The people's porter on the march

Hello,

          its been a taxing week this week. If any 24 hour period had the word day in it I was out fighting the fight, making sure every last drop of the people's porter, recently voted the most accessible and socially conscious beer ever brewed, by a panel of ignoramuses, was supped.

Shakespeares did their best to defeat me by "hilariously" telling me the arrival of the beer was weeks away then springing its availability on me Saturday night. Monday night I was straight into the pub to make sure I got some. In beer blogging circles, its usually expected that one provide at east a modicum of detail (see posts passim for the extent to which a modicum is the most that is provided) about the beers drunk but there is no point elaborating here. Seven lovely pints of the Pilcrow Porter brewed by Blue Bee Brewery was the totality of my roll call.

Tuesday night arrived and I had to pop into Shakespeares for some reason or other- I seem to recall it involved Pilcrow Porter. Just to confuse matters however, I also decided to sup a pint of the excellent easy drinking Black Iris American Red. Slotted in between 2 pints either side of the people's pint this stood up admirably well.

On Wednesday things took a massively divergent turn - I went to a venue to be photographed drinking beer. The venue was Shakespeares. The beer was Pilcrow Porter. I even got to drink it from a Blue Bee glass. It was also a great opportunity to be reunited with the brewing team of Robenbakker, Mister Christopher, Chris Wa Wa, JSB and Alex Corner form the band of the same name. Oh, and to drink beer. Just the four this time, including a half of the rather disappointing Red Squirrel Redtail Citra. I recalled really liking their beer but I suspect it was their excellent dark ales that I have gorged on in the past. Not that it was unpleasant - but it needed about twice as much Citra. Perhpas 600kg, as is the new standard in brewing which I obviously know all about all of a sudden....

Thursday I was having a pint after work wit my mate Steve and we decided he might like to drink Pilcrow Porter in Shakespeares. I say we. His acquiescence was presumed. Pilcrow wise, as a non beer drinker, his description of it being an not unpleasant drink was eye moisteningly kind. Mind you, this time I also mixed it up by having a pint of the Revolutions John and Yoko, a 6.9% pale ale. Boom! This was an absolutely fantastic beer. Packed full of hops that complimented each other perfectly (or were all the same hop, as can happen) it was the ideal accompaniment to the mellow drink-ability of the Pilcrow. The people's porter. Did I mention that?

By now news had arrived from the Closed Shop and the Rutland Arms that they had also put the liquid if the common man on their bars - so having drained the barrels in Shakespeares almost single handedly, the revolution had now spread across the fine city to other fine pubs, which had I bothered to visit them, may have made this a slightly less one dimensional post.

Finally, last night I escaped from work early and went for a walk. I "accidentally" ended up at the Wellington where i had a pint of the Little Ale Cart European Union, 4.0% and £2.35 a pint, and the Bittern from the same brewery, 5.0% and £1.35 a half. This was the precursor to a final visit of the week to the little mentioned Shakespeares Ale and Cider House on Gibraltar Street. Replacing the people's porter was a far more elitist beer which had coffee in it. I ask yer - coffee? What next, Earl Grey?

Well, since it was Roosters Londinium coffee porter and they also brew the Mad Hatters Earl Grey IPA I guess the answer is yes. I had a couple of the porter and a very enjoyable pint of Rat brewery wheat beer - well, it was cloudy, so assumed it was a wheat beer. Either way it was a very nice easy drinking pint.

With a cask having arrived at or being due at the excellent Travelers Rest Apperknowle, and another on order for Sheffield (and Yorkshire's) best pub, it seems like the chance to catch the people's porter still exists.

So go out there! Men, women and children (not literally)! Claim (not literally) your entitlement to the people's pint! Drink it for all of us!

(etc)

Cheers!

Wee Beefy

Always read the label...

Hello,

  I was out Monday night (I know, I know, call the AA, etc..) with the assembled Rotherhamia in the Rutland Arms, a pub you may remember from much more posts in 2012. Its nothing personal of course, just that now that eminent overseer Mr Stephens has left the Death Star Canteen to be in the Death Star Canteen but elsewhere, I have been in other pubs instead. Anyhoo.....

Neil texted me as I waited for the twat tractor from work and advised that him and Jane were in the Rutty for an hour, and that I may wish to join them. Well, loving standing in the open sewer of Waingate though I was, I opted to hot foot it to the Rutland and join in. First up was a half of the West Weizen, and a pint of Revolutions Brew Sid and Nancy, because its from Revolutions. It also had a rather pleasing pump clip.

I nibbled some food, supped my delightful hoppy ale and talked with good friends. Only after I started my second pint, having finished a decent if underwhelming West, did I realise, or rather, find out, that the Sid and Nancy was 6.9%! Because yer see, the thing about pumpclips is that amongst other things, they almost always confirm the beer's strength. Whereas my pumpclip espying is a more brewery identification based assessment....

Throughout the night I did go on to sample other beers, one of which was clearly black, but considering that Neil was demolishing a procession of pints of Magic Rock High Wire, which I also tried a half of, its difficult to explain how I managed to become so very tired. Unless I had several more Sid and Nancy that is.....

Finally recovered tonight, I popped briefly in the Shakespeares for a few. I started on a very quaffable and enjoyable pint of Oldershaw Grantham Dark, before I had two halves of Brew Co Topaz, and halves of Otley O3 and Welbeck Cavendish. The Otley was surprisingly low on flavour, and the Cavendish a bit biscuity wheat, but the Topaz was excellent. So I had a (second) pint of that as well.

Obviously, I could have partaken of a beer from the cellar - or, indeed, a pint of Revolutions Brew Sid and Nancy at 6.9%. But who the hell is going to do that?

In all honesty, I would have stayed for a session but a man ordered curry from West Bar Tandoori so I had to go home and eat. Despite this disruption,  the above is once again, a fine example of two more impeccable Sheffield pub sessions.

Brilliant.

Wee Beefy.

Best is the guest?

Evening,

     following on (slightly) from my previous post, and as promised, here are the details of that microcosm drinking session, and some from earlier.

Whilst these are two separate events its easier to take them in one circular crawl, so for the purposes of this post I started at the Bath Hotel. Arriving at a time when only a few customers were in. I quickly got rid of them (not intentionally, although I had sweated en route, but one hopes they hadn't noticed!?) and soon set about chatting with Ed. He's an easy going likeable chap with a good sense of humour. No twats in suits for the Bath, and all the better for it.
 

He quickly drew my attention to the whisky barrel aged Beadecas Well from Thornbridge but I spotted the Amber Ales Revolution and had a pint of that. An absolutely fantastic choice. Refreshing, balanced and hoppy, and lasting about 5 minutes. So I had another! I then moved onto the recommendation...
 

The aged Beadecas was to be honest, stunning. A truly fantastic well rounded, monstrously luscious, creamy, smokey, spirit infused delight in a glass, but tasting stronger than its 5.5 (?)% strength. It certainly slowed me down, being less quaffable than the Amber, but it was a memorable pint. I finished though, on another pint of the Revolution. To me, it being good enough to have over the Red Willow, is high praise indeed. The Heartless remained untouched.
 

Down ro DAda next and on both my visits I had the same - a pint of the Dark Star Smoked Porter, which to answer a query from T_i_B is less good than the Beadecas (the aged version at least) and a pint of Hophead. Described by Jamie as the clearest beer ever, what wasn't in doubt was its excellent condition, superlative taste, balancing hoppiness, and refreshing bitterness. An understandable inspiration for my article yesterday - I went to a Thornbridge pub, and didn't drink one of their beers. The guests are always excellent in DAda.

 

My final stop, the first tonight, was Shakespeares. Surrounded by brewing glitterati, including Dave Unpronounceable, I got to choose from a range of excellent and impressive beers. I started with a pint of the Steel City Cluster Bomb, made with German yeast and being 4.9%. An uncharacteristically Teutonic ale based on its hoppy bite, along with a murkiness not helped by the chill haze but it was a very palatable bitter beer. I had my eye next on the Hop Studio Porter and he North Riding Special but alas both these went off as I approached the bar!
 

Instead I had the excellent Revolutions Vienna cask lager, which had a weirdly spicy after taste but a brilliantly refreshing body and mouthfeel, plus halves of the Shakespeares 1000th different beer, Sheffield NZ Pale Ale 3 (Pacific Jade) and a half of the North Riding Vanilla Stout. The stout was a bit disappointing to be honest, but the Revolutions was another classic, easy to drink but full flavoured and interesting.

 All in all a great couple of nights, which nicely showcased some of Sheffield finest Brewery and Independently owned hostelries, proving that I have every reason to recommend a Thornbridge pub or two, but reminding me that the independents are always going to win in terms of choice.

 

Cheers!

 

Wee Beefy

Breweries of note

Greetings,

    now I know I sort of already did my Golden Pint awards spiel but I have, not accidentally, been mentioning my favourite, most impressive and consistent breweries in various posts throughout the year. So, with only tomorrow left of 2012, I have decided to compile my top ten breweries list, off the top of my head, without referring back to any previous posts. After all, if you rate a brewery, that shouldn't be necessary. Here's the shining stars, for your delectation..

1. Well, its got to be Mallinsons, not only because I already said that in my Golden Pints list, which is carved into a stone tablet and can never be changed (much how some breweries appear to regard their website), but because am still waiting for that first bad Mallinsons, beer, and can't see it arriving.
 

2. Revolutions Brew : once, and only once, I had a beer from this brewery that I didn't like. But that's a rare thing, and most of the time its a pleasure to sample their beer - even if I don't like or haven't heard of the band! Doing a collaboration with Brass Castle also earns them points, as does their impeccable unfined beer.
 

3. Magic Rock : not difficult to find, and despite a bit of a wobble where I had a few lacklustre pints (possibly a hop supply chain problem) its been another year where theirs have been the stand out beers - and they are only 18 months old. Still one of the few breweries whose beers aren't disappointing on KeyKeg, and whose Bearded Lady is my beer of the year.
 

4. Dark Star : If Bearded Lady hadn't redefined my feelings about Keykeg then 2012 would still have been memorable, mainly for the Dark Star Saison, and Revelation. The Saison was easily the most quaffable beer ever! The only thing that could have made it more perfect would have been a Summer to enjoy it in.
 

5. Black Iris : I hope this isn't influenced by their pumpclips but this is another go to producer for me - the Peregrine Pale and the Intergalactic IPA are two regularly faultless beers, along with their darker offerings.
 

6. Thornbridge : I might mock their position as "the new Ember Inns" and scoff at their fear of UK brewed KeyKeg beer but Halcyon, Pollards, McConnells, Yule, Evenlode and Thorny Goat simply can't be matched - and almost make up for how dire Kipling, Marples, St Petersburg and Jaipur have become. See, am at it again! Their inclusion in this list is also out of admiration for their incredible bottled beers, especially those that I have aged. 

 

7. Steel City : their 666 IBU festival alone warrants their inclusion, but when I see a Steel City beer I always find myself buying it. If they could just do a mild and a porter without too many hops they'd be much further up the list.
 

8. Blue Bee : Lustin For Stout, apart from a minor wobble, is consistently one of the best dark beers in Sheffield. And anyone who brews a black bitter,without any sense of irony is going to brewers heaven. The Shake Rattle and Roll was fairly awesome as well.
 

9. Blue Monkey : Love it! Great pumpclips and great beers which never disappoint, and now I can get there stuff in bottles as well its happy days. BG Sips is almost as faultlessly quaffable as Dark Star Saison.
 

10. Summer Wine : A huge range of bottles covering many styles is one reason why I like Summer Wine, even if they sometimes get a bit silly with hops. Their run of beers in Shakespeares and other Sheffield pubs earlier this year means I had plenty of their offerings to become enamoured with them - their red ale and Teleporter standing out.
 

11. You can't have a top 11, that's just silly. And besides, eleven comprises seven nearly's : Abbeydale, Fyne Ales, Acorn, Welbeck Abbey, Little Ale Cart, Hop Studio and Red Willow. All excellent breweries with a lot to offer. And heres a link to the list I compiled in April, just for comparison.

 
 

So that wraps up the list and the year for me, I have about a pint of Deception left which am saving for New Years Day, and then its back to the search for unspoilt pubs and amazing beers that has defined much of 2012.
 

Happy New Year!
 

Wee Beefy

Not another fined mess

Hello,

    now regular readers may wish to admonish me or mumble under their breath in dissatisfaction at the fact that my detox and stop at home money saving plan lasted only 2 days. However, any such scathing disapproval would only prevent you from sharing in my joy at drinking two utterly faultless beers last night, in ideal surroundings. So forgive me, and allow me to tell you why breaking my abstinence was so worth it...

I left work with a significant thirst after a day of frustration and poorly executed projects by those above me. I decided to go straight to Shakespeares Ale and Cider House on Gibraltar Street, not five minutes away (well, literally, if you walk slowly) without even stopping to secure myself some cash first.

Having checked the card machine was working, I selected a pint, a half of somethiong strong and a packet of crisps. It came to a fiver. Myself and the lass behind the bar were impressed, and I paid on card and got some cashback. I realise I may have mentioned this before, but giving cash back, especially in the form of for example, charging £12.80 for a pint and giving a tenner back, is simply good business sense. Punters stop around longer, and assuming they purchase more beer, don't pay by card thereby saving you the transaction fee...

Anyhoo, todays business lesson aside, lets talk about the incredible beer.

Revolutions Brew Demo, 4.5% unfined late hopped ale. A glorious amber, possibly slightly chectnut ale which, was crystal clear. Initially I was disappointed about this. However, my sense of let down evaporated, after one swig told me straight away I had picked the best beer on the bar. As my visit continued, it became obvious that I had probably picked the best beer on any bar, anywhere, on that night.

Demo drinks so easily as to be embarrassing. There is a distinct and pleasing nutty flavour lurking in the bitterness which I swear I have detected in unfined beer before. That its colour is so glorious maybe an anomaly, since I was expecting a cloudy offering, but it was suggested to me that the finings weren't there to clear the beer, rather to keep the yeast at the bottom. Arguably, one is the same as the other -  I found out though that the beer had been in the cellar at Shakespeares for a good while. So you could suggest that all the "matter" i.e. yeast and hop debris had naturally settled to the bottom of the cask.  I still don't understand if or how that could have contributed to the beer being so damned amazing though....

Five minutes after my first purchase, without even having entertained the idea of starting to sup my half of Raw Pacific Ghost, 5.9%, I was back at the bar using my tenner to purchase a sarnie and another pint of Demo. This time I had to force myself not to drink Demo until I had finished my Raw beer. It was a very enjoyable and impressively balanced hoppy beer in itself, but it possibly didn't receive a fair assessment in the face of the competition.

All too soon I was once again delighting in the absurdly pleasing quaffability of the tremendous Demo. Had I the money, time and physical capacity, I think I would have drunk the beer until it ran out. It was that good. That it was also safe to drink plenty at a sensible 4.5% made it all the more satisfying. An unrivalled start to any night's drinking.

I was off oop troad next to pop in Dada as Tuesday's demand. The two other Tuesday regulars were in and we chatted about darker beers, mild at the Temple, and the National Inventory of Unspoilt Pub Interiors. On the bar there were no guests, which would normally annoty me immensely, but I didn't care, because they were selling Thornbridge McConnells. Which is bloody excellent. I haven't drunk it since December, and it was well worth the wait.

Plenty of Thornbridge favourites have fallen from grace recently for me. Most notably Kipling, Jaipur and for a while now, Lord Marples. So to find McConnells in such fantastic form was reason to celebrate. And I did so by buying several pints of the wonderful drink.

The enjoyment of my visit was enhanced by chatting with beer genius Emily and James, the youngest man in the world. There are times I have been to Dada and been non-plussed about the beer, but not minded in the face of excellent company. I have already written at length about why I like the place so I won't go over old ground, but its safe to say that my trip there, on this occasion of beer excellence, was the perfect end to the evening.

This year has seen me bowled over and blown away by Brodies Citra, Red Willow Faithless, Magic Rock Bearded Lady Bourbon Cask and Magic 8 Ball, Blue Monkey BG Sips (again), Steel City 666, Dark Star Saison and now Revolutions Brew Demo.

It looks like I've nearly settled on my top ten beers of 2012....

Wee Beefy

Shakespeares snifter

Hello again,

    it seems I have wound up in (or maybe been washed up in) Shakespeares quite a lot of late. The benefit of which has been some very nice beer and company, and friendly helpful service from the staff.

I was in briefly on Wednesday on a gloriously quiet afternoon enjoying a surprisingly nice pint of Bartrams Galena, a quaffable 3.8% blonde beer with plenty  of hops and on at a decent price of £2.50, making oit probably the cheapest of the guests. I have always had reservations about Bartrams, not least because I have one or two dreadful beers of theirs, and because I am always concerned about small breweries who bottle condition their beers (they may not do now, am not sure). They used to brew a range of about thirty beers and they seemed very samey and not very good.

The Galena however, although retaining the Bartrams flavour (is this the yeast?) was a much better offering than anything I'd had before. Almost yellow gold and really easy to drink, but all the time with that pleasing hoppy fizz in the aftertaste rounding the beer off very well.

I also tried a half of the Salamander Practical Pipsqueak Porter, 4.8% and £2.70 a pint. This was everything I wanted it to be, with characteristic roast malt bitterness, and was, thankfully after some reddy dark brown finds recently, as black as sin. One thing you can say about Salamander's output is that they are brilliant at dark beers.

I was in again last night with Middlemarch and had a whole session on the Galena, I even got my fruit fancier drinking partner to try Abbeydale Deception, which she stuck on for the duration. The Galena was still on and on good form, and I finished with a really nice half of the Revolutions Brewery Esca bitter. I remember hearing a band of the same name on John Peel in the early nineties, with a track called Trucking and Paving. I never knew if it was Eska or Esca - given Revolutions musical interests I wonder if this beer is named after the band?

Its great to work near to and regularly have chance to visit a classic boozer, with probably Sheffield's cheapest sandwiches on the bar, real cider, 8 real ales, a changing keykeg guest, lager wheat and fruit beer on draught, and a great range of whiskies and bottle beers.

We really are spoilt here in Sheffield it seems.

Wee Beefy

What's your preference?

Ay up,

   despite being witness to the travesty of having to go into chuffing work on my day off today to finish a job application, I was able to turn dire into desire by heading straight off for Shakespeares with Chala afterwards. Here, she had a Franziskaner wheat and I had two pints of the excellent Revolutions Brewery Replica's Pale Ale, at 4.5%. I really enjoyed this well rounded beer, with lots of hops, and more fruity flavours and an aftertaste I loved but could not put my finger on. Indeed, sat in the quiet left hand room, reading, supping and listening to the reassuring tick tock thud of the old French clock was simply bliss.

However, rather than being a self serving wank fest of gloating, this post aims to find out if any of you have identified any "must drink" breweries?

I have assembled a rudimentary list from guesswork, rubbish remembering and details on my blog, of the breweries who's 2012 output has tickled my fancy. I concede that its only bleeding April but already I am aware of a band of brewers producing consistently (we'll forget that odd Devolution from Revolutions Brewery that disturbed me in Shakespeares) excellent beers that seem to somehow perfectly suit my palate.

These are beers from :

Magic Rock
Blue Monkey
Revolutions
Brass Castle
Kirkstall
Red Willow
Abbeydale
Dunham Massey
Dark Star
Black Iris

This isn't intentionally a Top 10 it just so happens to be the breweries that have, erm, tweaked my knobs, so to speak.

My questions is therefore, am I the only one noticing a group of brewers essentially "pulling free" from the bunch, and if so, which brewers would you add or remove from the above list?

Interaction, as always, is much appreciated....


Wee Beefy