....
Morning
before I get down to "valuable" details about beer and pubs, I must clarify that Miss N does not like Wham - the concept of doing so was merely introduced into my previous post as an example of a heinous crime. However, she does like Hobgoblin. That's a SCIENCE FACT. I don't want to alienate anyone, but as far as I can see, that simply serves to strengthen my point - liking Hobgoblin is tantamount to liking Wham. Hope all this helps.
Anyhoo, this week, I have been paid and accidentally went to Shakespeares a lot. In fact, I'm off there tonight for Chris and Tom (AKA Allan)'s flat warming party in absentia. Don't worry if you didn't get invited, the pub is still open as normal. It promises to be a great range of beers as well, including a certain porter from Blue Bee.....
Tuesday was a day of celebrations and so myself and Miss N repaired to Shakespeares after work. First up was a pint of Loch Ness Darkness, a sort of mildy thing. I had this at Star Fest in Huddersfield and loved it but it was a little sweet this time round. Luckily we bumped into Dave U who politely reminded us that other beers were available - as long as they were his. In respect of which "topical" Royal baby themed Black IPA Rankle Biter was on, so we had several pints of that whilst chatting to Jules from the world of journalism. Along with a North Riding punch the clock, and something very silly indeed from Revolutions which was 7.9%. Obviously it was that last half wot did us...
Wednesday I "had" to go back to Shakespeares to pay my bar tab. So it seemed rude not to invite Miss N along for a quick refresher. I had a pint of Pixie Spring/Hopcraft Darwin's Paradox and she the Abbeydale Honey beer that has a name. She switched onto the Hopcraft afterwards since the Abbeydale was a little over-sweet. We then decided to head to DAda for a change (ahem - my two most visited licensed premises in the last two years!) and had excellent pints of Pollards and a couple of bottles of Hardknott - the Infra Red, which somehow tasted better from a bottle than even the excellent cask version tried at the Broady, and Dark Energy, a deceptively smooth dark beer which wasn't quite what I expected but was really good nonetheless.
Last night saw myself and Middlemarch escaping from work at a frankly ridiculous time to have a frankly ridiculous amount of boo-har at...Shakespeares. For contrast.
The Hopcraft was my choice once more and trainee real ale lass Middlemarch went for a pint of Abbeydale Deception. Soon, however, news came about that the Pilcrow Porter - the people's porter, was available from the cellar. So we had a pint of that, and while insisting it wasn't bias, Middlemarch said she really liked it. I'm a sucker for compliments - I was chuffed to bits.
The rest of the evening (when it became evening that is) comprised more pints of Pilcrow (hopefully it will appear on the bar tonight) along with a a pint for me and a half for Middlemarch of the Raw/Trulla/Steel City/Shakespeares collaboration "4 Horsemen of the Hopocalypse" a gloriously bitter fruity IPA that probably needs a day or two to clear. It's also quite strong, possibly 6.9% (it aint on the board to check!) and in some way contributed to Middlemarch having a lemonade. In between which events, we had a fabulous curry from the West bar Tandoori over the road.
This is a service I haven't used more than once but am so glad I did - and it makes perfect sense for Shakespeares to allow it. Have more food, feel less drunk = buy more beer. Ingenious!
So, do try and get to Shakespeares to try the Blue Bee Pilcrow Porter over the next few days, and if you can't make that, don't forget it's the Rutland 4th birthday on Wednesday.
Cheers me dears
Wee Beefy
before I get down to "valuable" details about beer and pubs, I must clarify that Miss N does not like Wham - the concept of doing so was merely introduced into my previous post as an example of a heinous crime. However, she does like Hobgoblin. That's a SCIENCE FACT. I don't want to alienate anyone, but as far as I can see, that simply serves to strengthen my point - liking Hobgoblin is tantamount to liking Wham. Hope all this helps.
Anyhoo, this week, I have been paid and accidentally went to Shakespeares a lot. In fact, I'm off there tonight for Chris and Tom (AKA Allan)'s flat warming party in absentia. Don't worry if you didn't get invited, the pub is still open as normal. It promises to be a great range of beers as well, including a certain porter from Blue Bee.....
Tuesday was a day of celebrations and so myself and Miss N repaired to Shakespeares after work. First up was a pint of Loch Ness Darkness, a sort of mildy thing. I had this at Star Fest in Huddersfield and loved it but it was a little sweet this time round. Luckily we bumped into Dave U who politely reminded us that other beers were available - as long as they were his. In respect of which "topical" Royal baby themed Black IPA Rankle Biter was on, so we had several pints of that whilst chatting to Jules from the world of journalism. Along with a North Riding punch the clock, and something very silly indeed from Revolutions which was 7.9%. Obviously it was that last half wot did us...
Wednesday I "had" to go back to Shakespeares to pay my bar tab. So it seemed rude not to invite Miss N along for a quick refresher. I had a pint of Pixie Spring/Hopcraft Darwin's Paradox and she the Abbeydale Honey beer that has a name. She switched onto the Hopcraft afterwards since the Abbeydale was a little over-sweet. We then decided to head to DAda for a change (ahem - my two most visited licensed premises in the last two years!) and had excellent pints of Pollards and a couple of bottles of Hardknott - the Infra Red, which somehow tasted better from a bottle than even the excellent cask version tried at the Broady, and Dark Energy, a deceptively smooth dark beer which wasn't quite what I expected but was really good nonetheless.
Last night saw myself and Middlemarch escaping from work at a frankly ridiculous time to have a frankly ridiculous amount of boo-har at...Shakespeares. For contrast.
The Hopcraft was my choice once more and trainee real ale lass Middlemarch went for a pint of Abbeydale Deception. Soon, however, news came about that the Pilcrow Porter - the people's porter, was available from the cellar. So we had a pint of that, and while insisting it wasn't bias, Middlemarch said she really liked it. I'm a sucker for compliments - I was chuffed to bits.
The rest of the evening (when it became evening that is) comprised more pints of Pilcrow (hopefully it will appear on the bar tonight) along with a a pint for me and a half for Middlemarch of the Raw/Trulla/Steel City/Shakespeares collaboration "4 Horsemen of the Hopocalypse" a gloriously bitter fruity IPA that probably needs a day or two to clear. It's also quite strong, possibly 6.9% (it aint on the board to check!) and in some way contributed to Middlemarch having a lemonade. In between which events, we had a fabulous curry from the West bar Tandoori over the road.
This is a service I haven't used more than once but am so glad I did - and it makes perfect sense for Shakespeares to allow it. Have more food, feel less drunk = buy more beer. Ingenious!
So, do try and get to Shakespeares to try the Blue Bee Pilcrow Porter over the next few days, and if you can't make that, don't forget it's the Rutland 4th birthday on Wednesday.
Cheers me dears
Wee Beefy
Thursday, 26 September 2013
WTFPub.com?
Hello,
in order to leach credibility from what is written below I'm going to confess to my inspiration for this post being having seen a post earlier on the Facebook from someone I know runs a pub, who observed, with some horror, that lots of details regarding his pub on a website were a bit wrong. Considerably so. As a direct result of which, I decided to have a look myself, at the CAMRA pubs database. With interesting results.
Before I share my findings, lets give the somewhat beleaguered whatpub.com website from the CAMRA a bit of credit. Keeping a database of licensed premises in the UK with 7000 closing every time we draw breath and 7000 reopening as amusement arcades selling angostura bitters every 4 seconds, is undoubtedly a massive ball ache. Every time you look round another venue has sprouted with "edgy" names like the 17th November Bar and Glittergang Lounge, and frankly, recording and updating this must be a heinous task.
Also, the fact that the CAMRA have listed none real ale venues is interesting, and not without merit since it includes the above types of establishment. Ones which, whilst perhaps less susceptible to closure than your traditional boozer, are much more likely to morph.
So after reading about its woes, and being a bit cheeky searching for the Royal Cottage, a pub which I concede until Friday I also won't know for certain is still open, I decided to try the site out properly. I was focusing on real ale only establishments that I know, to see if the gripes of licencees were born of isolated glitches, or representative of a wider malaise (counter arguments of CAMRA stalwarts that data updates went awry not withstanding)
And in summary - I have no idea.
I say this because lots of pubs I know are recorded accurately - ones specially chosen included Henry's and Interval and the Anglers Rest in Richmond/Handsworth. I reasoned that their unusual names or location outside the CAMRAsphere might trip the CAMRA up but they seem pretty much spot on. So far so good then. Lets be a little more keen...
DAda. An interesting venue not least because it attracts a lot of barely concealed ire from trad CAMRA types. Not that its a heaven in a half glass beer utopia by any means. There are faults and reasons to dislike it, but it isn't on the website. Full stop. Yet it was a recent pub of the month nominee. Hmmm...
Next the Hadfield, Barber Road, AKA the Sainsbury's Folly. Currently, in fact since May, boarded up to be converted into something no-one wants. That is still open. Meanwhile The great Gatsby, seller of two real ales on Division Street (last time I went!) is also non existent, likewise the Cwmdu Inn in Cwmdu, a landmark community run multi use pub, of which there is no trace. The Closed Shop is managed by last year's team, the Hallamshire House, open two years, is still selling Sharps Doom bar and guests, but isn't run by Thornbridge, and the Freedom House isn't shut. And so on and so forth.
In the end though, its not actually a bad try. In fact I think the only question is, should it have gone live before they were 100% sure it was accurate?
I think more work and another data upload attempt could have improved it. However, it only claims to list 96% of real ale pubs in Britain. In effect, using my own narrow search criteria, having chosen many banana skin venues, only three don't exist (this excludes non real ale searches) and only five are inaccurate, but the majority, a good twenty five, are correct. Compare that with the accuracy of most pub websites, especially whole of UK pub databases, and I think it fairs pretty well.
Perhaps the only conclusion is that the industry is slow to update and those keen to share that info are bound by the same constraints?
Wee Beefy
in order to leach credibility from what is written below I'm going to confess to my inspiration for this post being having seen a post earlier on the Facebook from someone I know runs a pub, who observed, with some horror, that lots of details regarding his pub on a website were a bit wrong. Considerably so. As a direct result of which, I decided to have a look myself, at the CAMRA pubs database. With interesting results.
Before I share my findings, lets give the somewhat beleaguered whatpub.com website from the CAMRA a bit of credit. Keeping a database of licensed premises in the UK with 7000 closing every time we draw breath and 7000 reopening as amusement arcades selling angostura bitters every 4 seconds, is undoubtedly a massive ball ache. Every time you look round another venue has sprouted with "edgy" names like the 17th November Bar and Glittergang Lounge, and frankly, recording and updating this must be a heinous task.
Also, the fact that the CAMRA have listed none real ale venues is interesting, and not without merit since it includes the above types of establishment. Ones which, whilst perhaps less susceptible to closure than your traditional boozer, are much more likely to morph.
So after reading about its woes, and being a bit cheeky searching for the Royal Cottage, a pub which I concede until Friday I also won't know for certain is still open, I decided to try the site out properly. I was focusing on real ale only establishments that I know, to see if the gripes of licencees were born of isolated glitches, or representative of a wider malaise (counter arguments of CAMRA stalwarts that data updates went awry not withstanding)
And in summary - I have no idea.
I say this because lots of pubs I know are recorded accurately - ones specially chosen included Henry's and Interval and the Anglers Rest in Richmond/Handsworth. I reasoned that their unusual names or location outside the CAMRAsphere might trip the CAMRA up but they seem pretty much spot on. So far so good then. Lets be a little more keen...
DAda. An interesting venue not least because it attracts a lot of barely concealed ire from trad CAMRA types. Not that its a heaven in a half glass beer utopia by any means. There are faults and reasons to dislike it, but it isn't on the website. Full stop. Yet it was a recent pub of the month nominee. Hmmm...
Next the Hadfield, Barber Road, AKA the Sainsbury's Folly. Currently, in fact since May, boarded up to be converted into something no-one wants. That is still open. Meanwhile The great Gatsby, seller of two real ales on Division Street (last time I went!) is also non existent, likewise the Cwmdu Inn in Cwmdu, a landmark community run multi use pub, of which there is no trace. The Closed Shop is managed by last year's team, the Hallamshire House, open two years, is still selling Sharps Doom bar and guests, but isn't run by Thornbridge, and the Freedom House isn't shut. And so on and so forth.
In the end though, its not actually a bad try. In fact I think the only question is, should it have gone live before they were 100% sure it was accurate?
I think more work and another data upload attempt could have improved it. However, it only claims to list 96% of real ale pubs in Britain. In effect, using my own narrow search criteria, having chosen many banana skin venues, only three don't exist (this excludes non real ale searches) and only five are inaccurate, but the majority, a good twenty five, are correct. Compare that with the accuracy of most pub websites, especially whole of UK pub databases, and I think it fairs pretty well.
Perhaps the only conclusion is that the industry is slow to update and those keen to share that info are bound by the same constraints?
Wee Beefy
Sunday, 11 August 2013
A Swift One-der in a Walkley Wonderland
Hello,
yesterday I was playing host to the A.A, scribe extraordinaire with the "A Swift One" blog. Having kindly profiled me the other week I think I should introduce you to my visitor's work.
Many of you are probably already aware of the A swift One blog. Its been going since February 2007 (that's me all out of research am afraid) and has 4 contributors - Will, Timbo, Ale Ambler and Spurn Pint. Timbo is currently exiled in the North East so Ale Ambler (the aforesaid A.A) and Will have recently taken over most of the posting duties on the mostly Huddersfield area pubs and beer website.
As Mr Ambler is a Sheffield lad, and with him having taken me on a whistle stop tour of Huddersfield last month, we decided I should take him on a bit of a tour of some Sheffield pubs he may not have been to before. Here's where we went.
We met in the Sheffield Tap, and both had the Tapped Brew Co Mojo, which is £2.70 a pint (see how my formula works!) and 3.7%. Its a very bitter but refreshing starter, and to set the tone for the rest of the day I was on a pint and the A.A on a half. Depending on your interpretation, this is either incredibly sensible or a sign of insecurity. Bearing in mind that I was in bed by 22.30, I think its the first one....
A quick ride on the 52 brought us to Crookes and the Princess Royal. I'd never been in when it was empty before, and the lack of customers helped to highlight what a wealth of fantastic unspoilt features the pub has. The Layout is two rooms and arguably it may originally have been 4, with three at the front, but there are still plenty of original features, like the hatch in the snooker room, the corridor behind the bar and the doors, which appear to be of some age. Drinks wise I had a half of Bradfield Blonde, which is £1.50 and Mr A a half of Easy Rider.
We walked down towards Walkley next, past the vandalised shell of the Old Heavygate, the first of a dispiriting troupe of closed boozers on the crawl. Whilst Crookes hasn't lost a boozer in my lifetime, Walkley has been shedding them year on year - the Crown, Sportsman, Freedom View, Freedom House, Royal, Bath and Belle Vue had all disappeared, and there was rumours the Florist was to close for good that day. It looked like visiting two pubs would mean we'd made it to half of the remaining stock.
Out onto South Road and I was mentioning how it was years since I'd been in the Rose House, since they didn't sell real ale - just as I spotted a sign advertising just that. We went in the right hand side and found there was a choice of Spitfire and Black Sheep - we both had Spitfire. The Rose House has an unusual layout with three bars and a small room at the back on a lower level. The beer was well kept and at a sensible price, and after a brief check that we weren't Burnley fans was complete, we had chance for a chat. One thing we did discuss was the Florist - and were told that the Florist definitely wasn't closing for good, just for a short period to allow a clean up and for new tenants to settle in.
The good news continued even after we passed the sorry edifice of the former Freedom House, when we got to the Palm. Palm Street and the Palm Tree pub get their name from the area leading down from Walkley to Neepsend being known as Palmers Hill - at least, that's what the Internet says. The Palm now has two real ales to choose from, Bass and Tetleys, and is another pub awash with old even if not original features, and, as was becoming a Walkley pub feature, it has a three quarter size snooker table.
Mr A is a fan of pub sport so was pinging out questions in a rather more journalistic way than myself, as I snapped the cosy front room. The landlord told us that most of the pubs in the area had a 3 quarter size snooker table, and that there was a strong local 3 quarter league. He also pointed out that the pubs in the area weren't purpose built, and so couldn't fit full size snooker tables in. By this time we'd visited 3 pubs and seen 3 tables with another expected at the Hallamshire. We both had halves of the bass and spent time taking a few pics before heading off for our first guaranteed snooker table free pub of the day.
This involved a winding walk past the Closed Belle Vue and the miraculously open Firwood Cottage, before we headed up Industry Street and along Walkley Lane, past the closed Royal, and down to the Blake. The bar was heaving with a full basket of pork pies so the first of two mission objectives was completed. The next was satisfied with a half of Grafters Dark side of the Moon for Mr A and a pint of the excellent Ilkley Mary Jane for myself. We repaired to the beer garden to take in the views and enjoy the best beers of the day so far.
We slogged up Fulton Road next and round to the Closed Shop on Commonside. The SIBA list that Andy can choose from is showcasing SIBA champion beers at the moment, so expect to see some quite unusual ones over the coming weeks. I had a pint of the Doncaster First Aviator Ale and Mr A a half of the Highland Breweries Pale, all the way from the windy Orkneys. We enjoyed both sat in the beer garden, planning our next move.
The Hallamshire House was reached via an uneventful walk and we both tried different beers - Mr A gambled on the Les' best and I the Jaywick. The latter is an enjoyable hoppy beer but I think the Les's was underwhelming - it is after all, rebadged Marples (I think...). Still, our disappointment was reigned in slightly by the excellent beer garden, which Mr A was quite taken by.
The circular aspect of our trek was making more sense next as we headed up hill to the Cobden View. Its rare these days to be able to do a crawl and find 3 back street locals (at least in terms of their being in suburban areas). On the bar were the usual suspects with Raw as the "unusual" guest - so I had a pint and Mr A a half of the JS Best Bitter. We supped this in the beer garden, with lepidopterist Mr A spotting a rare spargled Granny Blue or similar, whilst we soaking up our first sun of the day. Another excellent stop off.
We descended Conduit next and walked along the main road to the University Arms. The excellent Dark Star Espresso Stout was on, from a reduced range of 3 beers. We both went for halves of that, along with excellent chorizo crisps, before I caved in and had a further half, despite being rather hungry, and a little tipsy. Once again we were sat out in the garden - if nothing else this was also a crawl of excellent beer gardens.
The Bath Hotel beckoned but in here we took a break from cask and cooled down with a half of Thornbridge Chiron each. I think Mr A may have let slip a sharp intake of breath at the price (Thornbridge + Keykeg = expense) but it was a good Keg to try on a long slog, and it being cold and fizzy nicely slowed us down on our high speed tour.
We headed off to look at Jessops next, prior to any upcoming senseless destruction by academics, before we nipped in the Red Deer to find an excellent range of beers once more - from offerings including the Highland Pale we both plumped for halves of the Glastonbury stout, a fine looking and finer tasting dark beer at £3.00 a pint.
At this point food became a necessity so we got ourselves some sustenance and then rejoined the route at DAda. A good range of real ales saw us both trying halves of the earthy Indian Head from Bridestones, and sharing a half of the Thornbridge Rattlesnake, brewed by staff at the Greystones - and very nice it was too.
Next up was our penultimate stop, the Dog and Partridge. We both opted for a half of Blue Bee Octothorpe in here, as well as two very sensible halves of water, in preparation for our last stop. Unfortunately it became obvious as we got down the beers that the Blue Bee was a little bit orf - but it was well down the glass before we were certain. I mentioned it to he lass behind the bar on the way out and she gave us some money back to make up for it. That's good customer service, since we were definitely not wanting a replacement, having nearly reached the limits of what we could safely drink in one session.
Finally we crawled wearily into the welcoming bosom of Shakespeares (if, indeed, one can crawl into a bsom?) to sample the delights of the Arbor Mosaic, which I had been wittering on to Mr A about for most of the day. It didn't disappoint - although, I wonder if my decision to have a pint was maybe a little reckless. Here it looks like we took a lot of photographs, before Mr A finished his half and headed off for the train home, leaving me to dream of sleep, and the route of our next crawl of Sheffield pubs. Pub of the day for me was a dead heat between the Palm, Blake and Princess Royal (a bit of my Crookes upbringing making me biased maybe?) and beer of the day was without doubt, the Arbor. Here's to the next crawl, and another festival of fine ale and beer gardens to come....
Watch this space.
Wee Beefy
yesterday I was playing host to the A.A, scribe extraordinaire with the "A Swift One" blog. Having kindly profiled me the other week I think I should introduce you to my visitor's work.
Many of you are probably already aware of the A swift One blog. Its been going since February 2007 (that's me all out of research am afraid) and has 4 contributors - Will, Timbo, Ale Ambler and Spurn Pint. Timbo is currently exiled in the North East so Ale Ambler (the aforesaid A.A) and Will have recently taken over most of the posting duties on the mostly Huddersfield area pubs and beer website.
As Mr Ambler is a Sheffield lad, and with him having taken me on a whistle stop tour of Huddersfield last month, we decided I should take him on a bit of a tour of some Sheffield pubs he may not have been to before. Here's where we went.
We met in the Sheffield Tap, and both had the Tapped Brew Co Mojo, which is £2.70 a pint (see how my formula works!) and 3.7%. Its a very bitter but refreshing starter, and to set the tone for the rest of the day I was on a pint and the A.A on a half. Depending on your interpretation, this is either incredibly sensible or a sign of insecurity. Bearing in mind that I was in bed by 22.30, I think its the first one....
A quick ride on the 52 brought us to Crookes and the Princess Royal. I'd never been in when it was empty before, and the lack of customers helped to highlight what a wealth of fantastic unspoilt features the pub has. The Layout is two rooms and arguably it may originally have been 4, with three at the front, but there are still plenty of original features, like the hatch in the snooker room, the corridor behind the bar and the doors, which appear to be of some age. Drinks wise I had a half of Bradfield Blonde, which is £1.50 and Mr A a half of Easy Rider.
We walked down towards Walkley next, past the vandalised shell of the Old Heavygate, the first of a dispiriting troupe of closed boozers on the crawl. Whilst Crookes hasn't lost a boozer in my lifetime, Walkley has been shedding them year on year - the Crown, Sportsman, Freedom View, Freedom House, Royal, Bath and Belle Vue had all disappeared, and there was rumours the Florist was to close for good that day. It looked like visiting two pubs would mean we'd made it to half of the remaining stock.
Out onto South Road and I was mentioning how it was years since I'd been in the Rose House, since they didn't sell real ale - just as I spotted a sign advertising just that. We went in the right hand side and found there was a choice of Spitfire and Black Sheep - we both had Spitfire. The Rose House has an unusual layout with three bars and a small room at the back on a lower level. The beer was well kept and at a sensible price, and after a brief check that we weren't Burnley fans was complete, we had chance for a chat. One thing we did discuss was the Florist - and were told that the Florist definitely wasn't closing for good, just for a short period to allow a clean up and for new tenants to settle in.
The good news continued even after we passed the sorry edifice of the former Freedom House, when we got to the Palm. Palm Street and the Palm Tree pub get their name from the area leading down from Walkley to Neepsend being known as Palmers Hill - at least, that's what the Internet says. The Palm now has two real ales to choose from, Bass and Tetleys, and is another pub awash with old even if not original features, and, as was becoming a Walkley pub feature, it has a three quarter size snooker table.
Mr A is a fan of pub sport so was pinging out questions in a rather more journalistic way than myself, as I snapped the cosy front room. The landlord told us that most of the pubs in the area had a 3 quarter size snooker table, and that there was a strong local 3 quarter league. He also pointed out that the pubs in the area weren't purpose built, and so couldn't fit full size snooker tables in. By this time we'd visited 3 pubs and seen 3 tables with another expected at the Hallamshire. We both had halves of the bass and spent time taking a few pics before heading off for our first guaranteed snooker table free pub of the day.
This involved a winding walk past the Closed Belle Vue and the miraculously open Firwood Cottage, before we headed up Industry Street and along Walkley Lane, past the closed Royal, and down to the Blake. The bar was heaving with a full basket of pork pies so the first of two mission objectives was completed. The next was satisfied with a half of Grafters Dark side of the Moon for Mr A and a pint of the excellent Ilkley Mary Jane for myself. We repaired to the beer garden to take in the views and enjoy the best beers of the day so far.
We slogged up Fulton Road next and round to the Closed Shop on Commonside. The SIBA list that Andy can choose from is showcasing SIBA champion beers at the moment, so expect to see some quite unusual ones over the coming weeks. I had a pint of the Doncaster First Aviator Ale and Mr A a half of the Highland Breweries Pale, all the way from the windy Orkneys. We enjoyed both sat in the beer garden, planning our next move.
The Hallamshire House was reached via an uneventful walk and we both tried different beers - Mr A gambled on the Les' best and I the Jaywick. The latter is an enjoyable hoppy beer but I think the Les's was underwhelming - it is after all, rebadged Marples (I think...). Still, our disappointment was reigned in slightly by the excellent beer garden, which Mr A was quite taken by.
The circular aspect of our trek was making more sense next as we headed up hill to the Cobden View. Its rare these days to be able to do a crawl and find 3 back street locals (at least in terms of their being in suburban areas). On the bar were the usual suspects with Raw as the "unusual" guest - so I had a pint and Mr A a half of the JS Best Bitter. We supped this in the beer garden, with lepidopterist Mr A spotting a rare spargled Granny Blue or similar, whilst we soaking up our first sun of the day. Another excellent stop off.
We descended Conduit next and walked along the main road to the University Arms. The excellent Dark Star Espresso Stout was on, from a reduced range of 3 beers. We both went for halves of that, along with excellent chorizo crisps, before I caved in and had a further half, despite being rather hungry, and a little tipsy. Once again we were sat out in the garden - if nothing else this was also a crawl of excellent beer gardens.
The Bath Hotel beckoned but in here we took a break from cask and cooled down with a half of Thornbridge Chiron each. I think Mr A may have let slip a sharp intake of breath at the price (Thornbridge + Keykeg = expense) but it was a good Keg to try on a long slog, and it being cold and fizzy nicely slowed us down on our high speed tour.
We headed off to look at Jessops next, prior to any upcoming senseless destruction by academics, before we nipped in the Red Deer to find an excellent range of beers once more - from offerings including the Highland Pale we both plumped for halves of the Glastonbury stout, a fine looking and finer tasting dark beer at £3.00 a pint.
At this point food became a necessity so we got ourselves some sustenance and then rejoined the route at DAda. A good range of real ales saw us both trying halves of the earthy Indian Head from Bridestones, and sharing a half of the Thornbridge Rattlesnake, brewed by staff at the Greystones - and very nice it was too.
Next up was our penultimate stop, the Dog and Partridge. We both opted for a half of Blue Bee Octothorpe in here, as well as two very sensible halves of water, in preparation for our last stop. Unfortunately it became obvious as we got down the beers that the Blue Bee was a little bit orf - but it was well down the glass before we were certain. I mentioned it to he lass behind the bar on the way out and she gave us some money back to make up for it. That's good customer service, since we were definitely not wanting a replacement, having nearly reached the limits of what we could safely drink in one session.
Finally we crawled wearily into the welcoming bosom of Shakespeares (if, indeed, one can crawl into a bsom?) to sample the delights of the Arbor Mosaic, which I had been wittering on to Mr A about for most of the day. It didn't disappoint - although, I wonder if my decision to have a pint was maybe a little reckless. Here it looks like we took a lot of photographs, before Mr A finished his half and headed off for the train home, leaving me to dream of sleep, and the route of our next crawl of Sheffield pubs. Pub of the day for me was a dead heat between the Palm, Blake and Princess Royal (a bit of my Crookes upbringing making me biased maybe?) and beer of the day was without doubt, the Arbor. Here's to the next crawl, and another festival of fine ale and beer gardens to come....
Watch this space.
Wee Beefy
Tuesday, 30 July 2013
Meanwhile
Now then,
its not all reopened pubs you know. Sometimes I can't stay away from those long and slightly less long established ones. Here's some details and news on that subject....
On Tuesday I set a new "high" bar for frankly preposterous excuses to go to the pub. I had left work and realised I needed to buy a bus pass on the way home. I went to the cash machine and drew out a tenner. The pass was £10.50 - but I only had £10.45. Of course, the only "rational" thing to do was go and get another tenner out and then somehow conceive of a mechanism for changing the troublesome little bugger.
I started by popping in DAda, to change a tenner (see "walk the dog", "see a man about a dog" and "research"). Behind the bar, loving the wall of heat created by the fridges, glass washer and bright lights, was Jamie, struggling to stay cool even in shorts and clearly near unconscious, with Steff sitting at the bar for company - these two things aren't linked, but they were the only people there....
I didn't anticipate swelling the numbers for long - after all, I was only going to have a half. Oh please....
I started on the right track, since a half of Chiron was my choice, largely influenced by some slightly grim cask options; the Pica Pica re-badge would have been my preference but it had "gone orf" so I stuck with a Chiron, which did the trick nicely. After an enlightening discussion about the Standardised English Swearing Usage Regulations, which we may well copyright, I opted for a half of Raven.
Raven, from the Thornbridge, hasn't been available on cask for a very long time. I first tried it on cask and really liked it, but its been Keykeg ever since. This is a good illustration of why not everything you put in Keykeg works, no matter how big your house is (or how many brewers you recruit each year).
Raven on Keykeg is incredibly bitter. Which is fine, since its a Black IPA - it is after all, black, and bitter, like an IPA. Except its bitter in a needlessly dry way and has precisely none of the finer points of a stout, (whether it should or shouldn't as a Black IPA). It needs more body and less edge, if that makes sense. Still, I'm glad I tried it, since I'd normally not bother, because I think there is merit in revisiting a beer now and again. And there was merit even if not joy, in doing so on this occasion.
Across the road at the Dog and Partridge I enjoyed a closed door so made my way slightly earlier than planned to Shakespeares. A Roosters Stars and Stripes was my starter, a slightly underwhelming Roosters beer once again, although better than their not-so Wild Mule, and scoring points for having an intriguing mix of flavours.
I finished this short wander on two pints of Wilson Potter "In Shreds". This was a gloriously well balanced hoppy beer that would have warranted a few more goes if I hadn't been behaving myself - or even if I had. I think I've tried four Wilson Potter beers in total, and I've liked them all - this one perhaps most of all. Whilst its easy to argue that there are numerous real ale micro brewers producing hoppy pale ales, Wilson Potter and similarly Cross Bay, though following that same path, are a good example of breweries doing it well. There's a pleasing subtlety to their brews which highlights the glorious facets of the hops used rather than simply using more of them. Brilliant.
A last bit of news features another pub reopening - this time in the middle of chuffing nowhere. Obviously, if you live in Woodsetts, sort of between North Anston and Worksop, this may be a phrase that you disagree with, but I'll perhaps beg to differ after what I expect will be a rather long trek back from the pub when I get round to visiting.
The Butchers Arms at Woodsetts has been taken on by Raw Brewing of Staveley. I understand that Enterprise own the pub and Raw are in essence tenants there. The upshot, above anything else, will be that there will be really good real ale available henceforth. I never made it to the Butchers previously but have a sneaking suspicion that Grey Ghost and the like weren't spotted on the bar.
The interweb is hardly awash with info (even Raw's own website for the pub isn't up yet!) despite its official reopening bash being on Friday 2nd August. However, you could always look at their Facebook page for updates. Its touch and go whether I'll make it Friday but any visit to a (barely) local new venue sounds worth a look. Hopefully, like the White Swan in Chesterfield, this will be another Raw Brewery success story.
Cheers!
Wee beefy
its not all reopened pubs you know. Sometimes I can't stay away from those long and slightly less long established ones. Here's some details and news on that subject....
On Tuesday I set a new "high" bar for frankly preposterous excuses to go to the pub. I had left work and realised I needed to buy a bus pass on the way home. I went to the cash machine and drew out a tenner. The pass was £10.50 - but I only had £10.45. Of course, the only "rational" thing to do was go and get another tenner out and then somehow conceive of a mechanism for changing the troublesome little bugger.
I started by popping in DAda, to change a tenner (see "walk the dog", "see a man about a dog" and "research"). Behind the bar, loving the wall of heat created by the fridges, glass washer and bright lights, was Jamie, struggling to stay cool even in shorts and clearly near unconscious, with Steff sitting at the bar for company - these two things aren't linked, but they were the only people there....
I didn't anticipate swelling the numbers for long - after all, I was only going to have a half. Oh please....
I started on the right track, since a half of Chiron was my choice, largely influenced by some slightly grim cask options; the Pica Pica re-badge would have been my preference but it had "gone orf" so I stuck with a Chiron, which did the trick nicely. After an enlightening discussion about the Standardised English Swearing Usage Regulations, which we may well copyright, I opted for a half of Raven.
Raven, from the Thornbridge, hasn't been available on cask for a very long time. I first tried it on cask and really liked it, but its been Keykeg ever since. This is a good illustration of why not everything you put in Keykeg works, no matter how big your house is (or how many brewers you recruit each year).
Raven on Keykeg is incredibly bitter. Which is fine, since its a Black IPA - it is after all, black, and bitter, like an IPA. Except its bitter in a needlessly dry way and has precisely none of the finer points of a stout, (whether it should or shouldn't as a Black IPA). It needs more body and less edge, if that makes sense. Still, I'm glad I tried it, since I'd normally not bother, because I think there is merit in revisiting a beer now and again. And there was merit even if not joy, in doing so on this occasion.
Across the road at the Dog and Partridge I enjoyed a closed door so made my way slightly earlier than planned to Shakespeares. A Roosters Stars and Stripes was my starter, a slightly underwhelming Roosters beer once again, although better than their not-so Wild Mule, and scoring points for having an intriguing mix of flavours.
I finished this short wander on two pints of Wilson Potter "In Shreds". This was a gloriously well balanced hoppy beer that would have warranted a few more goes if I hadn't been behaving myself - or even if I had. I think I've tried four Wilson Potter beers in total, and I've liked them all - this one perhaps most of all. Whilst its easy to argue that there are numerous real ale micro brewers producing hoppy pale ales, Wilson Potter and similarly Cross Bay, though following that same path, are a good example of breweries doing it well. There's a pleasing subtlety to their brews which highlights the glorious facets of the hops used rather than simply using more of them. Brilliant.
A last bit of news features another pub reopening - this time in the middle of chuffing nowhere. Obviously, if you live in Woodsetts, sort of between North Anston and Worksop, this may be a phrase that you disagree with, but I'll perhaps beg to differ after what I expect will be a rather long trek back from the pub when I get round to visiting.
The Butchers Arms at Woodsetts has been taken on by Raw Brewing of Staveley. I understand that Enterprise own the pub and Raw are in essence tenants there. The upshot, above anything else, will be that there will be really good real ale available henceforth. I never made it to the Butchers previously but have a sneaking suspicion that Grey Ghost and the like weren't spotted on the bar.
The interweb is hardly awash with info (even Raw's own website for the pub isn't up yet!) despite its official reopening bash being on Friday 2nd August. However, you could always look at their Facebook page for updates. Its touch and go whether I'll make it Friday but any visit to a (barely) local new venue sounds worth a look. Hopefully, like the White Swan in Chesterfield, this will be another Raw Brewery success story.
Cheers!
Wee beefy
Monday, 22 July 2013
The Tramlines
Now then,
whilst we can all fanny about going to Huddersfield, Saturday was a day to go to overcrowded venues to see bands I've never heard of and drink warm beer. Yep, for the first time in its history The Tramlines was a hot n sunny event. And having initially resolutely refused to attend for reasons unbeknownst even to myself, I couldn't resist the allure of (mostly) free music, and so decided to pop along, starting with a new venue.
I never got in the Albion on London Road what with it not selling real ale, but was still shocked to hear of its closure - after all, it was allegedly selling more Stones than any other pub - surely there must have been some decent sales racked up? More surprising however was to discover that it had reopened, sort of, as a music and arts venue selling real ale.
Its new moniker is the Bell Jar, and its all very plain - there isn't even a sign! There is an A Board outside and a message in the window, and some social media info to assist. On entering the bar is on the left proudly showing 4 handpumps, this time two Sheffield Brewery beers plus something called Institute of beer were on offer, so I went for a couple of halves of the Sheffield IPA at 5.2% and £3.00 a pint. I caught a bit of a band I have no idea of the name of, as well as sitting in the beer garden. This was pretty much how most visits panned out over the weekend...
Delaneys beckoned and to my surprise as well as a really very good band, Mynas, they also had three real ales on including two from Morecambe's Cross Bay brewery. The Tempest was a very enjoyable pale ale at £3.20 a pint and I had a couple of pints of that before the music took a bit of a downturn and I moved on.
Next stop the Rutland, and I had an Ashover pale ale. I also sat outside, not listening to any bands but catching up with T_i_B instead, along with a lady. Sorry, but anything not photographed with a name on didn't get recalled. Hence the lady has no name.....
A quick detour found me at the Sheffield Tap with Chala. I had a pint of the Tapped Brew Co Bullet which was a really tasty pint and Chala had something with fruit in it. Bless. From here we headed to the Dove and Rainbow where it now transpires that about ten people I know were there. Except I didn't see them. Instead I had a half of Blue Bee Lustin for Stout and stayed around for a couple of songs then moved on.
To Harrisons 1854, for a pint of Abbeydale Tramlines 2 and a catch up with Bob and Linda - but not, crucially, to meet Christingpher. Others were flagging by this stage, not least me, but I had enough about me to catch Big City Blues at the Bath Hotel and to enjoy a Black Iris Black Mountain Black IPA, leaving with only photographs for memories..
Sunday saw me at the University Arms, as Dave was celebrating her birthday. The novelty of the pub being open on a Sunday was bettered by some rather excellent Cavendish, which I had two pints of, and a band playing songs from the 1980's which, worryingly, I remembered. I sauntered to the Frog and Parrot next to miss the Hudares but instead catch a band called the Hurricanes. Or the Tornadoes. They're just words. I also got to have the worst pint of Moonshine ever. It never ceases to amaze me how one pub can consistently have such dire beer. Still, I wasn't forced at gun point to attend.
An hour on the buskers bus followed before I caught up with the Man of Ash and Entwistle and Steff in the Bath Hotel. I got to joyously remember what I had to drink the night before, and have some more of it - plus some rather nice Thornbridge Chiron. This enjoyable diversion, even if not from drink, provided a slower pace and enabled me to get my second wind to tackle the last stops.
At DAda a re-badged Pica Pica was the pint of choice (followed by another half of Chiron) before I got swept away listening to an excellent band called the Vuvuvultures - probably my favourite band of the festival. After which, noticing the Dog and Partridge shut, I headed to Shakespeares for a pint of something from North Riding and an hour or so in the garden watching amorphous blobs make sounds. I had started to pay little attention by this stage, to be honest, although the dancer and violinist were really good.
So, Tramlines was really enjoyable again this year, despite my concerns, possibly bettered by my attending Sunday. And crucially, apart from the wonky Moonshiner in the F&P it was also memorable (that's almost ironic...) for excellent beer. And in the Bell Jar, I now have an interesting new venue to go drinking in.
Cheers!
Wee Beefy
whilst we can all fanny about going to Huddersfield, Saturday was a day to go to overcrowded venues to see bands I've never heard of and drink warm beer. Yep, for the first time in its history The Tramlines was a hot n sunny event. And having initially resolutely refused to attend for reasons unbeknownst even to myself, I couldn't resist the allure of (mostly) free music, and so decided to pop along, starting with a new venue.
I never got in the Albion on London Road what with it not selling real ale, but was still shocked to hear of its closure - after all, it was allegedly selling more Stones than any other pub - surely there must have been some decent sales racked up? More surprising however was to discover that it had reopened, sort of, as a music and arts venue selling real ale.
Its new moniker is the Bell Jar, and its all very plain - there isn't even a sign! There is an A Board outside and a message in the window, and some social media info to assist. On entering the bar is on the left proudly showing 4 handpumps, this time two Sheffield Brewery beers plus something called Institute of beer were on offer, so I went for a couple of halves of the Sheffield IPA at 5.2% and £3.00 a pint. I caught a bit of a band I have no idea of the name of, as well as sitting in the beer garden. This was pretty much how most visits panned out over the weekend...
Delaneys beckoned and to my surprise as well as a really very good band, Mynas, they also had three real ales on including two from Morecambe's Cross Bay brewery. The Tempest was a very enjoyable pale ale at £3.20 a pint and I had a couple of pints of that before the music took a bit of a downturn and I moved on.
Next stop the Rutland, and I had an Ashover pale ale. I also sat outside, not listening to any bands but catching up with T_i_B instead, along with a lady. Sorry, but anything not photographed with a name on didn't get recalled. Hence the lady has no name.....
A quick detour found me at the Sheffield Tap with Chala. I had a pint of the Tapped Brew Co Bullet which was a really tasty pint and Chala had something with fruit in it. Bless. From here we headed to the Dove and Rainbow where it now transpires that about ten people I know were there. Except I didn't see them. Instead I had a half of Blue Bee Lustin for Stout and stayed around for a couple of songs then moved on.
To Harrisons 1854, for a pint of Abbeydale Tramlines 2 and a catch up with Bob and Linda - but not, crucially, to meet Christingpher. Others were flagging by this stage, not least me, but I had enough about me to catch Big City Blues at the Bath Hotel and to enjoy a Black Iris Black Mountain Black IPA, leaving with only photographs for memories..
Sunday saw me at the University Arms, as Dave was celebrating her birthday. The novelty of the pub being open on a Sunday was bettered by some rather excellent Cavendish, which I had two pints of, and a band playing songs from the 1980's which, worryingly, I remembered. I sauntered to the Frog and Parrot next to miss the Hudares but instead catch a band called the Hurricanes. Or the Tornadoes. They're just words. I also got to have the worst pint of Moonshine ever. It never ceases to amaze me how one pub can consistently have such dire beer. Still, I wasn't forced at gun point to attend.
An hour on the buskers bus followed before I caught up with the Man of Ash and Entwistle and Steff in the Bath Hotel. I got to joyously remember what I had to drink the night before, and have some more of it - plus some rather nice Thornbridge Chiron. This enjoyable diversion, even if not from drink, provided a slower pace and enabled me to get my second wind to tackle the last stops.
At DAda a re-badged Pica Pica was the pint of choice (followed by another half of Chiron) before I got swept away listening to an excellent band called the Vuvuvultures - probably my favourite band of the festival. After which, noticing the Dog and Partridge shut, I headed to Shakespeares for a pint of something from North Riding and an hour or so in the garden watching amorphous blobs make sounds. I had started to pay little attention by this stage, to be honest, although the dancer and violinist were really good.
So, Tramlines was really enjoyable again this year, despite my concerns, possibly bettered by my attending Sunday. And crucially, apart from the wonky Moonshiner in the F&P it was also memorable (that's almost ironic...) for excellent beer. And in the Bell Jar, I now have an interesting new venue to go drinking in.
Cheers!
Wee Beefy
Sunday, 7 July 2013
Hiking, Wee Beefy style.
Hello,
knowing it was going to be a lovely sunny weekend I set about planning an invigorating walk. Yes, there would (obviously) be pubs, but there would also be walking, possibly up to 10 miles. I was to head off into Derbyshire, and sample the delights of Kirk Ireton, Carsington, Ashbourne, Belper, Openwoodgate and Derby. Until I found myself getting a mite tipsy on Green Devil IPA on Friday. Was I getting up at 8.30 and catching a train about 9.30? Was I f
...airly unlikely to be so I set off for a more realistic Sheffield walk around dinnertime. I got off the bus in town and walked past the Church House (I imagine a lot of people make this choice) and onto Trippet Lane to visit DAda. To my horror chuffing Kipling was still hogging the pump that was destined for Melba. I tried the Rok Fall bitter, which was unremarkable, and decided to have a lovely cold beer instead - so I had a pint of Chiron, which was perfect. I had a good catch up with Jamie and a half of Oakham Bishop's farewell before setting off on the next part of my"trek".
At the Bath Hotel Steff was on hand, along with a much needed through breeze, to make the visit an enjoyable one, a feat made all the easier by my having a pint of the Green Devil IPA. You know, to check it was still great. It was. An hour into my arduous hike and I'd had 2 and a half pints. And despite having decided to walk to Crookes I remembered, crucially that I couldn't be arsed. so I caught the bus instead.
Once in Crookes I dallied with the idea of popping in the Prinny but instead walked down Newent Lane to the Cobden View. Wee Keefy had informed me Friday that he had been supping an Inveralmond brewery beer in there, and I wondered if this was notice of a slight improvement in their beer range. When I got there the Inveralmond had gone but had been replaced by a favourite beer of mine Wincle Waller. I got a pint of that (£2.90) and went to sit in the hot sun in the beer garden. The Cobden is a great back street local the like of which are becoming rarer. It sells well kept beers at sensible prices, and hires its beer garden out for barbecues. Go visit!
Next I walked down towards the University Arms and en route popped in the Hallamshire House, where I spotted Mr Canning, and joined him briefly for a half of Thornbridge Pica pica. I also went into the beer garden for the very first time, where I bumped into Becky. The garden, such as it can be called one, is a large deck overlooking the city with a huge array of plants and tables and chairs. Its fair to say it's Becky's project, and must have been hard work. I understand the sun gets on it between 12 and 15.00 so I might try and time any visit to the Hallamshire accordingly to get the full benefit.
The University Arms was busy and Katedave was behind the bar. I had a pint of Crouch Vale Yakima Pale Ale and went and sat outside in the sun. The garden was understandably packed, but I managed to get a table to myself for a quiet read and to slightly change colour. Had I not noticed I was becoming significantly less sober than was sensible, I might have stayed for another. However, by now, using the miracle of text, I had established that the Melba was on at DAda. The next part of my ramble began...
DAda was quiet but to be honest I didn't want to be waiting to get the last of yet another barrel of Melba. This time it was in perfect condition, crystal clear and tasting as lovely and peachy and like a mixture of Halcyon and Qosh from the 1980's as it should. In between talking to a guy from Crookes called Louis and his slightly tipsy lady friend, I managed to have a couple more pints of Melba before I got word that Clare and Gav were at the Fat Cat. It would have been rude not to join them.
So I walked down to Kelham Island, by now having completely abandoned the pretence of an actual walk, and met them in the Cat's beer garden with a pork pie, a glass of water and a half of something. And a red face. I must have made a great impression upon their friends Gary and Clair as I met them for the first time in a particular tangle. Still, everyone was singing from the same hymn sheet as I quickly worked out.
Its important to clarify now that apart from definitely having water and an Abbeydale Pocket Anchovy in the Kelham Island Tavern, our next destination, plus a pint of Nelson Gun dog Stout in Shakespeares (and stylishly leaving my wallet on the bar) I really don't know what I drank. What I do know is the potentially confusing (name wise) combination of Gav, Clare, Gary and Clair were great company, and if it hadn't have been for my camera there would very little that I could have recalled about the night.
So. If I walked 3 miles I'd be surprised. I never reached the countryside, but I did get some sun. I also drank some fantastic beer - with not a bad pint encountered in all eight pubs en route. Another reason, if one were needed, to stay in the Steel City when seeking great beer.
Cheers
Wee Beefy
knowing it was going to be a lovely sunny weekend I set about planning an invigorating walk. Yes, there would (obviously) be pubs, but there would also be walking, possibly up to 10 miles. I was to head off into Derbyshire, and sample the delights of Kirk Ireton, Carsington, Ashbourne, Belper, Openwoodgate and Derby. Until I found myself getting a mite tipsy on Green Devil IPA on Friday. Was I getting up at 8.30 and catching a train about 9.30? Was I f
...airly unlikely to be so I set off for a more realistic Sheffield walk around dinnertime. I got off the bus in town and walked past the Church House (I imagine a lot of people make this choice) and onto Trippet Lane to visit DAda. To my horror chuffing Kipling was still hogging the pump that was destined for Melba. I tried the Rok Fall bitter, which was unremarkable, and decided to have a lovely cold beer instead - so I had a pint of Chiron, which was perfect. I had a good catch up with Jamie and a half of Oakham Bishop's farewell before setting off on the next part of my"trek".
At the Bath Hotel Steff was on hand, along with a much needed through breeze, to make the visit an enjoyable one, a feat made all the easier by my having a pint of the Green Devil IPA. You know, to check it was still great. It was. An hour into my arduous hike and I'd had 2 and a half pints. And despite having decided to walk to Crookes I remembered, crucially that I couldn't be arsed. so I caught the bus instead.
Once in Crookes I dallied with the idea of popping in the Prinny but instead walked down Newent Lane to the Cobden View. Wee Keefy had informed me Friday that he had been supping an Inveralmond brewery beer in there, and I wondered if this was notice of a slight improvement in their beer range. When I got there the Inveralmond had gone but had been replaced by a favourite beer of mine Wincle Waller. I got a pint of that (£2.90) and went to sit in the hot sun in the beer garden. The Cobden is a great back street local the like of which are becoming rarer. It sells well kept beers at sensible prices, and hires its beer garden out for barbecues. Go visit!
Next I walked down towards the University Arms and en route popped in the Hallamshire House, where I spotted Mr Canning, and joined him briefly for a half of Thornbridge Pica pica. I also went into the beer garden for the very first time, where I bumped into Becky. The garden, such as it can be called one, is a large deck overlooking the city with a huge array of plants and tables and chairs. Its fair to say it's Becky's project, and must have been hard work. I understand the sun gets on it between 12 and 15.00 so I might try and time any visit to the Hallamshire accordingly to get the full benefit.
The University Arms was busy and Katedave was behind the bar. I had a pint of Crouch Vale Yakima Pale Ale and went and sat outside in the sun. The garden was understandably packed, but I managed to get a table to myself for a quiet read and to slightly change colour. Had I not noticed I was becoming significantly less sober than was sensible, I might have stayed for another. However, by now, using the miracle of text, I had established that the Melba was on at DAda. The next part of my ramble began...
DAda was quiet but to be honest I didn't want to be waiting to get the last of yet another barrel of Melba. This time it was in perfect condition, crystal clear and tasting as lovely and peachy and like a mixture of Halcyon and Qosh from the 1980's as it should. In between talking to a guy from Crookes called Louis and his slightly tipsy lady friend, I managed to have a couple more pints of Melba before I got word that Clare and Gav were at the Fat Cat. It would have been rude not to join them.
So I walked down to Kelham Island, by now having completely abandoned the pretence of an actual walk, and met them in the Cat's beer garden with a pork pie, a glass of water and a half of something. And a red face. I must have made a great impression upon their friends Gary and Clair as I met them for the first time in a particular tangle. Still, everyone was singing from the same hymn sheet as I quickly worked out.
Its important to clarify now that apart from definitely having water and an Abbeydale Pocket Anchovy in the Kelham Island Tavern, our next destination, plus a pint of Nelson Gun dog Stout in Shakespeares (and stylishly leaving my wallet on the bar) I really don't know what I drank. What I do know is the potentially confusing (name wise) combination of Gav, Clare, Gary and Clair were great company, and if it hadn't have been for my camera there would very little that I could have recalled about the night.
So. If I walked 3 miles I'd be surprised. I never reached the countryside, but I did get some sun. I also drank some fantastic beer - with not a bad pint encountered in all eight pubs en route. Another reason, if one were needed, to stay in the Steel City when seeking great beer.
Cheers
Wee Beefy
Wednesday, 3 July 2013
Circular pub crawl and a Sunday send off.
Now then,
Thursday saw me heading out after a brain squeezingly complex day of work to unwind with an ale. Shock. I could have gone home and tucked into one of many rather fab beers left from the barbecue but I decided a bit of company, potentially at least, might suit me better, even if I couldn't influence the music choice. Having started my crawl from work I strode off to DAda first before heading virtually all the way back to finish. Not at work, but at a pub nearby, obviously....
My choice of DAda was to exercise the demons that had made me so unable to deal with the beer choice on the Tuesday. I hoped they'd have Melba on, but there was no guarantees. On arriving there was a "do" on, the very worst kind where people wear suits that make them deaf (why is this? How come the wearing of straight lines and feint check makes you incapable f getting the f*ck out of the way when someone is trying to extricate themselves from your brogue-ish umbrella wielding mass?). There were three beers on, and this time I strengthened my resolve to tolerate the Hopton, which actually wasn't bad at all. Still humph though.
Across the road is my new girlfriend the Dog and Partridge, since I have no sense of loyalty. Once again an excellent range was on and I was able to get in the snug to enjoy reading a paper (Jesus! How old am I?) and supping beer. This time I had a pint of the excellent Abbeydale Cosmology, and a half of their latest Dr Morton's offering, this time a stout.
The snug is interesting because although it didn't escape the modernizing brush, to be fair its not that bad. No amount of "improvement" can, ahem, improve upon the original, but the wood carved graffiti on the dark varnished wood and basic fireplace still divert your attention, and it remains a great place to drink - and get served. Sensibly, no-one tampered with the hatch. I had another half of the stout to celebrate.
Next I went for a wander up West Street to the Bath Hotel. A rather smashing range on here - including Melba, which I had a pint of. Alas, I am doomed to have the end of every barrel of it as it was the last one out. Gah! What must I do to see it clear? Not even the Man of Ash could help, although rumours of a Saturday cask at the Hallamshire House were mooted.
I nipped briefly in Harrisons 1854 next. I'd be lying if I said I though it was the same as when my good friend Barraharri was behind the bar but having gone in regularly for nearly 2 years its not like I don't still like the place. I had a wry smile as the first beer I asked for, Farmers Yorkshire Farmer, was off, but it was replaced with acceptable Blonde and I caught up briefly with new Dave who might have been called Toby (sorry might have been called Toby chap). Nice to get back in the old haunt, lets hope I can do so again soon.
A very quick visit to the Red Deer followed, just because I've not been for a while, and I enjoyed a decent half of Dukeries Porter, before heading down past Fagan's and cutting through alleyways and deserted streets in what used to be the Red Hill and Crofts area (I swallowed a Sheffield history website, yes) down to Shakespeares.
Here further delights were to be found and I opted for a pint of the Revolutions Demo #7, before being joined at the bar by Brewer Rich from Blue Bee. A couple of halves of their summer refresher Light Blue followed, and given the late hour, it was probably best I finished on something quaffable but not too strong.
A final bit of news regards the prefurn do at the Closed Shop. The last session before refurbishment was like a night of the stars in the world of Sheffield pubs and beer drinkers, with cameo's and starring roles from Mr Stephens, Katedave, Kat, Kate, Katy(ie), Dansome, Father o Matic, Baker, Jepson, Bad panda, The Man of Ash and Williams among too many to list. Beers supped were well, not really recorded, but I'm sure I drank Blue Bee Listin to Port before it ran out, then possibly migrated to Easy Rider and then Caledonian Fying Scotsman before everything got a bit confusing.
I even joined in the quiz...
The bar staff, Paultous, Katedave and the unflappable Chris worked hard to make it an enjoyable evening, and despite us all downloading a rather unfortunate app called "Angry Daves" (instructions below*) it was a really enjoyable and slightly raucous night. I shall miss the Shop very much over the next few weeks, but likely appreciate it all the more when it reopens.
Wee Beefy
*Playing Angry Daves is simple. No download is necessary. Merely fill up the Dave with beer (preferably cask), propose an idea contrary to his..sorry, any idea, and await the outburst! Literally minutes of fun. And achieved using a set of instructions that, disappointingly, he'll never read....
Thursday saw me heading out after a brain squeezingly complex day of work to unwind with an ale. Shock. I could have gone home and tucked into one of many rather fab beers left from the barbecue but I decided a bit of company, potentially at least, might suit me better, even if I couldn't influence the music choice. Having started my crawl from work I strode off to DAda first before heading virtually all the way back to finish. Not at work, but at a pub nearby, obviously....
My choice of DAda was to exercise the demons that had made me so unable to deal with the beer choice on the Tuesday. I hoped they'd have Melba on, but there was no guarantees. On arriving there was a "do" on, the very worst kind where people wear suits that make them deaf (why is this? How come the wearing of straight lines and feint check makes you incapable f getting the f*ck out of the way when someone is trying to extricate themselves from your brogue-ish umbrella wielding mass?). There were three beers on, and this time I strengthened my resolve to tolerate the Hopton, which actually wasn't bad at all. Still humph though.
Across the road is my new girlfriend the Dog and Partridge, since I have no sense of loyalty. Once again an excellent range was on and I was able to get in the snug to enjoy reading a paper (Jesus! How old am I?) and supping beer. This time I had a pint of the excellent Abbeydale Cosmology, and a half of their latest Dr Morton's offering, this time a stout.
The snug is interesting because although it didn't escape the modernizing brush, to be fair its not that bad. No amount of "improvement" can, ahem, improve upon the original, but the wood carved graffiti on the dark varnished wood and basic fireplace still divert your attention, and it remains a great place to drink - and get served. Sensibly, no-one tampered with the hatch. I had another half of the stout to celebrate.
Next I went for a wander up West Street to the Bath Hotel. A rather smashing range on here - including Melba, which I had a pint of. Alas, I am doomed to have the end of every barrel of it as it was the last one out. Gah! What must I do to see it clear? Not even the Man of Ash could help, although rumours of a Saturday cask at the Hallamshire House were mooted.
I nipped briefly in Harrisons 1854 next. I'd be lying if I said I though it was the same as when my good friend Barraharri was behind the bar but having gone in regularly for nearly 2 years its not like I don't still like the place. I had a wry smile as the first beer I asked for, Farmers Yorkshire Farmer, was off, but it was replaced with acceptable Blonde and I caught up briefly with new Dave who might have been called Toby (sorry might have been called Toby chap). Nice to get back in the old haunt, lets hope I can do so again soon.
A very quick visit to the Red Deer followed, just because I've not been for a while, and I enjoyed a decent half of Dukeries Porter, before heading down past Fagan's and cutting through alleyways and deserted streets in what used to be the Red Hill and Crofts area (I swallowed a Sheffield history website, yes) down to Shakespeares.
Here further delights were to be found and I opted for a pint of the Revolutions Demo #7, before being joined at the bar by Brewer Rich from Blue Bee. A couple of halves of their summer refresher Light Blue followed, and given the late hour, it was probably best I finished on something quaffable but not too strong.
A final bit of news regards the prefurn do at the Closed Shop. The last session before refurbishment was like a night of the stars in the world of Sheffield pubs and beer drinkers, with cameo's and starring roles from Mr Stephens, Katedave, Kat, Kate, Katy(ie), Dansome, Father o Matic, Baker, Jepson, Bad panda, The Man of Ash and Williams among too many to list. Beers supped were well, not really recorded, but I'm sure I drank Blue Bee Listin to Port before it ran out, then possibly migrated to Easy Rider and then Caledonian Fying Scotsman before everything got a bit confusing.
I even joined in the quiz...
The bar staff, Paultous, Katedave and the unflappable Chris worked hard to make it an enjoyable evening, and despite us all downloading a rather unfortunate app called "Angry Daves" (instructions below*) it was a really enjoyable and slightly raucous night. I shall miss the Shop very much over the next few weeks, but likely appreciate it all the more when it reopens.
Wee Beefy
*Playing Angry Daves is simple. No download is necessary. Merely fill up the Dave with beer (preferably cask), propose an idea contrary to his..sorry, any idea, and await the outburst! Literally minutes of fun. And achieved using a set of instructions that, disappointingly, he'll never read....
Wednesday, 26 June 2013
Beer fortnight - what happened when.
Wello,
it seems incredulous but there is still one last birthday do awaiting me. Not because I'm the queen and have two, nor is it because I'm a cat and live life seven times faster than you all (although some of you who have been on a pun crawl with me may claim I walk and drink at least twice as fast). No, just that with a pile up of events we decided to go out for a meal next month. Luckily, I have squeezed in a few trips to the pub in between, yer know, to maintain the ruddy faced revelry of my celebrations. It looked a bit like this....
Thursday was a chance to meet up with Fluffy and go to the Hop beer festival. Which had happened the week before. Thanks to a chance meeting with Andy M I was spared the embarrassment of turning up expecting Mallinsons and other IPA based treats, and instead we met in the Rutland. The place was packed despite monsoon rains outside, but we managed to wrangle a seat near the open door to dry off in the draught and for me to sup a pint of Chantry Black and a pint of Blue Bee Lustin for Stout. A good solid start to any night.
Next we yomped through rainy streets to DAda where there was loads of people in, but not loads of necessarily good beer. So much so that I appear to have forgotten what I had to drink. Oh, no wait, I was continuing my dark beer theme by sharing a bottle of Kernel Stout at £5.00 odd a bottle with Fluffy. here we were joined by Rich Hall impersonator Keith and Si.
We decamped to Fagans next for a nice change, and even got to sit in the miniature snug on the right. Pints of Abbeydale Moonshine all round were supped whilst we discussed the finer points of lire. And buses. Fume.
Our final port of call was Shakespeares where I had a pint of North Riding IBU-less Mosaic, and probably some bottles that were strong. I know I finished on a bottle of Duvel Triple Hop Citra. In fact there may have been more than one. It was rather nice and sold at a very sensible price, and am afraid after a lengthy listen to Keith's lament on the downtrodden English I had to escape and catch a taxi for a very reasonable price. Which was nice.
Friday was beer festival day as you know, and Saturday it was my Barbecue. The chosen 18 pints were of Howard Town Wrens Nest which was just about spot on with a decent well balanced bitterness. Bottled highlights included a Wild Beer Co Hop Monster, and some excellent unfiltered German lagers brewed for a London brewery by a fifth generation Bavarian. These are only samples but hopefully Davefromtshop can get his hands on some to sell. Sunday saw me trying to recover - by finishing the remaining 6 and a half pints of Wrens Nest. Well, I couldn't let me down...
To finish off an entire fortnight of frankly childish excess I went out last night as well. I was to meet a mysterious rarely scene double act from the Internet, but alas, in my haste to meet them, was undone by the very same world in which they live...
I was meeting them in the Sheffield Tap at 19.30 but we don't have each others mobile numbers or really firm ideas about our respective appearances. I spent a good 20 minutes supping a rather magnificent pint of Tapped Brew Co Pegler pale ale, 4.4% and £3.00 a go, subtly assessing every couple who entered he bar based on a series of preposterous guesses and erroneous assumptions, like some novice shy swinger. Having "located" said pair I set about subtly making them see that I was obviously a beer drinker. Nothing happened.
I can confidently claim that I have never seen fit to use the internet on my phone. Because it's rubbish. But having arranged this high level meeting through Twitter I caved in and cack-handedly fumbled my way through Twitter on my phone to see if the plans had changed - which they had. Still, by this time I had bought a half of the excellent Magic Rock Carnival Summer Ale, and met Mr C for a chat so the visit wasn't entirely in vain. And besides, having chosen to head off to another pub, I now knew I had to find one with free Wi-fi to continue my phinternet training.
First though a pressing need forced me to divert to the Old Queens Head where there were about 4 real ales on - I had a half of usually reliable Wainwright from Thwaites and Bluestone Bitter from Kite Brewery. Hmmm. The Bluestone was like a Whitbread full mash brew but sweeter - not so much unpleasant as unrecognisable as beer. It baffled me why they'd brew it at all. The Wainwright was a disappointment as this too seemed overly sweet. Time to move on.
Things initially got worse when I got to DAda. Despite peach inspired brewmatser Jamie manning the bar and Adam for company, given that Thornbridge Halcyon was the only beer that I would contemplate drinking from the range available (and I wasn't going to since its quite strong) I opted to leave and try somewhere else. This may seem a bit OTT but the range was 4 of the very worst and most insipid Thornbridge beers ever brewed - you can probably fill them in yourself but it was Black Harry, Lord Marples, Brother Rabbit and Hopton. I could possibly have had a half of the latter but time was precious, as were funds.
The Dog and Partridge was my next stop, and despite my horror at its decor, as mentioned many times before, I am starting to rather like it. The beer was on excellent form as well so that improved my visit even more (although I was prompted to register with Sky to use their free Wi-fi - no amount of free stuff is worth giving my DNA to Murdoch for). I had a half of Abbeydale Cosmology and a pint of Chantry Chandos. The latter was a strong slightly hoppy beer, which was enjoyable but couldn't really compete with the Abbeydale. Cosmology is probably one of my favourite beers of late and it was so good that I had another half. A pub I think I'll be visiting again soon.
My final stop was at Shakespeares where top chap Mr Bamford very kindly assisted with my refreshments -- two halves, one of Revolutions Demo #7, and an excellent half of Roosters Londinium coffee porter. I supped these with an obligatory pork pie, sat in the clock room, battling with my phinternet and listening to the band upstairs, until I realised it was late and ran off home for some snap.
So highs and lows but both nights out were once again a great showcase for the varied pub stock of the Steel City. A collection that often proves hard to resist.
Cheers!
Wee Beefy.
it seems incredulous but there is still one last birthday do awaiting me. Not because I'm the queen and have two, nor is it because I'm a cat and live life seven times faster than you all (although some of you who have been on a pun crawl with me may claim I walk and drink at least twice as fast). No, just that with a pile up of events we decided to go out for a meal next month. Luckily, I have squeezed in a few trips to the pub in between, yer know, to maintain the ruddy faced revelry of my celebrations. It looked a bit like this....
Thursday was a chance to meet up with Fluffy and go to the Hop beer festival. Which had happened the week before. Thanks to a chance meeting with Andy M I was spared the embarrassment of turning up expecting Mallinsons and other IPA based treats, and instead we met in the Rutland. The place was packed despite monsoon rains outside, but we managed to wrangle a seat near the open door to dry off in the draught and for me to sup a pint of Chantry Black and a pint of Blue Bee Lustin for Stout. A good solid start to any night.
Next we yomped through rainy streets to DAda where there was loads of people in, but not loads of necessarily good beer. So much so that I appear to have forgotten what I had to drink. Oh, no wait, I was continuing my dark beer theme by sharing a bottle of Kernel Stout at £5.00 odd a bottle with Fluffy. here we were joined by Rich Hall impersonator Keith and Si.
We decamped to Fagans next for a nice change, and even got to sit in the miniature snug on the right. Pints of Abbeydale Moonshine all round were supped whilst we discussed the finer points of lire. And buses. Fume.
Our final port of call was Shakespeares where I had a pint of North Riding IBU-less Mosaic, and probably some bottles that were strong. I know I finished on a bottle of Duvel Triple Hop Citra. In fact there may have been more than one. It was rather nice and sold at a very sensible price, and am afraid after a lengthy listen to Keith's lament on the downtrodden English I had to escape and catch a taxi for a very reasonable price. Which was nice.
Friday was beer festival day as you know, and Saturday it was my Barbecue. The chosen 18 pints were of Howard Town Wrens Nest which was just about spot on with a decent well balanced bitterness. Bottled highlights included a Wild Beer Co Hop Monster, and some excellent unfiltered German lagers brewed for a London brewery by a fifth generation Bavarian. These are only samples but hopefully Davefromtshop can get his hands on some to sell. Sunday saw me trying to recover - by finishing the remaining 6 and a half pints of Wrens Nest. Well, I couldn't let me down...
To finish off an entire fortnight of frankly childish excess I went out last night as well. I was to meet a mysterious rarely scene double act from the Internet, but alas, in my haste to meet them, was undone by the very same world in which they live...
I was meeting them in the Sheffield Tap at 19.30 but we don't have each others mobile numbers or really firm ideas about our respective appearances. I spent a good 20 minutes supping a rather magnificent pint of Tapped Brew Co Pegler pale ale, 4.4% and £3.00 a go, subtly assessing every couple who entered he bar based on a series of preposterous guesses and erroneous assumptions, like some novice shy swinger. Having "located" said pair I set about subtly making them see that I was obviously a beer drinker. Nothing happened.
I can confidently claim that I have never seen fit to use the internet on my phone. Because it's rubbish. But having arranged this high level meeting through Twitter I caved in and cack-handedly fumbled my way through Twitter on my phone to see if the plans had changed - which they had. Still, by this time I had bought a half of the excellent Magic Rock Carnival Summer Ale, and met Mr C for a chat so the visit wasn't entirely in vain. And besides, having chosen to head off to another pub, I now knew I had to find one with free Wi-fi to continue my phinternet training.
First though a pressing need forced me to divert to the Old Queens Head where there were about 4 real ales on - I had a half of usually reliable Wainwright from Thwaites and Bluestone Bitter from Kite Brewery. Hmmm. The Bluestone was like a Whitbread full mash brew but sweeter - not so much unpleasant as unrecognisable as beer. It baffled me why they'd brew it at all. The Wainwright was a disappointment as this too seemed overly sweet. Time to move on.
Things initially got worse when I got to DAda. Despite peach inspired brewmatser Jamie manning the bar and Adam for company, given that Thornbridge Halcyon was the only beer that I would contemplate drinking from the range available (and I wasn't going to since its quite strong) I opted to leave and try somewhere else. This may seem a bit OTT but the range was 4 of the very worst and most insipid Thornbridge beers ever brewed - you can probably fill them in yourself but it was Black Harry, Lord Marples, Brother Rabbit and Hopton. I could possibly have had a half of the latter but time was precious, as were funds.
The Dog and Partridge was my next stop, and despite my horror at its decor, as mentioned many times before, I am starting to rather like it. The beer was on excellent form as well so that improved my visit even more (although I was prompted to register with Sky to use their free Wi-fi - no amount of free stuff is worth giving my DNA to Murdoch for). I had a half of Abbeydale Cosmology and a pint of Chantry Chandos. The latter was a strong slightly hoppy beer, which was enjoyable but couldn't really compete with the Abbeydale. Cosmology is probably one of my favourite beers of late and it was so good that I had another half. A pub I think I'll be visiting again soon.
My final stop was at Shakespeares where top chap Mr Bamford very kindly assisted with my refreshments -- two halves, one of Revolutions Demo #7, and an excellent half of Roosters Londinium coffee porter. I supped these with an obligatory pork pie, sat in the clock room, battling with my phinternet and listening to the band upstairs, until I realised it was late and ran off home for some snap.
So highs and lows but both nights out were once again a great showcase for the varied pub stock of the Steel City. A collection that often proves hard to resist.
Cheers!
Wee Beefy.
Wednesday, 19 June 2013
Bertie Booze Face
Yep. I am him.
yet it's tragic to consider that today is my birthday and not only have I been to work, but I'm also not out drinking tonight. And to properly dub my bowed head with a turd crown, now I'm writing a blog post about the celebrations attached to my aging anniversary.. What, in the name of Satan, am I thinking of?
Still, yer cant't learn nowt when tha dunt se nowt. As no-one has ever said. Ever.
Sunday was Fathers day, sandwiched somewhat inconveniently between two raucous birthday related drinking events, but thankfully not the day after my annual barbecue (although, it looks like its going to chuffing piss it down all day this coming Saturday so that plan has backfired) so me and Wee Keefy whisked Wee Fatha off to the Ouse Estuary to gawp at birds. In a strictly ornithological sense. Via a bacon butty in a sinking church opposite a closed pub called the Angel in Reedness, (as yer do) we headed to Blacktoft sands for a few hours. We then repaired to nearby Eastoft for a Sunday lunch at the River Don Tavern.
The lunch is £6.95 and doesn't scrimp on the meat. There was loads, and it was cooked to perfection. You then got yorky puds, 2 types of stuffing and as much tatties and veg and gravy as you could fit on the plate. Ours was washed down with halves of Fulstow Northwood IPA, at 4.3% and £2.80 a pint for Wee Fatha, whilst WK had a pint of, and I two and a half pints of, the rather excellent Wold Top Tenner, brewed to celebrate their 10th anniversary. Served mercifully slightly cool, on a belting sunny day, this was a great advert for the pub.
On Tuesday I was meeting Chala for "either" a coffee or a pint. Whatevs. We headed for Shakespeares where the Muirhouse mild dark type affair didn't really tempt Chala so she had a pint of Blue Bee Lustin for Stout, whilst I had a pint of the Roosters Wild Mule. I have to say it was a somewhat underwhelming beer, but I had my eyes on sterner stuff. I soon moved onto a half of the Blue Bee, thus confirming it's excellence, and a half of Ska Brewing Modus Hoperandi.
Obviously as a fan of modern hop forward brews its a prerequisite that I have to actually achieve orgasm at the very mention of Modus Hoperandi, and though it was good, it could probably have benefited from a smidgen more balance. As all too often demonstrated by hop clumsy lupuliholics, a splurge of hops is not everything in a beer. That said, it was still very nice. I finished on an equally very nice bottle of Anderson County Barney Oatmeal Stout at something around the £3.50 mark, which was incredibly full flavoured but in a canny, subtly layered way.
Off next to the Fat Cat so we could "eat food" (nope, I don't understand that either) and sup beer of course. Here I had a pint of something dark that I have forgotten the name of. It was from a Yorkshire brewery. Probably. It was OK. The food was very nice as always though. And it was god to catch up with Stephen.
Round at the Ship we were literally the only customers - for a whole hour. Not even the advent of 21.00 provided any company. Chala ordered and abandoned a worryingly sweet Staropramen (I'm certain its not supposed to taste like that) but moved onto a house brandy and coke for a very reasonable price, whereas I had a pint of Abbeydale Brimstone. Am not sure Chala was taken by the Ship as much as I am but it was still a good place to sit down and catch up.
A hop on the tram brought us to the end of West Street and Chala sensibly went home, whilst I went to DAda. Behind the bar was Jamie - on it was his Peach IPA, Melba. Oh my good God. That is a fantastic beer. Absolutely exactly what I wanted and needed, not overly sweet like Timmermans, since its a peach IPA, just very refreshing. Annoyingly though it ran out so I opted to move up an ABV. Or 6.
I had a half of Thornbridge Imperial Russian Oatmeal Stout, which had been maturing 6 months so could have been stronger than 11%, at £3.15 a half. It was brilliant. Pretty soon, having texted a few mates to tell them about this delight, I was joined by Clare and Gav, along with Adam and Lofty, and things took off somewhat from there.
As we all moved onto the stout I bought half a Chiron and then shared a bottle of Kernel Export Stout 1874 or something. The same beer that I am drinking now, in a curiously restrained birthday undertaking. After this happened I'm not clear on a few points, but I remember suddenly running out at 23.25 to get a bus, actually not falling asleep on it, and getting home. To fall asleep on the settee. Classy.
Tomorrow and Friday I am out and about at pubs and stuff so may see some of you, before Saturday heraldss the barbecue to end all barbecues. Or possibly one that you just wish would end. In a dismally English wet upper lip washout. Only 18 pints of a pale bitter beer will ease the pain (and that's not all for me I hasten to add).
Cheers!
Wee Beefy
yet it's tragic to consider that today is my birthday and not only have I been to work, but I'm also not out drinking tonight. And to properly dub my bowed head with a turd crown, now I'm writing a blog post about the celebrations attached to my aging anniversary.. What, in the name of Satan, am I thinking of?
Still, yer cant't learn nowt when tha dunt se nowt. As no-one has ever said. Ever.
Sunday was Fathers day, sandwiched somewhat inconveniently between two raucous birthday related drinking events, but thankfully not the day after my annual barbecue (although, it looks like its going to chuffing piss it down all day this coming Saturday so that plan has backfired) so me and Wee Keefy whisked Wee Fatha off to the Ouse Estuary to gawp at birds. In a strictly ornithological sense. Via a bacon butty in a sinking church opposite a closed pub called the Angel in Reedness, (as yer do) we headed to Blacktoft sands for a few hours. We then repaired to nearby Eastoft for a Sunday lunch at the River Don Tavern.
The lunch is £6.95 and doesn't scrimp on the meat. There was loads, and it was cooked to perfection. You then got yorky puds, 2 types of stuffing and as much tatties and veg and gravy as you could fit on the plate. Ours was washed down with halves of Fulstow Northwood IPA, at 4.3% and £2.80 a pint for Wee Fatha, whilst WK had a pint of, and I two and a half pints of, the rather excellent Wold Top Tenner, brewed to celebrate their 10th anniversary. Served mercifully slightly cool, on a belting sunny day, this was a great advert for the pub.
On Tuesday I was meeting Chala for "either" a coffee or a pint. Whatevs. We headed for Shakespeares where the Muirhouse mild dark type affair didn't really tempt Chala so she had a pint of Blue Bee Lustin for Stout, whilst I had a pint of the Roosters Wild Mule. I have to say it was a somewhat underwhelming beer, but I had my eyes on sterner stuff. I soon moved onto a half of the Blue Bee, thus confirming it's excellence, and a half of Ska Brewing Modus Hoperandi.
Obviously as a fan of modern hop forward brews its a prerequisite that I have to actually achieve orgasm at the very mention of Modus Hoperandi, and though it was good, it could probably have benefited from a smidgen more balance. As all too often demonstrated by hop clumsy lupuliholics, a splurge of hops is not everything in a beer. That said, it was still very nice. I finished on an equally very nice bottle of Anderson County Barney Oatmeal Stout at something around the £3.50 mark, which was incredibly full flavoured but in a canny, subtly layered way.
Off next to the Fat Cat so we could "eat food" (nope, I don't understand that either) and sup beer of course. Here I had a pint of something dark that I have forgotten the name of. It was from a Yorkshire brewery. Probably. It was OK. The food was very nice as always though. And it was god to catch up with Stephen.
Round at the Ship we were literally the only customers - for a whole hour. Not even the advent of 21.00 provided any company. Chala ordered and abandoned a worryingly sweet Staropramen (I'm certain its not supposed to taste like that) but moved onto a house brandy and coke for a very reasonable price, whereas I had a pint of Abbeydale Brimstone. Am not sure Chala was taken by the Ship as much as I am but it was still a good place to sit down and catch up.
A hop on the tram brought us to the end of West Street and Chala sensibly went home, whilst I went to DAda. Behind the bar was Jamie - on it was his Peach IPA, Melba. Oh my good God. That is a fantastic beer. Absolutely exactly what I wanted and needed, not overly sweet like Timmermans, since its a peach IPA, just very refreshing. Annoyingly though it ran out so I opted to move up an ABV. Or 6.
I had a half of Thornbridge Imperial Russian Oatmeal Stout, which had been maturing 6 months so could have been stronger than 11%, at £3.15 a half. It was brilliant. Pretty soon, having texted a few mates to tell them about this delight, I was joined by Clare and Gav, along with Adam and Lofty, and things took off somewhat from there.
As we all moved onto the stout I bought half a Chiron and then shared a bottle of Kernel Export Stout 1874 or something. The same beer that I am drinking now, in a curiously restrained birthday undertaking. After this happened I'm not clear on a few points, but I remember suddenly running out at 23.25 to get a bus, actually not falling asleep on it, and getting home. To fall asleep on the settee. Classy.
Tomorrow and Friday I am out and about at pubs and stuff so may see some of you, before Saturday heraldss the barbecue to end all barbecues. Or possibly one that you just wish would end. In a dismally English wet upper lip washout. Only 18 pints of a pale bitter beer will ease the pain (and that's not all for me I hasten to add).
Cheers!
Wee Beefy
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