Hello again,
as previously mentioned (possibly?), the primary reason for my self enforced abstinence this week is recognition that I have somewhat overdone May so far. Having been out almost every night for two weeks even I had the remaining brain power to surmise that actually I'd been very silly. Not that I hadn't enjoyed being very silly. Its rather fun, I tend to find.
Anyhoo, this shaky procession of dry hours gives me the chance to catch up on some news about said events, which I hope to accurately convey hereafter.
Wednesday (not today, keep up!) was Wanderiains day, and since it was switching between sunshine and pouring rain so it seemed only sensible to walk to the Gardeners Rest. This time we broke with tradition and settled in the snug on the left, taking with us pints of Long Itch Light relief for me and a weaker offering of theirs for Mr P. Neither were exactly accomplished beers, but were refreshing, so we quickly dispatched them and moved onto a pint of Pennine Test match for Mr P and a pint of Blue Bee Brown Ball for me. And yes, it really is the bitterest brown beer in Sheffield.
A quick walk round to the Ship followed but in our haste we had arrived early so decamped to the Wellington for halves of Little Ale Cart Sir William something with an A in it (my notes offer Blake, Sage and Gage - chances are its none). Then we nipped back over the road to find the footy on in the Ship, where I had a pint and a half of the Deception and Mr P a surprisingly palatable Bradfield Rhubarb bitter. It was nice to sit in the left hand side watching the sun stream through the windows, and it was a shame to leave to be honest.
I finished in Shakespeares where I chatted to Keith and big Ron about pubs and supped a pint of Rat Brewery Light Mild and Hop Studio Black IPA, both of which were in good nick.
Thursday was supposed to be my "day off" but a wall of brain achingly complex work and a weird text from Christingpher about 16.00 heralded another reckless night of refreshments. We met at Shakespeares and I started with a pint of Mallinsons Bramling, which was every bit as good as I'd expected, and went to sit with Christingpher in the beer yard. Alas, the warm sunshine had deserted the area hours ago and before long it was raining so we headed inside, where we both had pints of the same.
Next we traveled to Commonside to visit the Closed Shop where we bumped into Mr Stephens (hardly surprising) and also Dave, AKA Closed Shop Kate. As you know, I;m a big fan of humour by repetition, so in only two years I'll definitely have tired of referring to Dave as Dave. Instead of Kate....
Here there was more glorious beer talk as well as a decent smattering of noise on the jukebox. Christingpher was very sensibly on the Raw Majjic Mild whilst I had two pints of the also excellent Welbeck Abbey Cavendish, before we undertook the rather lengthy but downhill walk to the Ship at Shalesmoor.
So began my second ever proper session in here, ensconced near the jukebox and putting away an ominous number of pints of the Bradfield Rhubarb Bitter. Three hours passed with conversation ranging from random events from our childhood, to classic arguments we'd had with friends. In some ways, a drinking session with some one you've known 35 years is hard to beat. In the end, it was only my ongoing employment that brought this festival of slaking to an end.
Friday I was going out with my dear friend Middlemarch but alas she caught a debilitating illness that meant she didn't even want to go out drinking. So, instead of leaving early for pints I diligently stayed at work til late - then caved in and ran away to the Closed Shop for beer and solace. Luckily, I bumped into Vinnie and Daniel who I'd met at Pete Green's birthday the other day and so ended up gatecrashing their get together.
Here I was on a mixture of Raw Dark Peak Stout, and Blue Bee Blue Ball (not in the same glass you understand) as we got through many hours of chat and numerous pints. It was great getting to know Vinnie and Daniel, along with Mark, Leila, and Steve, and catching up with Father O'Matic and Kiri, but eventually, and unfortunately, it became something past one and I had to go home.
My last night out of this post (there will be a separate one about another Manchester area crawl to come) saw me out for the unofficial Carlos' birthday night out. To be quite honest by this time I was starting to sense that I was pushing my luck living-wise so decreed to meet as late as possible and leave at a sensible time. In the end everyone was late, as befits a Carlos do, and I made the last bus.
We started in the Hop and I had a pint of Green Jack Trawler Boys, which tasted fine but by the end had developed a detectable compost bin nose, so I moved onto Abbeydale Devotion next. We sat upstairs with Jambon (for a bit), Carlos, Mole, Angie, Wee Keefy and Toastie, before the band started playing, and the situation with the blocked men's urinal started to tell. One final pint was supped in here, Ossett Challenger, which was the best so far, before we headed to the Washington.
The Washington is the default later on destination of virtually everyone my age. Its always had a place in my heart and I've had many fab nights there. Plus, the eclectic crowd and somehow always palatable cloudy Moonshine wins it many plaudits. However, it seems to be fast securing a place in my mind as one of the stranger pubs in Sheffield. Its like it was 50 when I first visited 20 years ago (it actually opened in 1839, but lets not confuse my metaphor) and now its a much loved, slightly doddery place where flashbacks and confusion abound.
On Saturday we got in about 22.00 and it was not too busy (I mean, no-one goes in before midnight, right?) and having secured our pint of surprisingly ace Moonshine we ventured into the "Deep End" i.e the two rooms to the right with the glitter balls and DJ in. The room was virtually empty and it was easy to imagine why.
It smelled like urine and cat food. A man who thought he was Bez shambled ambidextrously between the bar and an imaginary cliff edge near the seating, while a selection of weird but oft enjoyable surf rock and other poorly recorded oddities blasted distortedly out of the straining speakers. Yep. This was to be our night mapped out. Significantly more Moonshine would be required....
Wherein lies, of course, the trick, since before I knew it I was having a bloody great time as I should have remembered I always do in the Washie. Great friends, great beer and the amusing irregularity of its disheveled features made this, and continues to make this, an excellent venue.
So concludes my round up of a thirsty week. Not a plan of action I recommend you try and copy, but on the other hand, if you are going to take 5 days off the grog, it may as well be for a good reason.
Your very best health
WB
Showing posts with label The Hop Sheffield. Show all posts
Showing posts with label The Hop Sheffield. Show all posts
Wednesday, 22 May 2013
Sunday, 3 March 2013
How to recover from a beer festival
Hello,
it's not particularly scientific but the answer to the above is - go to another one! And then return to the first, but more on that later.
On Friday The Hop in Sheffield hosted it's Sheffield Showcase beer festival, with an extra bar jimmied into the small offshoot to the right of the entrance. I was looking forward to meeting Fluffy in the Bath Hotel first, and we were going to spend a few hours trying the beers but Fluffy, alas, was indisposed. So I went alone, on the assumption I'd bump into someone from the world of drinking along the way.
I started by having a pint in a nearby hostelry - erm, the Closed Shop, at Commonside. It wasn't overly tortuous getting there for once, and I arrived to find a good range of ales, and plenty of customers. I had a pint of Brampton Mild, and it was excellent. A really complex rich dark beer at 4.5%, and selling for £2.90 a pint. In fact, it was so damned nice that I "had" to have two more pints, although I was tempted by the Dukeries Gold on the other end of the bar.
It was a visit that heralded new information as well - it turns out that multi-instrumentalist Beck was in fact the founder of the brewery that make inoffensive fizzy drinks like Vier. This fact, which is made up, stemmed from a conversation about apostrophes - why aren't there any on pump clips? A case in point was J W Lees Bitter. Surely Lees'? Robinson's? Thwaite's?
I don't know why this doesn't apply, or whether indeed its needed (the only explanation I could come up with was "its different for beers", but I had nothing to back that up). None of this would have arisen as a subject if The Closed Shop hadn't elected to sell a product with an amusing superfluous apostrophe, thus "Kevin's Pie's hand made in Sheffield". As far as I can tell, that slogan informs the consumer that the hand that belongs to Kevin's pie is made in Sheffield. Am over it now though, obviously....
Anyway, off to the Hop next and it was rammed as always. I quickly spotted Mr and Mrs Greg Robbery and sat down with them supping a very quaffable pint of the 4.2% Bramling, a collaboration between The Hop and Tapped Brewing Company. Although delicious, it soon became clear that some of the other specials and collaborations were somewhat lacking.
I had a pint of Oatmeal Stout from On The edge, which was surprisingly heavy on the vanilla, which perhaps let down an other wise excellent beer. The Blue Bee and The Hop collaboration Ideal Mash was pleasant enough, but to my surprise, the Steel City Corrosion of Conformity was grim - although I suppose a pale beer with rum and raisins in has a lot of work to do to be enjoyable.
I got my final pint as the Robbery's were leaving, an excellent Dark Hart from Harthill Village Brewery, who seem to have hit the ground running. Alas this coincided with the band starting playing, and sat on he fringe of the infuriatingly large crowd of punters stood at the bar, I suddenly remembered why I can't get on with the Hop. Not least, because Dark Hart was misspelled Dark Heart. Disgraceful!
I finished the night in the Bath Hotel, where I was pleased to spot the rare visitor Steff, and even more pleased, having first had a pint of the Espresso Stout from Dark Star, to spot the Thornbridge Halcyon. On cask. Oh. My. God. Even better than I remembered it on cask, having more body to it than on Keykeg, and served drinkably cool rather than cold, it was an absolutely amazing beer.
I drained my glass whilst catching up with Sparklepete, who is that much easier to spot now I know what he looks like. However, I only spotted him because I thought I recognised someone from Shakespeares sat near the door - and having rather drunkenly established he wasn't who I thought he should be, I discovered he was sat with Pete. Recognised by proxy, as the young man commented.
So, a mixed bag regarding the Hop festival really. Ironically, I'd heard someone in the pub earlier in the week suggesting that rather than go to a beer festival, even one in a pub, I should just go to some great pubs. I did. And as it panned out, they were better.
Cheers!
Wee Beefy
it's not particularly scientific but the answer to the above is - go to another one! And then return to the first, but more on that later.
On Friday The Hop in Sheffield hosted it's Sheffield Showcase beer festival, with an extra bar jimmied into the small offshoot to the right of the entrance. I was looking forward to meeting Fluffy in the Bath Hotel first, and we were going to spend a few hours trying the beers but Fluffy, alas, was indisposed. So I went alone, on the assumption I'd bump into someone from the world of drinking along the way.
I started by having a pint in a nearby hostelry - erm, the Closed Shop, at Commonside. It wasn't overly tortuous getting there for once, and I arrived to find a good range of ales, and plenty of customers. I had a pint of Brampton Mild, and it was excellent. A really complex rich dark beer at 4.5%, and selling for £2.90 a pint. In fact, it was so damned nice that I "had" to have two more pints, although I was tempted by the Dukeries Gold on the other end of the bar.
It was a visit that heralded new information as well - it turns out that multi-instrumentalist Beck was in fact the founder of the brewery that make inoffensive fizzy drinks like Vier. This fact, which is made up, stemmed from a conversation about apostrophes - why aren't there any on pump clips? A case in point was J W Lees Bitter. Surely Lees'? Robinson's? Thwaite's?
I don't know why this doesn't apply, or whether indeed its needed (the only explanation I could come up with was "its different for beers", but I had nothing to back that up). None of this would have arisen as a subject if The Closed Shop hadn't elected to sell a product with an amusing superfluous apostrophe, thus "Kevin's Pie's hand made in Sheffield". As far as I can tell, that slogan informs the consumer that the hand that belongs to Kevin's pie is made in Sheffield. Am over it now though, obviously....
Anyway, off to the Hop next and it was rammed as always. I quickly spotted Mr and Mrs Greg Robbery and sat down with them supping a very quaffable pint of the 4.2% Bramling, a collaboration between The Hop and Tapped Brewing Company. Although delicious, it soon became clear that some of the other specials and collaborations were somewhat lacking.
I had a pint of Oatmeal Stout from On The edge, which was surprisingly heavy on the vanilla, which perhaps let down an other wise excellent beer. The Blue Bee and The Hop collaboration Ideal Mash was pleasant enough, but to my surprise, the Steel City Corrosion of Conformity was grim - although I suppose a pale beer with rum and raisins in has a lot of work to do to be enjoyable.
I got my final pint as the Robbery's were leaving, an excellent Dark Hart from Harthill Village Brewery, who seem to have hit the ground running. Alas this coincided with the band starting playing, and sat on he fringe of the infuriatingly large crowd of punters stood at the bar, I suddenly remembered why I can't get on with the Hop. Not least, because Dark Hart was misspelled Dark Heart. Disgraceful!
I finished the night in the Bath Hotel, where I was pleased to spot the rare visitor Steff, and even more pleased, having first had a pint of the Espresso Stout from Dark Star, to spot the Thornbridge Halcyon. On cask. Oh. My. God. Even better than I remembered it on cask, having more body to it than on Keykeg, and served drinkably cool rather than cold, it was an absolutely amazing beer.
I drained my glass whilst catching up with Sparklepete, who is that much easier to spot now I know what he looks like. However, I only spotted him because I thought I recognised someone from Shakespeares sat near the door - and having rather drunkenly established he wasn't who I thought he should be, I discovered he was sat with Pete. Recognised by proxy, as the young man commented.
So, a mixed bag regarding the Hop festival really. Ironically, I'd heard someone in the pub earlier in the week suggesting that rather than go to a beer festival, even one in a pub, I should just go to some great pubs. I did. And as it panned out, they were better.
Cheers!
Wee Beefy
Saturday, 19 January 2013
Beerollercoaster
Good afternoon,
the title doesn't relate to a rather stomach churning film shown on Jim'll Fix it (although discerning which clips would make you gip nowadays is quite difficult), instead its a nod to the strange tumult of highs and lows I had last night.
I was meeting Fluffy after work, traipsing up to West Street in snow and slippery pavements, with all bathed in off yellow light, and snow forming a frothy head in my hair. I arrived at the Bath Hotel early, and looking like a badly poured Guinness. Luckily, there was beer to drink whilst I waited, and the whole place was coat dryingly warm.
I tried standing at the bar, as if I was in DAda, but to be fair there seems a bit more footfall in the Bath so I retired to the corner next to the radiator and got settled with my pint of the excellent Amber Ales Derbyshire Gold. They also had the Amber Jasmine IPA, but, not exactly surprisingly, this tasted of jasmine.
So when Fluff arrived I had another pint of the Derbyshire Gold, as did he and he got sat next to the lava hot radiator to get dried. I once again had one of their fantastic hot roast pork sarnies (thanks Steph!) and this filled me up perfectly for the night of drinking ahead. The only downside was the dire predictions of upcoming beers - selling 5 of my least favourite Thornbridge beers, including Kipling, Brother rabbit and Puja, it looked likely that the pendulum of popularity would swing back to DAda. These last two weeks have been a great example of soaring and falling fortunes in terms of the beer range at the Bath. Perhaps I was spoilt by Red Willow, Amber and aged Beadecas Well....
We walked to the Hop next, still in the snow, and decided to only stop for a half. There's something I just can't get on with about the Hop. I loved the green hop festival and there is always a mild on the bar, but its so transient - I always feel like I'm filling in ten minutes when I', in there - this time we literally were! Halves of Rudgate Ruby Mild fr me and Ossett Treacle Scott for Fluff, to prepare us against the snowy wind ahead.
Eschewing the charms of the Dev Cat we headed into Henry's past the promising looking frontage of the Brewery proclaiming its imminent opening. Its strange that Henry's never seems to be busy because the beer is fantastic in there, and well priced. I had a pint of sumptuous Dark Star Revelation, whilst Fluff had a half of the same, and a rather earthy Bridestones Chocolate Stout, from a range of about ten. A pub crying out for a session.
Off down to the Sheffield Tap next to be annoyed, disappointed and elated in equal measure. Initially our eyes lit up at the range, Magic Rock casks plus Human Cannonball on Keykeg, a Tiny Rebel beer, and a cask Sierra Nevada beer - Heaven! I had a half of the Cosmic Daze from S.N and a half of the Steel City Hop Cluster from the other night. And this is where it all started to go wrong...
Firstly, the tiny Rebel beer was about 4.5% and yet cost £5.00 (based on the cost two halves - note, this is according to Fluff, I didn't see the price myself). Not only that, it lacked significant noticeable flavour to overcome the carbonation and pointless coldness. It was like a shandy made with half a lager and some sparkling water. And why in the name of Christ was it £5.00 a pint?! Given that Keykeg was its most unsuitable serving style, it was galling enough to pay the infamous extra Keykeg cost at possibly a pound, but it was still £4.00 without! Is it made with gold? Mores the shame we couldn't remember the name of the brew.
The Sierra Nevada meanwhile was ace and lots easier to drink on cask than it usually is on keg or in bottle. However, the Steel City tasted of furniture polish and cucumbers. That is not how that beer should taste I assure you.
I took it back to complain and the lass behind the bar finished my sentence with the word furniture polish - so why on earth was it even on sale? She went to check with the manager if I could have it replaced with drinkable beer, a puzzle in itself, and I had a Rapture instead. To be fair they also took the beer off, but I can't begin to think what had happened to it to make it taste so bad, and however briefly, be on sale.
We cheered ourselves up with halves of Magic Rock Human Cannonball which is amazing, plus a half of the excellent Oakham JHB. The Human Cannonball was a great example of a strong beer that works well when sold on Keykeg. Joyous though this was, it just highlighted how bad the Tiny Rebel beer was.
Off to the Rutland Arms last and they also had Human Cannonball on - but, and I thought I'd never have reason to say this - at a pound more expensive than the Sheffield Tap. I love the Rutland but that's a slap too far! Luckily, they had Magic Rock Dark Arts on cask, so I had a pint of that and Fluff a rather ill advised pint of a Revolutions Christmassy spiced ale. Oh dear. What have you done to your image Revolutions Brew! Spiced ale is almost always unfailingly bad.
Luckily I bought Fluff a half of the Dark Arts, which he didn't finish as is usually the case in the last pub, so I had that, along with another pint of the absolutely excellent beer again. I love Dark Arts, and its a beer that needs to be on cask a bit more often I think. Probably the beer of the night.
So there you go, an up and down beer journey in the snow. A greatly enjoyable if frustrating way to spend Friday night - and what a great excuse for me to cancel my trip to Leeds today. A dry day inside with no costs involved is much needed I think!
Cheers
Wee Beefy
the title doesn't relate to a rather stomach churning film shown on Jim'll Fix it (although discerning which clips would make you gip nowadays is quite difficult), instead its a nod to the strange tumult of highs and lows I had last night.
I was meeting Fluffy after work, traipsing up to West Street in snow and slippery pavements, with all bathed in off yellow light, and snow forming a frothy head in my hair. I arrived at the Bath Hotel early, and looking like a badly poured Guinness. Luckily, there was beer to drink whilst I waited, and the whole place was coat dryingly warm.
I tried standing at the bar, as if I was in DAda, but to be fair there seems a bit more footfall in the Bath so I retired to the corner next to the radiator and got settled with my pint of the excellent Amber Ales Derbyshire Gold. They also had the Amber Jasmine IPA, but, not exactly surprisingly, this tasted of jasmine.
So when Fluff arrived I had another pint of the Derbyshire Gold, as did he and he got sat next to the lava hot radiator to get dried. I once again had one of their fantastic hot roast pork sarnies (thanks Steph!) and this filled me up perfectly for the night of drinking ahead. The only downside was the dire predictions of upcoming beers - selling 5 of my least favourite Thornbridge beers, including Kipling, Brother rabbit and Puja, it looked likely that the pendulum of popularity would swing back to DAda. These last two weeks have been a great example of soaring and falling fortunes in terms of the beer range at the Bath. Perhaps I was spoilt by Red Willow, Amber and aged Beadecas Well....
We walked to the Hop next, still in the snow, and decided to only stop for a half. There's something I just can't get on with about the Hop. I loved the green hop festival and there is always a mild on the bar, but its so transient - I always feel like I'm filling in ten minutes when I', in there - this time we literally were! Halves of Rudgate Ruby Mild fr me and Ossett Treacle Scott for Fluff, to prepare us against the snowy wind ahead.
Eschewing the charms of the Dev Cat we headed into Henry's past the promising looking frontage of the Brewery proclaiming its imminent opening. Its strange that Henry's never seems to be busy because the beer is fantastic in there, and well priced. I had a pint of sumptuous Dark Star Revelation, whilst Fluff had a half of the same, and a rather earthy Bridestones Chocolate Stout, from a range of about ten. A pub crying out for a session.
Off down to the Sheffield Tap next to be annoyed, disappointed and elated in equal measure. Initially our eyes lit up at the range, Magic Rock casks plus Human Cannonball on Keykeg, a Tiny Rebel beer, and a cask Sierra Nevada beer - Heaven! I had a half of the Cosmic Daze from S.N and a half of the Steel City Hop Cluster from the other night. And this is where it all started to go wrong...
Firstly, the tiny Rebel beer was about 4.5% and yet cost £5.00 (based on the cost two halves - note, this is according to Fluff, I didn't see the price myself). Not only that, it lacked significant noticeable flavour to overcome the carbonation and pointless coldness. It was like a shandy made with half a lager and some sparkling water. And why in the name of Christ was it £5.00 a pint?! Given that Keykeg was its most unsuitable serving style, it was galling enough to pay the infamous extra Keykeg cost at possibly a pound, but it was still £4.00 without! Is it made with gold? Mores the shame we couldn't remember the name of the brew.
The Sierra Nevada meanwhile was ace and lots easier to drink on cask than it usually is on keg or in bottle. However, the Steel City tasted of furniture polish and cucumbers. That is not how that beer should taste I assure you.
I took it back to complain and the lass behind the bar finished my sentence with the word furniture polish - so why on earth was it even on sale? She went to check with the manager if I could have it replaced with drinkable beer, a puzzle in itself, and I had a Rapture instead. To be fair they also took the beer off, but I can't begin to think what had happened to it to make it taste so bad, and however briefly, be on sale.
We cheered ourselves up with halves of Magic Rock Human Cannonball which is amazing, plus a half of the excellent Oakham JHB. The Human Cannonball was a great example of a strong beer that works well when sold on Keykeg. Joyous though this was, it just highlighted how bad the Tiny Rebel beer was.
Off to the Rutland Arms last and they also had Human Cannonball on - but, and I thought I'd never have reason to say this - at a pound more expensive than the Sheffield Tap. I love the Rutland but that's a slap too far! Luckily, they had Magic Rock Dark Arts on cask, so I had a pint of that and Fluff a rather ill advised pint of a Revolutions Christmassy spiced ale. Oh dear. What have you done to your image Revolutions Brew! Spiced ale is almost always unfailingly bad.
Luckily I bought Fluff a half of the Dark Arts, which he didn't finish as is usually the case in the last pub, so I had that, along with another pint of the absolutely excellent beer again. I love Dark Arts, and its a beer that needs to be on cask a bit more often I think. Probably the beer of the night.
So there you go, an up and down beer journey in the snow. A greatly enjoyable if frustrating way to spend Friday night - and what a great excuse for me to cancel my trip to Leeds today. A dry day inside with no costs involved is much needed I think!
Cheers
Wee Beefy
Sunday, 13 May 2012
A night with Mallinsons, Kirkstall, Abbeydale, Blue Bee, and Acorn
Evenin,
here are some details of my thirsty Thursday of beers culture and food....
Harrisons
Thursday I was having two nights out, one after the other. After a very brief pint with Mr H I was in harrisons 1854 for a very agreeable couple of pints of Deception, as well as to find out about the round and round it goes art festival they are holding. Rather than remember from Thursday I'll link you to the following Forum post for more details here. It may even have finished by the way, but still worth a look at the idea if nothing else I reckon.
It was nice to be stood at the bar with the constant hubbub of coming and going artists, and the occasional musical interlude form the brass band upstairs, but unfortunately despite the lure of the Deception I was off to meet Mr L at the Sheffield Tap.
Tap
Mr L is from Ooop North even more than Sheffield could be considered so, and it may have been this credential that led him down the crazy avenue of thinking we should sit outside (actually, that was my bright idea), but more specifically for him to be in short sleeves and seemingly unmoved. Its a few years since I was immune to cold, despite a substantial investment in a flesh fleece, yet despite this I battled manfully on in the sunless trap of the forecourt.....
Here we enjoyed a fantastic pint of the Mallinsons Centennial Single hop ale. This is now the 3rd Mallinsons single hop beer I've had and I have to say they have all been brilliant. Its funny but for some reason I never really rated Mallinsons much before, possibly a conspiracy of beer line ups meant I always ended up with something brown or golden with a Yorkshire square flavour. Conveniently I can't remember a single one of those beers so I have instead to tell you that you should definitely try a Mallinsons beer when you see one ( In Sheffield the Tap and the Rutland seem to stock them).
On getting back in from the cold, there was an empty pump or two, and perhaps because I was temporarily confused by the heady buzz of warmth, in a moment of pondering I suggested we went to the Rutland for a pint or two instead.
Rutland of the butties
Here Paultous and Stu(ew)art were manning the bar and there was a goodly choice of dark beers to be had. Eschewing the wild unpredictability of different pints per round we both had a pint of the Blue Bee Lustin for Stout which was on fine form. It was quiz night so we were aware that eventually it might be time to move on, but not before we'd had a pint of the Acorn Darkness as well.
Meanwhile, noting a slight sense of "tiredness" creeping upon me I ordered again the fantastic bacon butty, and it didn't disappoint. I think that having a sarnie in here is going to be a part of my essential beer plan from now on, its pretty damn filling so mops up any excess alcohol that you may have accidentally consumed. After this Mr L opted to join his native friends and I headed off for an unspecified event at an unspecified place.
Red Lion
Luckily I have a mobile phone with a camera on and a pen and paper, or else I might never have properly remembered my visit to the Red Lion on Charles Street. It was very quiet and I got a seat and a table to myself at which to enjoy my half of Abbeydale Deception, whilst also getting a pic or two of the red Lion interior, thereby increasing my stash of Red Lion pics by 100%...
The Hop
I had actually walked up Division and then Devonshire Street to go and get another wonderful bit of food since I was feeling hungry again, even after my fantastic butty. On arriving at the chip shop I found that no Yorkshire fishcakes were to be had - if I wanted Yorkshire Fishcake butty, I'd have to wait. I boldly took up the challenge and went in the Hop to fill in 15 minutes.
The pub wasn't too busy and to my delight there was a genuine guest on, in the form of Kirskstall Pale. Not only is Kirkstall brewery not owned by Ossett (as far as I know) but also its one of my favourite breweries, so this was a no brainer. Better still my half of their pale ale only cost £1.20 - I'd suggest £2.40 is a pretty good price for any pint of real ale in the city centre, and it was a very pleasant drink as well (this is sot-speak for "I know I liked it, but that's all I know").
Note of discombobulation
Now, on my notes, where I had diligently recorded, in varying degrees of legibility, all the events of the evening, I made a worrying discovery. I know that I got my long desired butty in the end, and that it was boiling hot having just been cooked, and that it took me a while wandering around to eat it - the cool night air just wasn't cool enough to chill the crispy beast sufficiently. I didn't recall going anywhere else but home though...
So imagine my horror when my notes advised "FCB - Bettys £1.60". Shit I thought, how drunk must I have been to have gone in to the Forum Cafe Bar, on my own, and besides which, who brews Bettys?
I searched Beermad, Quaffale and Google, found a brewery in Maidstone via Facebookcalled Betty's which didn't really seem to exist, and a few beers which came from breweries with the initials F or B. I also thought about Fat Cat Brewery, but to no avail, no plausible (i.e not skinners Betty Stogs) Betty beer was to be found in the UK. There was a hole in my memory and a magical beer named after a tea shop was in its place. I was ashamed.
Unitil I remebered I bought my Fish Cake Butty from - Betty's!
My new favourite chippy. Well, I say new, I've never had a favourite chippy before. So Betty's must be extra special. Its not a brewery though....
Wee beefy.
here are some details of my thirsty Thursday of beers culture and food....
Harrisons
Thursday I was having two nights out, one after the other. After a very brief pint with Mr H I was in harrisons 1854 for a very agreeable couple of pints of Deception, as well as to find out about the round and round it goes art festival they are holding. Rather than remember from Thursday I'll link you to the following Forum post for more details here. It may even have finished by the way, but still worth a look at the idea if nothing else I reckon.
It was nice to be stood at the bar with the constant hubbub of coming and going artists, and the occasional musical interlude form the brass band upstairs, but unfortunately despite the lure of the Deception I was off to meet Mr L at the Sheffield Tap.
Tap
Mr L is from Ooop North even more than Sheffield could be considered so, and it may have been this credential that led him down the crazy avenue of thinking we should sit outside (actually, that was my bright idea), but more specifically for him to be in short sleeves and seemingly unmoved. Its a few years since I was immune to cold, despite a substantial investment in a flesh fleece, yet despite this I battled manfully on in the sunless trap of the forecourt.....
Here we enjoyed a fantastic pint of the Mallinsons Centennial Single hop ale. This is now the 3rd Mallinsons single hop beer I've had and I have to say they have all been brilliant. Its funny but for some reason I never really rated Mallinsons much before, possibly a conspiracy of beer line ups meant I always ended up with something brown or golden with a Yorkshire square flavour. Conveniently I can't remember a single one of those beers so I have instead to tell you that you should definitely try a Mallinsons beer when you see one ( In Sheffield the Tap and the Rutland seem to stock them).
On getting back in from the cold, there was an empty pump or two, and perhaps because I was temporarily confused by the heady buzz of warmth, in a moment of pondering I suggested we went to the Rutland for a pint or two instead.
Rutland of the butties
Here Paultous and Stu(ew)art were manning the bar and there was a goodly choice of dark beers to be had. Eschewing the wild unpredictability of different pints per round we both had a pint of the Blue Bee Lustin for Stout which was on fine form. It was quiz night so we were aware that eventually it might be time to move on, but not before we'd had a pint of the Acorn Darkness as well.
Meanwhile, noting a slight sense of "tiredness" creeping upon me I ordered again the fantastic bacon butty, and it didn't disappoint. I think that having a sarnie in here is going to be a part of my essential beer plan from now on, its pretty damn filling so mops up any excess alcohol that you may have accidentally consumed. After this Mr L opted to join his native friends and I headed off for an unspecified event at an unspecified place.
Red Lion
Luckily I have a mobile phone with a camera on and a pen and paper, or else I might never have properly remembered my visit to the Red Lion on Charles Street. It was very quiet and I got a seat and a table to myself at which to enjoy my half of Abbeydale Deception, whilst also getting a pic or two of the red Lion interior, thereby increasing my stash of Red Lion pics by 100%...
The Hop
I had actually walked up Division and then Devonshire Street to go and get another wonderful bit of food since I was feeling hungry again, even after my fantastic butty. On arriving at the chip shop I found that no Yorkshire fishcakes were to be had - if I wanted Yorkshire Fishcake butty, I'd have to wait. I boldly took up the challenge and went in the Hop to fill in 15 minutes.
The pub wasn't too busy and to my delight there was a genuine guest on, in the form of Kirskstall Pale. Not only is Kirkstall brewery not owned by Ossett (as far as I know) but also its one of my favourite breweries, so this was a no brainer. Better still my half of their pale ale only cost £1.20 - I'd suggest £2.40 is a pretty good price for any pint of real ale in the city centre, and it was a very pleasant drink as well (this is sot-speak for "I know I liked it, but that's all I know").
Note of discombobulation
Now, on my notes, where I had diligently recorded, in varying degrees of legibility, all the events of the evening, I made a worrying discovery. I know that I got my long desired butty in the end, and that it was boiling hot having just been cooked, and that it took me a while wandering around to eat it - the cool night air just wasn't cool enough to chill the crispy beast sufficiently. I didn't recall going anywhere else but home though...
So imagine my horror when my notes advised "FCB - Bettys £1.60". Shit I thought, how drunk must I have been to have gone in to the Forum Cafe Bar, on my own, and besides which, who brews Bettys?
I searched Beermad, Quaffale and Google, found a brewery in Maidstone via Facebookcalled Betty's which didn't really seem to exist, and a few beers which came from breweries with the initials F or B. I also thought about Fat Cat Brewery, but to no avail, no plausible (i.e not skinners Betty Stogs) Betty beer was to be found in the UK. There was a hole in my memory and a magical beer named after a tea shop was in its place. I was ashamed.
Unitil I remebered I bought my Fish Cake Butty from - Betty's!
My new favourite chippy. Well, I say new, I've never had a favourite chippy before. So Betty's must be extra special. Its not a brewery though....
Wee beefy.
Thursday, 22 December 2011
Christmas ale news - pubs polypins and packs o bottles
Greetings,
have been out sampling and in some cases enduring the delights of a Christmas works night out along with a few other festive get-togethers of late, and have also purchased my supplies of essential liquids for the wearisome Christmas period. All is not lost though, and to celebrate the winter solstice, I am providing a Saturnalian rundown of recent beers tasted and venues visited.
Shakespeares Gibraltar Street Shalesmoor
I was in today for a very brief couple of drinks and to catch up with my friend, alas he was on the fizz, but I tried a refreshing and hoppy Hornbeam Top Hop bitter at £2.40 a pint and a half of the more expensive Raw Black Ghost dark IPA which was fantastic, if a little top heavy on frol for a lunchtime. And, at the risk of falling foul of my rubbish eyesight, i am sure there was a sign outside advertising a beer festival starting today,and running until the 23rd December - alas no details on their website or Facebook page so please accept my apologies if this turns out to have been a hallucination.....
Archer Road Beer Stop
I have been up to Britain's premier beer selling emporium tonight to purchase a polypin of Abbeydale Moonshine at mates rate, which modesty forbids me from disclosing, as well as a selection of their finest bottled ales. As well as the incredibly generous Davefromtshop giving me a bottle of Brampton Winter Bock, I selected, amongst other things, a Hacker Pschorr Oktoberfest Marzen, a Durham Temptation imperial Russian stout,(as depicted in picture below, owing to a lack of ARBS images!) a limited edition Thornbridge coalition (NOTE - no longer in stock, sorry!), a Blue Monkey Ape Ale, a Durham Evensong, a Summer Wine Brewery 10 malts porter and their NZ IPA, Tucher Kristkindlemarkt, and some Timmermans Framboise, Mythos and Vedette for our lass.
There are of course many many more ales available but even availing myself of a generous discount my intended bottle expenditure could not run to many on top of the Polypin. So my suggestion would be to get yourself up there to sample the amazing range and see for yourself - now selling Dunham Massey Winter Warmer (subject to availability).
Dunham bottles
Which brings me nicely on to Wee Fatha's kind errand to the Dunham Massey brewery shop to purchase some of their realiably excellent bottle conditioned ales. My absolute favourite is the porter, alas there were only 2 bottles left so me and WF had one each, along wth a new Strong beer called Gold, and their Dunham Dark to name but a few.
Aside from the pertinent fact that I love the taste of their beer, especially the dark ones, I am happy, in Dunham Massey Brewery, to have found a reputable beer bottler who knows their stuff. In an age of reckless amateurish bottle conditioning techniques that has seen breweries seemingly willing to sell sub standard yeast bombs, its refreshing to see that Dunham, who know they are good at it, have continued bottling and selling their ales with yeast in the bottle to an appreciative public. The fact that its safe to drink their beers just past the best before date and that the yeast can be poured into the beer without adding a horrid astringent edge is proof that the beers are a fine example of the bottle conditioning craft.
Hop gen.
On Friday the team works night out started at the Hop so ensuring a decent, if very long waited for, pint of real ale to start things off.
The Hop also had fantastic Fernandes offerings and on Monday night the excellent Rat Brewery Dirty Rat mild and their hoppy King Rat IPA. A member of staff told me that they were concentrating on having a Fullers pump and one for each of their (Ossett's) other brewery offerings, i.e the Rat and Ratchett, Riverhead, and, to my surprise, Fernandes at Wakefield (although I should have known really since the founder am certain moved to Filey or similar to set up a Brewery there.). This still doesn't really help to clear up the price disparity but does unfortunately offer little indication of an upcoming none Fullers or Ossett beer, but I will no doubt be back in soon to find out.
Real ale after midnight
One of the never ending disappointments of late night city centre drinking has always been the dearth of places where you can find a decent pint after the witching hour. Recently a few bars have added real ale and the trend is slowly being reversed, to the point where you can now almost rely on a decent drink no matter how late it is you are strutting your stuff.
A case in point would be Friday, when (albeit only at just gone 23.00 ) we were in the Cavendish (groan), which had one real ale on offer, a palatable pint of Blue Bee Nectar Pale Ale. Harrisons 1854 round the corner serves after midnight Friday and Saturday and has 3 real ales, Deception, Moonshine and Bradfield Blonde. The Wick at Both Ends may be open a smidgen later and they seem to have settled on a range of Sheffield Brewing Co Tramlines and Thornbridge Sequoia.
Bungalows and Bears opens late as does the Old House and Great Gatsby. The bears range is usually a York beer with a guest although quality can be patchy, Gatsby offers a pleasant Blue Bee rebadge, and the Old House continues to impress with Bradfield Stout, Abbeydale Moonshine and Kelham Island Sheffield best bitter as regulars plus two guests - recently Abbeydale Thaw and a reindeer themed beer that looked like it was brewed by Far North (but they are now defunct), and, having forgotten its name, appears not to exist despite 30 minutes of internet searching.
Final suggestions would be the Red Deer (obviously ) proudly selling Rudgate Ruby Mild on Friday along with 7 other real ales and open til about 2 AM or later, plus West Street Live offering Hobgoblin till an unspeakable hour, and the dear old venerable Washington, still offering Tetleys and Moonshine and sometimes great tunes until somewhere near 03.00AM. So, you need no longer despair if you require a sophisticated yippled after 00.00.
Christmas Beer Review #001
Brewery Hacker Pschorr, Munich
Name : Oktoberfest Marzen
Strength : 5.8%
BCA/none BCA? : None.
Purchased : Archer Road Beer Stop Sheffield
This yummy marzen comes from my favourite Munich brewery, the often unfindable Hacker Pschorr. It has a white foamy head (although served a little warmer than would be ideal ) and the aroma is of malt, predominantly, and a sweetness that reminds me of light English Ale.
The colour is a pleasing light chestnut (as hopefully demonstrated above) and there's just enough carbonation to create a pleasing pop on opening the swing-top bottle and a slow restful recline in the glass, with no unnecessary assault of bubbles charging up through the whole of the drink.
The taste is mellow and pleasing - there is a burst of lager malt, alas my knowledge of the different types is sketchy so thats all I can say - which develops into a more noticable sweeter flavour, more like an orange preserve, and then as the flavours mingle you can detect something not unlike a low gravity bottled sweet stout. The finish is a bit short somehow, but enjoyable, reinforcing the malt and some subtle bitterness, and lingering briefly with a reminder of the sweeter malts in the beginning of the mouthful.
WBrating : 7.5/10
More bottled beer reviews as and when sobriety and availability permits over Christmas.
Cheers!
Wee Beefy
have been out sampling and in some cases enduring the delights of a Christmas works night out along with a few other festive get-togethers of late, and have also purchased my supplies of essential liquids for the wearisome Christmas period. All is not lost though, and to celebrate the winter solstice, I am providing a Saturnalian rundown of recent beers tasted and venues visited.
Shakespeares Gibraltar Street Shalesmoor
I was in today for a very brief couple of drinks and to catch up with my friend, alas he was on the fizz, but I tried a refreshing and hoppy Hornbeam Top Hop bitter at £2.40 a pint and a half of the more expensive Raw Black Ghost dark IPA which was fantastic, if a little top heavy on frol for a lunchtime. And, at the risk of falling foul of my rubbish eyesight, i am sure there was a sign outside advertising a beer festival starting today,and running until the 23rd December - alas no details on their website or Facebook page so please accept my apologies if this turns out to have been a hallucination.....
Archer Road Beer Stop
I have been up to Britain's premier beer selling emporium tonight to purchase a polypin of Abbeydale Moonshine at mates rate, which modesty forbids me from disclosing, as well as a selection of their finest bottled ales. As well as the incredibly generous Davefromtshop giving me a bottle of Brampton Winter Bock, I selected, amongst other things, a Hacker Pschorr Oktoberfest Marzen, a Durham Temptation imperial Russian stout,(as depicted in picture below, owing to a lack of ARBS images!) a limited edition Thornbridge coalition (NOTE - no longer in stock, sorry!), a Blue Monkey Ape Ale, a Durham Evensong, a Summer Wine Brewery 10 malts porter and their NZ IPA, Tucher Kristkindlemarkt, and some Timmermans Framboise, Mythos and Vedette for our lass.
There are of course many many more ales available but even availing myself of a generous discount my intended bottle expenditure could not run to many on top of the Polypin. So my suggestion would be to get yourself up there to sample the amazing range and see for yourself - now selling Dunham Massey Winter Warmer (subject to availability).
Dunham bottles
Which brings me nicely on to Wee Fatha's kind errand to the Dunham Massey brewery shop to purchase some of their realiably excellent bottle conditioned ales. My absolute favourite is the porter, alas there were only 2 bottles left so me and WF had one each, along wth a new Strong beer called Gold, and their Dunham Dark to name but a few.
Aside from the pertinent fact that I love the taste of their beer, especially the dark ones, I am happy, in Dunham Massey Brewery, to have found a reputable beer bottler who knows their stuff. In an age of reckless amateurish bottle conditioning techniques that has seen breweries seemingly willing to sell sub standard yeast bombs, its refreshing to see that Dunham, who know they are good at it, have continued bottling and selling their ales with yeast in the bottle to an appreciative public. The fact that its safe to drink their beers just past the best before date and that the yeast can be poured into the beer without adding a horrid astringent edge is proof that the beers are a fine example of the bottle conditioning craft.
Hop gen.
On Friday the team works night out started at the Hop so ensuring a decent, if very long waited for, pint of real ale to start things off.
The Hop also had fantastic Fernandes offerings and on Monday night the excellent Rat Brewery Dirty Rat mild and their hoppy King Rat IPA. A member of staff told me that they were concentrating on having a Fullers pump and one for each of their (Ossett's) other brewery offerings, i.e the Rat and Ratchett, Riverhead, and, to my surprise, Fernandes at Wakefield (although I should have known really since the founder am certain moved to Filey or similar to set up a Brewery there.). This still doesn't really help to clear up the price disparity but does unfortunately offer little indication of an upcoming none Fullers or Ossett beer, but I will no doubt be back in soon to find out.
Real ale after midnight
One of the never ending disappointments of late night city centre drinking has always been the dearth of places where you can find a decent pint after the witching hour. Recently a few bars have added real ale and the trend is slowly being reversed, to the point where you can now almost rely on a decent drink no matter how late it is you are strutting your stuff.
A case in point would be Friday, when (albeit only at just gone 23.00 ) we were in the Cavendish (groan), which had one real ale on offer, a palatable pint of Blue Bee Nectar Pale Ale. Harrisons 1854 round the corner serves after midnight Friday and Saturday and has 3 real ales, Deception, Moonshine and Bradfield Blonde. The Wick at Both Ends may be open a smidgen later and they seem to have settled on a range of Sheffield Brewing Co Tramlines and Thornbridge Sequoia.
Bungalows and Bears opens late as does the Old House and Great Gatsby. The bears range is usually a York beer with a guest although quality can be patchy, Gatsby offers a pleasant Blue Bee rebadge, and the Old House continues to impress with Bradfield Stout, Abbeydale Moonshine and Kelham Island Sheffield best bitter as regulars plus two guests - recently Abbeydale Thaw and a reindeer themed beer that looked like it was brewed by Far North (but they are now defunct), and, having forgotten its name, appears not to exist despite 30 minutes of internet searching.
Final suggestions would be the Red Deer (obviously ) proudly selling Rudgate Ruby Mild on Friday along with 7 other real ales and open til about 2 AM or later, plus West Street Live offering Hobgoblin till an unspeakable hour, and the dear old venerable Washington, still offering Tetleys and Moonshine and sometimes great tunes until somewhere near 03.00AM. So, you need no longer despair if you require a sophisticated yippled after 00.00.
Christmas Beer Review #001
Brewery Hacker Pschorr, Munich
Name : Oktoberfest Marzen
Strength : 5.8%
BCA/none BCA? : None.
Purchased : Archer Road Beer Stop Sheffield
This yummy marzen comes from my favourite Munich brewery, the often unfindable Hacker Pschorr. It has a white foamy head (although served a little warmer than would be ideal ) and the aroma is of malt, predominantly, and a sweetness that reminds me of light English Ale.
The colour is a pleasing light chestnut (as hopefully demonstrated above) and there's just enough carbonation to create a pleasing pop on opening the swing-top bottle and a slow restful recline in the glass, with no unnecessary assault of bubbles charging up through the whole of the drink.
The taste is mellow and pleasing - there is a burst of lager malt, alas my knowledge of the different types is sketchy so thats all I can say - which develops into a more noticable sweeter flavour, more like an orange preserve, and then as the flavours mingle you can detect something not unlike a low gravity bottled sweet stout. The finish is a bit short somehow, but enjoyable, reinforcing the malt and some subtle bitterness, and lingering briefly with a reminder of the sweeter malts in the beginning of the mouthful.
WBrating : 7.5/10
More bottled beer reviews as and when sobriety and availability permits over Christmas.
Cheers!
Wee Beefy
Thursday, 15 December 2011
Hopupdate, Delaneys Music Bar, bottled ales, Sales and for sales, Flickr.
Greetings,
a disparate mix of news bites tonight reflecting my repetitive drinking patterns and a surfeit of new drinking experiences of late.
Hopupdate
A recent visit to The Hop Sheffield helps clarify some regrettably hazy points from my previous posts. Firstly, there aint seating on the left of the entrance, only the right - the left is in fact a slowly ascending sloping walkway to the stage area that overlooks the green. The mural also isn't, perhaps mercifully given its now certain veracity, a picture depicting anything connected with the "Hop" franchise or its brand. Instead, it is a traditional steel works scene, one entirely appropriate given the venue location.
Meanwhile, I have now sampled the pie offer! An ideal and inexpensive after work filler up before a crawl or just to sustain you in general, the deal is a pie of your choice from a range of 3 or 4 , with mash, peas and gravy, and either a soft drink or a pint of the Yorkshire Blonde or Pale Gold, all for only a fiver. I opted for the more traditional offering, the Gold, and it was better than that I tried on the opening night. Service is fast on pies, so choose a perch first, and as long as you don't mind a polystyrene tray and wooden cutlery I can warmly recommend this offer.
N.B - I also tried an excellent pint of Acorn Warrior IPA, but noted that this 5% beer was £3.10 a pint - the same price as the far weaker Osset Yorkshire Blonde would have cost if purchased outside of the pie offer. From this, and experiences on my other visits, it woud appear that the guest beers on offer are consistently better value than the Ossett offerings. Whilst I undertsand the Hop(s) are a franchise, surely the idea is to promote Ossett as a first choice real ale? Am glad there are guests, but what chance a new Ossett own goal beer?
Delaneys Music Bar
Between the bottom of London Road and Waitrose is, apparently, the end of the mighty trackway of Cemetery Road. Petering out meekly and undistinguished at a raised pavement facing the ring road, this seems like no place for a decent drinking or indeed any other venue. However, in addition to a takeaway, this hidden but so easily reached backwater houses one of Sheffield's best kept secrets, also a venue for live music, right at the edge of the hustle of the city centre.
Delaneys has been open for some time now, and came to my attention a few months ago with the announcement that it was now selling Thornbridge real ales, in addition to those from Bradfield. Despite the Beer Matters report being distinctly shy of identifying the address, I soon worked out that it is what was, in days of yore, the Beer Engine, at times the most expensive pub in Sheffield as I recall, and in between times, a series of theme led incarnations which appear not to have worked terribly well.
I visited on a weekday evening and found the pub had a few punters, some decent real ale on, and a good if at times eclectic mix of tunes playing. Blackboards and posters advertised upcoming bands and behind the bar were details of a distinctly late New Years Eve party, and details of food, which it appears is available all the time, i.e not just at New Year.
The bar area is open plan with the only seating being bar stools or high tables at the edges, with a fireplace to the left. To the right as you enter are two small cosy rooms, comfortably furnished and displayng a laudable mix of older pub interior staples like fireplaces, bench seating and prints, along with more contemporary stuff like fairy lights and leather seats and white walls. Still, its interesting to note that they have retained 3 separate rooms (and maybe another upstairs? Am unsure!). But is it retained?
I ask only because on my last visit the Beer Engine as it was then was a tired homogenised Whitbread/Sherwood Inns managed "Ale House" or Hogshead" themed pub, with extortionate guest beers (nearing £2.80 a pint in the early nineties, late 1995 to be precise!), and falling foul as so many of these forced antiquity showrooms did, in being a venue which was not what anyone particularly seemed to want, whilst simultaneously failing to be good at those few features that punters probably did appreciate.
So, although I have no idea about its appearance before the nineties, am unsure if the layout I foggily recall has any resemblance to the pub's appearnce now. I can say, however, that the three rooms seem original in terms of placement, and the opened out bar is commensurate with what I would expect of its former themed identity. So at the risk of being proved otherwise, I'd go as far as to suggest a certain authenticity in its appearance. And I like that.
Peripheral structural concerns aside, what of the beers? There are 4 real ales on offer, on my visit 3 Bradfield, and a Thornbridge ale - Bradfield Bitter, Blonde, Belgian Blue (which given its seasonality would assume is a guest) and Thornbridge Sequoia. There are no noticeable Continental draught options available and there seems to be the usual fare in bottles, but even in these enlightened times, a music or other venue of any kind selling real ale is a good thing. And, on my visit, bearing in mind it was about 5PM, it was cosy and relaxing with a couple of locals sat reading papers at the bar. So if it does get much rowdier later on, at least it would appear to perform the function of a local pub during the earlier part of the day ( I understand they open at 16.00). I think a return visit is required.....
Best of bottled ales
Just a brief run down of a few treats I have managed to purchase in Sheffield - alas a lack of foresight has prevented my taking notes and thus being able to present a detailed review and assessment of each, but using guesswork to identify the sources, I have compiled a list of my favourite recent tipples :
1. Little Valley Brewery, Hebdens Wheat, 4.5% BCA, Asda, £2.07
A puzzling price hike means this is the most expensive but by no means the most alcoholically strong beer on sale, but, even against my perennial favourite Punk IPA, its perhaps Asda's best bottled offering at present.
2. Thwaites Wainwrights, 4.1 % Co-op £1.89 (ish)
A mighty draught offering and my second favourite Blackburn brewed beer after Nutty Black.
3. Fraoch Heather Ale - 5%, various outlets - Gift!
The excellent "Frook" is still a classic and unique beer to try, and despite it being even better on draught, this is still an acceptable, and crucially your most likely, chance to sample delightful heather fragranced hoppy ale.
4. Co-op Bavarian Wheat beer - 4.9%, £1.90 approx, most Co-op stores.
In the absence of some Hebdens delight the other night I found a couple of these wheat beers - unspecified of source, although they are German - are an ample and tasty substitute.
5. Laverstoke Park Farm Organic Real Lager, 4.5%, £1.15 (330ml) Waitrose.
A biscuity, malty, refreshing English lager with more flavour than you might expect at 4.5%, with a very helpful label, and creditably for Waitrose, a sensible price despite its bankable certified Organic proclamations.
Next week - am intending to grab a mixed box of about 16 beers from Archer Road Beer Stop, so may have some more details to share, and if am lucky, another beer tasting to report!
Sales and for sales
Just a brief note about pub opportunities I have spotted. The premises housing the former Dempseys bar, previously I think the Golden Ball, on Campo Lane, have the lease for sale, free of tie. Despite being hampered by its unfortunate position and rather laboured modernity, this may be an interesting opportunity. Having seen what the Hop has achieved in a modern building, and given the dearth of real ale in the area what with the Wig and Pen now reducing their range and selling only the rather less well known Wentworth offerings, perhaps this could be a prime candidate for conversing to a real ale outlet.
Further down towards the Wicker, The Black Swan, Spital Hill, variously Under the Boardwalk and numerous other incarnations, appears to have abandoned its path towards reopening as a music venue for now, as there are posters on the door offering the premises and upstairs penthouse flat for sale. Unusual not to see an estate or letting agent sign this would appear to be an intended private sale. Perhaps if anyone could overcome the reportedly bizarre owner and pub co trading arrangements/restrictions, this could be another venue combining music and a drop of the best stuff - real ale.
Finally, a Flickr of light across the pictures.....
I have recently joined Flickr - the link is on my Friends and links page above. Its not all pubs and at this early stage uploads are quite random but there will in the near future be albums, allowing you to access more specific image sets, such as pubs for example. More details to come.
In the meantime, happy Christmas, unless I get back on here beforehand!
Wee Beefy.
a disparate mix of news bites tonight reflecting my repetitive drinking patterns and a surfeit of new drinking experiences of late.
Hopupdate
A recent visit to The Hop Sheffield helps clarify some regrettably hazy points from my previous posts. Firstly, there aint seating on the left of the entrance, only the right - the left is in fact a slowly ascending sloping walkway to the stage area that overlooks the green. The mural also isn't, perhaps mercifully given its now certain veracity, a picture depicting anything connected with the "Hop" franchise or its brand. Instead, it is a traditional steel works scene, one entirely appropriate given the venue location.
N.B - I also tried an excellent pint of Acorn Warrior IPA, but noted that this 5% beer was £3.10 a pint - the same price as the far weaker Osset Yorkshire Blonde would have cost if purchased outside of the pie offer. From this, and experiences on my other visits, it woud appear that the guest beers on offer are consistently better value than the Ossett offerings. Whilst I undertsand the Hop(s) are a franchise, surely the idea is to promote Ossett as a first choice real ale? Am glad there are guests, but what chance a new Ossett own goal beer?
Delaneys Music Bar
Between the bottom of London Road and Waitrose is, apparently, the end of the mighty trackway of Cemetery Road. Petering out meekly and undistinguished at a raised pavement facing the ring road, this seems like no place for a decent drinking or indeed any other venue. However, in addition to a takeaway, this hidden but so easily reached backwater houses one of Sheffield's best kept secrets, also a venue for live music, right at the edge of the hustle of the city centre.
Delaneys has been open for some time now, and came to my attention a few months ago with the announcement that it was now selling Thornbridge real ales, in addition to those from Bradfield. Despite the Beer Matters report being distinctly shy of identifying the address, I soon worked out that it is what was, in days of yore, the Beer Engine, at times the most expensive pub in Sheffield as I recall, and in between times, a series of theme led incarnations which appear not to have worked terribly well.
I visited on a weekday evening and found the pub had a few punters, some decent real ale on, and a good if at times eclectic mix of tunes playing. Blackboards and posters advertised upcoming bands and behind the bar were details of a distinctly late New Years Eve party, and details of food, which it appears is available all the time, i.e not just at New Year.
The bar area is open plan with the only seating being bar stools or high tables at the edges, with a fireplace to the left. To the right as you enter are two small cosy rooms, comfortably furnished and displayng a laudable mix of older pub interior staples like fireplaces, bench seating and prints, along with more contemporary stuff like fairy lights and leather seats and white walls. Still, its interesting to note that they have retained 3 separate rooms (and maybe another upstairs? Am unsure!). But is it retained?
I ask only because on my last visit the Beer Engine as it was then was a tired homogenised Whitbread/Sherwood Inns managed "Ale House" or Hogshead" themed pub, with extortionate guest beers (nearing £2.80 a pint in the early nineties, late 1995 to be precise!), and falling foul as so many of these forced antiquity showrooms did, in being a venue which was not what anyone particularly seemed to want, whilst simultaneously failing to be good at those few features that punters probably did appreciate.
So, although I have no idea about its appearance before the nineties, am unsure if the layout I foggily recall has any resemblance to the pub's appearnce now. I can say, however, that the three rooms seem original in terms of placement, and the opened out bar is commensurate with what I would expect of its former themed identity. So at the risk of being proved otherwise, I'd go as far as to suggest a certain authenticity in its appearance. And I like that.
Peripheral structural concerns aside, what of the beers? There are 4 real ales on offer, on my visit 3 Bradfield, and a Thornbridge ale - Bradfield Bitter, Blonde, Belgian Blue (which given its seasonality would assume is a guest) and Thornbridge Sequoia. There are no noticeable Continental draught options available and there seems to be the usual fare in bottles, but even in these enlightened times, a music or other venue of any kind selling real ale is a good thing. And, on my visit, bearing in mind it was about 5PM, it was cosy and relaxing with a couple of locals sat reading papers at the bar. So if it does get much rowdier later on, at least it would appear to perform the function of a local pub during the earlier part of the day ( I understand they open at 16.00). I think a return visit is required.....
Best of bottled ales
Just a brief run down of a few treats I have managed to purchase in Sheffield - alas a lack of foresight has prevented my taking notes and thus being able to present a detailed review and assessment of each, but using guesswork to identify the sources, I have compiled a list of my favourite recent tipples :
1. Little Valley Brewery, Hebdens Wheat, 4.5% BCA, Asda, £2.07
A puzzling price hike means this is the most expensive but by no means the most alcoholically strong beer on sale, but, even against my perennial favourite Punk IPA, its perhaps Asda's best bottled offering at present.
2. Thwaites Wainwrights, 4.1 % Co-op £1.89 (ish)
A mighty draught offering and my second favourite Blackburn brewed beer after Nutty Black.
3. Fraoch Heather Ale - 5%, various outlets - Gift!
The excellent "Frook" is still a classic and unique beer to try, and despite it being even better on draught, this is still an acceptable, and crucially your most likely, chance to sample delightful heather fragranced hoppy ale.
4. Co-op Bavarian Wheat beer - 4.9%, £1.90 approx, most Co-op stores.
In the absence of some Hebdens delight the other night I found a couple of these wheat beers - unspecified of source, although they are German - are an ample and tasty substitute.
5. Laverstoke Park Farm Organic Real Lager, 4.5%, £1.15 (330ml) Waitrose.
A biscuity, malty, refreshing English lager with more flavour than you might expect at 4.5%, with a very helpful label, and creditably for Waitrose, a sensible price despite its bankable certified Organic proclamations.
Next week - am intending to grab a mixed box of about 16 beers from Archer Road Beer Stop, so may have some more details to share, and if am lucky, another beer tasting to report!
Sales and for sales
Just a brief note about pub opportunities I have spotted. The premises housing the former Dempseys bar, previously I think the Golden Ball, on Campo Lane, have the lease for sale, free of tie. Despite being hampered by its unfortunate position and rather laboured modernity, this may be an interesting opportunity. Having seen what the Hop has achieved in a modern building, and given the dearth of real ale in the area what with the Wig and Pen now reducing their range and selling only the rather less well known Wentworth offerings, perhaps this could be a prime candidate for conversing to a real ale outlet.
Further down towards the Wicker, The Black Swan, Spital Hill, variously Under the Boardwalk and numerous other incarnations, appears to have abandoned its path towards reopening as a music venue for now, as there are posters on the door offering the premises and upstairs penthouse flat for sale. Unusual not to see an estate or letting agent sign this would appear to be an intended private sale. Perhaps if anyone could overcome the reportedly bizarre owner and pub co trading arrangements/restrictions, this could be another venue combining music and a drop of the best stuff - real ale.
Finally, a Flickr of light across the pictures.....
I have recently joined Flickr - the link is on my Friends and links page above. Its not all pubs and at this early stage uploads are quite random but there will in the near future be albums, allowing you to access more specific image sets, such as pubs for example. More details to come.
In the meantime, happy Christmas, unless I get back on here beforehand!
Wee Beefy.
Friday, 2 December 2011
The Hop at Sheffield's West One opens
Eavernin,
Hop officially opens!
The Hop, the new real ale bar venture franchise from Ossett Brewery has officially launched today at West One on Fitzwilliam Street, off West Street. I arrived at 18.00 having made a fortuitous journey from work to see if it was open at all. Thank god I didn't venture up in my dinner hour, because it had only been open 2 hours when I arrived.
I walked in, having eventually found that the fire exit was not an entrance (seeing is not my strong point, but the entrance doesn't exactly stand out). On entering there is an ante-lobby then the pub/bar opens out in front of you, with a cosy finger of seating on your right, and a long room ahead flanked on the left by booths of tables and chairs. All along the main right hand side of the room is the bar, and at the end a glass collection point, and a drinking corridor, reminiscent of the classic West Yorkshire layout of the same name, but incongruously situated, at the left hand end of the building.
Bar wise there were a number of handpumps, one dedicated to a Pyder, which as a traditionalist am as yet unsure whether I should be affronted by its lack of verifiable antecedence. In terms of the beers on offer there are a range of not unusual continental bottles in the fridge, and a range of Ossett Brewery real ales supplemented by guests.
On the opening night the range was :
Ossett Gold (also on a second "cold" pump
Osset Blonde
Ossett Treacle Stout
Ossett Excelsior
Ossett Silver King
Acorn Freebird
Rat brewery Rat Brown
Fernandes Ale to the Czar
Fullers Golden Pride.
The Ossett beers were OK if not exemplary for an opening night showcase, the Treacle stout was in fantatsic form though, and its nice to see a strong ale, especially one as rare and as indicative of the style as Fullers Golden Pride.
The only puzzle was the lack of any worthwhile Continental draught beers. The keg fonts contained achingly familiar brands with the exception of the rarely seen, but perhaps deservedly so, Tuborg. Perhaps the fact that even the 3.8 % session beer I drank was £3.10 a pint (about 50p dearer than the price for the equivalent at the University Arms a mere 10 minutes walk away) was the explanation for a fear of the overseas drinks, but I recognise at the same time that this is a new venue and they may be just testing the water. Conversely however, they must already have the same market outlook and nounce from their other franchises so maybe that won't hold true...
Overall an interesting if worthily welcome addition to the real ale scene, which offers a decent range of cask and bottled beers plus some good music (piped on first night, but certainly live to come), in that most celebratory of circumstance - the retail flop outlet utilised to sell beer. I wish them all the success they seek.
Dog and Partridge Trippet Lane, Dada cafe bar.
A rare stumble into the Dog and P saw it fairly bloody full which is a treat - a further swelling of the customer ranks was forbade by the fact that the single real ale had gone off. I dearly want to support this pub, but honestly, a real ale free Friday night is a step too far for me.
Across the road meanwhile awkward but not intolerable idea mishmash Dada (see less than flattering pic above, although, painting it dark grey does rely on a sunny evening to make it stand out...) was busier than ever and now selling a different Buxton Brew after the recent pleasing appearance of the Pale. Buxton SPA was their first beer and the first of their brews that I tried, in the Old Hall Hotel bar in Buxton. This was a refreshing (and better than in the above venue) pale beer that went down well, in the odd but I admit comfortable surroundings of Dada.
Harrisons 1854
A final quick note that Harrisons have introduced Bradfield Blonde as a guest real ale. So Abbeydale Moonshine is still the regular but Bradfield, as a guest, attracts a premium and costs £3.10 rather than £3.00 a pint. Regular music sessions and occasional classical music nights continue to feature.
More news soon regarding the NewInnfest11.
Wee Beefy
Hop officially opens!
The Hop, the new real ale bar venture franchise from Ossett Brewery has officially launched today at West One on Fitzwilliam Street, off West Street. I arrived at 18.00 having made a fortuitous journey from work to see if it was open at all. Thank god I didn't venture up in my dinner hour, because it had only been open 2 hours when I arrived.
I walked in, having eventually found that the fire exit was not an entrance (seeing is not my strong point, but the entrance doesn't exactly stand out). On entering there is an ante-lobby then the pub/bar opens out in front of you, with a cosy finger of seating on your right, and a long room ahead flanked on the left by booths of tables and chairs. All along the main right hand side of the room is the bar, and at the end a glass collection point, and a drinking corridor, reminiscent of the classic West Yorkshire layout of the same name, but incongruously situated, at the left hand end of the building.
Bar wise there were a number of handpumps, one dedicated to a Pyder, which as a traditionalist am as yet unsure whether I should be affronted by its lack of verifiable antecedence. In terms of the beers on offer there are a range of not unusual continental bottles in the fridge, and a range of Ossett Brewery real ales supplemented by guests.
On the opening night the range was :
Ossett Gold (also on a second "cold" pump
Osset Blonde
Ossett Treacle Stout
Ossett Excelsior
Ossett Silver King
Acorn Freebird
Rat brewery Rat Brown
Fernandes Ale to the Czar
Fullers Golden Pride.
The Ossett beers were OK if not exemplary for an opening night showcase, the Treacle stout was in fantatsic form though, and its nice to see a strong ale, especially one as rare and as indicative of the style as Fullers Golden Pride.
The only puzzle was the lack of any worthwhile Continental draught beers. The keg fonts contained achingly familiar brands with the exception of the rarely seen, but perhaps deservedly so, Tuborg. Perhaps the fact that even the 3.8 % session beer I drank was £3.10 a pint (about 50p dearer than the price for the equivalent at the University Arms a mere 10 minutes walk away) was the explanation for a fear of the overseas drinks, but I recognise at the same time that this is a new venue and they may be just testing the water. Conversely however, they must already have the same market outlook and nounce from their other franchises so maybe that won't hold true...
Overall an interesting if worthily welcome addition to the real ale scene, which offers a decent range of cask and bottled beers plus some good music (piped on first night, but certainly live to come), in that most celebratory of circumstance - the retail flop outlet utilised to sell beer. I wish them all the success they seek.
Dog and Partridge Trippet Lane, Dada cafe bar.
Across the road meanwhile awkward but not intolerable idea mishmash Dada (see less than flattering pic above, although, painting it dark grey does rely on a sunny evening to make it stand out...) was busier than ever and now selling a different Buxton Brew after the recent pleasing appearance of the Pale. Buxton SPA was their first beer and the first of their brews that I tried, in the Old Hall Hotel bar in Buxton. This was a refreshing (and better than in the above venue) pale beer that went down well, in the odd but I admit comfortable surroundings of Dada.
Harrisons 1854
A final quick note that Harrisons have introduced Bradfield Blonde as a guest real ale. So Abbeydale Moonshine is still the regular but Bradfield, as a guest, attracts a premium and costs £3.10 rather than £3.00 a pint. Regular music sessions and occasional classical music nights continue to feature.
More news soon regarding the NewInnfest11.
Wee Beefy
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