Reet

Good afternoon Lazerngennulmern

        it occurred to me today (well, during a quiet period of reflection on Christmas Day actually) that it has taken me until now, or rather then, to realise the following.....

The "Reet Ale Pubs Company" sounds like the Retail Pubs Company.

Its taken me the three or maybe four or more years since their inception to figure this out. It explains, for one, the pronunciation used by Mr Stephens's. Its also "funny" because Reet Ale sounds like retail. And as a pub company, they retail not only ale, in their Reet Ale Pubs, but also retail Reet Pale Ale in their Reet Ale Pubs.

Its a pun!

Ha ha!

Ha ha!

(etc)

And yes, I can confirm that Boxing day and today have been quiet, thanks for asking.

With warmest twixt winter solstice and years end regards

Wee Beefy.

Real ale? Try London Road...

........is not the sort of thing I would expect to hear, especially not when I first started drinking in Sheffield, and not recently either. However, Fluffy went the weekend befpre last and despite not hearing details, Faceache showed me he had lived through it. So on Wednesday last, myself and Mr P went to check out what was on offer.

We started at the previously mentioned Albion real ale free house. I had visited a few times in its guise as the Bell Jar, but never when it was the original Albion. With the Bell Jar having seemingly given up the ghost about the time the Old Crown was being refurbished, I was pleased to notice the banner advertising its reopening, and this was my first chance to try it out.

Inside its very much the same - there is a small room down some steps on the left, the loos are also on the left, the beer garden is straight ahead and the rest of the space has chairs and tables. Simple, straightforward, and ideal for drinkers. That said, and it was snowy I admit, there was me and Mr P and a guy at the bar.

There are 5 handpumps on the bar, on this occasion all dispensing real ales from Abbeydale Brewery. The pub has only been open a few weeks so this may be a convenient arrangement but its also the best choice of Abbeydale real ales outside of their two pubs that I know of. The Deception had run out but of the 4 remaining I had a pint of Absolution (see, straight for the strongest) and Mr P a pint of Daily Bread. Mark the barman (Mark - you may be called Andy. Apologies Mark who may be called Andy) asked us what we wanted to listen to - we said blues, and got Jeff Healey. A real blast from the past. We then settled down to chat and sup.

There is a link to their Faceache page here. I am told there is a beer launch and music nght coming up in March where Emmanuales beer will be available from a singer. That's all I can remember to be honest, but I expect there are more details online. This was our first real ale stop and boded well for the evening ahead.

As an aside, I found out at the Albion that Delaneys had shut during the summer. At Tramlines 2013 they had two decent real; ales on but admittedly I hadn't been in since. It is rumoured to be reopening with real ales on, quite a few. Will look out for news on this and report.

Further up London Road is the Old Crown. We were recommended to try the snug which we did, and it was a lovely old room with a magnificent clock on display. Beers wise they had three real ales, Black Sheep, Farmers Blonde and Kelham Easy Rider - we both went for the Bradfield.

The guy behind the bar was chatty but once again the pub was deserted. I think this has been open a few months longer than the Albion but I also know they get full on matchdays. The rest of the pub retains a few old features and towards the back has been opened out am told. The beer was well kept and a sensible price, so this is another pub I will hopefully revisit soon.

Our final stop was the Cremorne. In the good old days (pick em - they started yesterday and go back forever) I used to go in now and again, but never regularly. I did have a couple of good nights there, and me and Tash visited in the summer and really enjoyed it. Perhaps its long standing repute as an ale house and place for gigs made a difference as this was the busiest pub of the night.

Theer were about 6 real ales on and we opted for the Withens Pale from Little Valley brewery. We found a space to sit and tasted our beer. I wasn't put off by its cloudy appearance - Anarchy brew Co often produce exceptionally tasty unfined beer for example - but the pint smelled sour. When I took them back, bearing in mind they also tasted sour, the guy helpfully suggested that the beer was meant to taste like that because it was unfined. This, of course, is not true. Its also counter-productive for example, in helping people get over any prejudices they may have over unfined beer.

He did however offer to swap them,  and we had two pints of Pictish instead, which were on good form and were a refreshing end to our night. Had we more time, we could have ventured to the Brothers Arms, Sheaf, White Lion or Broadfield, but that will have to wait.

For now, London Road is suddenly a viable place to drink real ale in Sheffield for he first time in .....well, dare I say the first time? Long may it continue.

Cheers

Wee Beefy

I forgot to mention.....

Now then,

 just to quickly let you know a few bits of "news"....

The long closed Wellington pub in Darnall has had a repaint and the steels shutters removed and is To Let. No indication yet that anyone has taken it on but it has been for sale (I think) through Colliers CRE since at least 2009 so maybe this will be its best hope? It was widely tipped to become the new Doctors back in 2011 but that plan was shelved. Having never visited this local pub to me, I'd love to see it reopen, preferably of course, with real ale.

The little altered (I am told!) Old Crown Inn on London Road is to reopen on 25 September 2014 offering live bands and real ales. This is another pub which has escaped me but was one which Dave Barraharri wanted to list on our Sheffield pub crawl, an ambitious plan which never got off the ground (and which is now operated on a similar basis by Real Ale Trails). It will be interesting to see who runs the new venue and indeed which real ales will be on offer. This is especially prominent since the Bell Jar has been closed on my last three visits. According to the following website the pub currently, or rather did, sell Moonshine....

Coming to the much loved National Inventory listed local The Bath Hotel on Victoria Street in October is Sheffield Brew Fest - a curated celebration of Sheffield and further afield brews. The festival, which has a website link here has already acquired beers from Siren Craft Brew - follow them on Twitter and access the website for updates on available beers.

On West Street on 13 June this year Maida Vale opened its doors, offering, much like the Old Crown, live bands and real ales. I ventured in on the Saturday and had halves of Osset Silver King and chatted to someone behind the bar who stated that the last incarnation only stayed open for a weekend or similar. It is noticeable therefore that I'm not certain the venue is still open, but will try and find out and update you.

The Three Cranes on Queen Street also appears to be closed, or keeping very restricted hours. If anyone knows what the situation is, please let me know!

Finally, the very long closed Cannon on King Street is To Let as retail units. Closed down some time ago it seems nobody wanted to take it on as a pub. This brings into focus the extent to which the potential reopening of the Wellington at Darnall is a surprising development.

All the best

Wee Beefy