Vikkie and Wee's Walkley wander

Hello,

    on Saturday, the day after payday assuring me of having funds, myself and my fab chum Vikkie went for a wander, billed as Crookes and Walkley, but mainly Walkley, and including Commonside. Co-incidentally, I did mostly the same crawl with Ale Ambler Charlie about 5 years ago, and I met with him Sunday, but details of that are to come in my next post.

I was meant to meet Vikkie at 12.00 in town so left the house at 11.15. The 52a, which runs every ten minutes, when it can be bothered, arrived 30 minutes after I arrived at the bus stop. Things could only get better. After the bus swapped drivers I found Vikkie on High Street and we both boarded the bus I had been on and got off on the top of Crookes. Our first job was to look at how the new micropub was progressing. A neb through the window suggests its potential name may be the builders yard....

Our first stop was the Princess Royal. From a range of four or five ales I started on a pint of Blue Bee Jester and Vikkie on a half of Welbeck Harley, and we sat round the side in the sunshine admiring the views and the wildlife, along with our beers. From here we walked down to gawp at the former Olde Heavygate, R.I.P old friend, and then headed down to Commonside to pop in the Closed Shop. Those of you who know me well will have heard me say numerous times that I would NEVER set foot in this pub whilst Stancil had it, but, you can't judge without visiting. So Vikkie had a half of Saltaire something or other on keg and me a half of full of Dank on cask, and we sat in the sunshine in the beer garden. The beer was OK. It wasn't very busy. Maybe the locals have taken a harder stance than myself.....

Across the road to the Hallamshire House and we sat in their beer garden with a pint of Hacksaw pale for me and a pint of Tangarine lager or ale for Vikkie. Both beers were well kept and we planned our route for the rest of the crawl. Ironically, heading up School Road we bumped into none other than the man of Ash, former manager at the HH. It was great to hear that his tenure at the Beer Engine was going well, and he provided some advice about our later destinations.

Up to the Cobden View next and being mid afternoon the pub was very quiet. After a somewhat lengthy wait we ordered a pint of Deuchars for me and a pint of Farmers for Vikkie and went and sat in their wonderful beer garden, enjoying the hot sunshine. After a quick scrump of some pears we headed down the path at the back onto Western Road then up past Binghams and back down to Commonside, then along to the Rose House.

When myself and Charlie had been they had two real ales on, and it still advertises that in paint on the wall but am not sure thy have served cask for two or three years now. We sat in the garden with halves of Guinness St James' Gold, which was on sale at a decent £2.60 a pint. After listening in on an urban soap opera, we headed on to the Palm on Palm Street.

Two real ales on here, and we both went for halves of Farmers Blonde and went and sat in their  beer garden. The location was lovely, especially in the hot sun, but the beer alas was on its very last legs. We chatted to the landlady for some time about Punch but forgot to mention that it was time for her Farmers to retire. A quick visit next to the Florist, which no longer sells real ale so we had halves of Magnet in their beer garden, before we visited the Blind Monkey. Probably a pint each of Heathen in here, and once again enjoyed in the hot sunshine in their wonderful........beer garden!

A quick hoik up Carr Road followed and we settled down to our best beer of the day in the Walkley Beer Co. I had a pint of IPA at 6.8% that had been brewed at a brewery and had a name, and finished on a can of Cloudwater Citra DIPA. Vikkie also had drinks, which were imbibed from a glass.

We were to have popped in the Blake, once again utilising their beer garden, but were fair famished so headed straight for the Hillsborough Hotel for food. Unfortunately they weren't serving food, so we had crisps and enjoyed our pints of beer coloured liquids in the beer garden. Obviously.

Sup finished I know I got on a bus and there is every chance that I got home, so it was a case of mission accomplished. The Walkley Beer Co was the best pub of the day but the Hallamshire House and Cobden also stood out amongst many. Many reasons to make a visit to some or all of the pubs yourselves whilst the weather is still good!

Cheers!

Wee Beefy

Everybody's leaving....

Greetings readoids,

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Ahoy!

Captain Beefchart

Two short Sheffield pub crawls

Art-noo,

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Cheers!

Wee Beefy

Mad Hatter on cask, Shakespeares, Indy Man Beer Con 2015 and other news.

Hello,

         apologies for a lack of writing this month - have lacked time, inspiration, clear memories, time, inspiration....

Anyhoo. in no particular order, here's a round up of some fantastic ales I have drunk in the last 3 weeks.

The day before pay day I was sat by myself in the clock room at Shakesepares. On the bar was an absolute crascker of an ale. Mad Hatter brewing's Toxteth IPA, on cask, at 6.5% and £3.90 a pint. Rather good value am sure you will agree. As I was taking it easy I only had two and a half pints but they were nectar - slightly fruit, citrussy and bitingly bitter hops in the aftertaste, but still well rounded and easy to drink.

I was in the Closed Shop recently supping Blue Bee Reet Pale and another delicious offering from Tynebank. Was good to bump into Mr Ransome and his other half whilst having a relaxing sup and a catch up. Across the road, the Hallamshire House has been a bit hit and miss of late but the Marble Pint (I am not sure about this...!) and the dry hopped Siren (or Cloudwater) Berliner WEiss on keg was a perfect combo. Apologies for fragmented memories of this session!

Sunday saw me and Tash in the York in Broomhill. The excellent Roosters Jasmine Green Tea IPA was on as well as couple pf their other brews, some True North and a red ale called Zakos or similar from Crate Brewery. Sat outside by ourselves we had a couple of pints each, 3 of them were the Green Tea IPA.

Down the hill we also visited the Beer House. Two ales stood out, both from Tiny Rebel. It seems their Cwch has won at the GBBF and Tash had a pint of that, whilst I enjoyed a pint of their Billabong Pale. The pub is quite barren in the back room when its quiet, but at least we had chance to catch up and keep an eye on the time. We had a second round of the same before leaving.

Last night in the Three Tuns we missed the Dark Star Hophead but enjoyed 3 pints each with Matty of the excellent Mallinsons Topaz single hopped ale. Not seeing Mallinsons as much these days so this was a lovely treat, and the hop, and indeed the beer, had a very distinctive and refreshing flavour.

We finished the night in Shakespeares with Rachael and Ade and Cayti and others, drinking pints of North Riding US Session IPA and the amazing cask Mad Hatters Mild, at a whopping 7.4%, and still only £3.90 a pint! Having tried their Dark Hares Black IPA at 7.0% the day or two before I have to say I am very impressed with Mad Hatter brewery beers, having first tried them in Liverpool at their bar last year.

Finally, a quick mention about the Indy Man Beer Con 2015, which rakes place in October from 8th to the 11th at the wonderful venue of Chorlton Victorian Baths. There is a link here to the website for details of tickets. I loved the event last year but have been quite late requesting tickets fr this year's event so may not get to go - not because I don't want to pay, but because there are very few tickets left!

For a taste of how the festival works and the amazing range of ales on in the frankly sumptuous venue, here is a link to my blog post from last year. If there are tickets left I highly recommend a trip.

That#s all I have for now am afraid, but will hopefully blog again before month end.

Cheers!

Wee Beefy

Meanwhile, sales, openings and other news

Now then,

     I have been concentrating on writing about a couple of pubs recently, but I assure you I have been to others. Here are some details of some of them, the beer I drank (possibly) and the news I know.

Last night the Three Cranes on Queen Street reopened. It has been taken over by Tracey and Kevin (note, only looked at sign once). I noticed soon after getting in that in fact they ran the pub before, after thingy and whats his name went bankrupt. There were 4 real ales, Black Sheep, Robinsons Trooper, another and what I had a pint of, which was Sharps' Atlantic IPA.

Am certain this used to be stronger and more hoppy - I realise in the years since I last tried it (6) my tastebuds have developed but it tasted really sweet and not very hoppy. Still, all real ale was £2.60 a pint and I went and sat in the roof beer garden in the shade to enjoy my pint.

Couple of differing visits to the Three Tuns - went on the hottest day of the year to find, unsurprisingly, that it was boiling. The Blue Bee American 5 hop was OK, but cloudy and almost warm. I expect the old pub is difficult to chill but that was a shame. Popped in last night to find an improved beer range including Mallinsons SPA which I had a half of ,along with an excellent Silver Dollar from Tyne Bank. Pub was busy as well.

Went in Craft and Dough recently for the first time. Some people like, others don't, and I am not sure. I have to admit that it was full of the most nauseating hipster pricks, and I tried hard not to let this distract me. The beer was nice - Abbeydale Mosaic on keykeg, although even using that dispense,  £4.50 a pint is a lot for that beer. The range of bottles is impressive but pricey, some on the best list are absurd. Probably worth choosing carefully if you go.

Have also been regularly supping in the Brothers and Sheaf View. However, what has happened to this  duo? The Sheaf View, initially knocked back by the popularity of the Brothers Arms, has slowly and quietly gone from strength to strength with an excellent range of ales. Meanwhile, whilst still having the best beer garden in Sheffield, what has happened at the Brothers?

Unhappy staff, brown beers only and stouts, and less snacks - two crucial observations from my last two visits. Speaking to one of the beer Geeks recently they pointed out that the pub pulls off a clever trick, by being part real ale pub and part traditional boozer. I agree, but am surprised the beer range has suffered so much. Maybe I visited on the wrong day.

Have been spending a lot of time in the Wellington of late. No probs remembering what I had here, its the same every time - pints of the Little Ale Cart Flying Scotsman at 5% and £2.60 a pint. Delicious. My only concern is that there are so rarely new people in there - its brilliant to have a band of regulars, but, in small numbers, that's not a long term survival plan. Maybe that is why I heard that someone was going to buy the pub, bearing in mind the owner is selling his pub in Worcester.

Recent visits to the Bath have seen decent beers including Anarchy Blonde Star, Bad Seed Cascade, Thornbridge Tart, and lighter if less hoppy guests from Blackjack and others. Shame the cask selection has gone down a bit of late, as this is still one of my favourite pubs - no doubt the fast approaching end of summer will bring about a change in fortune.

Finally, the Hallamshire House can now sell guest beers - I understand the Man of Ash has a whole range of Cloudwater beers available. Its always been a great place to try Thornbridge beers at their best but the addition of guests is a brilliant boost. No doubt the soon to be reopened Springvale will draw more ale supping customers to the area....

Cheers!

Wee Beefy

Wanders in Crookes, Walkley and the Upper Don Valley

Hello,

          I wanted to tell you about two fantastic nights out I have had recently. Its important to point out that they are separate occasions, in case you should conclude that I drank 10 pints in one night. I did not. Not since 2009.....

Anyhoo, myself and Tash caught the 95 up to Commonside. We didn't fancy being in town with heaving crowds of football fans, and persons suffering from near hypothermia who assumed the sunshine at Midday represented the temperature at 20.00. We wanted somewhere homely, warm and slightly more relaxed.

The Closed Shop was quite busy as it turned out, but there were still seats and lots of lovely ale as always. I had a pint of Blue Bee Reet Pale, Tash a Crouch Vale Amarillo. We settled down in each other's arms and chatted about everything and nothing for a while before returning to the bar. This time, having decided the Amarillo was nice, but not as nice as the Reet, we both went with pints of the Blue Bee ale, which was about £2.70 a pint. We bumped into Saxbob who told us about a band on across the road, and also Jo and Neil. We had been intending to go to the Bake but having eard about the band opted instead to make the arduous trek across to the Hallamshire House.

The band were playing, and it was rammed. There was nowhere to sit apart from an odd steel here or there, and besides, we wanted to hear the music and see the band, so ended up stood up in the snooker room at the back. We had two halves of the Jaipur X which I think was about £7.00 a pint. Its worrying how many times I am paying that much for, albeit undoubtedly strong, and delicious, but ultimately expensive beer. Luckily it was on fine form. We finished our drinks, which were two more pints each of "normal" Jaipur, whilst the band who may have been called the Honeybee Blues Club based on a poster, finished their excellent set.

We also caught the 52 from town on a cold but sunny evening for a mobile celebration of crapulence. We started on Crookes top and made our way in rather odd fashion to Western Road and down Slinn Street to the Princess Royal. I haven't been for a whle so enjoyed the change of scene, as did Tash - its such a wonderful design of building, with many original features inside, and always serves real ale. As this was a short stop we had halves - we both had Welbeck Harley which, if my memory serves me right, I had last time I was in. We sat inside enjoying the music and banter.

From here we walked down to Heavygate and right and then down to join Fulton Road, down the end of which is Daniel Hill and the Blake. The view over Sheffield was superb in the bright sunshine, and this is a walk I enjoy doing immensely when the weather is clear. Inside we met Tuba John, who seems to be found in many places that we visit these days! We each had a pint of the pale ale from the brewery that is on earth somewhere and has an ABV. and sat down to chat with TJ.

Alas, that beer ran out for us and the pub so we changed to a half for Tash and pint for me of Pictish Fusion, which was on good form. Once again the atmosphere was good and the pub was a lovely place to pass some time. No pork pies though....

We walked another lengthy route, down Industry Street and up Tennyson Road onto the road where the Freedom View once stood. Down the side we joined Burnaby Street, then Burton Street en route to the New Barrack Tavern. We were only stopping for a half here, and both had halves of the Castle Rock Screech Owl, which was lovely.

Our next part of the journey involved waiting at Bamforth Street bus stop for 40 minutes to not catch 6 scheduled buses. We traipsed off along Infirmary Road cold and annoyed, and stopped in the Hillsborough Hotel. I have been disappointed by the Wood Street beers over the years and didn't think as much as I used to of the Double H. However, we were greeted warmly and offered tasters of 5 beers that were on. I had a half of Archer from Lincoln Green, and Tash a half of Lemmon from Wood Street. We sat down in the warmth to get our heads together before getting another half of Lemmon to share.

It was good to visit the Double H for the first time in a while, and hopefully we will return again soon enough - we have the Palm in Walkley to visit after all.....

Our final stop was following a walk along Infirmary Road and beyond to Shakespeares. As it was our final stop we opted for some stronger beers - Tash had a pint of the 5.1% Northern Monk Faith Pale Ale, and I had a pint of the delicious but strong tasting Mad Dog Kamikaze Hop Pooch at 7.4% - at least, that's what I can make out on my photo. With time getting on and the last bus uncatchable, we opted for another pint each of this beer, and although the Beefdozer cometh, we recovered sufficiently to catch a taxi back and fall asleep in our food. Awwww....stylish.

The above demonstrates (well, not the last bit) that Walkley and Crookes have worthy places to go drinking, as does the more renowned Upper Don Valley. Am hoping to return again soon to check out some of the other boozers in the area.

Cheers!

Wee Beefy

A great start to April in Sheffield

Hulloo,

        this blog will cover my refreshments and travels since Sunday. Admittedly April didn't start til Wednesday, but, yer know, you have to start somewhere....

On Sunday night, having woken up at Christ on a bike o-clock - that being 15.20 (!) I headed to town to catch a 53 up to Heeley. Alas, the bloody thing never showed up so I caught a 48 instead. You know, because the 48 goes the same way as the 47 doesn't it.... later, at the terminus, I asked the driver for advice and he told me he was now he 47 , so I went back on him and got off near the Victoria. An interesting, if frustrating, 95 minutes after leaving home.

The Brothers Arms was busy inside but virtually empty outside in the cold and wind. Having roused a member of staff from the caravan I got a pint of Mallinsons Spruce Goose, and halves of Siren Dinner for Three and Oakham Black Hole Porter. I then found a table inside and went to sup. The Mallinsons was not actually supposed to be a pint, but never mind, it was a tasty if slightly heavy brew. The Siren was interesting as well. Next up I spent longer grabbing the attention of the staff and had a pint of Buxton High Tor, and a half of Siren Liquid Mistress.

This time the Siren was the best, but the High Tor was an equally memorable pint. By now I was sat wit Dave Staves, who, and this is something that often happens these days, I realised I have known for over 20 years. It was good to catch up with him, for the hour or more we were both there. The final beer was a half of Salopian Kashmir, since the other beers had either run out or were a little weird! The guy behind the bar even went out to open the now closed outside bar for me., which was a nice touch.

On Tuesday, the day after his birthday, me and Matty met after work for a few pints. We started at the Shakespeares - I think! I only say this because it was late when we got to Commonside, which is where my notes start. Having left work at 18.45 I think we must have diverted to my favourite boozer first. Alas, I have no recollection of what we had, apart from, definitely, Sorachi Face Plant from Weird Beard.

We later arrived at the Closed Shop , and I had a pint of the Blue Bee rational Black IPA. I do like the beer, but it tasted a little smokey, slightly burnt - possibly the malt used or something? We also shared a half of the Siren Seven Seas which is, I think, a wheat pale ale. It didn't taste as I expected, but was still very nice.

Across the road and we saw the jolly bearded face of the Man of Ash outside the Hallamshire House. He quickly informed us that the Thornbridge Murmansk Porter was on. Given its strength, we divvied up a pint and a half, and sat in the snug on the left to catch up further. It was good to bump into the Man of Ash, who I have seen little of lately , presumably because of the arrival of the little one (this is a child, by the way, not a visiting midget...)

Off quickly to catch the bus and to jump in the Bath. Hotel. Matty had a pint of Brock and myself a pint at least, of Palasine (?) Pale from Bad Seed Brewing Co.  It was getting late, but the pub was still quite busy, and it was a great place to finish our drinking for the night.

Finally, Wednesday saw myself and Mr P on one of our monthly Wanderiains. We started at the Rutland - as always, the place was rammed, but we managed to get a seat. Alas this was near the jukebox, which I am sure they turned up when we sat down! I had a half of the Geeves Imperial IPA, and the Raw City Ceremony, or Criterion, or neither, of opposites, whilst Mr P had a pint of Reet Pale. We didn't stay after our drinks because we couldn't hear each other speak, so headed for the Sheffield Tap.

Here Mr P had one of the Tapped Brew Co beers and I went for something that has escaped me - I promise I made notes last night for my next blog post! We sat in the small room round the back as the large dining room was hired out for a do. It was relaxing and quiet in the back and a good chance to catch up .

From here we walked up to the Tap and Tankard. Mr P had a pint of Kelham Island and I had a pint of Bad Seed Cascade Pale Ale. I also tried the Kelham Island American Pale Ale on keg - I was initially sceptical since it was only 4.0%, and I was right to be. As thought, the beer lacked the character and depth of flavour to work kegged and was drowned in carbonation. Still, the Bad Seed was very quaffable and the catching up and discussions continued.

Our final port of call was at BrewDog. Mr P had never been - and I think he likes it. He had a sensible lower Gravity Red Willow beer - although, I thought he ordered a stout, and what he got wasn't dark at all - anyone know if Red Willow brew a white stout? Meanwhile, I had a very expensive drink. The BrewDog Paradox, Compass Box  stout. It was 15%, and, being kegged and BrewDog, it was a £1.00 a percent. That's right. It was £15.00 a pint. I very nearly didn't go for a third, but I figured at that strength, I would very likely not want another drink after wards. And besides, it was Mr P's round. Sorted!

The beers were both, as always in BrewDog, impeccable. The stout was obviously very strong but surprisingly smooth, and carrying a punchy peaty smoked aftertaste from the whisky used. Overall, this was a very enjoyable visit, and a great introduction to the bar for Mr P.

Hopefully April will continue to provide excellent ales in excellent pubs - I am heading to the newly reopened Beer Engine on Cemetery Road later to try it out - blog to come about that.


Cheers!

Wee Beefy

Drinking beer in 2015

Hello,

                this post is not, as you may perhaps expect, an assay of the factors involved in drinking in this sparkling new year, instead it is a detailed reporting of beers I have supped so far. In 2015. Self explanatory really....

New Years day I finished off the last 5 or 6 pints of Abbeydale Absolution in my polypin which I had saved for me and Tash. I poured most of into the fantastic Shepherd Neame glazed beer jug she had given me for Christmas in 2013 and placed that in the fridge then drank the rest. Being an unfiltered polypin it was now nearly 10 days old and a little cloudy at the end, which is perhaps the fault of my polypin, but tasted fine, now with an extra hint of nuttiness. It washed down our very extensive meal very well.

Later we opened a bottle of Bad Seed Brewing Saison which I bought from Hop Hideout back in September. This bottle conditioned beer was on fine form but the saison really came into its own when the yeast at the end was added. What a sensationally refreshing ale! It met all my expectations, which is not something that happens very often, and was a perfect accompaniment to our evening listening to the Damned and Tom Waits.

Yesterday I met up with Carlos in Crookes. We started our beer tour in the Ball Ale House, where I had a very enjoyable pint of Belgian Blue from Bradfield. Had I stayed for another I could perhaps have found out how the Dukeries Sno wonder should have tasted, since the bottled version was vile and much was tipped down the sink - alas we did not stay for another, but did bump into Dan Baxter, who was there for beer. Good choice!

Down the hill next we made our way to the Cobden View. The Belgian blue was my choice again and it tasted superb. Carlos mentioned that lots of people had been mentioning it and trying it recently - perhaps they have brewed more this year? As always the atmosphere was great and there were plenty of families out enjoying a beer in this traditional back street local.

Next to the Closed Shop on Commonside. As usual a good range of real ales was on and I opted for the Blue Bee Amarillo IPA, which was on fine form. We also had much needed food in here - a cheesy chip butty for me and southern fried chicken for Carlos. Wee Keefy joined us and  had a delicious rib eye steak at £12.00 which he loved. He also loved his pints of Ringwood xxxx porter. We stayed here to meet Tash and Matty and I had three or four pints of the Amarillo, and Keith and Matty the 4x, and Tash joining me on the Amarillo.

Carlos and WK didn't fancy walking to the Bath so we went across the road to the Hallamshire House pub for our last beers of the night. Me and Tash had pints of Jaipur and alas it escapes me what WK and Matty had but Keith kindly bought us thirds of the excellent General Sherman from Thornbridge, which I think was aged, at 8.4%.

It was great to catch up with Keith, and Carlos especially, and Tash and Matty, and also to find great real ale in 4 pubs only a few minutes walk away from each other. Lets hope 2015 continues in the same vain!

Wee Beefy

Ale for the homlidays

Hello again,
   
         I've been orf work this week and have used my time constructively. I....um...went to the pub. Oh yes. Lots of times. And enjoyed it very much. Since my note taking and long term memory are equally poor, I thought I'd fill you in on what I got up to so far.

Monday saw me and Miss N going shopping and drinking, in town and Walkley. Miss N started her shopping at the Dove and Rainbow and bought a fetching hat, whilst I started my wander in Walkley at the Florist. Subtle internal changes have taken place since I last ventured in, namely the decor, and Bradfield Brown Cow was the only real ale. It was on decent form and £1.25 a half. Sat in the left hand bay I could see the now refurbished "Crown House" across the road, now almost unrecognisable as a  pub and as previously mentioned, sharing its fate with other Walkley locals. Good to see then, customers coming in the Florist straight from work.

Along South Road the Walkley Beer Co premises weren't open but still set up to be a temporary pub - I hear they were open August Bank Holiday. There was talk of them opening the building permanently as an off licence and then getting a temporary bar license for events and bank holidays, but am unsure what the situation is.  I understand you can only get about 10 such licences a year, and with no further bank holidays til Christmas it would be a shame to wait so long to visit the pub/shop again.

Next up I popped into the Rose House. Three handpumps in here and one beer on, a rather odd tasting Moorhouses First Cut which I recall was £1.50 a half. It was fairly busy, and although not noticeably advertising the real ales, its a good sign that they are still selling them.

Into Commonside next and I opted not to visit the Springvale and instead went to the Closed Shop which was also, for a Monday late afternoon, quite busy. I had an excellent pint of Brass Castle Cliffhanger at £2.90 a pint and went and sat in the last of the sunshine in the beer garden. Having eaten an entire packet of chorizo from the excellent Beeches shop in Walkley I opted not to eat here, apart from some expensive zebra jerky. Instead I opted to "eat" the Brass Castle Sunshine, which, despite its light colour, you virtually needed a spoon to get it down your throat.  Afterwards I nipped into the Hallamshire to see the man of Ash and sup a very enjoyable half of Thornbridge desert sessions rye IPA at 5.7%, which was probably £1.75 a half - but I didn't write that down.

I walked into Broomhill next and had a tasty smoked chicken and potato salad and half a 4.2% Summer Wine Brewery Union pale at the York. The salad was delicate and delicious but I probably would have benefited more from a bag of chips! I also visited the Broomhill Tavern for the first time this decade and had a half of  Kelham Island Easy Rider at £1.50, from a range of 2 or 3. Its difficult to get the feel of the place on such a short visit but I noticed they took the menus off the tables at 18.50....

Off into town I stopped in the Wick at Both Ends for half of the Blackjack Trial 13 at £1.60, which was an odd but tasty beer, before going to meet Miss N and drink a pint and a half of Blue Bee Lustin for Stout in the Dove and Rainbow. Here I met Mr Slaughter and we persuaded him to join us for a last one in Shakespeares before he walked home to Stannington (!) and we headed home. I can't remember what we had but Mr S had a pint of the Revolutions demo wheat beer which was  very nice, as we discovered on Wednesday....

Which is when I met Miss N outside work and we walked in the hazy evening sunshine to the Gardeners Rest. I had a pint of Fyne Ales Jarl and Miss N the Sheffield Brew Co Galena, which was stronger than the Jarl but about 80p a pint cheaper. We sat outside watching the bird life on the river and letting it get dark and the triffid like lamps light up, before we opted for more beer. This time I had a half of Kia Kaha from the Crwr Tal community brewery, and a Seven Brothers brewery IPA as well as another pint of Jarl, which came to £6.16 and was shared between us both.

It was now dark and we walked round to the Ship for a pint each of the Kelham Pale Rider which, at a guess, was likely £2.80 a pint and was as always, on top form. We then repaired to Shakespeares to drink some Hand Drawn Monkey beers, Tynebank Mosaic and the Raspberry Wheat beer from Revolutions, before realising that it was too late to get a bus and ordering a taxi home.

So, the first three days have been a success with some excellent beer in a number of equally excellent Sheffield boozers. Tomorrow, I will tell you all about yesterday and today as well.

Cheers!

Wee Beefy  

Crookes Ale House joins Crookes Valley Crawl

Hello,

     yesterday I was meeting up with Carlos for our Christmas drink. My initial plan was to meet him at Toyne Towers and then whisk him away to the Closed Shop, but as you may have heard already there was a new kid in town. A pop up ale house was opening on Crookes at 12.30. It would have been rude not to have gone, so I started there.

The Crookes Ale House is part pub, part market research exercise to see if there is enough of a call for opening a micro pub in Sheffield, most likely in the Crookes or Walkley area. Personally I think Crookes has fared pretty well having only lost two pubs (assuming you count Matlock Road as Crookes) in the last 20 years whereas as Walkley as been somewhat decimated. So that suggests Walkley maybe in more need of such a venue. That said, I'd prefer a micro pub in Handsworth. Where I live. Irrespective of any research or potential for "success". But I digress...

The Crookes Ale House is at 170 Crookes Road near the Ball and is housed in the former Mr Ben's fancy dress ship. It has an eye catching pink frontage with a large window showing the name Crookes Ale House so that you know its a pub. It has a yellow painted interior with a tiny bar at the back where three casks are stillaged, and tables set out across the front part of the shop. There were three real ales on, Sheffield Brewing Co Porter, First Gold and Magic Rock Ringmaster NZ, which I am reliably informed is the new name for their Curious pale ale. All real ales are £2.50 a pint and mulled cider, which I understand has "other ingredients" in it, is £3.00 a mug. There are a small range of bottles including Ampleforth Abbey Belgian ale and Franziskaner,along with Brooklyn and Budvar Dark lager.

Alas this is not a permanent fixture on the crawl but it is an enjoyable addition. Two and a half pints of eminently quaffable Ringmaster were supped, and, in an event that I'm welling up just thinking about, I can report that I was the FIRST CUSTOMER to use the toilet.

This, is journalism, ladies and gentleman. Journalism at its most raw. Defined by firsts...

Up the road and down Sackville and the Jennel you come to the Cobden View. Arriving at about 15.00 on a Friday there was absolutely no-one in - so me and Carlos set about playing pool, the lack of customers affording us the kind of time two rusty players need to complete a few games whilst lacking the requisite skill to bring them to a close. In the end, as Carlos noted, pool won. To accompany our potting I had a pint of the Sheffield Brew Co First Gold and Carlos some Stella in a glass egg cup. And having got settled and realised they took card payments, we stopped for another - more egg lager for Carlos and a delicious pint of Bradfield Belgian Blue for me.

Out onto School road the crawl took on a familiar look and we arrived at The Closed Shop in need of food. Alas their card machine was broken so it was only ever going to be chip butties - but they are rather fab in the shop. To accompany the nosh I had a reckless but delicious pint of the excellent Acorn Gorlovka, and noticing that we'd done nothing but sup Carlos sensibly invested in another chip butty. It was quiet in the shop but the days between Boxing Day and New Years Eve are a puzzling enigma where no-one seems to want to venture out and you can't expect to take much.

Across the road the Hallamshire House had the Thornbridge Kacho rum porter on so it was a given that I would have that. Sat in the main room we were soon joined by some of my colleagues from work but had already decided we needed a walk to sober up. The Kacho was very tasty but a little more rummy that I had hoped for but was nevertheless enjoyable.

We decided against going to the Blake only because it was nowhere near a bus home for either of us, and our early start was contributing to our feeling a trifle refreshed. So we walked down past Shamesbury's who have now opened their "vital" new supermarket at the expense of the Hadfield pub,  in a frankly embarrassing charade where the pubco pretended that after having received an offer from the supermarket, they were ever going to do anything but sell the pub off.

Onto West Street we headed for the Bath Hotel where there was, given this was our last stop, a frustratingly good range of beers to be had. Burning Sky Aurora, as recommended by Mr Ed, was indeed rather brilliant, but had I had more time I could easily have supped a pint of their Saison. Also available, on cask, was an aged Thornbridge Raven (note it wasn't wild raven...) which I had to have a half of. Both beers were in excellent nick and it was just a shame that my mind was wandering to thoughts of home and cheese on toast.

As well as being a great catch up with Carlos this was an enjoyable take on the Crookes Valley Crawl and it will be interesting to see what the research at the Crookes Ale House tells them about the potential for opening a micro pub permanently in the area. Does Sheffield need a micro pub? Why not. Could it be sighted in Crookes or Walkley. No. It needs to be in Handsworth like I said...

For now though, its a great starting point on  a crawl that throws up a handful of traditional pubs with a varied range of real ales along the way.

Cheers!

Wee Beefy.

Bolehills, boozers and bourbon aged bliss

Now then,

         after a week of crap rain and cold, the appearance of some rare sunshine warranted a trip to Crookes for a wander on the bolehills. Somehow, by pure chance, after a 1 hour 10 minute journey (why would you need a car when you could pay to travel at walking speed on retarded public transport?!) we managed to find a half hour window of glorious chilly sunshine to wander round Crookes, and admire the view over the valleys. Luckily, all this walking made us a trifle droughty. But what to do?

Down Newent Lane we took the Jennel onto Cobden View Road and popped in the Cobden View. Along with the regular beers the guest was Sheffield Brewing Co Crucible Best so I went for a pint of that, whilst Miss M, partially in protest at my suggestion of how bad it was, opted for a pint of Hobgoblin. We sat outside in the smoking shelter - it was warm enough to not sit under cover but everything was drenched - and set about having some very much needed alcohol after our Methodist style Saturday....

Soon the rain started to pour so we headed on down the hill to the Closed Shop. Paultous was manning the bar and there were a handful of customers, some of whom were asking about our choice of beer - the Lincoln Green Quarterstaff Stout. This was a robust and satisfying stout with not too much bitterness that was reassuringly black - no silly reddish or brown hues to this, just black, with a muddy white head. We had a couple of these, whilst emptying the pub of customers entirely (sorry Mr Stephens),  before moving onto the Hallamshire House.

Here we continued the dark beer theme with pints of Thornbridge Pollards Stout, beautifully balanced and well kept as usual, this was just what we needed to protect us from the cold as awe sat in the inside outside downstairs room with a band of hardy smokers.

Our final port of call was the York in Broomhill. Miss N hadn't been in for a decade or so and was pleased with the new look - although it would have been nice to have spent enough money (i.e. bought food) to have been allowed to sit in the left hand side of the pub...

As it was we repaired to the right hand room and supped a couple of pints. Miss N initially opted for the Slaters Autumn Red but this was a disappointingly flat malty concoction that didn't really inspire so as I had done, we both had pints of Bradfield Pale ale next. This was on good form and was exactly what we needed to finish off a night of dark ales in Crookesmoor.

Tuesday saw me at Shakespeares celebrating with Christingpher on his new job. We started on pints of the excellent Otley 04 Boss red ale, after which he had a half - his only other drink since he was on his bike - whilst I had a pint. We were joined by Miss N next, who also enjoyed the Otley - its a frustration of Otley that their beers always promise so much but only half of the time deliver. This occasion was one where they did, and it was a cracking beer.

However, as the night wore on we got hungry and opted to order curry from the West Bar Tandoori over the road - so a slightly more heavyweight ale was required. This was Raw's 5.9% IPA - alas no-one was clever enough to think to make a note of the actual name of this beer - which is a problem, since they brew at least four 5.9% IPA's! Whatever it was, it was very very easy to drink and tremendously hoppy. Raw done good, as per almost always.

Finally in this round up, Thursday saw me in the Sheffield Tap with Mr Devden and Miss N supping, initially,. a pint of Acorn Opal. There had apparently been a meet the brewer type event on the other night and there were Acorn a plenty to sample. To my delight, the time I spent delayed standing behind some beer twats with no bar etiquette allowed me to discover that the bourbon aged Gorlovka Imperial Stout was on. Its fairly bloody obvious what we had next!

The bourbon aged version was almost the stuff of legend. Time and again I saw it mentioned on Faceache and Twatter but I was never able to get to try it. Interestingly, Gorlovka has never stopped being an excellent ale but for one reason or another I don't seem to have had it much this year. Now I was having the most talked about version of the beer, which at £3.80 a pint, although steep, was the same price as ordinary Gorlovka. I didn't see many people turn down the aged version I have to say...

Since I was in hospital having my eyes pulled out with a barbed wire spoon on Friday this was a fitting end to a week of great beers - and although the aged Gorlovka has now gone, Acorn inform me that there is an aged version of Old Moor Porter on the way as well. If I get to find out where it's on sale I'll put the details on here.

Cheers!

Wee Beefy

Pubs. The perfect start and end to a weekend.

Oh aye,

      its been a lovely long weekend of doing very little, which as regular readers may have observed started on Friday night. Before that there was the small matter of a pre weekend warm up warm up at the Sheffield Tap, and an evening of reckless abandon in the Crookes Valley. Featuring, amongst other things, a certain populist brew...

The Tap was busy as always and as is also a regular occurrence I studiously timed my arrival to be on the arse end of about 20 other thirsty folk. Mind you, a beer going off and two of the slowest and least expeditious drinkers tarrying at the bar over some Keykeg hardly pushed things along. My pint of choice was the Tapped Mojo, my destination some seats near the bar, and my intention? Well, it was always lovely beer, but I soon realised there was more that I wanted to sampled than I could sensibly drink on a school night. So I didn't drink sensibly. Duh.

Next up was half a Magic Rock Dark Arts, which was very tasty but it was so long since I last tasted it on cask I couldn't work out if it was somehow different? Either way it was very enjoyable and unless my maths has gone awry, it's not all that expensive by Tap standards. Which is code for - I am wrong. It was ages ago. Soon I was joined by my companions for the night, which included a surprise catch up with Alan whom I know from my Archer Road Beer Stop days. Always nice to catch up with a former customer, especially one who likes a chat and a beer.

I moved onto the excellent Thornbridge Raven next, which was just as fantastic as I remembered it. Take note of the price - £4.05 a pint - to partake in a little quiz later in the post. This was far too easy to sup for such a strong beer, so I decided to remedy the situation by having half a Weird Beard Brew Co "Fade To Black" black IPA, a 7(or 7.5)% monster which lacked some of the subtlety of the Raven if am to be honest. Not that the raven is really still a black IPA. Whatever one of those is. Craft *coughs* or something I imagine. It was also £2.30 a half, so I needed another pint of Raven to recover.

Saturday afternoon saw myself and Miss N recovered and restless in equal measure. It was a lovely warm day and the football was too depressing to even consider paying attention to so I racked my brains to come up with an innovative schedule of culture and contrasts. Despite which we ended up at the pub. The Princess Royal in Crookes was fairly busy but was strangely lacking any Locale - not that it mattered since I had a lovely pint of Bass, and Miss N a Hobgoblin, which she seemed to correctly identify as a guilty pleasure. Like Wham. Not that it would be my guilty pleasure you understand. On either count...

Off next to the Cobden View where the Raw JR best bitter was on - just. In the end, after a good 10 minutes thrashing the beer was declared finished, so I opted for all of the beer that had come out for the price of a pint, whilst Miss N did something truly unspeakable involving singers with Greek antecedence. A quick chat in the beer garden followed, and then we were off to the Closed Shop on Commonside.

Here, in a surprising more, we both had a pint of the Blue Bee Pilcrow Porter. And then another. We may have had three - I know for certain we had a chip butty and it was bloody excellent. The only downside was that the new crack team of chefs at the Shop hadn't realised the extent to which I love bacon butties. So as yet, I will under all but the most extreme circumstances, have to decamp to the Rutland for pub food. Harsh, I know. And damned inconvenient!

After probably three pints each of Pilcrow which you may recall is excellent, we went over the road to the Hallamshire House to pretend to be disappointed at the Thornbridge Raven being on. To win a prize, can you guess how much it cost per pint?*  Whilst summoning your stab in the dark, remember that Pivni owns the Sheffield Tap, not the Hallamshire House. Meanwhile, we sat downstairs in the underground not inside nor actually underground bar cellar room lounge, and supped our fantastic pints of Raven, whilst musicians did things upstairs, before stirring ourselves for the walk to our last destination.

The University Arms was probably busy as well, however a mysterious soporific malaise had befallen us by this time, so it would be difficult to be sure. I do recall we both, having despondently watched the Welbeck Abbey Cavendish run out, had pints of the latest Abbeydale Brewery Dr Morton's beer, which was most agreeable.

All in all, what with nothing but cooking Moroccan stew and looking at photos to fill Sunday, this was the perfect weekend. And with upcoming do's at Shakespeares and the Rutland, there is no reason to think things won't continue to be excellent on the beer and pubs front over the next two weeks.

Cheers!

Wee Beefy

*That's correct! It was £3.40* a pint like you said. You now have the gift of knowledge. Well done.... unless you guessed wrong. Admittedly, the necessary apparatus is missing from this literary function which therefore does not provide any  assurance re the veracity of your guessing. Apologies if that takes the veneer off your self congratulatory satisfaction.

**I wasn't paying that much attention. I mean, it could have been £3.60....

Other beers are available *

What-o!

                 all is looking good in the Beefy camp, since you ask, so much so in fact that I have ventured beyond the best pub in Yorkshire to other hostelries. With quite excellent results...

Sunday we ventured to Crookes to see a wall of horizontal water smash against us in a drenched descent to the Closed Shop. Tharrul learn us to visit the wilds of Crookes. It pains me to say, but in the interests of this being a blog not about the people's porter, that this was what we had - although in fairness we drained the cask. Miss N also had a pint of Enville Kasitra, a laudable attempt to produce a lower gravity hoppy beer that somewhat floundered, whilst I helped mop up the last of the Pilcrow.

Next up we stayed dark with a couple of pints of the Blue Bee Lustin for stout, before undertaking the arduous trek to the Hallamshire House. Here, after a few droughty visits with only the staple range to choose from, we were spoilt for choice! A 3rd each of the Heather Honey Stout, about which I was given an informative poster to make my write up more accurate in terms of details, yet which I haven't read, was an absurd £3.00, but incredibly tasty - almost a fruit cake taste predominated, like the honey had mellowed into the other ingredients. A memorable brew.

Also brilliant was the Thornbridge Kacho, a flavoursome and complex rum porter with a pleasing colour and a really smooth finish. If the Imperial Russian Stout hadn't been on Keykeg I think I may have tried that. And moaned about the price (which is out of the hands of the pub to an extent, given that the funding for the beer has to have been stolen from the infirm and disabled. Allegedly)

A wander down the hill brought us to the Rutland and pints of Blue Bee Pilcrow Porter were enjoyed once more. Good to see it still in bars around Sheffield, albeit briefly. A great end to a fab night of drinking.

Tuesday I was in All Bar One, for my sins. Eschewing the delights of cask Doom Bar and Black Sheep I ended up having a couple of expensive pints of the Meantime Pilsner on keg. Mind you, it was on cracking form.

Meanwhile DAda had the excellent Pollards Stout on at £3.00 a pint so I had a half of that and half of the ever excellent Halcyon before a trip to the Red Deer heralded a rare lengthy stay. Mind you, part of that length came from my chips being served to another table who, demonstrating a reprehensible lack of moral turpitude, claimed them for themselves, rather than confessing they hadn't ordered any. I agree with the idea of not having food take over but some form of receipt for the delivery of food may have stopped this, and prevented my waiting 50 minutes for something to eat. That said, the excellent Springhead The Leveller Belgian Ale on cask at £3.30 was well worth a go.

Final pints came at the Bath with Buxton Bitter the star of the show, despite the usually desirable attractions of an Oakham beer - a brace in fact. The Inferno was tried but it was wiped out in terms of taste by the admirable efforts of the Buxton.

Finally, a brief sup took place in Shakespeares tonight where the mostly admirable rejection of modern comforts became a pressing concern rather than a feature - put some chuffing heating on! The visit saw me and Dave Howard from the world of music both having a pint of Rat Dunkel Rat, which was possibly a bit too sharp, before I had an excellent pint of the Steel City 7% or something Black IPA that I didn't catch the name of (to be fair, Unpro was hardly forthcoming about its nomenclature**) and a brace of Great Newsome Jem Stout. The night was completed by a half of Pixie Spring Golden Pixie and Five Towns Yorker, from the cellar. The Pixie Spring was possibly the best of the beers listed, with the Buxton and Lustin a close second and third, if only because it (Golden Pixie) packed so much hoppy goodness into a sub 4% beer.

All in all a great demonstration of the variety of real ales available in Sheffield in a handful of venues. A pleasing geographical coincidence!

Cheers

Wee Beefy

*that said the Pilcrow, or "People's" porter from Blue Bee, went on sale at the Travelers Rest at Apperknowle Tuesday night....
*turns out it was Swansong at 7.5%, according to Facebook....

Friday Night Likes

Morning slakers,

          last night I was meant to be taking Chala to the Blake for the first time ever - alas, she bailed on me as she had to go and undertake some Thangor* management (her Mum is recovering from an op and needs watering at regular intervals). Despite this upset to my plan, I forged on alone, in the spirit of adventure. And being thirsty.

I headed to Shakespeares as is only normal, and although Mister Christopher and Robenbacher were on duty, there was a distinct dearth of CAMRA folks. I had assumed that I'd bump into the usual crowd but it dawned on me that it was probably GBBF weekend. That event that gets held every year and which I went to once in the 1990's. Can't say I was blown away, but I've no doubt its changed by now.

Anyhoo, consumer groups or no I had to slake my thirst so started on a pint of Raw Cascade and a half of the XT brewing Pi Dark Mild. Not perhaps the finest example i have tried, and alas the Raw was running out, but it still tasted of lovely quality hops and had a fantastic reddish hue which made t look extra appealing.

I finished on a quite fantastic beer - Arbor mosaic at 6.8% was in the cellar as it wasn't quite ready to come on. Seeing it in the glass you could tell why since it was murky orange, but good God it tasted better than it looked. Light biscuit malt, punchy mosaic hops and the fruitiest flavour since Melba combined to make this my beer of the week, if not the month (faint praise since its only 10 days in...). Served just cool enough, had I not been harbouring plans to escape to Walkley I could have sat there supping this beer all night. I can't wait to get back and try it it when its on the bar - I highly recommend you do the same.

A short trek followed walking the 31 route to compensate for my having a while to wait for it - the upshot of which was it only cost me £1.30 to get to the Blake. Luckily the route is running as normal so the uphill slog is much more manageable. On the bar at the Blake there were a few pale beers to choose from and one caught my eye but having taken the money for it the beer promptly went off. The barman suggested I might like the 6.9& Kelham Island mind control - and very kindly let me have a pint for £2.60. Which was nice!

Although this did make me worry about upcoming bouts of relaxation, I happily supped this surprisingly bitter but well balanced strong golden ale, sat in the room on the left. Its an oft rolled out observation every time I visit the Blake but I really don't get there often enough. Hopefully, myself and the A.A will be there in about 3 hours time....

A struggle uphill found me wanting food so I headed for a food outlet near the famous Byrans (Bryans?!?) chippy - only to be informed by the grumpy lady behind the counter that they weren't a chip shop, an observation that was filtering in to my head as I spoke. Still, I knew I could head round the corner for New Cod on the Block where I bought a fishcake butty and received a smile and some goodwill before I headed to the Closed Shop.

Mr Stephens was on hand to serve a range of decent ales once more, and with no thought of what else may be on offer I went for the Blackjack, um, thingy, since it was a Blackjack beer. (it now transpires through the magic of looking that this brown ale was called The River - and was rather nice, as per the below) Once again there were no recognisable faces in the crowd but I enjoyed sitting in the beer garden via the other entrance (stop it...) supping my rather delicious pint of hefty flavoured but rounded beer.

I nipped over to the Hallamshire House next for a half of McConnells vanilla stout from a slightly disappointing range, and headed down stairs to meet the Man of Ash and the lovely Dave. I can quite understand the attraction of the downstairs outside bit and the garden, even at night. Its warm and cool enough to be comfortable and feels a little like being on someone's back garden when there is a party going on in the house. Mind you, the smokers in the crowd all wanted to go back inside so in the end that's what I did too.

I then returned to the Shop to try a Doncaster brewery pale ale that was coming on after the mild - which I should point out I had a fantastic pint of wen I visited briefly on Monday. The quiet and calm of that visit reminded me of the good old days when there was no customers and no-one bought anything. Apparently, this is "bad for business" - bloody capitalists!

Anyway the pale ale was excellent but alas I didn't want to be out late so headed back to the 52 route home to prepare for the mammoth exercise in pub crawling that starts at the Sheffield tap in...an hours time.

I may see some of you later - either way, make sure you visit Shakespeares and get some o' that Arbor darn yer! (not literally).

Cheers!

Wee Beefy


*sorry, I forgot the explanation - Thangor is better known as Thangor the Unpleasable. I hope that helps.

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  

Amber worship.

Hello again,

     Friday was a good Good Friday.

Socialising, drinking, not being at work, trying a new beer, all things that brighten one's outlook. One hing struck me though, awaking this morning to the resonating clink of bottles in blue bins and having seen the usual crowds heading into town, it seems the socialising element of the long weekend features as heavily as it does over Christmas. Mainly the alcohol related socialising.

Personally I think this is a good thing, what with pubs struggling at the moment, but the fact that the "good" element of Good Friday is unlikely to reflect the practice of having the day off and going out to drink lots of beer, suggests the church is missing a trick. After all, there's nowt as thirst inducing as an hour or two of salvation seeking. So I'm told...

Growing up in Crookes the Princess Royal and St Timothy's church just up the road seemed, to an outsider at least, inexorably linked, being the default post service destination of much of the congregation. Further afield, the village of Dale Abbey had a single building supporting both such vital institutions, with the pub on one side joined to or more likely kept separate from the church, by a locked door, and I'm sure that across the country almost every village church had or still has a pub next door or across the road. Ale and church are not, therefore, so odd a couple.

This revelation, no pun intended, thus nicely fits in with my 172 part series "convoluted justifications for going out drinking", keeping which in mind I'd like to dedicate the below described outing to the practice of pilgrimage, and the search for reward through knowledge. Jesus wept, so to speak.....

My first stop on this beer theophany was the Closed Shop. Inside it appeared that nobody had caught on to the fact that the pub was open, whilst they weren't at work. Mr N H Rodgers from the world of studies was at the bar, and Mr Stephens was behind it, dispensing ales and stories as always, so this was a good start, although initially my heart sank when I spotted no dark beer. Luckily I discovered that Brass Castle Bad Kitty was coming on. I immediately revised my expected time of arrival at the next place of worship.

Bad Kitty vanilla porter is a very fine beer indeed. I first tried Brass Castle brewery beers at Magna 2012 and considered both to be some of the best beers there, so I was excited to be trying a sip. Although, I had substantially more than a sip.

Being a fan of quiet pubs this lightly populated scene suited me just fine, and but for a spot of photography, to record the interior as is before the refurbishment, it was just supping and talking, exactly how a pub visit ought to be. Obviously, spoilsports like Mr Stephens and business partner Chris would no doubt have preferred if the equilibrium of our drinking had been interrupted by "more customers" but for an hour at least it was mainly ours.

Alas eventually other people finished home for the day and came out, and after 3 and a half pints of Brass Castle I tried to pretend I wasn't going over the road to that pub, the whatever it is.

In the Hallamshire House where I didn't go, I sat in the snug with a lovely and much needed roaring fire, to sup a pint of Jaipur and a half of Juvenia. That Thornbridge beer has something of a reputation for being costly is true, but the extra pennies did at least help me reach the £5.00 minimum card limit and thus avoid another hunt for a cash machine. And, like the night before, the Juvenia was on very good form, as was the Jaipur.

As you may know my next stop was an unplanned one, at the Hadfield, after which I headed into town to DAda for its "First pour" amazing new beer launch. Disappointingly, Coalition was just another pale beer brewed with a well respected brewery across the sea, this time Terrapin Beer Co, (probably, we all remember what happened the last time I only glanced at a collaborative brewery name...) and served on Keykeg. Had it been the stupendous Old Ale of the same name, brewed with Dark Star, I'd have bought a couple of pints. Although that would have cost considerably more, so its swings and roundabouts.

I did have another pint in here as well but unfortunately I have left DAda since then, the very act of doing which has emptied my head of all memories, so we'll just have to assume it was a tasty guest beer, which they usually are in DAda.

And so endeth my search for salvation, but definitely not redemption. Eight times over.

Wee Beefy

Ebrioster

Now then,

     Easter is a jolly time for me. I get 4 days off work and get to fill it with just about anything. Astute readers wil be able to quickly surmise what anything actually means. It means beer. Pubs. Travel. Hangovers. It's tremendously good fun and tremendously bad for the body, and probably the mind. Fish tank. Wibble.

Anyway, Easter, henceforth known rather less catchily as Ebrioster, isn't something one can tackle as a first stab. One must practise and train hard before locking the front door on Good Friday and setting forth to partake of potvaliant potations. One must know what it is to drink. What it means to travel across one city for an old beer, what it takes to get from West Street to the Sheffield Tap in 15 minutes, and what time they start selling hot roast pork sandwiches in the Bath Hotel. This is hard won knowledge. And this is no newby quest. This is a serious undertaking.

Tuesday night myself and Mr P went on a slightly abridged Wanderiains crawl. Somehow the arctic wasteland around work didn't tempt us to walk for miles and when Mr P suggested the Kelham Island Tavern I agreed. I was quite looking forward to it as well, since I haven't really been for a while. The first surprise was that there was no Nutty Black on. Perhaps this will identify the length of my absence, but there were plenty of other beers to compensate.

Mr P had a pint of Abbey Bellringer, and I had a pint of Yorkshire Dales brewery something with Saaz on the front, which was very nice indeed. The second surprise was that it was so quiet - usually its standing room only but we ended up sat in the back room by ourselves. It can't have been the beer putting people off because the range was excellent, so next Mr P had the Yorkshire Dales  and I had a Bobs Brewing White Lion, a well balanced pale hoppy ale that went down well.

We finished in Shakespeares where I discovered that the delicious Raw Empire Ghost pale ale was in fact 5.9%. Not 3.9%. Which, in some ways explains why I nodded off in the Bath Hotel some 4 hours after finishing my third pint of it on Saturday. So this time, I sensibly only had two, with Mr P on a pint of the Axholme Mild. Price fans may be interested to note that the Raw was only £3.00 a pint, AKA bloody good value.

Yesterday I was fearful that a two day break before Ebrioster may prove too much of a gulf, so I gamely headed all the way to the University Arms to keep in touch with drinking, and try made up imaginary beer Blue Bee aged Tangled Up IPA. Obviously it wasn't on, because it doesn't exist. Luckily I had the excellent Nethergate Porter to placate me, and that was on good form.

I walked round to the Bath Hotel next where I got to try Thornbridge's collaboration brew with The Man of Ash. Baize, is a mint chocolate Stout. I shit you not. It came on whilst I was there, drinking a commendably bitter pint of Mallinsons Chinook, which was excellent as always. I waited for Ed to taste it and watched his facial expression carefully. Sadly he ducked out of commenting on his colleague's effort by saying that he hadn't pulled enough through. Seems I will have to bare that responsibility.

Baize isn't green, thank Christ. It pours a classic black with a lovely white head and looks great. It smells of chocolate mint ice cream, and promises lovely creamy minty flavours with chocolate and roasted malt.

The first tatste is just that - creamy mint, yummy chocolate, then roasted malt. Then bitterness. Then more bitterness. then, alas, it tastes of Rennie. Oh dear.

I only had a half because I didn't want to taste indigestion tablets for the rest of the night, but in it's defence its a bold idea and I'd like to think they would try and brew it again with a few subtle adjustments, like the removal of indigestion remedies. Still, there's Ed's offering to taste yet. Sometimes playing last puts you under more pressure...

Off down to the Tap in just 12 minutes next and I was there to see Fluffy and meet Dave, truly the finest of beer drinker's names, for a quick pint before they were off to Fluff towers for Easter. Dave very kindly bought me and Fluff a pint of the excellent Magic Rock Dark Arts (on cask), and we supped these in seemingly the only available place in front of the fireplace. Alas this was only a short visit as I needed food and Fluff and Dave had a home to go to.

In the Rutland next I spotted Mr N H Rodgers from the world of being younger than me, and once I'd got my long sought after pint of Blue Bee aged Tangled Up IPA we managed to grab a table and I sat down to await my large bacon sandwich. Said snap was truly excellent, as was the delicious Tangled Up, but this was unfortunately also a short visit since I wanted to very quickly get to Shakespeares. At this point I found out that there was almost no info at the Interchange, and that basically, but for 2 infrequent buses, First don't run services to Hillsborough. How very integrated of the public Transport shambles.

Having wasted nearly half an hour achieving nothing I walked to catch the 52 and ended up at the Closed Shop, just before 22.00, which was a bit later than I wanted. Here I had a pint of the Maypole Flannagans Stout at £2.80, a tasty dark beer that was just what I was after. I also bumped into Robin from Shakespeares and we snook across the road for pints of something Thornbridgey, before it all got very late and confusing and I finished on a half of Halcyon.

Now I feel fully trained up for the reckless abandon ahead. Hopefully everyone else who is out this Easter will have had the same level of training. Learner drinkers are a danger to themselves and others, after all.

Wee Beefy 

Schmeather

Now then,

   OK, I know, its been 10 below freezing in the wind and icicles have fallen from the sky and cleft our skulls in two as we flail helplessly between car, wall, pavement and gutter in an orgy of calamity and despair. I get all that. However, I have a refined Saturday routine. No amount of silly white fluff sheet ice and howling misery was keeping me from the fine public houses of the Sheff.

Mr Protest was at work in town Saturday so I arranged to meet him for refreshments. Having arrived early I went to the Harlequin  first, one because I don;t seem to go there very often these days, and two, because I heard they had a special beer on. Regular attendees will no doubt take some persuading that this is unusual, but I wasn't complaining sat listening to an admirable compilation of  Lightnin Hopkins, Blind Boy Fuller and Sonny Terry and brownie McGee whilst supping a Brew Co porter called Muddy Waters.

I also noticed their rather swanky hand written and bound menu's, including all their spirits and bottled beers. Assuming the range is updated regularly (by hand of course) its a stellar line up. Perhaps I need to spend an hour or two more in the Harlequin.

Round the swoop of the ring road next to Shakespeares where initially I had  half of Axholme Mild, a pleasant enough dark beer which lacked a little life. Next up was a half of the Blue Bee something about Bees and erm, something. It was a handwritten pumpclip - and chalk board. It was also a black IPA but I don't think gravity dispense worked for it. Shame.

I also had a pint of the Raw Empire Ghost IPA, a ludicrously hoppy but well balanced beer that went down alarmingly well. Three times. I was joined by Protest, who was on Deception, but I saw no reason to stray from the Raw.

After he left I wended my way up to - West Street. Due to Crookes road being the only main road in Sheffield remaining uncleared I was intending to disembark as near as possible and walk u to, Commonside, but I was dropped off at he top of West Street to spend £1.40 on a 51 to Broomhill some 5 stops away. Disgraceful. From here I walked through uncleared streets in biting wind to meet Jambon in the Closed Shop.

Here I had a delicious but regrettably not aged pint of the Blue Bee Tangled Up IPA. This was on sensational form and was disconcertingly easy to drink. Me and Jambon got chatting and supping before we made the "treacherous" 20 yard jaunt across the 3 foot of visible road to the Hallamshire House.

Here we sat in the snug enjoying pints of beer which alas the photograph forgets to record. I know I didn't try the Baize as I want to review that separately, but I genuinely don't recall what I had. Besides, the roaring fire was the winning feature on this occasion.

Because by now, the roads and pavements were frozen, and the temperatures plummeting. So we trod almost carefully down the alley at the side of the pub and on down Winter Street to the University Arms. I had a pint of Abbeydale Matins. a beer so ideally suited to long sessions and Summer (whatever that is) I can't understand why it was discontinued, and Jambon had the Acorn Thirst Degree. How tremendously sensible of us.

Alas on arriving at the Bath Hotel things were starting to be vaguely somnambulistic for Beefy. Reports of my nodding off slightly are corroborated by Mr J and it seems that the delicious pint of Mallinsons Chinook finished me off.

Still, at least this haziness provided the threadbare excuse to pop back in tonight, when frankly, going home would have made more sense, to try and find out what I had. This time the Chinook was the only disappointment, its end of the barrel froth accentuating the brutal bitterness at the expense of the balancing malt. Not so their excellent Tammie Norrie, a 3.9% beer named after a puffin and sold at £2.80a pint, which was the beer of the night. I also had a pint of the Thornbridge Sequoia, a rare taste for me, and one which nicely balanced out the bitterness of the waning pint.

All in all, meteorological mayhem has provided no obstacle to thirsty lad, and will continue ever thus. Am out for a few tomorrow with Mr P before a Good Friday wander in Sheffield, so it looks like Jack Frost will have to stick to lending his name to fizzy apple loopy juice....

Wee Beefy

Walkley Talkie

Hello,

     yesterday I received some rather annoying news and decided to turn to poetry to soothe my bruised soul. Luckily, I made up the following rhyming recipe - "bitter for bitterness, ales for ailments". Jesus wept. I don't know why my self justification for supping needs to be so damned convoluted, but anyway, we can pretend this was my reason for heading out on the trundle tractor after work to Crookes. Apologies in advance that none of the information in this post directly pertains to Walkley....

I alighted at Crookes to walk down School Road because I intended to do the Commonside Crawl. Like all good plans however, not everything I intended to do happened. Here's what did.

I started at the Cobden View. It was pretty quiet, apart from a couple in the left hand bar and a small group watching the footy. I got myself a very palatable pint of Copper Dragon Bitter and sat in the room on the right, beneath the impending beam of doom, by myself, so I could be annoyed in exclusive seclusion. A quick read through Beer Matters made me adjust my plans slightly. I coveted an aged Blue Bee Tangled Up so decided after the next two pubs on the crawl I'd go to the University Arms.

I walked down to Commonside to find the Closed Shop bathed in darkness. Probably an oxymoron I realise, but it still conveys that no lights were on. The ever helpful A board on the street claimed it was closed due to unforeseen circumstances. Well, it was dark...

Across the road in the Hallamshire House, where I'd been going anyway, I bumped in to the Man of Ash and ended up with a decent pint of Jaipur. As the later events would attest, most people still agree that Jaipur isn't what it used to be, and certainly isn't back there yet, but the wet hop version was a welcome tease about just how good it could be again. Incidentally, I understand The Closed Shop is shut because they had their electricity cut off - something to do with Punch forgetting that they had to tell the utility supplier that the property was no longer empty. If that's the case, that's just poor.

Having missed a pub I felt it was only right that I popped into one on the crawl not yet visited. The Springvale was lauded by Ianfromtshop for its cheap Bass. Not an obviously complimentary statement, I decided to see for myself.

After a recent refurb the pub is less grim than it was previously, and they do at least sell Bass - now from one of 2 hand pumps, having perhaps sensibly admitted that they couldn't sustain the throughput before. That shouldn't be an issue anymore I think, with Bass on at £2.10 and Hobgoblin slightly less tempting at £2.50. Indeed, I think all the beers were a maximum £2.50. A great way to get the punters in, but the downside is there seems to be a correlation between cheap booze, big screens, loud music and really loud people. Not my most relaxing half - but one of my recently least expensive.

Walking down the hill I noticed the Hadfield was closed - this may be the end of the pub, although there is either still to be or just has been, a last gig in there, but Sainsbury's are determined that the area needs a third expensive supermarket. Alas the shameless way the pubco made little attempt to support the business (and allowed it to lurch embarrassingly from one defunct and unsutainable theme to another) makes the counter argument difficult to win. So no one does.

I popped in the Star and Garter on Winter Street next because I noticed a cask marque sign - never an indication of interesting beer choice but at least the suggestion that real ale was on sale. From 4 handpumps only two had clips and the Doom Bar was off, so I had a half of Tetley, which sells for £2.00 a pint. Am not blinkered enough to claim that the appearance of real ale alone will turn the pubs fortunes around but the pub was busy and friendly, and worth another visit.

Arriving at the University Arms I noticed flyers everywhere for the Roger Protz talk and beer tasting. Its clash with the first night of the SIBA BeerX appears to have slightly impacted uptake so I was able to get a late entry and join in the evening with two beers left to try - although, I was so late, I sat drinking the Gorlovka I bought at the bar whilst everyone drank and discussed the Jaipur! This subject prompted many comments, most alluding to the fact that its sweeter and less bitter now, and less well balanced. We can't all be wrong Thornbridge...

Its the first time I've done this sort of thing and I found it really interesting. Mr Prose (do you see what I did there?) clearly knows his stuff and regaled us with a manageable mix of facts and anecdotes about the styles we were drinking, and encouraged questions from the audience. He even managed to remain professional and inclusive in the face of two chattering attendees who seemed a little the worse for wear, and came "from 9 miles darnt road in Chesterfield", as one of them told us only 67 times.

The final beer to taste was Gorlovka Stout from Acorn, which all but one of us seemed to really like. More debate and questions followed about oyster stout and imperial Russian stout and the ingredients in the beer. Much of the talk was held together by landlord Tom who is a very good speaker himself. All in all, despite the brevity of my attendance, I thoroughly enjoyed the talk and would consider going on one again.

After it officially finished I got chatting to the fine gents from the Sheffield Real Ale Trails, and a guy called Julian who writes about city centres and urban communities. We sat with the Maharojah for a while discussing yet more beer related topics before Tom joined us and very generously sent up a huge bowl of the crunchiest and most delectable chips I've ever tasted.

After the bar closed I opted to pop in the Red Deer for a last one - and found it deserted. The two blokes behind the bar were very accommodating as I ordered a pint whilst they cleaned up, and commented that the emptiness of the pub was due to it being half term - only this morning did I consider that it was more likely influenced by the SIBA fest, which I would have been at had procrastination not robbed me of a a ticket. The beer in here was a pint of Chantry Black Diamond, a great pint and a surprising fixture in this Punch pub, although the gents inform me that they are on the better Punch guest beer scheme, so can get beers from SIBA direct delivery, which is great news.

So ended a great night with some surprising venues and beers along the way that I don't usually drink. Its good to have a change every now and again and do something a bit different. Lets hope tonight's BeerX visit continues the theme of rarely tried ales.

Wee Beefy

Varsity Brewing Challange 2013.

Hello,

    I coined it thus since I think a positive note about the brewing challenge is that it could maybe  happen again. With a different commercial brewery perhaps. For now I'll just quickly tell you about the two beers I tried. Plus divulging some other info....

First up, Karha was brewed by the Polytechnic. Do you see what I did there? I pretended it was the 1980's! Oh, how we laughed about higher education reform as our families lost their jobs under Thatcher, etc...

Anyhoo, so as I was saying, Hallam Uni brewed Karha with Thornbridge. Points are deserved for it being in a similar vein name wise (Thornbridge often use gods goddesses saints and deities for their beer names, although I reckon that I'd mischievously suggest Anemoi as a name for a beer.....) and in some ways, in not being particularly pale, it was slightly bolder.

As I said before, I don't rate non dark (it wasn't dark) spiced beers, but the spice wasn't too intrusive. It was easy enough to drink, and seemed to be stimulating debate when it was on the bar in the Bath Hotel next to Brearley, which is sort of a backhanded compliment.

Brearley was brewed by Sheffield Uni Real Ale Society also at Thornbridge, this was a pale hoppy ale. It wins the prize for its name simply because its named after such an influential Sheffielder. It perhaps looked a little more appetising than Karha, and its description was better, but...

I didn't really like it. I am guessing it had Nelson Sauvin or Simcoe in, because it had that familiar BrewDog style cat pee aroma. In the mouthfeel it was a bit thin, but also had a strange unbalanced wet hop sort of flavour, but not in a good way. It lacked carbonation, but to its credit, and this applies to both beers, you could see what was trying to be achieved.

So as not to look like a completely miserable old twat, I'd sum up by saying that both were good first efforts and frankly, in brewing anything at all whatsoever, both sets of students demonstrated that they knew more about brewing than me.

So, on next to a quick round up of pubs and beers.

At the Bath that same night I had some of the last of the Halcyon. I was a trifle miffed because it was on sale in a nearby Thornbridge pub for £3.80 a pint. It was near its retirement here, not off, but not enjoyable enough to finish, so I swapped it for half of the Dark Star Hophead.

Prior to this I'd been in the Closed Shop chatting to Paultous, Chris and Nathan, and managing to somehow make every beer I wanted to try go off. I started with a Bees Knees Biter, possibly also brewed with help from the Uni real ale society, then a Broadside, my second choice after I looked at the Blue Bee Lustin For Stout the wrong way. The broadside was a nice change, but when it was realised that the Stout hadn't run out I found it was bitter and slightly burnt and not how it should taste. Humph.

I was off straight to the Bath from here but bumped into Adam from the C&H so decided to pop in the Hallamshire House with him for one. Here as alluded to earlier I also had tired old (but cheaper) Halcyon. He made a better choice in having the excellent Imperial Oatmeal Stout, but I didn't want to be trolleyed and avoided it. In essence I was on an unlucky run, and didn't really enjoy any of my beers. Shit happens, it seems.

Last night I was out watching a man. He was from elsewhere and he said things that made you laugh. Prior to that I was in DAda enjoying pints of Acorn Blonde and Acorn Bullseye, and would have had a Dark Star Porter - had that not also gone off the minute I coveted it. We also played an entertaining game of "shutting the 'kin door hobby" which involved me moaning a lot about the door being left open by young uns, or generally not closing. I live a fast paced and heady life....

After the gig we went to the Rutland - I had a pint of a dark beer that has escaped me, Mr Cain a pint of Becks. Great music on the jukebox as always and the beer was in good condition - it may have been a Raw beer come to think of it.

We finished for a last one on the Sheffield Tap where I had a pint of an aggressively bitter but pleasant drinking Buxton Moor top and Mr Cain a pint of Bernard Light. We got to sit in the brewery room on a surprisingly quiet sessoin, before wending our way home.

So, I have reached the end of a week where beer wise, not everything was good. But never mind, there's always Tuesday to redress the balance. And Thursday at BeerX. Friday maybe. Saturday....

Cheers!

Wee Beefy