Wander-iains

Hello,

    I was going to write up a few recent beery delights that I have encountered, but aside from the fact that if my Diabetic consultant ever read this we might have to have a "chat" it also occurred to me that what I had embarked on last night was a regular monthly pub crawl. So I thought I might personalise the journey, literally, and tell you how to do that same route, and what you might expect along the way.

Me and Mr P have, on our last 3 monthly, after work, beer wanders, gone and done the same route. The things is, we always used to go to the Harlequin then the Kelham without even thinking about it, rarer still we wandered to the Blake or the Sheffield Tap but recently we have settled on a regular trail.

Starting on Bridge Street (think Whitbread's brewery) we walk up past Irwin Mitchell's and follow the road round past Plum Lane and out onto and across the dual carriageway. Theres a cashpoint here for butter memories like me who never have any cash on them...

Round the corner next, then we walk past the Fat Cat, at which point comes your first choice. Obviously, the KIT and the Cat are here, and well worth a visit - but we usually walk onto Green Lane, then right over the bridge past the Milestone, up Ball Street. For a more scenic walk take the next right, Cornish Street, follow to the end and walk down the jennnel to join Waterloo walk which comes out at Rutland bridge. We normally take a left over the river off Ball street and follow the path out onto Neepsend Lane, which we follow to the Gardeners Rest (if going tother way turn left at the junction over river).

Here of course there are beers a plenty and outside seating. There;s nothing finer than sitting by the river on a sunny day, or sheltering in the conservatory during a heavy shower. Somehow, half of the time, the latter happens.

Last night was no exception. We were nearly drowned out chatting over our pints - we started with pints of Eden Best for me, which was a light refreshing little dryness in the aftertaste, whilst Mr P had a pint of a Tintagel ale, which I had low expectations of, but was in fact probably gutsier and more hoppy than my choice. Mr P had another of these, and I had a very unusual tasting but very enjoyable Wharfebank Treacle Toffee Stout, which smelt like Dandelion and Burdock and tasted of vimto and roasted barley. Despite this clumsy mix of descriptors I assure you it tasted fantastic.

Should you be able to tear yourself away, you could go mad and ditch the crawl and head for the Hillsborough - this of course is part of the rather longer and rightly more famous Don Valley pub crawl. What we do, however, is head back down Rutland Road and turn left onto Old Penistone Road, and head onto Shalesmoor.

At this point, assuming you didn't fancy a saison or other invented beer, you could cross the ring road and tram track to visit the Wellington, and try their excellent Little Ale Cart beers plus guests. What we usually do, however, is press on to the Ship.

Now, the Ship is a pub that I like very much but we're never quite sure of the opening hours. We consistently aim for 19.30 but at different times before now the landlord has insisted its 20.00, or, presumably in jest (!) 21.00. Either way, I think a sensible plan would be to aim to get their for 20.00, to avoid disappointment.

On our last visit there was Abbeydale Moonshine, Kelham Pale Rider and the excellent Welbeck Abbey Red Feather, which was our tipple of choice, perfectly kept and on sale at a decent price - £2.60 a pint. I understand that Kelham Wild Rider and the Barlow brewery stout are to feature soon, along with another few from Welbeck. Should be well worth finding out.

Our final stroll is fairly simple, just along Shalesmoor and keep right up Gibraltar Street to Shakespeares. Last time in Mr P was on the Axholme Best Bitter and I was trying, enjoying and all round being impressed by a sumptuously orangey bitter called Mudhopper from Mallinsons. Alas we were both pushed for time and it was getting really busy in the pub what with events on upstairs and down it seemed so this was our only drink. I could easily stayed for many more Mallinsons to be honest.

From here we usually go our separate ways, if I am being a good boy (which of course I always am), I go home as well, although its not unfeasible that I might instead head off for DAda or the Three Cranes. The KIT, Cat, Riverside and Harlequin are all 5 minutes away of course, so if you so wished you could walk on round the ring road and check them out aswell.

I hope you get chance to try out this trail sometime, if the weathers nice (ahem...) its a lovely walk for the most part, and crucially its populated with excellent pubs. Which is nice...

Wee Beefy

Another day, another celebration

Evenin

    well its not quite as dishearteningly familiar as the title may imply, but after a 5th day of Jubilee fever I am craving a more temperate physiology. Today, despite my grand plans for travelling afar and sampling delights from Derbyshire, we have been out on a nearer to home pilgrimage to the Jubilee festivities here in Sheffield.

Except, its noticable that apart from pubs making an effort, and a free music event in Western Park, absolutely nothing civic was going on at all. Not even a flag, not bunting, not a union jack painted or hoisted or even showing in any municipal space or capacity across the whole of the centre. Excuse my text parlance here, but WTF?

Those who know me well know I am not a monarchist. Never have been, never intend to jump onto the hereditary privilege boat and never cared a jot about how the Royals might continue to stamp or smear their marks on society. However, this is the diamond Jubilee. I assure you this isn't likely to happen again (and I mean any 60th year of reign, obviously not W-Liz, as the kids probably call her) in our lifetimes. So irrespective of your views, you'd surely want to have something to declare that you did on the weekend of the Jubilee? If you are pro monarchy you'd surely want something to attend, if you are anti Royal, surely your protest by absence needs an event or happening to be absent from?

Who knows what the council's reasoning is, maybe our Chartist past in Sheffield means we are eternally dissident (I realise that dissident is usually political not monarchical opposition), or maybe our socialist republic past confirms us universally anti inherited rule and suspectly acquired wealth so we have to abstain from all celebration? Either way, its a shame that the only people making an effort are individuals and pubs.

Forum

Still, that means I could shoehorn a trip to a pub or three into the legitimate celebrations of the last day of the Jubilee Holiday.  We started by taking a trip to Western Park, and having a look around the museum and the free music event, then walked towards town. A required loo stop meant a trip to the Forum (please note, we don't have to go to the Forum everytime we need to visit the lavatory. That would be silly).

Here there were two True North brewery real ales on, First Summer (I think, not tried) and First Porter, which was a really very nice drink. I had a pint of that, Chala a Peroni, then we stopped for dinner, with which I had a pint of refreshing Franziskaner wheat. There was flags and other red white and blue theming on beams inside but it was understated. Probably looked better for it.

Fat Cat

After getting to town I pointed out to Chala that we needed a further walk after dinner and sold her on the idea of a vintage red bus ride from the Cat. We walked down past Bower Spring furnace remains and arrived at a busless pub. We enquired about there being another trip (based on a lack of info on their website) and were told it would return soon and would probably go out again.

Whilst we waited I had two halves, the Spire Queen of Diamonds, a fruity and refreshing ale, and a half of the excellent Salamander Black Eyed Boy stout, whilst Chala had a half of Erdinger Dunkel.

The bus duly arrived and we went to chat to the driver and found out it would be a bit before our tour began, so I had another half, this time the Derby Brewing Co Diamond Jubilee (unless they wrote it on the board wrong, that wins a prize for the most unimaginative Jubilee beer name) which was a pleasant enough drink.

Eventually departure time arrived and we set off on a half hour tour of the city, which, if nothing else, starkly highlighted the astounding lack of any outward recognition that it was an important day. Thank God when we returned to the Fat Cat there was a nice line in mini flags strung up and a barbecue, where we filled up on beer soaking snacks. Well done to the Cat for putting on a celebration.

Shakespeares

Our last point of call, and with rather a lot less celebratory paraphanalia than the Cat, was Shakespeares, although they did have a Jubilee beer or two on. Here I had an excellent pint of the Arbor Brigstow Bitter at 4.3% and £2.60 a pint, and Chala had a half of the Fernandes Jackdaw mild, a jet black slightly strong mild at 5.0%.  I also had time for a quick half of the Cotswold Spring Ambler, which was a pleasant malty bitter but paled in comparison to the dry fruity bitterness of the Arbor.

Just a reminder by the way that the Shakespeares beer festival starts Thursday, and a quick neb at the brewery list (posted on the wall and door) shows ales from Locale breweries including two new from Blue Bee and Steel City, along with the likes of Ironbridge, Revelations, Tynebank, Llangorse, Black Hill, Arbor and many others that I didn't write down (pushed for time, sorry, indeed these are all remembered, i.e mostly, but not entirely factual!).

Make sure you go along for a pint or 6.

So, that concludes my details of a rather unusual Jubilee weekend celebration for myself, with not as many pubs as I would have preferred, but plenty of beer and celebrations to help me along.

Cheers!

Wee Beefy

A young man's favourite beer

Hello again,

    I am distinctly off colour today, and despite the prospect of going to see Stewart Lee on Friday cheering me up, I am looking forward to spending tomorrow Saturday and well, most of the rest of the month's nights indoors. This is quite unusual for me these days, because I normally like to get out twice a week at least. If am not on a "beer quest" I am enjoying a fine wine with Chala, so am well watered most nights, but this never used to be the case. I used to stay in more, and, before the magic of blogging, I used to write things, on paper, using a pen, and everything.

Some younger readers may find this an alien concept, but I used to find any scraps of paper I could to jot down ideas, song lyrics, track listings, and record all the beers I tried (yep, in the days before it became "material" or "research" this was called beer scoring, for which I sincerely apologise). I also often recorded details of the pubs I had visited, more often those that I wanted to visit, indeed during the prolific nineties I probably only managed to keep myself sane by writing this stuff.

Better than a Top Ten...

Where I am seemingly never getting to is this - I wrote  a list of Desert Island beers. Not a top ten, no that was passe, I wrote a top twenty. Mind you, looking back, it seems possible that it would have been a twenty five or thirty had I been able to find some more paper. I wrote it some time in 1996, so this was a list from someone who had been drinking real ale regularly for probably only three years. And I was barely past childhood -  I wrote the list aged just twenty three. Imagine! I probably wore faded grey clothes that I wished were still black, ginormous framed glasses which no-one had the heart to tell me looked ridiculous, and weighed ten stone. Even I can't imagine that...

Better still, I found that list tonight. Here it is, not written out verbatim because each beer comes with a lengthy description, but I shall provide the name, place tried and one quoted line of prose. Please note that the order of the beers confers no preference - I really didn't have a favourite.

1. Samuel Allsops Traditional English Stout (also called dry stout), White Lion, Heeley, Sheffield April/May 1995 - "gorgeous, totally refreshing, if a little overpriced"

2. Arkells Kingsdown, Fat Cat, Sheffield, July 1995 - "I can't describe the taste, but I must say - butterscotch"

3. Bathams Best Bitter, Great Western, Wolverhampton, June 1995 - "the sort of bitter you can drink in Winter (I suspect) or Summer, beautiful"

4. Cannon Royall Millwards Cannon Mild, Cask and Cutler, Sheffield, May 1994 - " the best mild I've ever had and the only beer I ordered another pint of that night"

5. Church End What the Fox Hat, Fountain Real Ale Bar, Gornal, West Midlands, June 1995 - "it was wonderful, as was the atmosphere, as was the barmaid. There was a beer festival on at the time, and in the corner of the tiny bar a band belted out covers of the Pogues"

6. Devenish Regal Ale (1977) at home, July 1995 - "It had a taste and smell I'll never forget, like the Kingsdown it was butterscotch"

7. Enville Gothic, Fat Cat, Sheffield, July 1995 -  "it was beautiful, not only that night, but every night I've drunk it since"

8. Federation Best Bitter, Miners Arms, Acomb nr Hexham, June 1993 - "the last pint I'd had before this was a unnaturally cold Newcastle Exhibition, and this just hit all the right spots"

9. Hexhamshire Shire Bitter, Yellow Lion, Apperknowle, Derbyshire, June 1994 - "it was low in alcohol and easy to drink, but it had a beautifully strong flavour for a beer of that strength"

10. Sarah Hughes Dark Ruby Mild, Beacon Hotel, Sedgely, West Midlands, February 1995 - "this is a wonderful beer, and the Beacon Hotel provides the ideal surroundings"

I'm going to leave the other ten until my next post, because this is a lot of information to take in (and to write out!).

A few things strike me about this - firstly, that the Yellow Lion was demolished years ago, but that the Miners and Great Western are still in the GBG (2011). Secondly, that I keep using the word beautiful, which is really not a word I use very often to describe beer (or at all) nowadays; perhaps this was a romantic phase of my life.

Also, my appreciation of Federation !?!, which quickly turned into one of the most dreadful real ales in the UK, in fact am not even sure it is still available as a real ale. The fact that virtually all these beers were tried after I had got my first job, and finally, that price was an issue then - the Sarah Hughes was £1.55 in the Beacon in early 1995, and £2.15 at the Yellow Lion the same year, according to the notes. I was most displeased...

Somethings of course, never change - I still love Bathams Bitter, Enville Gothic, Sarah Hughes Dark Ruby Mild, and Hexhamshire Shire Bitter.

I can't escape my black malty beer past it seems...


Wee Beefy

I went to the pub! And everything.....

Good haveternoo,

    after a few days ensconced at home, albeit enjoying some of my Christmas bottled beers, I have finally broken free from the constraints of the domicile and recklessly ran about in town for a bit. Here are some of the details of that jaunt.


My first Sheffield centre wander of 2012.

After a long boring day at work, myself and Protest (for it is he) decided that we ought to be able to reward our sorry selves with a drink. So we made the short hop to the Harlequin, which, I concede, I haven't been to for a while now.

Tarlequin

We were only stopping for one so chose carefully. Protest ordered, accidentally as it turns out, a pint of Budvar Dark (always read the label!) and myself, a delicious Spire 1909 Porter which was a nice heavy brew that I thought I'd still finish before lager boy Protest had chewed his way through the fizzy Budvar. In the end we finished at the same time, pleased and sate with our choice. Not sure for definite about the Spire beer identity by the way - it ended in the word 1909 but haven't been able to substantiate this using the tinterweb.....

Cranes

Protest later abandoned me in a retail monstrosity and I grabbed some crap food and headed into town for a sit down on a windy bench to cram the substance in my mouth whilst waiting for my drinking partners - Chala, and Thangor the Motherinlaw. I was to meet them in the 3 Cranes, where I popped in for an OK pint of Blue Bee Lustin for Stout - the bitterness was there but none of that lovely balancing creaminess. Tiring of the company of a swearing addicted football cretin howling abuse at the TV I opted to meet the ladies outside. This plan was somwehat scuppered however because Thangor didn't want to wander down to the next pub, so we did pop back in for one - Thangor reckoned it was her first visit in 40 years. Chala had Birra Moretti and me a half of the Camerons Strongarm. It makes an interesting change but wilted in the face of the Blue Bee, owing mainly to a distinct over reliance on malt.

Shakespeares

Thangor was only stopping out for one, so under my expert tutelage headed off through the back streets to arrive opposite Shakespeares on Gibraltar Street.  Having bought a refreshing pint of Summer Wine Brewery erm, something pale (the only dark on offer was Copthorne and I find their beer isn't to my taste), and Chala having opted for a Peroni, we went in search of a seat - and found a brewer into the bargain.

Rich from Blue Bee was in the "school room" (not depicted in the pic) round the back with his friend Rhys, and it soon materialised that as well as merciful confirmations of Rich and his dearests good health, his friend was a bit of an expert on National Inventory pubs. Luckily, Chala and Rich know each other well which is good, as I think I discussed my specialist subject with Rhys, an amiable and incredibly knowledgeable Welsh enthusiast of all that's good about pubs, for about an hour! So much hot air was expelled that I didn't even venture towards a second ale, and that was probably one of the slowest dispatched pints of 2012 (admittedly there haven't been many). Alas, time waits for no man so we decided to head off to a nearby hostelry for a catch up and a pint.




The Venerable Cat

A welcome return for Chala, (and even I haven't been in for ages), we enjoyed our visit to the Cat all the more after I led us through several lake sized puddles dotted around the car park between the KIT and the Cat. Stephen was in, and so was Diane, so it was exactly what we had hoped for, and we soon got on with the important business of chatting and securing our drinks. Chala opted for a fairly heavy Framboise, and I had a pint of Welbeck Abbey Portland Black - which is weird, because that's the pint I had on my last visit...

Chala was busy meticulously planning her 40th birthday which is well over 500 days away, I meanwhile was enjoying my 3rd dark pint of the night and summarising the late license options for drinking back towards the city centre.

Dee-daa's.

We walked back past the Cranes and the D&P and Grapes to enable Chala to have her first visit to Dada. Curiously, except for some of the loudest men on earth (football fans, quel surprise) taking advantage of the echoey design to crassly amplify their nonsensical views through the whole pub, it was pretty much dead. This enabled us to make an observation about the cavernous acoustics of the venue.

Whilst mega echo might be a godsend for any bands that they eventually put on (I think I saw Hummingbirds advertised, but at a fiver?) it seems very strange to have employed an interior designer with a love of metal furniture. With our backs to the entrance in the seating area to the right before the bar, it sounded like the staff were chucking a filing cabinet down a multistorey car park stairwell. Surely if you want to create a cool relaxed vibe, the screeching and crashing of unwieldy metal artefact's isn't going to achieve that? Most puzzling, but not necessarily a good puzzle...

Beers wise I had a half of the Thornbridge Lord Marples and their Yule, which is 7.2% I think. Chala had a half of their Versa, which I thought was an excellent beer - refreshing, malty wheat but with enough bitterness to make it well balanced, like a pilsner with wheat malt. The Marples was alas very disappointing, clearly on its last legs and warm, the beer was afforded none of the support it needs to shine on the bar.

What with it having just been Christmas, I was hoping the cheer would have survived into 2012 and they would have gone back to  two Thornbridge and two guest real ales, but the guest was still Holly Days. Also, the 7% plus Yule was £3.40 a pint - and came with a price warning! Surely if the staff at Dada caution customers about the cost, but justify that £3.40 isn't bad for a beer of that strength, there is some serious differences in opinion across the complicated to understand Thornbridge estate. I mentioned the infamous Brachia, which I was assured was excellent and had been matured for a couple of years, but there still seems to be a discrepancy when the extra 2.3% of beer weighs in at over £6.00! Even the shit witted knee jerk ploy of HSBD can't surely have taken the price of Brachia out of the stratosphere, can it?

The grand ol 1854

Our last stop, which we somewhat hurried to in recognition of how late it had become, was Harrisons 1854 on Regent Terrace. The crowds were dwindling when we arrived and we were able to get one of the better seats after a quick chat with fellow beer explorer Dave Barraharri. I only had half of the Farmers Blonde from the Range of three that included Moonshine and Deception, owing to being a trifle full after my Yule experiment, but I also had a refreshing glass of Hugo Cassanova Sauvignon Blanc.

Chala opted for a glass of wine as well, always a sensible finisher since it doesn't bloat you, and we stayed until throwing out time enjoying our drinks and talking music and pubs. Although we were reluctant to leave, our timing was impeccable as soon after walking round the corner the night bus turned up, saving us significant taxi fares in the process.

Start the year as you mean to continue they say - looks like I have set my stall out to drink good beer (and the occasional fine wine) in an eclectic mix of modern and traditional pubs and bars, so I think all bodes well!

Wee Beefy.

Wee Beefy's beer bites - Part 4

Good evening

despite money running out faster than patience at an automated checkout, I have still managed to cram a lot into the nearly two weeks since I last posted. So here's some news....

Dove and Rainbow Hartshead

The Dove seems to be on its usual tri-annual rollercoaster of fortunes - in the past few years it has gained plaudits a plenty for its range of beers and been an incredibly popular venue despite its hidden city centre location. Now I can't possibly comment on its popularity amongst music fans as I am in my dotage and listen only to the soulful babble of Jim Reeves et al, but I can make an observation on my Monday night visit recently.

Essentially, Mondays are unsurprisingly slow to get going. There were a few people in, a man who disliked Gary Moore but appeared at ease with wearing a cowboy hat behind the bar, some pool players, and the hatted fella's acolytes around the bar.

Beer wise the choice was about 6 but with little of interest - the Kelham Easy Rider was a god send amongst almost exclusively super regional or worse still Grim King offerings, but as always, i can use my sense of perspective to note that choice is the saviour of any good venue and so did not even mind being accused of being a smoker and given a plastic glass in anticipation of my inevitable sojourn outside.

Overall I reckon that a busier Dove is likely a better Dove - the service was an odd mix of aggressive and matey and the lack of any noticable hubris probably laid bare a few failings that would otherwise not matter or be seen. I think a return visit is required, to sample the best of the pub, and see whether it is still the only decent mix of rock bar and real ale pub in Sheffield.


The Venerable Cat

So spoilt are we in Sheff that often folks forget that there used to be but 1 place (quickly followed, admittedly, by about 4 others ) in the town to get a decent range of beer. The Fat Cat on Alma Street is where this trend kicked off and I was in there for a retrospective last week with Stevo. She was on lady beer of some kind, but i was able to enjoy two fantastic pints of the Wellbeck Abbey brewery Portland Black whilst we munched on sublime pork pies. This is a timely reminder that I don't actually have to walk miles round the city for a relaxing after work imbibe, and reminds me, as it should some of you, that the Cat is always worth a visit.

Henrys - Beer Cafe?

I was acutely aware that after an initial flurry of visits I had somewhat neglected Henry's so popped in for a couple of halves one recent Wednesday. Am pleased to report that their enthusiasm for real ale has not wained, and it still commands a central and important place on the bar.

On offer was a fantastic range of 9 real ales including the two I tried, that being Dark Star American Pale Ale, and Brew Company Smokey Joe (note this is a guess - my somewhat vague notes proclaim only the word "smoky" for this ale...). As well as sampling these two fine beers, the Dark Star being excellent and the Brew Co beer exceeding my expectations of just how Rauchbier-like it would be, I also managed to snaffle some free sarnies en route to my next stop. Top marks!

Bungalow and Beers

Yes, that's a deliberate mis-spelling. To my shock and discombobulation, what I had previously considered a trendy bar offering nowt more tempting than expensive continental fare found everywhere, was now worth a visit for the real ale alone. In a shock move, which has somehow evaded my radar, it turns out that popular bar Bungalow and Bears now , and has for 9 months or more according to the barman, sold real ale! Add into the mix a decent selection of music and some eclectic but comfy seating to tempt the dotards in our midst, this makes the Beargalow worth a look.

On my visit there was 1 cask cider and two cask beers; York Guzzler, and to my surprise, Oakleaf IPA from Hampshire. I didn't even find Oakleaf beer when we were in Hampshire never mind oop ere in Sheffield, and this was one of the best beers of the night. This is a pleasant change and an encouraging development matched by nearby venues as I shall report now....

Great Green Gatsby's

The Great Gatsby, formerly the Olive Bar and before that the Forresters, now has real ale. Only one handpump is used, but it proudly proclaims the sale of a Blue Bee brewery beer, and is served in their Pint glasses. The beer, a 4% pale beer called High Bouncing Lover, with a flavour nearer to Bees Knees than Nectar (based only on the fact that I have tried Bees Knees only once and associate it with a maltier style than the nectar) is £3.00 a pint and heralds a swift return to visitability for a venue, which, like many of its neighbours, has noticed that people do actually care about what they drink and want something tasty and well made. This infectious drive towards choice and ultimately the supply of quality independently produced products can only be a good thing.

Up the road, having derided them in May for leading me a merry dance concerning the provision or not of the beautiful drink, I also noted that the Green Room had gone and got a Blue Bee beer as well. This time it was the Nectar Pale, a little less balanced than at the Rutland where it has been excellent of late, but nonetheless signs of a seachange in bar ethos with regards to drinks choice, started by the Old house and the Wick at Both Ends, and now encompassing almost every venue in the Devonshire Green area.

The Rutland Arms, Brown Street.

Just a quick mention for the above, my recent acquisition of a Blue Bee brewery loyalty card for the venue has prompted a few visits of late, where on my first visit I had a truly fantastic pint of the Nectar Pale at £2.60. On my second just this week, I had a half of the light tasting slightly foxed ale from Slightly Foxed Brewing Company ( see http://slightlyfoxedbrewery.co.uk/ ) and a rather unwise, given its early appearance in my drinking line up that night, pint of Blue Bee Tangled up IPA. Always a pub worth a visit, the addition of these Blue Bee cards makes it doubly worth popping in, although am not sure where one gets the cards from ......

And finally, the rumour mill....

No, not the name of a pretentious bar or themed restaurant, but an object that when twisted dispenses an enticing selection of granules of truth and supposition. I am informed that the Three Cranes on Queen Street, shut for some time now, is finally due to reopen. Real ales will e available, but only a few at first in order to gauge demand. I understand the owner purchased this and another pub with more pressing needs (lets face it, the Three cranes, superficially at least, appears in damn good nick) hence the delay in its reopening. Here's to a potential new addition to the Sheffield real ale scene!

More soon, with updates from North of the border. Slainte!

Wee Beefy.