Newbies

 Hello again so soon - I wanted to provide an update on two bars/pubs opened recently in fine, sunny Sheffield.

Firstly I should start with Fargate, a pub formed to a high standard in the former Yorkshire Bank at the top of Fargate looking towards Orchard Square. Its owned and run by Pivovar - of Sheffield Tap fame, and Thornbridge, whom are a posh brewery, now thankfully running less pubs in Sheffield. The Fargate is right in the centre of Sheffield, and as everybody knows, irrespective of the cost of the lengthy refurbishment, this location attracts a stoopidly high rent. Its privately owned and run, but in addition to Thornbridge beers they also sell guests on what might be 12 handpumps for the old, and maybe 8 keg lines for the modern minded - indeed on my last visit they were selling a Track IPA at around 5.7% on keg from the future, no less.

So - do we get the deal? Do we realise its not a Wetherspoons owned morality shambles, but is instead a privately owned and expensively run city centre business with expected realistic and higher than wetherspoons prices? And there's the problem. People don't now this. People expect Ruddles County on cask for £1.29 a pint. This is nonsensical, and non managable. But this is so widely misunderstood by those visiting.

As I went in on my first visit 3 old blokes wandered past and one chuntered "this is another shithole that dunt sell carlin" as they all shook their heads in disgust en route to the Bankers. The issue here is, its specifically not meant to be yet another Spoons - thats what makes it worth going in. I sat with the bar at my side and stared at the doorway and saw loads of folk walk in, not find Carlin-Darlin or Fosters, and strop out. Goodness knows what would have happened if they had gone to the Old Shoe - they wouldn't have recognised anything and for similar business and location reasons nothing would have met their absurdly low price expectations - no Betamax video recorders or bags of stolen Children's Christmas presents in here gents, sorry.

I actually don't mind the Fargate - I would prefer to go in on a Monday or Tuesday afternoon as it would be quieter and finding a seat is actually quite challenging, but they have one or two guest casks on the side of the bar and nearby and on the bar back 2 x guest kegs where the marvelous Track was found!

My next review is sadly shorter - not least because have only been once (it would be quicker to walk  from my house than to try using shambolic public transport service to Waverley) and also because I expect that Waverly is actually in Rotherham, and therefore not a Sheffield bar location.

The pub/bar is at Olive Lane in Waverley in Rotherham and is the Canary Microbar - it serves 5 handpumps of cask and possibly 3 kegs - or 5? You can tell have only been once (and keet drove me there and back) because I didn't take a pic of the bar! I have to say I was impressed with the keg range on opening - they sold both Verdant Sharks beers including Whale Sharks DIPA and on my single visit they sold me a pint of Wylam Jakehead IPA on Keg from the future! 

I admit that I probably need to go back for a second look to get a full feel of the place, and that might happen next year but even on my first visit I enjoyed it so fully intend to revisit!

All the best to both pubs - cheers!

Wee Beefy

Craftworks Micropub Mosborough

 Evening all!

     on the 12th of this month I ventured out from luffly Handsworth on the 30a to Mosborough - it was "only" 20 minutes late and it quickly transpired that the driver was partially deaf. This became apparent when he missed a stop mid route, and then when we headed up what may be called Plumbley Lane towards Plumbley as the bus only stops on the way out of Mosborough - as he drove straight past the only stop near the High Street.....

Ten minutes later I was at the Craftworks micropub, just about opposite the Admiral chippy - and I was gobsmacked - not by way of it's size, but mainly because of it's popularity - I had to stand up for the first 2 of my pints! Perhaps I should provide some background.....

I first went drinking in Mosborough in 1992. Back then, almost every pub sold cask from the past. But this trend sadly dwindled, as did the number of pubs staying open in nearby Eckington. The last time I went out in Mosborough I went to firm favourite the Alma which sells one or two real ales - but that was our only stop. I was therefore very happy to see the range of excellence available in the Craftworks.

From a range of 8 or so kegs along with 4 cask ales I started on a pint of Fierce IPA on keg - I was warned how much it would cost, but being keg at less than a pound a percent I was fine with the price - and this is likely the first time have had Fierce on draught anywhere!

I stood near the bar and listened in on the conversations of the locals - and there were many - a quick and thorough check confirmed there was literally nowhere to sit! Sadly the Fierce IPA did not last long so I went back to the Bar to order a half of the Three Hills Fudge Brownie imperial pastry stout, also on keg, and spotted a table whilst I was waiting. Just as this happened a lass came in with her mother so I let them sit down whilst slowly supping the fabulous Three Hills - but eventually asked if I could squeeze on with them - and that was fine.

They said they were regulars - the youngest from Killamarsh and the Mum from Mosborough itself - I didn't chat long with them but once they had gone I grabbed another ale - this time 2 thirds, but am not sure which it was as I did not photograph the beers board alas! By the this time a guy was sat near the stairs playing guitar and the number of guests did not dwindle - I checked the time of the next bus into town and having left at 1715 I was in town before 1800!

So far this remains my only visit - but I will definitely be going back!

Cheers!

Wee Beefy

The Blind Monkey Whitehouse Lane Walkley

Hello,

  on Friday 27 April 2018 the Blind Monkey finally opened its doors after what seemed an age of refurbishment work and very high quality refitting. Following replacing the roof and sourcing an extensive range of antique fixtures and fittings, the 1930's style speakeasy/gastropub reopened, and I went in on Tuesday for a look.

Its time first of all to witter on mumbulousy about its former guise. I used to live on Tennyson Road nearby, and in 1999 I visited all the pubs in Walkley and Lower Walkley, to see what was available beers wise. There were a lot of pubs in the area then, but very few of which sold real ale. The Palm, famously, even had a handwritten sign in the doorway stating they "do NOT sell real ale". Although I picked the sadly long demolished Freedom View as my favourite, and never summoned the desire to visit the Belle Vue, I did go in the Firwood Cottage. It sold cask Tetley at a good price, and had TV screens blaring out sport to almost nobody, and it appeared over the next year to have a new landlord every month, with the people barred by the previous returning every time to be barred all over again. I did visit twice more, and the last time it was run by a couple who may now run the Walkley Cottage. No real ale but it was a cracking atmosphere. Am fairly sure the pub closed not long after.

Arriving in bright sunshine the first thing I noticed was the intricacy of detail in the interior. Its very busy, but not jumbled, and fitted out to a very high spec. There are two rooms either side of the entrance with a bar counter in the on on the right, and then the main bar area is on the right beyond. There are 4 or 5 handpulls (these are just numbers after all) featuring on my visit Don Valley Gongoozler porter, Bradfield Ale and Timothy Taylors Landlord. Beyond is the kitchen and am guessing the wood fired pizza oven, with a third room on the left, the loos and the access to the yard.

A couple of friends on Faceache asked me what the pub was like after I posted a few pics on there showing some of the interior. One mentioned that he had heard the beer range was poor, which would be disappointing. I think the range is less exciting than I had expected.  In terms of regular Walkley haunts the Beer Co and the Blake the range is disappointing, but that presupposes that they are trying to compete. I would like to think not. The Blind Monkey does food (it sounds very nice as well) and is done out in a 1900's to 1930s theme. Neither of the other two do this. I would suggest a crawl could start at the Blake, up to the Walkley Beer Co and finish at the Blind Monkey for some snap. Although I didn't eat there....

Beers wise I had a pint of Abbeydale Heathen on keg, at £4.00 a pint. That is about right.  The beer was well presented and I have always liked Heathen, but this was only after I had asked for cans or bottles - the keg taps are behind the front of the bar with the handpumps and the range of keg beers of interest was just one. The bottled beer range is similarly restricted. I did have a pint of the Don Valley later and it was a very well kept porter, and WK enjoyed the Bradfield Ale.

Their website states they are a "New Age pub with an old fashioned heart" and in some ways that sums up their beer range. I don't think they could have reopened this former cask and then Magnet and Tetley smoothflow pub selling a wall of highly hopped keg IPAs and sours along with hazy cask ales. I think the rather restrained choice of ale suits the pub situation and locality very nicely. The only issue for me is that, whilst I love the decor and am tempted by the scran, my limited funds don't stretch to regularly visiting a pub with a mediocre range of ales.

That said, the pub was certainly busy. For 17.00 on a Tuesday it was nearly full. In some ways this vindicates their ale choice, and it seemed to be full of people who had come on foot as well. If they could get some excellent cans or bottles like Shakespeares or Bar Stewards I would be much more tempted to visit more regularly.

The pub is on Faceache and Twitter and have a website address, here. It may not yet be finished, as the beer and food menus are coming soon, but its worth a look. This also suggests that they haven't yet finished drawing up their beer or food selection, so am duty bound to go in again next month to see what has changed.

The pubs name, incidentally, reflects the name of Speakeasys during prohibition, according to the review in Vibe magazine, which include Blind Tiger and Blind Pig. So now you know!

So, here is to the Blind Monkey. Wishing them all the best in becoming established on the Walkley beer scene over the coming months.

Cheers!

Wee Beefy

Two new and three old faves

Hello,

     yesterday, down exclusively to the kindness of others, I was able to complete another crawl in Sheffield featuring two bars new to me and one not visited for some time. I started at lunchtime where myself and Middlemarch were planning on going to the Bhaji Hut on Ball Street - alas they don't open lunchtimes on a Tuesday so we opted for the Stew and Oyster round the corner. As Middlemarch is a caring friend and is worried about my fragile hold on mortality she refused to buy me any bowze, so this is a short review. The stew we had was very tasty, as was the hot brownie and ice cream dessert. I will howver have to return to try some booze in there....

After meeting Matt for enquiries at the council, and a trip to Beer Central where he bought me my Christmas present, we nipped down o the Lord Nelson on Arundel Street.  Have not been in for some time, and they have had a repaint in this back street watering hole, but little else seems to have changed, and I recognise the guy behind the bar from my first visits in the late nineties/early noughties. A cracking pint of Sonnet 43 was my choice whilst Matty had a pint of Azaca from Milestone.

Next we wandered to the Rutland Arms where Matty got to espy the new bar arrangements and we had a half each - he of the Chorlton Double Sour, and I a half of the Ultje Double IPA. The DIPA was very easy to drink and had an aftertaste of goosegogs, although, my tastebuds are slightly sqewwiff at the mo so it may have been another fruit. The Double sour was immense. An exemplary proponent of the sour style.

Our next stop was a new one again. The Dorothy Pax had slipped under my radar until last year when I read about it in the sheffieldalepubs blog after the gent very kindly named me his beer blogger of the year. It had not been open full time for long and it was only yesterday that I got to visit. Its good first of all to have a pub selling good beer down at Sheffield Quays. I never went to the Tom Cobleigh pub co venue there, but heard it was pretty grim so its nice to finally have a good reason to go.

Arriving soon after he had opened we found owner Richard ( |I think) Henderson apologising for his unkempt sweaty appearance and for any mess - I have to say I had noticed neither, but was immediately drawn to the bar. Abbeydale Daily Bread, a cider, a beer I have since forgotten and, as chosen for a pint by me and Matty both, Dark Star Hophead Loral, on at £3.00 a pint. I have no idea of Fullers plans for this fabulous small brewery but I foresee changes - best then to sup it whilst its still independent and brewing good beer.

The Loral was on excellent form and we got sat near the small heater and got chatting to Mr H and some of his regulars who may have been called Chris, or one of any number of other human male name. There was also a very large dog.

I tried not to describe the bar as a micropub because as Richard said himself, its just a space which he has imposed his own ideas upon, but in many ways its micropub in style. They are currently awaiting to have a keg 6 line font on the back of the bar, but before then its three real ales, three kegs and a cider. The Loral went down very well indeed, and it will be interesting to see what types of keg beers he gets on.

I finished the night after a lengthy walk through what soon after arriving became heavy snow to the Shakespeares, my second home. Matty had gone home by now and I finished off on a fantastic pint of cask Red Willow Weightless, as recommended by Adam and Brett-Morgan. I was somehow unaware of this beer having been on so regularly and rued having not tried it earlier. A wonderful, easy drinking perfectly balanced hoppy beer that I could have drunk all night....

Instead I had two thirds of the second BBno's DDH pale at 5.6% on keg, which was also excellent - very dry and superbly bitter. The perfect end to a fabulous night - and I got home safely in the snow....

Cheers!

Wee Beefy

A new Sheffield pub, and old favourites

Hullurr

          I am. as usual, about a month late with this announcement, but I would like to tell you about a new venue that has opened on West Street. Despite their Facebook page map showing Chesterfield or elsewhere in Derbyshire, the West Street Ale House is based on West Street. In Sheffield. Right at the bottom near the corner of Holly Street, round the corner from the horror of Maggie Mays.

It inhabits the remnants of the Icons nightclub, which I am willing to admit I visited - I only noticed on my way out that they had a handpump at the end of the bar. Now there are four or five handpumps (these are just numbers) and six or seven or so keg lines, four of which, or less, or more, are guest lines. Rigorous research there.

They have some of their cask lines tied to Coors so are restricted to what guests they can sell on those, but I think this may be looked into. They also sell a wonderful range of bottles including many from Hitachino Nest the Japanese brewery. The last few times I have visited I have had a bottle of their Red Rice Ale, a glorious red rye amber ale with bags of flavour.

Other regular features are guests from Adnams, so I had Ghost Ship which is a very pleasant hoppy ale, and the superb Torpedo strong pale from Sierra Nevada on keg. This is my go to pint, at somewhere around 7%. Guest cask and kegs change regularly, with the excellent Brew Foundation Hops and Dreams being a very refreshing, and well balanced ale. The bar is owned by the American guy called Adrian, or indeed,one of thousands of other potential male human names. who is involved with the  Cremorne and the former Hermitage on London Road.

The other pubs I wanted to mention are two I visited last week, so ths is much more up to date. The Cow and Calf on Skew Hill Lane in Grenoside is a traditional Sam Smiths pub selling their single real ale, a range of kegs and their bottles - as we said last time, alas not the excellent Yorkshire Stingo which I had at Christmas. On this visit to Mumrah's nearby I only visited once, but enjoyed a pint and a half sat on a tiny chair with a table next to the fireplace in the bar. Its interesting to see the sort of people who come in to drink in an afternoon, and enjoyable to sup a beer at £1.80 a pint. Long may their success continue.

Finally, I must mention the Railway at Wadsley bridge. A fine, largely unspoilt but extended boozer on Halifax road where it stops being Penistone Road. We were in there late afternoon and the pub was quiet, with sun streaming in through the windows and comfy seating in the room to the right as you enter, with a lovely old fireplace. There was a group of older gents in when we arrived but when we went to sit down they had left, as it took us a while to get our beers. The Bradfield Blonde ran out whilst the guy was pouring our second pint. He went down to the cellar but announced what we had was all ere was, so I had a pint of that and a free third, and Tash had a pint of the Brown Cow.

We sat in the same spot for over an hour, identifying the sightly eclectic mix of tracks playing in the background, warmed by the sunshine, and happy, relaxed and calm, watching people come and go. We had enough funds for a further pint, and shared this and thoroughly enjoyed our visit.  Am guessing the pub is still run by Jean, and am sure I know Ian the barman from somewhere, but I haven't seen Jean on my last two visits. Whether it is or it isn't, well doe to the owners for saving and revitalising this pub.

So, there you have it - for every new pub that opens in Sheffield there are still two old unspoilt boozers to also visit. Maybe, Sheffield really is the real ale (and excellent pub) capital of the UK.

Your very good health

Wee Beefy  

More walkies in Walkley, and beyond

Hullabaloo!

          just time to tell you about another couple of nights out in the suburban slake-holes of Sheffield. A return to two pubs not visited for a good while, and a couple of bright new things on London Road.

As promised, myself and Tash decided to visit the Palm in Walkley. As we were meeting in town first, and I was early (or rather, Tash was late), we met in the Red Deer. I had two halves initially - Flack Manor Hedge Hop and Salopian Darwin's Origin. Unfortunately, although similar, the Darwin was in fact much better - something I discovered when I bought myself and Tash two pints of the Flack Manor....

A further pint and a half of the Salopian followed before we headed across the road to catch the 95. Soon enough we were walking down Palm Street to the Palm Inn. There were two real ales on the bar - Tetley and Farmers Blonde. We both went for a pint of the latter. We settled down on chairs on the left hand side of the small front room and got chatting to a singer and cat whisperer and his companion who were visiting for the first time. The Cat, incidentally, was called Mr or Mrs P - Mr P they said, had cared for the cat when he lived across the road and when he died, the cat came to the pub, and stayed. He, or she, certainly loved the cat whisperer.

Two more pints followed of the Blonde and Tash went outside to find someone from her road waiting for a taxi - helping to confirm Sheffield, once again, as the biggest village in the world. I understand that the current tenants are to leave very soon, and the new lady behind the team taking over was chatting across from us. I get the feeling very little will change, and with real ale at £2.60 a pint that is welcome news.

Up the hill next we went to the Walkley Cottage. I haven't been in for a few years but found apart from a lack of lighting at the side entrance, that very little has changed. There are still 5 or more real ales on and I suspect they still do food. The lass behind the bar was friendly and gave us a couple of tasters of the beers and we plumped for Landlord for me and something Blonde for Tash. We then sat down in the corner and chatted and soaked up the atmosphere.

It was admittedly quiet, although it was a midweek night so maybe that's not surprising. The pub is built in 1930's roadhouse style and used to be divided into two with an entrance on each side and no way through at the front - alas its now been opened out, well, many years ago, but retains separate areas for drinking.

Last night I found myself at Heeley Green collecting something for Tash, and nipped into the Brothers Arms. Disappointingly, there was nothing hoppy on the bar at all, as the barman admitted, although a Liverpool Organic beer was coming on in 20 minutes time. Instead, I opted for a half of Nethergate Suffolk County bitter and Farmers Decade. According to their website, this is a celebration of their ten year anniversary. I have to say, it drinks very easy at 5.5% but is quite underwhelming as a celebration of ten years brewing!  The Suffolk County was a traditional lower ABV brown bitter which was a nice change - alas, a meeting on London Road and an influx of horrendously loud screaming children prompted my swift exit.

I met Tash in town and we walked slowly to the Beer Engine. No Mr V this time but as usual a good range of beers on the bar. Tash had a pint of Celt Experience Silures, and I a pint of the Raw Grey Ghost at 5.9%. We sat out in the beer garden trying to pretend it wasn't cold, and thoroughly enjoyed our beers.

Eventually, hypothermia was setting in so we headed inside to have another Grey Ghost for me and two halves, one of Marble Lagonda and one of Bad Seed India Lager on keg for Tash. We supped these slowly in what was a fairly busy pub, warmed considerably after the chill outside.

Our final stop of the night was the Albion. Its safe to say that on non football days, this is a quiet pub. We got in at 21.30 or so and were more or less the only customers until our friends joined us later. There were two  Clarks real ales and Brimstone and Deception from Abbeydale, at £3.00 a pint, so we went for a pint each of Deception, and a pile of Bombay mix for a pound. We chatted with the Irish guy behind the bar for a while before Paul came in for his friend's birthday with a few others, but they only stayed for one.

Later we were joined by Clare, Gav, Rico and Gaz for last drinks. We sat at the table slightly lower down on the left and chatted about food and booze and much more. More pints of Deception and Brimstone were supped, a fantastic way to end the night.

Another example of excellent real ale venues in sunny Sheffield!

By the way, I am becoming aware that with reduced funds,  my trips to the pub are not only becoming fewer, but also seem to concentrate on specific areas. West Street from the Bath to Shakespeares seems to be a favourite. Luckily the Heeley Triangle. Of Ale, has seen a slight change, as has the continued excellence of Crookes and as above, Walkley. However, if anyone could nominate an area more or less in Sheffield where I could find 3 or 4 real ale pubs close together I would be more than willing to try them out - either leave a comment on here or put one on Facefriend.

Cheers!

Wee Beefy

New pubs in Sheffield

Hello,

            for the title of this post, it maybe worth thinking of phrases such as selling coal to Newcastle (mow maybe Eastern Europe), ice to the Eskimo's, and new bottled beer to Asda at Handsworth - all of course, seemingly pointless exercises. However, despite already having a burgeoning throng of frankly excellent and often Nationally renowned boozers, there is, of course, nothing better about real ale than choice. So, why not extend that choice further with some new venues?

Lets start with not a new pub. Yup. It was previously the Sportsman. So why is it in you may ask? Well, to fulfill a journalistic intent. And also because it has changed hands and owners. The pub, on Cambridge Street just off Barkers Pool, gas been reopened following a sensitive but limited refurbishment, as the Tap and Tankard. I haven't checked, but the bar and rumour suggests that Kelham Island Brewery are the new owners.

Visiting a pub for the first time, on a Saturday night before Christmas, is perhaps not the best idea, since it will likely be full of drunk persons and fans of association football, with short tempers. That said, it stood out quite well. On my first visit I was only in for 15 minutes, supping a delicious pint of Pale Rider at £2.90 a pint. My second visit the day after, was less successful. Myself and Miss N went in and she had her all time favourite real ale Pedigree, and I had something from Harthill Village brewery that I liked. The Pedigree, when I finally tried it, was odd. Very odd. Very sweet and thick, like beer concentrate, with none of the sulfurous tones it should display.

I wondered if, since I haven't had any Ped for ages, they had changed the recipe or brewing methods, but I also thought that the sweetness, almost caramelised in taste, was probably a sign of an infection. By this time the pint was almost finished so when we left I mentioned that it didn't taste right. The staff didn't seem confident in defending it, but opted to keep it in, saying I had obviously drunk more Pedigree than them - which I think I have - but then saying that they thought it should taste like that. It shouldn't. This is a new venture and likely just finding its feet but I think I will try it again in the new year to see how things are going.

Next up is an actual new pub. A building that wasn't previously a pub but now is. Its The Beer House, Sheffield's first permanently open micro pub. Its on 635 Ecclesall Road and sells beer. And cider, and some spirits and soft drinks, and Space Raider crisps. Its really quite good.

The former e-cigarettes store has two small rooms, the first housing the small bar with 6 handpumps and a couple of kegs including Stancil Lager, and the second is through a wide opening behind. Admittedly there is also a cellar and access to the toilets. If you want to be precise, you could drink in these. But you wouldn't....

There were four beers on when we arrived, and unfortunately the Marble Pint had run out, but in a rather lengthy wait to get served we spotted the Orchard Gold from Sheffield brewery Fuggle Bunny and had a pint each of that at £3.20. We crammed onto chairs next to a large table at the back and started to look at the pictures, old photographs, and soak up the atmosphere - which is conversation based. And enhanced. Entirely.

Next up we had a half of the FB Russian Rarebit, a stout made with pale malt which was lovely, another half of the Orchard Gold which is made with honey and spice but subtly, and a fantastic pint of wheat beer from Harthill Village Brewery. Hirsche Hugel Bier has a lovely refreshing flavour of, well, wheat malt but also banana and subtle spices. It was very easy to drink and had a lovely smooth but not overly velvety taste. It was so good we had two more pints to finish.

Overall we stayed a couple of hours in the pub and really enjoyed it. I heard rumours they were doing cocktails, and, admittedly that seems non-micropub-ish, but then its not set in stone _ I think - and crucially, I didn't see any evidence. Keep up the good work!

Finally a new pub that might nor exist. You may remember, or I may remember intending to tell you, that the Bell Jar on London Road appeared to have closed. After a few weeks without signs of ;life a large banner has appeared over the door stating "Free House The Albion Real Ales". I don't know any more to be honest, nut it seems a bit too ironic to be a tribute to what, in terms of the Albion, I understood was a resolutely keg only Stones pub for many years. Obviously, when I hear any more I will let you know.

All that remains for me to say is do go and try the new and potentially new pubs out, and more importantly, have a fantastic Christmas and a very happy 2015.

Cheers!

Wee Beefy

The Church House, 4 St James Street Sheffield

Morning,

*ADDITION!* Stupid Blogger spellcheck is broken. Apologies for any errors, proofreading whilst hungover is tricky!

      last night, I ventured to the Church House on St James  Street. You know, St  James Street. Everyone knows where St James street is surely? Well, erm, no, and I found it difficult enough to get people to imagine its location even using massive local landmarks. Luckily everyone has heard of the Cathedral; far fewer have heard of Sanctuary Bar though....

Anyway,  I was there last night for the opening night. Except, that was Thursday. The sign had the right date but the wrong day, so I missed out on free stuff, which is a tragedy of immeasurable proportions. Humph.

Despite that, it was nice to see a range of six real ales on the bar, including some you rarely see in Sheffield. Being a Scottish and Newcastle pub (under the dirty umbrella of Heineken, alas) they had dipped into their dwindling portfolio of available cask beers, and colluded with Greedy King to bring a choice of Caledonian Deuchars IPA, Church House Bitter, Flying Scotsman, Elf Esteem and Double Dark Oatmeal Stout, plus Greedy King Olde Trip. Beer was averagely priced (due to a mix up with crisps it was unlcear in round one but I think my second pint, of Deuchars, was £3.00 - get me with me research!), and Bacon Fries were on sale at the going rate, i.e 80p a pack. Crucial info...

There's a decent wine list with a few bottles I'd like to try plus a few fillers that are easily affordable - a good mix of prices means if you take the whole thing a bit seriously as I sometimes do you can choose with confidence, but if you want wines to taste of wine and have alcohol in them you don't have to fork out a fortune only to be disappointed. The food menu looks to be bar snacks-cum-Tapas, with lots of fairly standard fare which I didn't pay a tremendous amount of attention to, but it didn't look too expensive.

Meanwhile, with thanks to Anne Greaves from Twitter for finding it, they have gone and got a Facebook page which doesn't carry much info I have to say. Puzzlingly their cover pic also appears to be a rack of thirds (although, there seems to be 4 - are these 142ml measures then?!). I didn't see or get offered any thirds whilst pondering my choice so am not sure if this is meant to be a literal representation or just a popular ale related image.

On a similar subject, when I asked about the lack of social media coverage and promotion of the reopening, the lass behind the bar said they had been handing out leaflets locally, presumably to business, but there are a lot of ecclesiastical buildings and offices nearby, so this seems a weird target audience. And also, leaflets! Why not stone tablets, telegrams or carrier pigeons? I know I was a late, reluctant convert to Twatter et al but its positively improved the numbers of people reading this blog, so I admit to being a fan of it as a promotional tool.

On a completely different subject the decor is quite good - a useful opposite to the themes most regularly encountered in similar venues like Browns (light and dark sitting awkwardly with ultra modern) and Henrys (light airy open spaces with wood and steel). The theme is quite clearly "old", but not in a gratingly twee or clumsy way, but in a homely, comfortable and quite striking in some parts, way. I particularly like the bar, a bit like what the West End have done but with more assurance and subtelty. Chala was very much wooed by the comfy chairs we were relaxing in - so much was I that I left my bag on the chair when we left!

Oh and the last important detail is about beers - Barman Jared (thats not his full name) informs me that the Deuchars, Church House Bitter and Flying Scotsman are likely to be regulars with the other three pumps changing, although the Elf Esteem, being a festive brew, should be on until Christmas. Me and chala both had the excellent Double Dark oatmeal stout, which was a very enjoyable, quite complex stout with a very pleasant aftertaste. I also tried a pint of Deuchars - now a sad facsimilie of a previously good beer.

Despite this, I think the Church House deserves credit for opening with a dark beer, which even in these enlightened times is still a woefully under represented beer style on the bars of Sheffield.

So in conclusion, it was an enjoyable visit. The beer was good, the food and wine list was OK, the decor looked good, it smelled of new pubs (I love that smell!) and the clientel was mixed, and bar staff helpful.

But will it succeed? Well, based on info from Andy Lonsdale (again from Twitter) and others, it seems to have had numerous incarnations, which always points to instability and a lack of business acumen or forward planning. It was previously Sanctuary which, it was suggested, used to be a not very successful gay bar - no idea if they sold real ale. Prior to that when my friend Sheeps Head Paul used to work behind the bar, it was called Gladstones, and did sell real ale, but he used to say it was mental Friday nights and quiet the rest of the time (and the ale was often awful). Someone also suggested it had a novelty name as well over the years; and before that it was definitely offices.

I see Heineken as a regressive influence, especially where the real ales are concerned (and for the record there is nothing of even the remotest interest in bottles or on keg). As a company they don't exactly seem to push the boundaries with products or indeed their attitude towards acquisitoin and management of companies, so it could suffer from their depressing mass market, lowest common denominator outlook. On the other hand, its a beautiful building, its in a very interesting location, it sells real ales unusual to Sheffield (well some) and is possibly just shielded from Church Street enough to be a place for a comfortable drink or meal prior to a night out in rowdier haunts.

So I really can't predict if it will succeed, but I hope it does well, because if nothing else, it can now be added to my after work pub crawl of Shakespeares, Three cranes and DAda. And extra choice is what we all strive for, surely?

Wee Beefy