Neepsend Brewing Century IPA

Hulloo,

    a while ago, although probably this year, I was in a public house with Rich, erstwhile member of the Neepsend Brewery brewing team. He was enthusiastically telling myself and Tash about a new beer they had brewed which was going to be monstrously hoppy. Dry hopped, pre hopped, wet hopped, with kilo upon kilo of hops in the mash and at every stage.

OK, some of the above is guesswork. My memory is not geared up any longer to...um...remembering stuff and thus all I can remember is Rich looking elated, laughing, and drowning us in brewing terminology. He may have told us what it was going to be called, but if he did that fact has also since escaped me. Until, that is, this week. In Shakespeares, pre and sadly post antibiotics (I know, I know) I had a pint of the 6.5% Century IPA from Neepsend Brewery on cask. It was £3.60 a pint (or similar) and tasted amazing.

I don't know if that same beer Rich was enthusing about so was, in fact, the Century. I also don't know which century is being celebrated in this lupuloid loop the loop. I also don't care. Because Century IPA is a humongously good beer.

Am guessing it may now have run out, as have I of days to drink now am taking 8 antibiotics a day for an infection. It will of course be on somewhere else soon. It may well have been, or will be, at the Wellington, and the Sheaf View. Wherever you try it, and am assuming you will, I trust you will love it.

By way of description it has a dry and then citrus hoppy finish after an explosion of hops. Don't let that put you off - the hops are fantastic but well balanced, and the beer is incredibly tasty. Whatever dark hoppy practices went into making such a beer they should be repeated. To make a beer of that strength so overwhelmingly hoppy whilst retaining a balance of bittersweet and dry hops in the aftertaste is a trick worth pulling off again.

I remember trying the Neepsend Sharpshooter when that came out last year (or earlier) and thinking that for a beer of its strength it carried quite a hop punch, whilst retaining, and this is key, a balance of flavours. I have no idea what hops were used in either brew but I would suggest that the Sharpshooter was a precursor to, or practice for, the Century.

Well done to Gav and Rich and other persons who have names at Neepsend for making a wonderful ale for me to chew and delight in.

Your very good health.


Wee Beefy

Sheffield's newest Micropub....

....is opening this evening, across from Shakespeares, if what Neepsend Rich told me is true - and why wouldn't it be? In the hours before that however, Sheffield's newest Micropub opened about 5 weeks ago and is the Itchy Pig on Glossop Road in Broomhill. That was where I was last night. That was where I met Neepsend Rich. That was my second visit.

I don't actually know, or more likely can't remember, what the pub used to be - I mean a shop, obviously, but not what type. The pub is small, it is a micropub after all, and seats about 18 people, with room to stand. Friday night you have to be patient to get a seat - I started off at the bar supping my excellent pint of Neepsend Snapshot talking to Rich, before spotting an end seat on the small table on the right.

The pub has 5 handpumps selling 4 real ales and 1 cider along with 4 or 5 keg lines including Curious Brew, Abbeydale Heathen and guests like Brew Foundation. The pub sells, in packet and in pints, 7 different styles of pork scratchings and has a deal with the Pizza shop round the corner, possibly called Roots, who  you can order pizza from to eat in the pub. The atmosphere is noisy, mainly due to high ceiling and hard surfaces, the bar is homemade (and has a coin under perspex top) and the decorations are subtle and beer or alcohol related. Its very much a micro pub.

The pub was very busy last night and two yoot came in - am guessing they were students, and immediately took their beer outside. The owner went after them to say they couldn't, and they sat down next to me with a giant bag of Sainsburys salt and vinegar stick crisps, which they started to eat whilst they supped their beer. The owner, whose name I have obviously forgotten, said "thats a bit cheeky, eating your own crisps" and asked them not to. Thereafter, the world's most boring man moaned about this for 45 miunutes to his hopefully deaf female friend. Apparently he hadn't heard the word cheeky since 2007 (?) and there wasn't a sign saying you couldn't eat your own food, and that he didn't see why the guy couldn't have just said don't eat your own food in here.

Now I've only been drinking for 25 years but I have known only two pubs where you could bring your own food, and that was advertised clearly as you entered. Everywhere else I would expect, especially since they serve their own snacks, that you couldn't eat your own. The funniest thing he said was "and its really expensive". I nearly said " try the York - where you definitely can't eat your own food". Anyway, the mindless chuntering of mewling children aside this was a great visit, and  I had another pint of the Sharpshooter and a half of the Brew Foundation to finish.  The bus 120 stops virtually outside and you can catch the 51, 52 or 52a to stops nearby. Give it a try!

By way of comparison I caught the 52 next and got off near South Road to visit the Walkley Beer Co - Sheffield's first Micropub. An excellent range of ales was available as always, and I had a pint or two of the Buxton Axe Edge pale on keg at £4.90 a pint. It as on impeccable form, and went down,  being about 6.5%, far too easily. Was good to chat to Dan and Mr Ransomne, and also to see Kit for the first visit in a while. The Walkley Beer Co is possibly smaller than the Pig, but is a wonderful place to visit to drink great real ale, take bottled beers out, buy brewing ingredients or books, and mainly to be part of the Walkley Beer Co community.

Best of luck to all the above - including the one which may open in 70 minutes time. More excellent reasons to drink real ale in Sheffield.

Cheers!

Wee Beefy