The Three Valleys beer festival 2013.

Morning,

         yesterday it was my 4th annual trip out to the Three Valleys beer festival. Here are the details of what I got up to - bearing in mind that ABSOLUTELY EVERYTHING WAS NORMAL.

I met Miss M in town and we got the train tickets (cheaper if you come back together) and popped into the Sheffield Tap for a quick pint. Miss M had a rather optimistic half of Timmermans Kriek whilst I had a pint of Tapped brew co Lupolo Galician Pale Ale, which was lovely. In the end though, it was I who was dispatching the last of my drink before we left. Miss M's cherryade had disappeared long before.

We arrived at the station in time to get the bus. We were intending to go to the Coach and Horses but instead since the bus takes a rather odd route past the Green Dragon we got off there instead. This was my first trip to the Green Dragon and to be honest I was rather impressed. Wye Valley HPA, Black Sheep Gold, and three Peak Ales beers on, from which I had a pint of Chatsworth Gold and Miss M a bottle of Rose cider. We grabbed a table in the bright sunshine and undertook a very lengthy debate about what food we would eat and where.

Next stop was the Three Tuns, where I started with a pint of the Liverpool Organic Kitty Wilkinson vanilla chocolate stout, and Miss M a half of the Glebe Farm elderflower cider. Once again we parked ourselves outside and started to feel very hungry faced with the choice of fresh pizza from the wood oven, and hot roast pork sarnies. In the end we both caved in and had the sarnies, but this wasn't our only food of a rather long day of drinking.

Service at the bar was as fast as it could be based on there being four staff and half of the beers and all of the ciders in the cellar. With the bus service running regularly (for the first time ever) the bar was frequently flooded with hoards of punters all at once - like a slightly less mental version of the rail ale trail. Next up was a half of Glebe Farm Perry for Miss M and a pint of Spire Amarillo, as personally recommended by Dave the brewer, for me. It wasn't quite as zesty and pale as I was hoping but it was still a refreshing drink.

We bumped into Tim and erm, you know the other guy (sorry other guy. If you had made the effort to be called Dave, like what everyone else is, this ,may have looked better...but you may well have been called Rich) and we were catching up with them for a bit before more beer was called for. This time I secured us a soda water for Miss M (how very sensible of her!) and a half a naked brewing Maiden Over for me (how much less sensible, at 6.0%). There was also pizza ordered as we weighed up the bus options and planned where to go next.

Our final drinks in here, accompanying a rather terrific pizza, were a pint and half of Growler Brewery Lemonhead, a refreshing strangely darkish bee that did the trick nicely, before we crossed the road and got onto the bus to travel at about 2mph up the hill towards the Miners! There was loud applause when ever we reached a flat bit. It was quite worrying at times....

Having jumped off at the Miners we walked round the corner to the Hearty Oak where there was more food available, but we'd had our fill for now, so we stuck to beer. Miss M was back on water and I was on a half of Thornbridge Jaipur from a slightly disappointing selection (it turned out there was at least one Toolmakers beer on which you couldn't see on the pumps). We grabbed a table in the sun and waited to catch up with Patrick, the lovely Dave and their friend Joan. It turned out, based on their choice of drinks, that in naturally assuming there as no merit in drinking any Wentworth beers I had denied myself a rather tasty chilli chocolate stout. Luckily a lady nearby found it too much and donated her half to us to share.

By this time it was clear that I wasn't getting to the Dronfield Arms again, which is a shame, because it looked like having one of the best beer ranges available. But we wanted to head to Barlow, via the Horns. In the end, the Dronny Arms wasn't the only pub we didn't get to...

The Horns was rammed once again, as was the Rutland which we decided to give a miss, if nothing else to let the rather raucous crowd outside die down. From the back bar at the Horns I had a pint of Acorn UK Cascade, a lovely fruity hoppy beer that went down perfectly, whilst Miss M was on zoider of some kind (alas I have contrived to forget which). Sat outside, alas now out of the sun, we also got a sausage sandwich - £2.50 - from the Moss Valley Meats stall at the side of he pub. Absolutely spot on.

It was at this time that rumour spread by mobile round the gathered throng that the buses at this end of the route had been cancelled. There were easily a hundred people at the Rutland, probably the same at the Horns, and Barlow Brewery gets pretty damn full as well.  Although the only confirmation came from a lass at the pub as we sat in the sunshine over the road waiting for the bus to Barlow, it soon became obvious that this was true. An aggressive simpleton had punched one of the route B bus drivers in the face, and after sending a bus to Barlow to pick up at least some people they cancelled the service in protest.

Which is pretty ironic because this year the bus service was conspicuous by its efficiency! Last year I waited so long at the Horns for a bus the service it may as well have been cancelled. This year it ran like clockwork, until some knuckle dragging moron decided to take action in the only way his shrivelled brain could understand. How very limbic* of you Mr Simpleton.

So, we weren't going to Barlow or the Castle, that was clear, and having heard (and this is not provably factual) that the perpetrator of the spasm of violence was bragging about their exploits in the Rutland, we decided to knock that one off our list, and walked down Carr Lane into Dronfield. After a pleasantly sunny if slightly long evening walk we were at the Coach and Horses. (we were told at the Miners that the other service was cancelled as well. By this time it was impossible to separate fact from fiction, since we did see other buses running from the Coach but none on our walk back to Dronfield).

Anyhoo, I digress. At the CnH we bumped into Vinnie, Mark, and Dan from the world of music, as well as John M who I hadn't seen since the Steel City fest (and hello to T_I_B who we spotted at the Horns) and set about securing ourselves a table and some boohar.

I had a pint of the rather fantastic Welbeck Abbey Brewery Henrietta, and Miss M some more apple based refreshment. We sat chatting with Vinne et al until they had to rush off to the Closed Shop, before securing further drinks in the shape of a pint of Jaipur (not watery this time) and under duress/via gentle persuasion from Adam behind the bar, a half of the Belgian Blonde from Thornbridge. Having declared it was rubbish, I was beaten into submission by it being rather pleasant after all actually. Silly I.

Our final act was to catch the bus to the station and the train back home, via a lot of people becoming irate and indignant at the idea that the guard had unreasonably expected them to pay the fare from Dore (even though they got on in Dronfield, the Monster!) an outlook which, as a paying customer, I had absolutely no sympathy with. Having waved Miss M off at the Station it was virtually obligatory to visit the Sheffield Tap. So I did. And it all got a bit weird...

I got a half of the 7.0% Oakham Alpha and a fantastic half or pint (it was getting tiring, but I think it was a pint)  of the Mallinsons Oatmeal Stout. This was every bit as tremendous as I'd hoped. After all, if you are consistently excellent at making pale hoppy beers there's a good chance you could turn your hand to an excellent dark offering Mallisnons can.

Sat in the dining room talking to two guys called Keith and Martin I suddenly realised I couldn't find my phone. A rigorous if cack handed search of my bag and clothing was repeated until I realised to my horror that it was no longer with me. After another search, and  having spotted Blue Bee Rich, I went and asked him to ring it - and my Brother answered. So he had my phone. But it took another call for my brain to comprehend that he was also in the Sheffield Tap!

It gets stranger as well. Apparently, a lady in the Sheffield Tap found the phone in her SHOE. I shit you not! She handed it into the barman who called the last number I'd done, which was Wee Keefy, who then drove down to the Tap for a pint and to collect it, all the time during which I was sat in the other room drinking! So I got reunited with my phone, and caught up with my Brother, and Carlos, who he brought with him for a quick one.

So, the Three Valleys Beer festival 2013.

Despite the rather unfortunate cancellation of the buses the Three Valleys once again did not disappoint. Pub of the festival was a toss up between the Green Dragon and the Three Tuns, beer of the festival was a dead heat between Welbeck Henrietta, Acorn UK Cascade and the Liverpool Organic Porter.

Well done to the organisers for putting on anther great event, enjoyed responsibly by 99.9% of attendees, and a special mention to the four barmaids at the Tuns, tirelessly running between bar and cellar to serve a tide of thirsty punters.

Here's to doing it all again next year!

Wee Beefy

*The limbic brain is the primitive "ug" part of the brain which reacts rather than analyses. To be honest, reading this blog post on the subject I suspect I may have given the assailant too complimentary an assessment. And based on stories I've heard today, it was potentially worse than I thought. I hope any readers who went, got back OK from Barlow and indeed elsewhere. Yan

Hill Top Club beer festival October 2012

Afternoon,

     yesterday I hopped on the bus out to Dronfield, the new real ale capital of, erm, North East Derbyshire, to visit the Hill Top Sports & Social Club in the same, sample their beer festival, and head to a few local pubs into the bargain.

Having splashed out £5.50 on an explorer ticket I was duty bound to go as far as Chesterfield, but I was straying from my plan early on as the bus I caught doesn't really go near the club. Luckily, it passes the Three Tuns at Hallowes, so I popped in there.

The Three Tuns is a pub I've only been to a few times but its growing on me. Regular visitors may find this surprising since its immediately obvious as you enter that its a shrine to real ale, but its not growing on me from a cold start, I just mean I seem to be liking it more and more. Initially I was only popping in for a couple of halves, although I could have had thirds since there was such a huge range to try, but I got talking to Dave the brewer at Spire and it seemed rude not to at least stop for another.

So it was I tried halves of the Spire Dark Side Of The Moon, which had a nice berry edge to it in amongst the creamy roast malt, and was reminiscent of Black Isle Porter, as well as half of their Sovereign escort pale ale, which was a lovely fruity IPA style beer, with a nice balance of hop flavours in the mix. I finished on the ever reliable Burton Bridge Porter.

It was well past 3 when I hopped on the 43 to Gosforth Lane, but luckily the Hill Top Club wasn't that difficult to find, and they had also gone mad and put a sign up at the top of Longacre Road. Being a small festival there was no need for an outside marquee or similar, they had simply hired and fitted a bank of handpumps from Barlow brewery, and all teh ales were served from the bar, which is on the right as you enter.

On the advice of T_i_B I started on a pint of the Barlow Jolly Roger Porter at 5.2%. This was everything I expected, and whats more everything I could have asked from a porter - dark, smooth, rich, well balanced with roasted malt in abundance. A perfect moreish black beer to suit the weather, which had conveniently turned to rain on my walk up to the club.

The Hill Top Club's has to be one of the smallest and simultaneously quietest beer festivals I've ever been to! There were just two groups of festival goers sat near the bar when I arrived, and although I'd like to think that I was in no way the catalyst for the exodus which followed, within 20 minutes everyone had left! So I had a quick chat with the lass behind the bar, and a much needed sandwich, before it started to get busy around 17.00. Now it started to resemble a more familiar festival scene with tasters and discussions and good atmosphere abounding.

My next pint was the Ashover Liquorice Alesorts, one of the beers of the Three Valleys beer festival earlier in the year and still on good form here. I then had halves of Sheffield Brewing Co NZ IPA, Abbeydale wheat, which was a little too sweet for me, and the immense Full Monty IPA, a 6.5% monster of a beer from Barlow brewery. Perhaps I am becoming too accustomed to zesty citrus hop monsters with a light colour and quaffability, but I was surprised at just how big and sweet the Full Monty was. Having said that, it was a very enjoyable beer, although I would have struggled to get through a pint.

I finished off on an ironically hoppier beer but at nearly half the strength - Raw Blonde was only 3.9% but more than stood up in terms of hoppiness, to its towering fruity bedfellow.

Alas this was my last beer, as I had neglected to bring enough money, which is a bit stupid really. So I didn't get to try the Brampton Mild, the Barlow Three Valleys, the Muirhouse Lurch's Liqour Stout or the Ashover Poets Tipple, to name some of what was available.

This was my first Hill Top Club beer festival (and indeed my first visit at all) and it was a very enjoyable way of spending a few hours - a good range of beers, all well kept, and all the beer was a fantastic value price of £2.80 a pint - or, at least, that's what I think the barmaid said....

With an hour of daylight remaining I went to catch the bus into Chesterfield, but once again had to change my plans as I had just missed it, so headed to the Coach and Horses instead. Here I supped an enjoyable pint of Thornbridge Brock and a half of their excellent Halcyon, no doubt the increasingly long list of stronger beers wasn't helping my attempts to remain compus-mentus.

This was more apparent when I got outside and decided, rather than wait 10 minutes for the bus to Chesterfield (a privilege for which I had earlier paid handsomely) I would simply jump on the bus back to Sheffield. Luckily as I spotted the Sheffield bus coming round the corner, I remembered that the White Swan was waiting for me and crossed the road in time to get the oncoming Vegas tractor.

Once in Chesterfield, I headed a rather odd confused route through the churchyard to the White Swan. Busy, and with the regrettable vision of bouncers on the door, I was a little dismayed to see a distinct lack of dark ales on offer. However, in the end I opted for halves of Abbeydale Chocolate Stout (the dark beer) and the absolutely excellent Raw Mucky Duck, as recommended by the barstaff. Had I not been knowingly undersober, I might have stopped for a whole pint of this delicious beer.

Next I headed down to Coco for some more rather ill advised strong beer - this time Raw Pacific Ghost IPA (5.9%) a fantastic orangey bitter pale beer, which I enjoyed slouched sottishly on the black sofas surveying the cloudy and disconcertingly wobbly scene.

A mere 50 minutes wait followed, for the now assumedly intentionally late last 43, which I used as a great place to catch some zeds on, before I nipped in the Bankers Draft where I had two halves of.....erm....beer. One was dark. One was from a brewery I'd never heard of. Both were cold, and £1.00 a half. I also bumped into Mr Shape who was out with some mates, none of whom got to speak to him after I collarred him at the bus stop as well!

So, another good day out, and a brilliant little beer fest (which I only noticed this morning said in the programme that it ran from Friday 12th October to Sunday 14th May, 2012, the tricksters!) and a cracking selection of ales in excellent venues.

Cheers!

Wee Beefy

Wee Beefy's Chesterfield wander

Now then,

    as with other weekend sojourns of late I didn't plan this particularly, nor indeed did I allow myself a whole day to do it, I just wanted to go somewhere new and enjoy some great beer. What with their proximity and easy access on a single bus route, Dronfield and Chesterfield seemed a good choice, especially since I was yet to sample the delights of the White Swan in Chesterfield. Here's what happened when I did.

I set off from town on the 15.30 number 43 to Dronfield, and after some initial confusion ended up paying for a return ticket. This, after I had explained I was going to Chesterfield and then making my way back via different stops. I still don't know even now if I bought the right ticket but I didn't have a problem being allowed to catch the bus so that all worked out fine.

First stop was a new pub to me, the Victoria in Dronfield. It was lovely and warm, but there was restricted sunny space n the beer garden. That said, I didn't want to be indoors on a day like this, so bought my pint of Framers Blonde (£2.95) from a choice of that and Banks and Hobgoblin and sat in the shade.

The Victoria is an L shaped pub with an L shaped bar and a telly in the right hand corner as you come in (keeping the attention of the punters as the football was on). There's also a long room on the left with a settee at the end, and outside is a smoking shelter and some tables. The Bradfield was a decent pint, a little cloudy but not to its detriment, and a nice start to my days drinking. 

Back on the bus after waiting in the hot sunshine I arrived in Chesterfield and found - warm cloud. All my concerns about awaiting my seat in the sun were allayed when I realised it was just dull, and the warmth was receding. Good job I came in shorts then...

First stop here was Coco bar on Station Approach. Its a little easier to see the seats for drinkers in daylight (although I would have felt awkward taking up a settee for 5 by myself), and I opted to sit at the bar and have a pint of Dancing Duck Ay Up.

This was a pleasant if unremarkable slightly sweet beer with some bitterness, from a choice of that and Thornbridge Lord Marples and Colorado Red. I also tried a half of the latter, to give it another go, and it was not much different to how I remembered it - too much of something not immediately obvious left a thick chewy slightly sweet beer that despite some admirable hoppiness was too poorly balanced to excite. It was also a little cloudy, which isn't the beers fault, or at least I assume not!

Off next to my intended destination the White Swan. Large bright and airy inside with a decent White Swan mosaic in the doorway, the important feature is the bar, which sits at the end of a long room with approximately 429 handpumps on it. Its immense. From the dazzling array on offer I decided to narrow it down to a dark beer so had the choice of Raw Anubis Porter, which I rate, and Buxton Black Nights, which I haven't had before. An offered taster confirmed that this was a seriously good beer, so I had a pint. The barstaff were friendly and helpful on all my trips to the bar, and given the diverse range of customers (lets just say many probably hadn't drunk real ale before) this is a great virtue for a pub to have.

I wandered outside initially but that was packed so picked a table facing the door on the raised seating area on your right as you come in. It soon became obvious I needed something to read whilst I supped, so sought out an Innspire. None to be found alas, and in an unfortunate twist, only fascist tory rags in the papers line, so I settled for a bottled beer list. This proved to be a good choice.

The first thing I noticed was Lion Stout from Sri Lanka. I haven't had it for years and had wondered if they were still brewing, so I ordered a bottle of that. Here's the next bonus - I paid on card (no lower limit) and was also able to get cash back, thus saving me a walk to the cashpoint, and encouraging me to spend more money in the pub. Are you listening pub owners? This is a radical idea!

Recently my fave pub the Rutland appeared to have set their lower limit for card purchases at £10.00. *

If I wanted a pint and a half and some crisps I could usually clear the old £5.00 limit but that's just ridiculous. Meanwhile I got a £4.00 bottled beer on my card in the White Swan and used the cash back to order a delicious meal. Everyone wins.

The menu showed there were further albeit even more expensive beers on offer from the U.S, U.K, Germany France and elsewhere (but only 2 saison? Come on!) but I noted the strength of the Lion and decided to opt fore  half of water instead of more bottled stuff, before I got a half of Raw NYC Pale which was a really interesting hoppy flavour and went down really well. I could easily have tempted myself with one of the many other ales on offer but was being sensible. Overall, a very good first impression of an excellent pub.

Off next for the bus and I was soon at my second Dronfield stop the Three Tuns. Its seems the more times I visit the more I like this place. It was rammed when I got in with another bewildering array of delights to tempt. I had J W King Brighton Blonde and a Spire Deepdale Pale for under £3.00 and sat down with a copy of Private Eye I found to read. The Kings was a bit light and lacked any discernible flavours but the Deepdale was excellent. I only had half an hour here though as I needed to catch the next 43.

J W King - an ale rarity oop ere

My penultimate stop was to have been the Coach and Horses. Getting off the bus on Sheffield Road I asked the driver if there was another bus (otherwise I'd have got back on, obviously) and he said yes, but it was another hour - and then waited, whilst I assured him I would find something to occupy me. Perhaps his pause was recognition of my next discovery.

I walked round the corner to find the Coach and Horses shut, at 21.30 on a Saturday. I stood, stared, muttered some strong and largely Anglo Saxon words, and walked back up towards the Victoria, livid. I could have wandered in the dark to see if their was an apologetic notice on the door but I was too annoyed at the 50% failure rate of the C&H to be open when I visit. Curiously for a Thornbridge associated pub (God, don't get me started on trying to understand the link, who knows) it doesn't have a website and its Facebook page is next to useless for info. So I couldn't even find out the opening hours in advance without calling them. Except, why would you expect to call a pub to see if they were open at 21.30 on a Saturday night? Who do they think they are, the Ale House Fraser Road?(now holding a world record for never being open).

Anyhoo I used my spare time to pop in Sainsburys for supplied then settled down in the Victoria, now with the landlord behind the bar, for another pint of Farmers Blonde and the hub-ub of conversation. The beer range may not be stellar but the atmosphere is traditional and friendly, and the pub wins a great slab of points for bothering to open.

I then waited for the 43 (it was 20 minutes late, which is palpably ridiculous) but it did get me to the Rutland for 2 minutes to 23.00 so I could pop in and find myself with just enough money for a pint of the Blue Bee Light Blue. Alas this wasn't really up to its usual standard, maybe it was getting a little low, but it was still a decent pint to finish and again the pub wins points for being open - which it then loses for its new minimum card payment limit. Cest la via...

So, a good afternoon and evening out in Derbyshire with the excellent White Swan taking the plaudits, closely followed by the Three Tuns and Victoria.

Cheers!

Wee Beefy


*Doh! A misunderstanding. Its a fiver. So yer pint, half and crisps should see you safe. WB

Three Valleys Beer Festival report 2012

Morning,

    yesterday was my third trip out to the Three Valleys beer festival, being held over one day across 10 pubs in the Drone, Lineker and Sheaf Valleys (I still don't know if these are the three!). Here's some of the details of how my trip went...

I was setting off early since in a break with tradition I wanted to start at the Totley end, catching the bus to Dronfield to start at the Three Tuns. I got the bus into town, then chewed my fist in anxious worry as the 10 minutes late 97 dawdled aimlessly toward my destination, Dore Station, which I made with 4 minutes to spare.

Bus to Beelzebub

Well, officially I did. Except that 11.48 came and went with no sign of a bus. Then it arrived at 12.00 - at the bottom of Twentywell Lane, and picked up some people. Realising that Dore Railway Station was incorrect we waved at te bus but to no avail, it set off up Twentywell lane leaving us a 20 plus minute wait for the next one. Looking at the programme today, there is a section that says that you catch the bus at Dore Station across the road from the car dealership. Well that's great, but why do I need to download a programme to find out this mystery?

If it doesn't stop at Dore Station like it did last year, say Twentywell Lane Bottom instead. The other 2 people at the station of lies walked up to Bradway and I went to the "bus stop" to fume and wait. In the end Barraharri graciously offered to drive from Dronfield and pick me up. He arrived 5 minutes after the next bus was due, and we didn't see it heading toward Totley. Considering that NotDorestationatallactually is the second stop, its inconceivable that the first bus of the day could be 12 minutes late. Seemingly though, expectations of incredulous unreliability needed ramping up throughout a day where the festival experience was soured by absurdly bad transport links.

Three Tuns, Hallowes

Anyhoo, froth finished, we arrived by car at the Three Tuns to find a hog roast, clay oven, hay bails and outside seating, and a pub bar heaving with handpumps and a whole list of tasty treats in the cellar. As Barraharri was driving he stuck to a low gravity pint of Barlow Heath Robinson, whereas I had a very tasty pint of their Deepdale Pale Ale. Alas, served in plastic glasses. Apparently,. some sort of deal allowing them to do something or other that am not sure about. This was not a good start.

Luckily things improved and we had another drink, I a half of RCH Old Slug Porter and a pint of Burton Bridge XL mild, and Barraharri a delicious pint of diet coke. The driver's lament. The XL was a very tasty dark malty ale that dispelled any misconception about mild lacking flavour, and the Old Slug was drier and more bitter than I remember but excellent all the same. Here we met up with Rich and Tim, two friends of Barraharri who were heading eventually for the Horns Inn. They joined us in the car to Barlow (the car was the best option since the people who I had seen at the bottom of Twentywell lane when I got a lift arrived after our first pint, with the bus over half an hour late, followed ten minutes later by the next one. It was clear the bus would be a waste of time).

The Barlow Brewery

Barlow brewery had an outside bar this time, perhaps because the little bar in the brewery buildings was just too small. There was a range of Barlow beers on, and music (alas not the excellent Whisky Bob Shaker til later) and excellent sensibly priced food. Barraharri had another Heath Robinson and the rest of us all had the Dark Horse, another full flavoured mild (although it might have been an old or dark ale) which was very nice. Plastic glasses here as well, but there was last year, and its not a pub, so plastic is easier.



Rapscallions

We filled up on food and had another beer - me a half of the excellent Anastasia Imperial Stout, with its fabulous yellow cream head, and Tim and perhaps Rich tried the Three Valleys Pale Ale. This was another good showing by Barlow that made it the best venue so far, although the beer range at Three Tuns topped it.

Taxiharri very kindly drove us to the Hearty Oak next, as he had to go home and get changed for work. The Hearty Oak was where I was charged twice last year (I didn't notice til about 5 weeks later) and it was important that I remembered to get over it, which of course I have, which is why I haven't mentioned it. And definitely didn't at the bar.

Hearty Oak Northern Common

Here there was another excellent choice of ales and we all started on pints of the impressive Buxton Moor Top Pale, a refreshing hoppy beer bursting with dry bitterness despite its 3.6% strength. We navigated the heaving crowds to dins (this says find, honest, but it makes so little sense I've left it in) a spot to sit and survey the scene whilst supping our ales. The pub was even busier than it was last year so they must be doing something right - perhaps the brilliant beers on offer swung it.

Our next pint certainly did - Ashover Brewery Liquorice Alesorts, a fine stout with the natural bedfellow of liquorice sitting in amongst the dark dry roast malts brilliantly. A poor flavoured stout is one where the additional tastes overtake the base beer but this was not the case. The excellent stout was a fantastic beer to finish on - but we had many more pubs and beers to go....

Rutland, Holmesfield

Next we walked to the Rutland Arms, again eschewing the random delights of guessing the time of the bus. The Rutland was a surprise omission this year, since for many years it had been the best pub for beer in Holmesfield, though now its a closer contest what with the excellence of the Hearty Oak. Inside it was quite quiet for a Saturday and there were about 6 ales on offer - Tim and Rich had Sharps Doom Bar, and I had a half of the Castle Rock Harvest Pale, and a hot dog.

After the flavour blitz of the Ashover and Buxton beer there was widespread disappointment with the dull, malty sweetness of the Doom Bar. Because I had only just met my drinking companions I didn't want to seem like a patronising expert so hadn't steered them away from Doom Bar, but it transpired that it would have been better if I had.

Horns Inn

Off next on foot to the Horns Inn, a surprise inclusion to my mind. In 2010 the Horns was easily the worst venue we visited, with off beer and no apparent interest in getting something else in to replace it. I wanted to go, if nothing else, to see what had changed, and also because Tim and Rich were there to see their mates band the Nervous Triggermen.

Straight away on entering it was clear that this was a much improved pub. Three real ales on the bar and a bar set up in the back room dispensing ales from the barrel. There was an informative beer list provided, with the pub mainly showcasing Raw Brewery beers, and guests that they had supplied from Offbeat and Prospect and others. And there were glasses, just like in the last 2 pubs. Thank Christ.

I started with the Raw Solstice Pale and its probably useful to point out that I had lost track of what my companions were drinking by this stage! I also tried a pint of the excellent Raw Anubis Porter but the best beer of the night, and possibly the festival, was the Dark Star Saison. A wonderfully refreshing cloudy Belgian style ale with zesty pineapple notes and a wheaty body that went down like pop. I don't know how many pints I had of this - possibly three - but it was an awesome beer. We managed to get a seat near the bar to watch the band as well, who were quite good. Had I not been hindered by the need to get home, I could easily have gone nowhere else that night....

However, home it had to be, and |I wanted to visit the Coach and Horses as well. So this meant putting my trust in, and exhausting my patience waiting for, the festival bus.

Twenty minutes after the bus to Dronfield was due the Barlow bus arrived. The programme says it stops outside the pub but it doesn't, although I concede that it wouldn't make much sense for it to do so. Having checked it wasn't Dronfield bound I went back to standing outside the pub awaiting the other bus. And what a wait.

I think it may have been 45 minutes late, but it might have been more, when the barely driveable tractor of exasperation trundled up, to a round of sarcastic applause. We struggled down into Dronfield and when we finally got near the station we found the road closed due to a serious road accident. I haven't heard anything on the news but I hope it wasn't fatal - it did seem to involve a number of vehicles.

Coach and Horses

The driver went for a bag of chips and I walked quickly up to the Coach and Horses, where I bumped into a gent who used to come in the shop many years ago, embarrassingly he knew my name, but I couldn't recall his. Sorry about that, if you are reading this! Once inside there was a selection of beers on the bar from Thornbridge and elsewhere, and 6 outside in the outside bar. I started with a pint of the Dark Star Summer Madness, which was not really to my liking, too fruity and slightly sweet, but was, after asking nicely, served in a real live glass, and everything.

I managed to secure a comfy settee to sit at and nipped outside to fetch a half of the Bridgehouse Stokers Ale, which was a very pleasing dryish bitter, and a half of the excellent Magic Rock Dark Arts as my finisher. These were served in plastic being from an outside bar, but I took them in and fed them into my pint glass as it became available. I also got some free chicken wings to tide me over.

By half 9 I was in need of a trip home and not fancying the walk to the Station and then waiting an unguessable length of time for the bus back to Totley and then catching two more buses home, I jumped on the 43 instead, and was in town by about 22.00. One more bus hop later I was at home, making a gastronomic delight of bacon and fried bread, whilst my chop cooked in the oven. The bacon was delicious, and I even remembered to turn the oven off when I went to bed two hours later. I'm sure that chop would have been lovely....

Overall this was probably the best organised Three Valleys, especially the level of detail about beer and venues on the website, and stand out pubs were the Hearty Oak, Coach and Horses and the Horns Inn.

The downside, and lasting bad memory for me was the utterly shambolic transport. They really really need to get that sorted if the festival is to maximise its undoubted potential.

Wee Beefy.

Wee Beefy's beer crawl bites - Dronfield Woodseats and Heeley

Afternoon be alikers

    See below details of a pub crawl by bus using the 43 Sheffield to Chesterfield Service

on Thursday 9th February I used up some of the last of my annual leave to embark on a days drinking in that Dronfield, where, legend has it, whilst most pubs were almost always uniformly disappointing, there are now a few good boozers these days.  It sempt like a good time to venture out to put this theory to the test. With me was Mr M, a doughty alesman with a healthy interest in pubs.

Hallowes be thy name

Of course "a good time to venture out" is a purely personal interpretation. In reality, it was only a good day based on the fact that I had secured leave to do so. It was chuffin freezing on Thursday, and much like when me and Christingpher had ventured out the other weekend, the ne-ersayers were quick to warn me of the meteorological perils ahead. As it turned out, initially the most perilous aspect of the trip was the ball aching trundle through standing traffic on Woodseats en route to pub 1.

Eventually I stepped off the bus across from the Three Tuns, formerly the Hallowes, a pub I had never visited before. I had heard that the new owners Spire had retained or maybe restored some of the original features and there were still one or two subtle nods to its 1930's origins, in addition of course to its mock Tudor frontage. Inside, they had sought to make the pub naturally atmospheric by making it as chuffin freezing as it was outside - an interesting touch. I was briefly warmed however by the sight of 12 handpumps in front of me (2 for Zoider), and decided I wanted to start dark.

The obvious choice was a pint of one of my favourite Spire beers, Dark Side of the Moon, while Mr M had a pint of Barlow Heath Robinson. Having recounted my experience to a few folks who have been, it has been confirmed that the pumps at the Tuns are a bit rubbish, with really very short pulls that make you think the beer is running out. This is a potentially unhelpful feature since the second my Dark SOTM didn't taste exactly as I remembered I convinced myself it was the end of the barrel - but it probably wasn't. Next time I may ask them to take the sparkler off...

Soon we were warming up, and after a quick trip to obviate via the nice looking 1930's style toilet doors (you notice the small details in 1930's pubs I find) I was ready for another half. This turned out to be a quite significant one, since I wanted to try almost all of the rest of the beers on offer.

In the end I narrowed it down to and plumped for the Barlow Ebeneezer Scrooge porter, so had that, along with a half of Intergalactic from Black Iris brewery with its beautifully designed pumpclp. Alas, the extravagance of the writing hid from me its true strength, 6.0%, so I insisted Mr M partake of some as well. This hoppy bitter pale ale was the best of all the beers we tried in the Tuns.

Siding with the Dronny Arms

Next we trudged in the damp sapping cold through sleet to the Dronfield Arms, another first visit for me, and Mr M. Its an odd shaped long establishment not unlike a turn of the century Scottish bar in layout, but with a sleek modern blue and pale wood interior. All the handpumps, I think there were 4 beer and 1 cider, were at the end of the pub, and there was a board listing the ales on offer. Mr M opted for a safe Farmers Blonde and even though I suspected the Dronfield Arms bitter was likely from Thornbridge I opted for the sensibly weak Thwaites Nutty Black, which was £2.10 a pint, and thus £4.60 for the round.

We sat at the end of the pub listening in on a chat about the Three Valleys festival and the pubs of Holmesfield (theres another crawl, maybe in addition to the festival) and admiring the comfy surroundings and light airy space in which to drink or eat. The barman/landlord told us they were opening up the bottom floor.cellar bar room which was to be a restaurant. This fits in with what some people had told me about the former Sidings pub which I think this used to be. A pleasant visit, with a surprisingly tame beer range, but a warm relaxing place to drink.

Swan

Our penultimate Dronfield stop was to have been the older White Swan across the road. Still showing scars of Whitbreadifying in the early nineties I suspect, the maroon sign board mentioning traditional ales and the gold letters of th pub sign told me instantly that Sherwood Inns had clasped their grubby fingers round this venerable old building in the past.

Inside is a really old bar, alas laden with multiple shiny gas filled fonts, but affording space for two handpumps. Mr M lost control of his senses and ploughed straight into a reckless and unwise pint of Bombardier, and me a half of the strangest Adnams Bitter I ever tasted. It wasn't off, but just tasted of malt and fatigue. It didn't even appear to be the right colour. That said, it was still better than the dread horror of trying to enjoy Bombardier, the asinine homogenised beer by numbers which you must have to work really hard at to sell in a condition that would attract compliment.

We sat under a Sky Sports screen grimacing at the interchangeable images of Fabio's blind cobblers thumb and Redknapp's melted landslide faces as reaction to the former's acquittal and Capello's resignation was raked over tediously by "faces" from the world of the beautiful gane. Welcome to the brain poison world of repetition which is Sky Sports. The pub was quiet, but crucially, warm, and very comfortable. There was quite a lot of pub to look at actually and had we had more time I would like to have seen one of the other rooms. Alas we had to press on to our next destination down the main road.

Coach and Horses - now replaced by bus.

We arrived at the coach before 15.00 assuming as any rational person would that being a Thursday not a Friday or weekend they would open restricted hours like 12 til 15.00. Alas, the Coach opens at 17.00 or some random hour so we met neither our thirst or toiletry needs. We skulked around at the bus stop for a while instead, the only brief highlight being that the beer carriage turned up earlier than it said on my up to date timetable.

Chantrey Chuntering.

Fifteen minutes later we were in Woodseats and heading for the Chantrey. The last time I had visited it had been, erm, well at least 1997, and there had been Tetley on, and a club singer who was so "club", that we had to leave half way through from laughing. Now the pub has a slightly more adventurous approach to beer, although I can't say what the entertainment promises.

Mr M once again plumped for Bombardier, which was a trifle better than in the Swan, and I had a very nice pint of Kelham Island Easy Rider in a Kelham branded glass. My only gripe was that the Easy Rider seemed to be lacking hops, but I think this is actually how its meant to taste - like Pale rider with the hops and alcohol reduced. It was in good condition though, so were able to warm up in here, trying to ignore the radio being played over the pub speaker system (always a bad sign), before venturing out once more.

A view of the Sheaf.

We decided to take the opportunity to grab some snap before we headed for the Ale House on Fraser road which was to open at 16.00. We got our supplies then called the pub to make sure we were on track to find it open - unfortunately they were going to open at nearer 17.00 due to a deliveries mix up so we spent a rather long stint cowering in the bus shelter eating our food, although this of course did keep us dry.

Eventually we headed off slowly for the pub and found that Tony's love of Saltaire had continued unabated, with 4 of the 5 cask ales on offer being from that brewery. Not that we were complaining, but I really fancied a stout, and there was none in the range to be found.  Instead we both opted for a pint of the Cascade which was once again on good form.

Conversation soon drifted to the pub quiz. Tony was mortified that the wining score in the last one had been 11. Really, we should have taken this as a hint that it had been really difficult, but bravado got the better of us and we unwisely agreed to be read the questions, have an aimless pop at answering them, before he gave us the actual answer. Estimates of our tremendous score were between 4 and 6 out of 20. I think Tony should simply accept that questions about betting odds and the name of the band the father of an upcoming act was in are just a little too difficult. But what do I know...

Well, that diversion did at least mean that we had another in here, this time I had the fantastic Saltaire Challenger which was a lovey dark strong bitter with a very defined hop character. This went down a treat, although, once again, with snow now starting to fall, we had to move on.

Archer Road Beer Stop.

En route to pub 6 we popped into the ARBS, which regular readers may recognise as Sheffield's premier bottled and draught real ale off license. Davefromtshop was welcoming as always and invited us in for a wee snifter in the back before we gilded ourselves for another chilly wander. There were 3 draught beers on offer and we both opted for the excellent Thorne Pale Ale, which was in good form and had a very pleasant lingering hoppy taste. Alas we could not stop long catching up, not least because I was coming back the day after for a beer tasting.

Broady

Just like the popular England cricketer of the same name the lovable old Broadfield is not without its flaws. Still there is a surfeit of seating, still no cask beer list and on this occasion am not even sure there was a dark beer to tempt me. Both me and Mr M grabbed two stools and a tiny table near the door and had a pint each of the Acorn USA Northern Brewer IPA. This was a nice drop but despite its name was still a slightly astringent bitter rather than a gloriously hoppy IPA, but we didn't let that trouble us. Since we had to change course at this stage to get over to Heeley it became clear that we could stretch to a re run at some point, starting at the Sheaf and taking in the Broady en route to the Union, Cherry Tree, Greystones and Lescar.

The Lion 

Next Mr M unexpectedly showed me a brilliant shortcut over the Sheaf to come out at Heeley almost at our next destination the White Lion. To our surprise the pub was busy (wait, that's not where the surprise emanates) but the snug was free - so we went in there and settled down to a pint and a review of the days events. I had a pint of Jaipur and Mr M sensibly a pint of Abbeydale Daily Bread. It was here we worked out that my up-to-date timetable supplied by Wee Fatha was, in fact, printed in April 2010. Which explained why the 43's had been a little early throughout our visit. This did however afford us enough time to dispatch our beers at a sensible pace, in fact Mr M was awaah before me, having decided he'd had enough and needed the safety of his home.

Tap route

Having also finished my Jaipur I caught the 43 using my cheap all day ticket to get off near the Sheffield Tap for a couple of last halves. There was a noticeable Marble theme again, so I had half of Lagonda 4th IPA (this is based on my "eclectic sloping and wavy writing style that I adopt whilst processing alcohol) and Thornbridge Black Harry. The Tap was mercifully quiet which meant i didn't have to hide away in a back room,. but it was a brief visit on account of my having a pressing need to get home and lie down.

Overall we got to 9 pubs if you count ARBS and tried a number of beers from a diverse range of breweries, all at sensible prices, i.e below £3.00 a pint (apart maybe from the Black Iris, but it wouldn't be overpriced since it was 6.0%). Its a shame that we couldn't get to the Coach and Horses and that we didn't have time for the Sheaf View but all in good time, we can always do this again sometime. A highly recommended pub selection.

Cheers!

Wee Beefy.