Hello,
sitting in a great pub. Or sitting outside a great pub in the sunshine. Drinking a really good pint of beer, with good company. I was doing just that yesterday, listing the above whilst describing to Christingpher what constituted the perfect reasons, and situation, for a session. At the same time we were, sub consciously, starting one.
We'd walked in sunshine along Loxley Road to the Nags Head at Stacey Bank. There was still places to sit outside, and it seemed like a very good idea - because even if it hadn't been sunny, it was peculiarly warm in the pub. Christingpher opted for a pint of the Bradfield Wimbull-don, which he claimed head a hint of fruit flavour to it, I went for my absolute favourite Bradfield beer - Pale Ale at 5.0%. As its Bradfield Brewery's tap (perhaps not officially) the beer is remarkably good value here at £2.00 a pint, irrespective of strength.
We sat on the decking with the farm carrying on its business just yards away, with the sun beating down, and a steady but varied flow of people joining the throng - hikers, cyclists, dog walkers, people out for a countryside drive, locals having a catch up. It was inevitable that we wouldn't want to leave. Indeed, it was 5 hours, and 7 perfectly kept pints of glorious beer before we did.
Friday I'd been in Shakespeares with Wee Keefy and Jambon and friends, and once again the perfect combination of factors was in place. This time it was the Hop Studio Brew 100, a lovely citrus bitter with a hint of cluster and a surprisingly robust malt background. It was a perfect combination of a dry traditional Yorkshire bitter and something altogether more exotic. It was 5.1% and £2.90 a pint and despite not being an ideal; sessionable strength it kept me and my companions firmly entrenched in Shakespeares for hours.
The Ship at Shalesmoor is a pub you may know from my frequent write ups. It has a fantastic Tomlinsons Brewery tiled frontage and inside is a formerly multi-roomed layout, last refurbished in the 1980's. The extent to which the decor fails to match the age or outward appearance of this fine old pub is part of its charm. Its steadfastly rooted to the time it was upholstered and fitted and its reassuringly similar to the decor at the Old Heavygate in Crookes. The three well kept inexpensive real ales are the final piece in the jigsaw.
I was in chatting to JB on Friday and drinking the excellent if slightly heavy Harthill village Brewery Dark Hart, but last night, having stopped for a few hours of recuperation and eating, I managed to squeeze in a few hours supping the excellent Barlow Heath Robinson, 3.8% and £2.50 a pint, whilst chatting with Col, Sue, Fluffy, Sarah, Gone John and Lynn. I could have migrated to something stronger but the Barlow was exactly what I wanted so I stayed on that. In the end it was only the late hour and need for sleep which cut short our slaking.
So rounds up three slightly ill-advised but hugely enjoyable sessions - the perfect combination of location, company and beer. Well worth leaving the house for.
Cheers!
Wee Beefy
Showing posts with label Hop Studio Brewery. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Hop Studio Brewery. Show all posts
Sunday, 30 June 2013
Friday, 2 November 2012
Stuff, not to mention, things.
Evening,
I have discovered a few snippets of info about Thornbridge over the last week which I thought I might share.
Their seemingly odd and sometimes risible policy of no guest beers is not all arrogance and fear of competition it seems. A man, who is male, and works in a Thornbridge pub, informs me that certainly in the case of the Greystones and Hallamshire House, its the terms of the lease with pub ruiners Enterprise, Punch or (add unlikeable behemoth) whoever. It seems the deals, which were fairly revolutionary at the time, only included Thornbridge beers, and none of that frightening outsiders stuff.
Broadly, if the restrictive terms of the original agreement meant licensees/tenants could only buy guff like Burton brewed Stones or Tetleys at twice its market price, the same backwards outlook prevailed, except now the new tenants were at least restricted to a brewery with a range of styles. Easily a better deal for punters, but still a monopoly. You can have too much of a good thing, after all.
It seems the terms at the Cross Scythes (visits - 1 Guests - 1, promising...) are a bit more relaxed, and clearly the trading arrangements at the Sheffield Tap are radically different because Thornbridge only supply the beer, rather than own or lease the pub from a Pubco. DAda, one assumes, along with the Bath Hotel, basically continues what ever arrangements were in place already as well, its just that they are far better in terms of choice.
Alas, no clarification was forthcoming about whether these arrangements applied to Keykeg as well....
Other news now, and it turns out that moving up in the reaching the Top ten stakes for my favourite breweries of 2012 is Hop Studio, most recently at Shakespeares on Shalesmoor.
I remember being underwhelmed by their ironically hopless offerings earlier in the year but they seem to be getting better. Last night I enjoyed a pint of their Spooks (or Sparks!?) , a finely balanced stout with a pleasing smoothness that tasted stronger than its ABV suggested. Also on last night was their Blonde.
This is a 3.5% (unsurprisingly) blond coloured beer with a fantastic dry hoppy bitterness. Incredibly easy to drink but packing in as much hops as a much stronger beer that I would drink later on, this was a session beer at its best. I "only" had three pints, but it was, once again, a beer at Shakespeares that I could happily have drank until I fell asleep. Wonderful.
Meanwhile, one of Octobers star beers for me was the Abbeydale Abbey Ale, dry hopped and weighing in at 5.5%. Having tried it at Archer Road Beer Stop at the end of September I have spotted it in quite a few other pubs including twice recently at DAda. Dave's shop kept version was virtually unbeatable but the DAda offering was up there with that in terms of juicy citrussy bite. An incredibly well balanced dry hopped, but not dry tasting, fruity pale ale.
Talking of DAda for a change, and unfortunately it has been decided that the bar will not open during the day, likely opening at 16.00 but potentially still opening all day Friday and Saturday. This caveat laden reporting reflects the fact that I only found out last night and it doesn't seem like the finer points have been agreed. My suggestion would be to retain the current arrangements until after Christmas, then change them in January when far less people are likely to visit, thereby maximising the potential of the Christmas party season. But what do I know...
Recent, albeit evening or night visits, have provided an unrivalled range of Dark Star and Abbeydale and Marble brewery beers, including the amazing Dobber, as well as current Thornbridge favourites Evenlode and Halcyon. All have been on impeccable form of late.
That's all I have for now, more beer and pub news coming soon.
Cheers!
Wee Beefy.
I have discovered a few snippets of info about Thornbridge over the last week which I thought I might share.
Their seemingly odd and sometimes risible policy of no guest beers is not all arrogance and fear of competition it seems. A man, who is male, and works in a Thornbridge pub, informs me that certainly in the case of the Greystones and Hallamshire House, its the terms of the lease with pub ruiners Enterprise, Punch or (add unlikeable behemoth) whoever. It seems the deals, which were fairly revolutionary at the time, only included Thornbridge beers, and none of that frightening outsiders stuff.
Broadly, if the restrictive terms of the original agreement meant licensees/tenants could only buy guff like Burton brewed Stones or Tetleys at twice its market price, the same backwards outlook prevailed, except now the new tenants were at least restricted to a brewery with a range of styles. Easily a better deal for punters, but still a monopoly. You can have too much of a good thing, after all.
It seems the terms at the Cross Scythes (visits - 1 Guests - 1, promising...) are a bit more relaxed, and clearly the trading arrangements at the Sheffield Tap are radically different because Thornbridge only supply the beer, rather than own or lease the pub from a Pubco. DAda, one assumes, along with the Bath Hotel, basically continues what ever arrangements were in place already as well, its just that they are far better in terms of choice.
Alas, no clarification was forthcoming about whether these arrangements applied to Keykeg as well....
Other news now, and it turns out that moving up in the reaching the Top ten stakes for my favourite breweries of 2012 is Hop Studio, most recently at Shakespeares on Shalesmoor.
I remember being underwhelmed by their ironically hopless offerings earlier in the year but they seem to be getting better. Last night I enjoyed a pint of their Spooks (or Sparks!?) , a finely balanced stout with a pleasing smoothness that tasted stronger than its ABV suggested. Also on last night was their Blonde.
This is a 3.5% (unsurprisingly) blond coloured beer with a fantastic dry hoppy bitterness. Incredibly easy to drink but packing in as much hops as a much stronger beer that I would drink later on, this was a session beer at its best. I "only" had three pints, but it was, once again, a beer at Shakespeares that I could happily have drank until I fell asleep. Wonderful.
Meanwhile, one of Octobers star beers for me was the Abbeydale Abbey Ale, dry hopped and weighing in at 5.5%. Having tried it at Archer Road Beer Stop at the end of September I have spotted it in quite a few other pubs including twice recently at DAda. Dave's shop kept version was virtually unbeatable but the DAda offering was up there with that in terms of juicy citrussy bite. An incredibly well balanced dry hopped, but not dry tasting, fruity pale ale.
Talking of DAda for a change, and unfortunately it has been decided that the bar will not open during the day, likely opening at 16.00 but potentially still opening all day Friday and Saturday. This caveat laden reporting reflects the fact that I only found out last night and it doesn't seem like the finer points have been agreed. My suggestion would be to retain the current arrangements until after Christmas, then change them in January when far less people are likely to visit, thereby maximising the potential of the Christmas party season. But what do I know...
Recent, albeit evening or night visits, have provided an unrivalled range of Dark Star and Abbeydale and Marble brewery beers, including the amazing Dobber, as well as current Thornbridge favourites Evenlode and Halcyon. All have been on impeccable form of late.
That's all I have for now, more beer and pub news coming soon.
Cheers!
Wee Beefy.
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