The Jekyll and Hyde brewery

Hello,

                     Alas Jekyll and Hyde are not the latest craft led, Keykeg embracing, sour experimenting, barrel ageing, southern hemisphere hop adoring microbrewery (and I'm not saying there's anything wrong with any of that Kraftoids), but the moniker does apply to a very well regarded brewery not too far from Sunny Sheff. One who tick many of the above boxes yet seem to have an odd relationship with drinkers here and further afield.

Rather than fanny around with hints and nudges I'll tell you now its Thornbridge.

It occurred to me the other day, reading a number of Golden Pint awards lists, and reviewing my own, that a heck of a lot of bloggers really rate Thornbridge, whereas blogger or not, I have a weird love hate thang going on with their ever changing brew folks. Looking at my top tag subjects, if its not Thornbridge themselves or their beers I'm covering, their pubs certainly feature very heavily. If I visit 4 pubs in any given crawl in Sheffield I will come across Thornbridge in one guise or another. So I must adore them, right?

Well, erm, not really. Because for every thing that Thornbridge does that makes me go "wow" or gives me a satisfied "world is good" feeling, there's equally something annoying, dubious, or icky, like a half chewed sweet found under the settee covered in hair and crumbs. In fact, so opposite are my feelings and experiences, I can't make up my mind if this highlights the scope and size of their business, or simply reflects the fact that not everything one brewery does will be enjoyed by everyone. I suppose it could also be indicative of an unsound mind, but that's between me....

The final prompt to think about this was a trip to two Thornbridge pubs, one of which I drank an astonishingly good Thornbridge beer in. Details of that will come later, but this brief night out is a microcosm of my Thornbridge experience. For every highlight there is a low shadow. Its like the worst most tempestuous marriage ever, the lousiest most frustrating friendship of all time. It looks like this.

I luuuuurve Halcyon. Its possibly the only beer I'll ever drink in whatever format it comes in (although preferably cask) and still really enjoy it. I adore Thorny Goat, and Beadecas Well, Yule and Pollards, plus McConnells, Galaxia, Chiron, Tzara, Evenlode and their whisky cask stouts.

I like the pub staff as well - not quite as weird as it sounds (I hope), but Steph and Ed at the Bath, Jamie James and Ems at DAda, the nice folk at the Tap, which isn't a Thornbridge pub, Adam at the Coach and Horses, even The man of Ash and Kirk Hammet at the Hallamshire House, all seem very affable and importantly knowledgeable people. Beers and pubs thrive with good staff. Therefore it follows that the regularity with which I drink in Dada, The Bath and The Tap must be largely attributed to those who serve me beer there.

And talking of pubs, in breaking news, I really like DAda. Even though its weird, gimmicky, poorly located and uncomfortable. And has stopped selling food. Despite all of this its excellent. And despite my fears, The Bath has seamlessly transferred from Independent to Brewery ownership without losing its identity and charm. Although, arguably its lost a lot of customers....

I also love the Tap, which is not a Thornbridge pub as I mentioned, and, power cuts permitting, I enjoy a visit to the Coach and Horses.

After which it all gets tricky. You see, the excellence of the beer draws me to the Hallamshire House but I have quickly developed an aversion to cobalt grey. The Hallamshire House therefore is a trade off - better beer but worse decor. Another microcosm.

Meanwhile, I think the Scythes is probably OK but its not somewhere I've been more than once since it changed hands, likewise the Stags Head, although I have no specific dislike of either. I have never been to the Blackamoor or Cricketers since Thornbridge (I, know probably didn't) took over. And I really dislike the Greystones.

I also dislike Raven, Jaipur and Kipling on Keykeg, and Puja, General Sherman, Feaerahoarans (that one no-one could pronounce) and Wallonia full stop. And I don't like being ripped off, so it stands that I don't like buying Thornbridge bottles. Although, in keeping with this chalk and cheese theme of contradiction, many of them are truly sensational.

And finally there's the decline in fortunes of the original range. Thornbridge's first beers, or at least those I first tried, were really good. Jaipur was outstanding (still one of the best cask beers I ever tasted), the St Petersburg was delicious, The Lord Marples easy drinking but full of flavour, the Wild Swan was quaffable. Only one of those statements remains true. Ten brewers a year or not (probably not!) Marples and St Petersburg have changed so much as to be unrecognisable shadows, and not in a good way. And only the wet hopped Jaipur I had at the Hallamshire House came close to its superlative forerunner. Mind you, it was really good....

Later arrival Kipling also used to be a delight. Really hoppy, and citrus bitterness abounded, and in not being as night shortening as Jaipur, it was a go to beer. Now its one dimensional and lacking in bite. Its a memory, not a decision. A Thornbridge beer to avoid, along with Brother Rabbit, Ashford, Lumford and Hopton, AKA Red Lion.

So that's my split personality Thornbridge appraisal. I hope I've been fair and balanced in my assessment, but I'd have to quote a dear friend of mine to sum up Thornbridge best - "They produce fantastic beers, but I dunno, there's something not quite right about them". Just think, if they could be judged on beers (erm, excepting the above list!) alone they could rule the world. Of beer.

And then what would I have to complain about?

Wee Beefy

Not everything is new.

Hello,

    you might be forgiven for thinking what with the tone of recent posts that my Sheffield drinking life is an endless Merry-go-round of new breweries and new pubs. Well, I occasionally go to pubs and drink beer that I have been too and tried before! This new fangled trend for not drinking only unheard of brews and visiting pubs over and over again will surely never catch on, but if it does, I've already coined a handy phrase to encapsulate the idiosyncrasies of the phenomenon - "just going out for a pint". You heard it here first...

Friday was just such an example. Although we did attend the, ahem, "launch" of the Church House, we first met up with people from the slave mill in Lloyds No.1 in town. Not perhaps a venue to set the pulse racing but there were 5 handpumps for real ale and one for real cider, and every one was utilised.

Highlights included Bradfield Belgian Blue, Cotleigh Kookaburra and Avery brewing from Boulder Colorado's 3.5% session beer, brewed in the UK. I had a pint of the Cotleigh at £2.09 and a half of the Avery. This was a really enjoyable American hoppy ale, probably brewed in a Burton regional (?) based on a light sulphury edge, and packing in a lot of hoppy flavour for its low strength. Perhaps this explains why I don't get on with the stronger American IPA's - the stronger they are the more the odd ascorbic dryness and ill suited Belgian sweetness seem prominent. Either way it was very good.

Off to the Old House next for the first time in ages. From a range of Moonshine, Kelham Bitter and two from the Fulstow Brewery, who's beers am not keen on, I went for a pint of the True North First Blonde. Given that its probably still brewed at Welbeck, it did seem faintly reminiscent, in flavour at least, of their Bay Middleton. And was thus very quaffable. Its good to get reacquainted with the Old House having been mysteriously absent over the last few months.

After our Church House assessment we went onto DAda. The music was good, Ems and Annie were manning the bar, and I was feeling a little reckless. So much so that after having a delicious pint of Evenlode Porter (becoming one of my beers of 2012) I splashed out an eye watering and obscene amount of cash on the Mikkeller Beer Geek breakfast. Chala then also lost her mind and bought a pile of food and we had a sumptuous and ostentatious feast in convivial surroundings, before leaving to get the bus (and returning for my scarf, the second thing I had left behind in one night!).

Yesterday, I set out in the afternoon to try and sample the Blue Bee/Real Ale Society beer that I'd heard so much about. The Rutland Arms, who is a person, had stated that it was on the bar there so I thought I'd pop out and try it. Except, I got to town near the end of the Football Association cup fixture so decided to head down later. Instead I popped in the Church House, which now no longer counts as a new pub, thus fitting in with the theme of this post.

I can provide you with a few minor clarifications whilst were here. Firstly, the Caledonian Double Dark which I had on this visit is only £2.85 a pint. A good price for any real ale in the centre these days where the norm is £3.00 for average strength, and this is about 4.6% I think. Also, the food menu comprises one side of actual meals, standard pub fare but sensibly priced. The tapas element I had remembered is actually called the Deli section and comprises various cold platters that you can combine yourself, again at a decent price.

Finally, with thanks to the keen eye of the writer K E Page, the impressive circular windows in the entrance show evidence that the pub did used to be called the Ferret and Trouserleg. So anything has to be an improvement! I also noted on the back of their menu that they have a website - of sorts. In keeping with their mysterious unfindable business theme, the website address is for a host site/blog(?) called barbook, and can be found here. The only thing that inks to the pub in Sheffield is the spiel about the food which is that which appears on the pubs menu's, and also the sign on the front of said pamphlets. The whole thing is incredibly light on detail, much like their Facebook page! You can probably find more out by visiting the pub...

I popped into DAda next and straight away started supping pints of the Evenlode which, unbelievably, still hadn't run out. It was good catching up again with Ems and Jamie, but I had other sights in mind so kidnapped Ems and we trooped off up to Harrisons 1854, which I don't go to as often as I used to. Here, as promised, the Belgian Blue was available on cask, so I had a pint, Ems sensibly a half. However, my one gripe was the price! A whopping £3.80 a pint, making it 60p a pint more expensive than the far stronger Evenlode back at DAda. Had I been more cogent and in less of a rush I would have asked Bob why the beer was quite so expensive, but on this occasion I concentrated on enjoying it. It is, after all, a very tasty beer.

Off to the Bath next where there was beer. Ems went for the General Sherman because she's hardcore, I went for something else entirely. Unfortunately, its identity escapes me. I was already unsettled by a desire for food and obviously wasn't paying attention.

Finally we were off to the Rutland hoping to eat (for me) and try the Blue Bee beer I mentioned earlier. Unfortunately, the stupid bus broke down on West Street, and this extra delay in getting to the pub meant I arrived at 20.58 (but not by the clock in the pub, humph). Racked by hunger I pleaded to be fed but the stone cold face of the mighty Rutland was unmoved. So not only did I not get to try the beer but I also had to rush back home before the supermarket shut - if I had stopped for a half, I would have missed the shops as well. Damn you the progression of time! Most annoying (and slightly embarrassing given my desperation).

So that wraps up a couple of trips around some of Sheffield's better and for me less frequently visited outlets. No doubt December will find me in many more venues that get overlooked the rest of the year.

Cheers!

Wee Beefy

New faces in Sheffield

Hello,

     despite the title, regrettably I haven't managed to snare a fresh faced buoyantly optimistic newly arrived student to write this post. It would no doubt be an interesting idea, but I find that even had I not used the word "snare", approaching persons 20 years my junior and asking them to look at my prose/help me out with a blog could be misconstrued, especially in a loud bar. Not that I particularly frequent such places, but...

Anyhoo, this is just a little bit of news really, and the first info surrounds a new pub, or rather a pub reopening, in the city centre. For years there seems to have been no life in the Sanctuary on St James Street, between Vicar Lane and the Cathedral. I rarely recall seeing it open, and before that its name escapes me, but I know I never visited it. So the fact that its reopening tomorrow as The Church House means I may be setting foot inside, finally, for the first time.

Details are, to say the least, sketchy. I photographed the pub walking past but I can't read the Facebook address on the sign, although I did find a page which might relate to the pub (but I won't share it in case it transpires to be some dreadful religious organisation). Oh, and there is nothing on it but a photo. And it aint of a pub. I also could only find one reference on the Twatter, so have had to make do with dieing of boredom reading the planning application.

In short the application relates only to some external signage and entrance lights, and that the proposer is Scottish and Newcastle (pre Sanctuary, in the mid nineties, it was Sherwood Inns). Add to this some rather overly technical architectural details I found on the British listed buildings website, and that the sign proclaims real ales and free Wi-Fi (plus irrelevances such as coffee and "food", whatever that is) and you now know as much as I do.

So, erm. Wooh! Yeah! A new pub run by Heineken in disguise is to open in Sheffield. Oh, and by the way sign writers, announcing that the pub will open on Friday the 29th November does not fill me with confidence. Just saying....

In other news, Harrisons 1854 has staged a bit of a coup by getting hold of some of Bradfield Brewery's perennial winter favourite Belgian Blue. Despite its gimmicky colour its actually a very pleasing and suitably seasonal offering and a Bradfield brew that I usually look out for. Barkeep extraordinaire Barraharri tells me (and, erm, Facebook) that it will be on the bar this weekend. So get thi sens darn theer and try it.

Meanwhile DAda, who are people, have news of some Thornbridge Yule coming on soon, and also a couple of casks of the excellent Fullers Bengal Lancer. Fullers Past Masters and seasonals don't seem to make it oop North, not to Sheffield at least, so in addition to this being a very competent exploration of the brewing styles of the past this is also a quite unusual beer for the area. No specific dates for its appearance, but you could always go in and sup the absolutely excellent Thornbridge Evenlode Brown Porter whilst waiting for the Fullers to appear.

Finally, Black Lurcher, a beer brewed for the Three Stags Heads at Wardlow Mires by Abbeydale brewery, has appeared in bottles, and everything. Intrepid explorer Wee Keefy returned from a recent visit with a bottle for us to sup. Some confusion surrounds its antecedence since I have a sneaking suspicion that its bottled at the pub, although, am not sure how long it would last if that was the case.

I know from my days working at Archer Road Beer Stop that Abbeydale weren't keen on bottling of any kind so I'd be interested to know the story behind this bottle, but to be fair, I haven't got round to asking them yet!

So, that's all for now, hopefully with payday arriving in a couple of hours I will have a bit more news to bring you over the coming week.

Cheers!

Wee Beefy

Stuff, not to mention, things.

Evening,

     I have discovered a few snippets of info about Thornbridge over the last week which I thought I might share.

Their seemingly odd and sometimes risible policy of no guest beers is not all arrogance and fear of competition it seems. A man, who is male, and works in a Thornbridge pub, informs me that certainly in the case of the Greystones and Hallamshire House, its the terms of the lease with pub ruiners Enterprise, Punch or (add unlikeable behemoth) whoever. It seems the deals, which were fairly revolutionary at the time, only included Thornbridge beers, and none of that frightening outsiders stuff.

Broadly, if the restrictive terms of the original agreement meant licensees/tenants could only buy guff like Burton brewed Stones or Tetleys at twice its market price, the same backwards outlook prevailed, except now the new tenants were at least restricted to a brewery with a range of styles. Easily a better deal for punters, but still a monopoly. You can have too much of a good thing, after all.

It seems the terms at the Cross Scythes (visits - 1 Guests - 1, promising...) are a bit more relaxed, and clearly the trading arrangements at the Sheffield Tap are radically different because Thornbridge only supply the beer, rather than own or lease the pub from a Pubco. DAda, one assumes, along with the Bath Hotel, basically continues what ever arrangements were in place already as well, its just that they are far better in terms of choice.

Alas, no clarification was forthcoming about whether these arrangements applied to Keykeg as well....

Other news now, and it turns out that moving up in the reaching the Top ten stakes for my favourite breweries of 2012 is Hop Studio, most recently at Shakespeares on Shalesmoor.

I remember being underwhelmed by their ironically hopless offerings earlier in the year but they seem to be getting better. Last night I enjoyed a pint of their Spooks (or Sparks!?) , a finely balanced stout with a pleasing smoothness that tasted stronger than its ABV suggested. Also on last night was their Blonde.

This is a 3.5% (unsurprisingly) blond coloured beer with a fantastic dry hoppy bitterness. Incredibly easy to drink but packing in as much hops as a much stronger beer that I would drink later on, this was a session beer at its best. I "only" had three pints, but it was, once again, a beer at Shakespeares that I could happily have drank until I fell asleep. Wonderful.

Meanwhile, one of Octobers star beers for me was the Abbeydale Abbey Ale, dry hopped and weighing in at 5.5%. Having tried it at Archer Road Beer Stop at the end of September I have spotted it in quite a few other pubs including twice recently at DAda. Dave's shop kept version was virtually unbeatable but the DAda offering was up there with that in terms of juicy citrussy bite. An incredibly well balanced dry hopped, but not dry tasting, fruity pale ale.

Talking of DAda for a change, and unfortunately it has been decided that the bar will not open during the day, likely opening at 16.00 but potentially still opening all day Friday and Saturday. This caveat laden reporting reflects the fact that I only found out last night and it doesn't seem like the finer points have been agreed. My suggestion would be to retain the current arrangements until after Christmas, then change them in January when far less people are likely to visit, thereby maximising the potential of the Christmas party season. But what do I know...

Recent, albeit evening or night visits, have provided an unrivalled range of Dark Star and Abbeydale and Marble brewery beers, including the amazing Dobber, as well as current Thornbridge favourites Evenlode and Halcyon. All have been on impeccable form of late.

That's all I have for now, more beer and pub news coming soon.

Cheers!

Wee Beefy.

The DA, da, do (or the do, DA, da)

Now Then,

    one thing that has become prevalent recently, (well, more than once), is pubs and breweries having birthdays. The Rutland Arms pretty much set the standard with their terrifically fun and birthday-centric goings on in October, and the Blue Bee birthday at the same venue was also notable for its excellent cake and celebratory atmosphere.

So its well timed that I am using the, ahem, "celebration" of my 200th post in 2012 to tell you about the first birthday at DAda on Trippet lane, where I have been known to visit previously. Please note, other pub venues near West Street are available....but not for the purpose of this post.

The thing is though, despite my borderline DAda bias, I was mildly underwhelmed by the pzazz and sense of occasion underpinning the DAda event. There was a distinct lack of party hats, balloons, streamers and cards when I arrived on Friday evening. No noticeable instances of the bumps, no raspberryade, no sausages on sticks, not even a novelty gift. I hadn't even brought my camera to record the celebrations. Thank goodness for excellent beer, or this would have been the most unbirthdayish birthday do at DAda since the last unbirthdayish DAda do (note, this doesn't really make sense, but is an unashamedly enjoyable jumble of noises, which I like).

Anyway, having broke from tradition and popped in on a Friday it seemed rude not to buy a drink, and undertaking which I was in equal measure surprised and dismayed to find that my spot was taken by another barfly. To my abject horror, I discovered that not only are there other nights of the week than Tuesday, but also, other people stand at the bar and drink.

Luckily I suspended my indignation long enough to discover that Rupert is someone who recognises me, even though I misremembered him from the Rutland, and is a fan of excellent beer. So I had good company for the first hour.

During which period I had a pint of Dark Star Sunbeam, having reassured myself that it wasn't the spicy one that I dislike, and indeed enjoyed it so much that I had another. My companion meanwhile was on Tzara but desperately awaiting the running out of the Abbeydale chocolate stout since we were told that Thornbridge Evenlode would replace it. Neither of us were in the mood for the chocolate malt offering but we grudgingly bought a half each, prompting a rush which cleared the way for the joyous Evenlode to appear. We had the first out, having listened to a hilarious 5 minutes of faux horror from the staff at the beer being unsellable....

Alas soon after acquiring his desired drink another pub and another drinker drew away my fellow barfly so I sought to protect myself against the possible isolation (not that this would happen with a full compliment of excellent DAda staff) and bolstered my determination to enjoy myself by having a few pints of the Evenlode in the end. Perilously easy to drink and deliciously smooth and satisfying at 6.2%, it was an irresistible tipple. I was later joined by the Bad Panda from the world of the Internet, so was able to talk beer and Manchester pubs with him for a while, all the time thinking about how I shouldn't have another Evenlode, only to promptly do just that.

Meanwhile, the threat of "music" hung like the sword of Damocles above us, threatening to make me leave early. Luckily I was able to stay long enough to wish everyone (the staff that is, not each individual punter, that would be mental) happy birthday, and to apologise to Jamie for being a girl the Saturday before.

So there you have it. Another anniversary, and another fledgling venue passing an early milestone, soon to be followed no doubt by the Three Cranes and The Hop and whatever celebrations they have lined up. Lets hope there's plenty more occasions to attend over the coming years.

Cheers!

Wee Beefy