New year, new decade, new tastes

Hello,

        so far in this new decade I have tried one or two new styles of beers. In fact, some of them are not my usual favourites of gloopy hoppy pales, although they do feature, but non soupy potions also feature in this post as well.

Not strictly this year but I started the new decade the night before in Shakespeares and Bar Stewards, where I eventually saw in the new year. One of the highlights of the first was a pale ale from Errant Brewery, who may be based in Newcastle - recommended by Jason, I have to say that I really enjoyed this, and had a couple before we headed across the road. And whilst eating at Vikkie's earlier, we tried the excellent St Mars of the Desert and Zapato brew for Indy Man Beer Con, which sadly I missed this year - am led to believe they are fairly rare, and I wasn't disappointed.

Soon after the start of the year I purchased some cheap beers from Asda - and I really enjoyed them. This does not for a second undermine the qualities of sometimes more costly micro and nano brewery outputs, it just serves as a reminder that you can purchase beers in supermarkets that stand up to the quality of ones bought on a smaller scale. The Vocation Life and Death was on at a very low price and still as excellent as I would expect, whilst the Off Tempo cloudy pale at 6.1% from Bad Co was also very enjoyable at very little, along with the Cleanwater Scottish lager.

I also tried a few Lervig beers in the Crow - a collab with Verdant called its not you its me was fabulous, as was their collab DIPA on keg from the future which I have sadly since misplaced the picture of. There was likewise an excellent IPA on at the Wellington as well as a number of excellent beers from Duration Brewery in Suffolk. I tried a can of their 5.5% Turtles all the way down, a pale ale, in Bar Stewards, as well as a third of their 3% Table beer on keg, and even, in a rare event, enjoyed a can of their warm hugs stout as well. Good to see previously rarely seen brewers popping up in the Stewards!

This sudden liking for dark beers probably stemmed from the wonderful Keep it Impe-Real big stouts bash at Shakespeares. I was supping with Tony and we only had thirds, not least because all were strong and only available in halves and thirds. Some of those on offer were very interesting - such as the Alvinne Mano Negra which I thought was a little like wine, and the De Molen and Hel and Verdomenis Gin BA at 10.8% which was just as odd as it sounded. The strongest on offer was an Ultje Staff Sergeant ice distilled Imperial stout at a whopping 18.6% - now lets not get into a discussion about whether ice means a beer is not a beer please - it was our last of the kegs and acceptably tasty, but understandably strong. Meanwhile the best of the show were both on cask from the past - Atom and Northern Monk Neutron Death Star at 12% was ludicrously easy to drink. but the real star was the Boutilliers and Emperor's Leia Cake at 10.8% featuring honey, vanilla and cocoa. It was likewise easy to drink but was probably the most enjoyable of those that I tried.

The final tastes I had were also at the Crow Inn, of Verdant Putty, along with their excellent strong stout and an excellent DIPA at £6.80 or thereabouts on fabulous keg. I have been wanting to try the Putty ever since they first brewed it but a number of reasons means I have always missed out. Although I missed out on buying a can by a few minutes I did get to try two marvelous halves along with a third of the excellent stout. The people I was sitting with agreed that this was perhaps the beer of the night, from an absolutely excellent selection.

Finally, I should point out that I enjoyed a couple of pints of the Anthology Session IPA at 3.9% on cask in Shakespeares. Since the weird tastes and negligence (in some quarters) of the previous below 3% beers push, many small UK microbrewers have taken to perfecting the ideal flavours in lower gravity and now more accurately described session ales on both cask and keg and in can. At the moment with the impact on the trade caused by Dryanuary it is noticable that a lot of low very low and zero gravity beers along with numerous session pales and IPAs have found their way into local bars.

May this interest in providing a full and choice of all gravities of beers long continue.

Your very best health!

Wee Beefy            

Back in Sheffield

Urllorr,

    I should point out first of all that I haven't drunk much in January - not because of Dry January - regular readers will know that I do not support the idea, even if  potential, of hitting struggling pubs and bars in the pocket harder in what is already their most dismal month of the year. No, instead this was almost entirely down to a lack of funds. So here are details of just two crawls completed this month.

On the first Sunday of 2019 I went to Crookes. In the Two Sheds, Arthur two sheds Jackson (assuming at least part of that is his real name) was not there,  instead it was quiet and calm and filled when I left by happy fellow Scots. I even stayed for two pints of Thornbridge Jaipur, which in comparison to  other offerings was good value at £3.70 a pint.

Across the road the Punch Bowl had just one cask on, and almost no keg. The landlord had enjoyed his Christmas roster of ales but had somewhat fallen out with Greedy King, and so wasn't especially busy. He didn't do pizzas or like the oven, and didn't want ales that GK couldn't sell. Whilst I also dislike Greedy King, I stayed only for a half and left.

Down the hill the Walkley Beer Co was having no such issues. Packed when I arrived, I did get a seat on one of the tables and enjoyed some beer. In the months ahead am sure I will remember what it was. Am going to guess Pressure Drop - no, wait, it was Wiper and True IPA possibly involving the colour indigo and it was about 6.9%. It was bloody lovely.

I finished the night in Bar Stewards, where I had an excellent cask version of the Magic Rock barrel aged Bearded Lady, and in Shakespeares. where alas details are unclear.

On the second Saturday I met up with Vikkie and Matt outside my second home to walk to the Wellington. I started on a pint of Neepsend Amarillo IPA on cask from the past, and also had a half of the Siren Ryesing Tides on keg. Matt had a stout, am certain and Vikkie had a Ryesing Tides and a sour before we headed to our second stop.

This was at the Gardeners. Being virtually next door to the Cutlery Works seems to be helping trade and I had a pint of something pale which I used to be able to remember on CFTP. It was an enjoyable visit but it was definitely very busy.

Off to the Old Workshop next where I had a half of a pineapple and Yuzu IPA from a brewery that may have been in London. Claret had tried a half earlier and loved it so I knew I was making  a good choice. From here we went to a packed K.I.T where I enjoyed a pork pie and a pint of Peach IPA or similar from Blue Bee. Once again the pub was very busy, which is always a good sign at this time of year. Good for Josh and Louise that all seems to be going well!

Back in Bar Stewards I had a half of Lervig Supersonic soundwave or similar, an excellent DIPA, before we finished in Shakespeares where I had a pint of keg - I know this because I took a picture. Alas I don't recall what it was of...

Sheffield continues to do very well in multiple venues at filling spaces and seats with the derrieres of discerning drinkers throughout the year. Hats off to my sunny city for once again reminding me why it is I am so lucky.

Your very best health!

Wee Beefy

A Sunday sup in Sheffield

Now then,

             last week I went out for a few beers with lovable rogue Matthew, AKA Meathumph, Matty, Oi, and other names. The original plan was to meet at midday in the Brothers Arms, travel to some local and further away hostelries, and end up being joined by Tash. Only one of those concepts was correct alas.

Matt rang me and said he was hungover and suggested we meet at 14.00, in the Brothers Arms. Setting off at 13.05, it took me an astonishing 1 hour 15 minutes to get there by bus. I could have walked it in 10 minutes longer. Still, the sun was shining (initially), the weather was warm and I was thirsty. Me and Matty sat on the back in the sunshine drinking pints of Cromarty Red Rocker Rye Red ale and all was well. We even went back fro a couple of halves - more Red for me and a Pictish Wakau pale for Matt. Was good seeing John from the White Lion as well - must visit soon!

Down the hill the other way is the Sheaf View. A Red Willow Ageless Double IPA was on at 7.2%. We ordered 2 pints but it ran out so got 1 and a half, nearly, and paid for one. We sat initially in the child free beer garden, before, as it had Saturday, it started raining. Heavily. We sat in the back room and listened to the downpour and I went and got a half of Victory Dirt Wolf Double IPA at 8.7%. A truly stunning and brilliantly hoppy, slab of a beer.

We walked next along the river and headed for the London Road area. We paused at the Railway across from Sheffield United's ground. This was advertising "Coffee and Casks" on the windows - being a pub I have never previously visited, maybe a first one may have to take place soon.

Out onto London Road and we visited the Albion. Four Sheffield Brewing Co beers and a Clarkes were the choice - we both went for halves of 5 Rivers and settled down to chat and sup and receive phone calls.

Soon we arrived at the Beer Engine. Tom was in as always and we asked him what food they were serving. As timings isn't our speciality, its no surprise that they had stopped serving, but Tom very kindly did us two hot pork sandwiches with homemade apple sauce and roast potatoes on brioche. It was just what we needed!

Beers wise we had a couple each. I know Matty had a Magic Rock Salty Kiss, an excellent and unusual beer, and I had a strong cascade, possibly from Wiper and True, but am  not sure what we had on cask - I#m thinking it was a Neepsend Brew Co beer? Either way, the two keg offerings stuck in my memory a little more.

Next we visited the Brewery Tap next to Henrys. The latter is closed for refurbishment but the Tap remains open. Still the brewery is redundant, still the trial brews are, I imagine this time, poor. We both had a pint of cask each and it was pale and from Derby Brew Co, in fact we had one each of their offerings, but am unable to recollect which! Don't worry - there are memories later I promise.

We walked up to High Street beneath glowering angry black clouds, to catch the 95 to Walkley, and to walk down in the fading light to the Blake. A good selection of ales were available including Neepsend Brewery Co but we both had a pint of something different. To contradict my earlier comment, I can't recall what it was . It was £2.70 a pint whatever it was.

This was one of our favourite pubs but it could have been our worst visit. We got chatting to a Slovakian bloke called Filip. He offered to buy us two whiskies so we accepted, thinking at that points that he was not, in fact a racist violent lunatic. Alas he was. Its not often these days that you hear the word nigger in a conversation, but he used the word three times to describe his f***ing black b**tard doctor". We were quite shocked, and seeing this he said "don't you tell me I'm racist because you won;t live more than a few seconds if you do". Brilliant. A drunk, aggressive, racist simpleton. As we carried on listening and hastily finishing our drinks he went outside to make a call so we legged it down the hill. A revolting person that marred an otherwise exellent experience.

Our next stop was the Double H. Matty has never been to the Hillsborough Hotel so I thought this would be a good chance fr him. On the bar was the Potbelly Beijing Black which is a beer I really like but having a tried it tasted sour. "I don't like it, it tastes sour" the man behind the bar said. Well done = maybe its, um...off? Anyway we had a try of other mediocre beers and opted for two pints of Wentworth Clock ale or similar. From here we walked down the main road to our penultimate stop.

The Wellington was quiet but am not sure Sunday is a good day to judge any pub in terms of numbers of customers. Excellent real ale was on offer as always and we both had pint of the excellent Green Arrow from Little Ale Cart. Was lovely sitting in the room on the left getting our thoughts together and enjoying the refreshing hoppy ale.

Walking past the Ship Inn Matty found out he could catch a bus home any minute so I left him there and walked on to Shakespeares. I know I had a half, and maybe a pint of the excellent but hefty Mad Hatter mild at 7.4% but am not sure what else, although, by this time I was on pint number 9 of a rather thirsty day. And after leaving Shakespeares to get the last First bus home, the Beefdozer cometh, so I had to get a taxi back from Woodhouse Station.....

So, overlal this was a fantastic pub crawl with Matty providing good comapny and where we enjoyed some excellent beers along the way - best beer ramge probably came at the Sheaf View and the Beer Engine. I would recommend a visit to all of the pubs we tried, but some more than others.

Cheers!

Wee Beefy

A quite marvelous evening of refreshments

Now then,

     I know I might seem a little spoiled by all the pub crawls I go on. Or maybe threatened with imminent physical decline and slow, trembly,  yellow death. Either way, the surfeit of ale yomps could perhaps make me a little jaded. You can, after all, have too much of a good thing, as people who've never had a good thing tend to say. Well that's their look out. I proved them, whoever they are, wrong on Friday night.

I had accrued some flexi credit for the first time in years and after a couple of stalled attempts an evening out with my dear friend Middlemarch was overdue. She was also owed a couple of years credit so we opted to leave work at 3PM and make an effort. To sit in the sun and sup beer. Albeit, we didn't actually escape til half past but it didn't matter. We were soon sat in the beer garden of the Closed Shop drinking Marstons EPA for the lady, and Blue Bee Nectar Pale for big lad.

Despite having visited the pub before, I admit I'm an infrequent visitor to the Closed Shop beer garden. Because I'm never there early enough, or if I am, its cold. Or wet. Or windy. Or all three. On Friday it was lovely and warm, and by fluke we picked the one remaining corner of sun dappled seating that the sun then deigned to shine on as the hours, and pints, went by.

Another round of the same followed, with a pork pie for me, and crisps for us both, then round three, when I'm fairly sure Middlemarch "upskilled" her palate to the Blue Bee. No better an education. This time my trip to the bar included fetching a brownie for her to enjoy in a very lady like fashion. By this time others had followed our lead, but, remembering it isn't a game, we were easily winning at sitting in the sun.

The next round saw Middlemarch on Nectar and me rather unwisely supping a pint of Blue Bee Tangled Up IPA. Soon the sun hid behind the gable end again and we sat in the table room (I haven't named them all yet) to finish, after another half of the Tangled Up for me.

After which we went for a long walk, down Commonside, and made a fairly well guessed travail diagonally to the Wellington. It was really busy arriving at around seven, and we sat outside studiously supping halves, of Harley's Galaxy Special from the on site brewery, before walking slowly to the Ship to make sure we didn't suffer the ignominy of arriving to find it closed.

"It usually opens about half seven" I announced with an air of authority as we arrived to find it absolutely rammed at precisely that time, with a near empty table of food near the entrance.There was a retirement do on, and it had clearly been in full swing for a while. Here Middlemarch had a pint of Moonshine (or maybe a half) and I a pint of the fantastic Btadfield Pale Ale, at 5.0%. Sitting down on one of the few free tables we were chatting away when Stuart from (amongst other places) DAda fame came and sat down next to us - it was his wife who was having the do....

This was a surprising co-incidence but it didn't seem out of place in the carefree flow of the day (although we'll paper over the fact that the pub had opened at 19.00 anyway, with the do having started at 16.00). However, before long Stuart had to "do the rounds" and we had to head off for a final pint at Shakespeares.

Here a minor kerfuffle with my attempting to spend money in small increments to pay by card meant Middlemarch graciously picked up the tab, and we repaired to the clock room to enjoy a pint of Welbeck Elis Dark Mild for me and a quite frankly I haven't the foggiest for Middlemarch. Afterwards, I even had time to walk her into town, grab supplies (pizza, two bottles of olive oil, and, um, sausages?) from the supermarket and have  a glass of wine before bed. Well, I say bed. The settee was very comfy....

Sometimes a plan just comes together. And as a black belt in mis-haps, miscalculation and misanthropic moaning about changes and compromises, this excellent session was the perfect way to start the month, and the weekend. Thanks to Middlemarch for keeping me company, and sharing in an evening of faultless beers and fantastic pubs.

Wee Beefy

Rivelin to beer valley pub stumble

Morning,

     yesterday I headed off for a walk in the old stomping ground of Stannington and Rivelin. Its so easy to get to the Rivelin Valley from Crookes me and Carlos were probably in  it every weekend in summer. And winter, come to think. One of the anomalies about the valley though is that there are only realistically three  pubs actually in it. And one, the Norfolk Arms which was a good mile up from the Rivelin post office, is now a nursing home.

So in fact this leaves just the Holly Bush and the Rivelin, with a smattering of decent boozers on the higher reaches, namely Stannington and at a push Crookes and Walkley. For reasons of change, I explored the Stannington side, sampling the pubs as I went along.

I started on Stannington Road up from the Anvil where the bus turns into the estate. I toiled up the hill to the Sportsman, which, despite being the first pub on the route, I didn't venture into, even though they used to sell real ale a few years back. I walked up into the older part of the village and stopped off at the Peacock. This Thwaites eatery does still retain a drinkers bar area on the left but to be fair its so hot in there I always prefer sitting outside. Just two real ales on in here but they always sell Thwaites Nutty Black, at £2.80 a pint currently. It seemed the ideal drink since the mild month of May had only just finished.

The Peacock doesn't really implore me to hang around but it sells a decent pint, much like my next stop Minnies, the Rose and Crown. A solid looking pub with a large car park in front and the Loxley Valley stretching out behind it, there are usually 1 or two real ales on here, and almost always Bradfield Brewery beers. This time, the Bradfield had run out, but there was a guest mild! For a traditional Sheffield drinkers pub that was quite a shock, nearly as mush as it being from Caledonian. Mayhem mild was very palatable, but expensive at £1.64 a half.

Moving on uphill and I was glad to find the imposing Crown and Glove open. There's a central entrance and two rooms, with a former dram shop window directly in front of you. Two real ales on here, normally three, and from a choice of Wentworth WPA, (which always seems to be the cheaper option) and Thornbridge Lord Marples, I opted for a pint of the latter.

I sat outside in bright sunshine looking across the fields to Crosspool, supping what was quite a palatable Marples. Its still a sigh beer for me but in comparison with the pale facsimile of itself that WPA has become it was probably the better choice. Mind you, possibly due to Thornbridge's pricing policy and the fact that the pub is owned by a greedy pubco, its price was a little less palatable - £3.35 a pint. Not that there's anywhere much cheaper nearby but that is very steep.

I walked on down past the church and through the fields, now getting a view of the forlorn ruin of the Bell Hagg Inn on the other side of the Valley. Zooming in with my camera there looks to be some sort of work going on, and, as I'd never previously realised, there is a whole other building built below it. Unfortunately nothing is being done to safeguard the road level structure so no miraculous return is pending.

I came out on Tofts lane in glorious sunshine and found the Rivelin busy. Unfortunately the handpumps remain unused and it appears they have given up on selling real ale. A shame for this picturesque local, especially since there's insufficient intactness of layout or other original features to make it worth tolerating a keg beer.

I made my way along the side of the valley as far as was possible, and eventually bit the bullet and headed near  vertically back up to Stannington Road, heading for the Anvil. The place was packed and was probably the best pub of the day at that point. Still retaining some signs of its original layout it also has a traditional difference in luxury between what would have been a separate bar or games room on the right, and the larger sprawl on he left.

I had a pint of Bradfield Farmers Blonde, £2.89, a much needed drink served at the right temperature - cool, but not cold. The pub was rammed, and plenty of people had migrated to the handful of seats outside.  Inside, as well as the bar room there probably used to be two rooms on the left. The potential division isn't obvious but there is a front and side wall fireplace so I think one per room would have made sense. As you enter there are two doors, further demonstrating the separate rooms, and I assume the first of the rooms would have been accessed from an entrance lobby. Its fanciful speculation I realise, especially not having any actual architectural background, but its interesting trying to guess how it would have looked.

Down to mousehole next and I took the path past the dam and ended up on Hollins Lane at the Holly Bush. I didn't have any great hopes for this pub - its proximity to the latter stages of the Rivelin Valley walk and its popularity with families (as attested on a large canvas banner as you approach) made me fear the worst but actually, what with everyone sat in the sun outside, its quite an interesting old pub inside. The first priority was to sort out refreshments - I had a half of Black Sheep Bitter (the other choice was Hobgoblin)  and went and sat outside in the sun trap at the back.

My next surprise was just how pleasant the Black Sheep was. It isn't a classic by any means but it was kept really well and was very refreshing. So much so, that, sat in the sun amid vibrant greenery,  with the trees gently swishing above, I opted for another pint.

In the pub, there are two rooms, with the entrance on the side leading to a smaller room and the larger part of the central bar's counter on the right, and a large lounge on the left. There is also a corridor next to the bar linking both rooms to the loos which have quite old doors on them. And the bonus of it catering to families is not only the useful sale of chocolate bars but also a fairly impressive array of soft drinks, possibly aimed at drivers. An enjoyable visit.

I walked from here into Malin Bridge and caught the bus to the Wellington. The walk was all but over, now it was time for a sup. I had a very refreshing pint of Little Ale Cart Harleys Galaxy special, which I was told was not a single hopped beer as I'd claimed (sozzard) but was in fact brewed with galaxy and erm, yer know, the other one, and a hop called I stopped listening. But thanks for the gen! It was also a bargain £2.40 a pint. I took it outside with me and sat in the sun once again, listening to the conversation and trying to photograph the fully unfurled but mostly rolled up, England flag. I failed.

An impromptu visit to the Kelham Island Tavern followed, where I had a pint of Yorkshire Dales Swinacore Pale, a spicy pale ale brewed with Sorachi Ace, and a half of Blackedge Dark. This was so good in fact that, having secured a seat outside in the sun I went back for another. The KIT was absolutely rammed, with a constant procession of punters arriving all the time I was there. Always good to see a pub thriving.

My penultimate stop was the Ship. To my horror the Bradfield Pale from the night before (my favourite Bradfield beer by a distance) had run out. In its place was an equally enjoyable Welbeck Fruit Cascade, which was nowhere near as grim as it sounds. Subtle fruit sits in the background behind a pleasantly hoppy bitter, which was an ideal pint to sup, sat with the sunshine streaming into an initially empty pub. Bliss.

Finally I ended my journey at Shakespeares, sat in the beer garden, supping halves of the Ashover smoked ale and Little Valley Python, a 6.0% IPA. I was joined briefly by Robin who was having a quick bite to eat, and it became obvious during our conversation that it was really the end of my day of refreshments. And so it was that I headed home from here for a much needed rest.

A great day out walking and drinking was had in some old favourites and a few less often visited pubs. Rivelin's pubs were the cheapest on the walk (if you include the Anvil) and despite the Stannington venues being costlier at least they all offered real ale. If you head into Loxley the situation doesn't change, and up the other side of Rivelin all the Crosspool and Crookes pubs sell real ale. So all the more reason to sup in the area.

Wee Beefy.      

How to constructively utilise the bank holiday weekend.

Hello,

          well, so finishes another refreshing bank holiday where I laboured under the laughable delusion that I might not end up using it as a massive 72 hour alcoholic sponge, but instead an opportunity to do something constructive. To be fair, I did - I cut the hedge (and the hedge trimmer wires, like a bellend), I did some cleaning and I worked overtime. I also hosted a friend for a night of offal and alcohol and took some photographs. In reality though, these were just supporting turns to the unfolding acts of libation.

Official relaxation begin Friday night but that's a separate post. Saturday, in a move that made people think it was in fact Friday, I was at work doing something I hear people describe as "overtime". No idea why I chose such a lovely weekend to spend 6 hours indoors but at least it made me ready for a pint afterwards. Luckily, there was no shortage  of potential venues.

Shakespeares has a beer yard and around 14.00 it gets the sun. So I popped in, bought a pint of Revolutions Brew Severin Mild and sat outside delighting in remembering what sitting in hot sun feels like. Alas the Severin didn't stick round long so I headed back to the bar to replenish - returning with a half of something from Wansum Brewery, and a half of Ommegang Hennepin saison, at a not terribly practical 7.7%. I needed to be back for 5ish to start prepping the meal. This had the potential to get messy.

I got chatting to a couple with an large friendly dog (sorry couple with a large friendly dog, but in not having tattooed your names on my arms I'm afraid they escape me...) and this preempted another round of Wansum and Ommegang, before finally finishing on a half of Black Iris Top Hard. Nice to see the Iris about, but the felt-tip pump clip was never going to match up to their usual output.

Sunday dawned sunny so I did a bit of hedge (and other) cutting before heading off to town about 15.00. My rewarding trip out was annoyingly stalled by my realising I forgot my wallet, just as I got of the bus in town. When, after going home and back, I finally arrived at the Sheffield Tap, it had been a pointless 2 hour trip. Time to catch up...

Here I had a pint of Tapped Brewing Co Growler Citra Pale ale and a half of the Tapped and Thornbridge collaboration Lady Grey (I think) unfiltered IPA. A stonking strong pale ale with an odd but not unpleasant aftertaste that went down well, even better when mixed with the Growler. I got another round of this just to robustly test the theory then had a pint of Magic Rock High Wire and half a Tapped Brew Co Miami Weiss whilst sitting in the sunshine, chatting to Dada Ems about the important things in life. Like beer, for instance.

The Closed Shop welcomed me next via the worst portion of chips imaginable from the grumpy Chinese nearby. Here I caught up with Dave on her quiz reading debut, and had a lovely pint of something which the overwhelming fear of having to listen to a quiz at all completely erased. I would have stopped to talk to various fine folk and drank more had I not been desirous of running away. Jim at the Alma at Mosborough set the tone for pub quizzes. Its really not worth competing.

My final stop was the Bath Hotel where I sat in dusky seclusion in the lovely snug with the cold blue night of the set sun falling beautifully onto the blue upholstered seating and scrubbed tables. Accompanying me was a rather splendid pint of Hawkshead Windemere Pale Ale.

Monday was an even later start as I finished hedge pushing (with  my spare but blunt hedge trimmer which is about as effective as stroking the foliage with a spoon) before finally escaping at 6PM for a late one. I started at Shakespeares with a pint of Steel City Walpurgis Nacht. This hefty hoppy dark wheat beer was a pleasing if slightly OTT starter so I went for something pale and had a pint of the Sheffield brewing Co EFA IPA. Usually their IPA series beers are pretty good but this was really disappointing.

Amid the crescendo of noise form the loudest and most overbearing people on earth in the bar, I finished on a pint of Little Valley Stoodley Stout, which was excellent, before heading for the Wellington. Here I had a pint of their rather brilliant Little Ale Cart Sorachi, a Sorachi Ace and Citra pale ale late hopped with Herkules. I also found time for a half of their mild, which was very enjoyable, if not strictly really a mild at all.

Next I ill advisedly struggled skywards on Upperthorpe before popping out at Commonside and heading to the Hallamshire House. I only had a quick half of Jaipur here because for some reason the Thornbridge beers I like never seem to have been on when I pop in, and this was another such occasion. Across the road at the Closed Shop it was dark beers all round with my having a couple of pints of the Lincoln Green Tuck Porter, nd a refreshing half of Whittlebury Amarillo, before Chris persuaded me (a bit) to try an absurdly strong yet  rounded 46 year old whisky from, erm, a distillery. I had a pint and a half of water with that double, which seemed scarily large, and i think this may have been what got me home. An excellent end to the session but probably a very bad idea.

Luckily for my liver its 3 months til the next bank holiday, so for now I'll just have to remember how much I've enjoyed these last three sunny days, whilst staring out of the rain lashed window at work, or struggling through icy stair rods on the way there and back, until the next one.

Cheers!

Wee Beefy.

A crapulence of Wanderiains

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

Celebration crawl

Evening,

      myself and Mr P finally got out on our Wanderians on Wednesday, the day I found out I'd got a job interview. Not quite as tankard clinking and boisterous a piece of news as getting the bugger, but reason enough to celebrate. Because, you know. Normally I lead a virtually dry Methodist existence, with alcohol only passing my lips under duress. Di blah.

I had hoped for a Commonside jaunt as The Closed Shop is rapidly becoming my new favourite pub - more to come on that subject no doubt over the next month. One thing I'll quickly say is that its testament to the hard work of Mr Stephens from the death star canteen, to access the widest possible range of beers within the terms of his lease, that he has so consistently put on exceptional beer. Not every micro brewery is good, is kind of what I'm saying.

Anyhoo, this wander started after a brisk yomp through the unpromising territory of Neepsend, and up to Rutland Street, and the Woodside Inn. Landlord Gary was on hand to dispense warm greetings and cool beer. Better still, he had the Toolmakers Razmataz on. The former Forest pub, is the nearest licensed premises to the brewery.

I was a little confused when he said they'd only been in a week; not knowing much about the rapidly changing licensing history of the pub I didn't want to seem like I knew nothing, when in reality that is the case. I thought it reopened before Christmas, sorry, I know it reopened before Christmas, but that the incumbents then were still there now. Either way it didn't matter. Because the beer was good, and it was only £2.50 a pint. Or similar....

We stopped for two in the end, I had a brief chat with Gary about ales and his intention to regularly stock Toolmakers products. He actually had two Wood Street beers on as well, and I was offered a try of the Golden Larch. It wasn't in bad condition, but it was an odd mix of sweet malt with a bitter bite in the aftertaste. Interestingly, talking to Shakespeare Martin (no relation to the pub) at Magna yesterday, he said their beers had been on top form at The Hillsborough. Perhaps I should pop down to try them. And get over myself.

Off to the Gardeners Rest next and back on familiar Wanderians territory. Here I had a pint of Mulberry Duck brewery Wildfowler Mild, alas I forget what Mr P had but it was a pleasant pale ale. The Wildfowler was, erm, interesting. It probably comes under the category twiggy, but there was no crystal malt lurking in the mix - there was just too much mix.  Not unpleasant though. Far better was my half of Early Dawn from Hayrake brewery, which was very enjoyable.

Our final, Mr P's anyway, stop was the Ship. As always 3 excellent beers were on, and we both had pints of Chantry Brewery Iron and Steel, a 4.0% darkish bitter at £2.65 a pint. As always there was an enjoyable mix of catchy, fiendishly catchy and achingly uncool tunes from the past to keep us amused, and a decent number of customers to drown out my somewhat late toasts.

After Mr P had headed home I popped in the Wellington across the roundabout and had an excellent half of the Little Ale Cart Darlington and what might have been their latest single hopped ale - in fact, it was, but I cleverly deleted the text containing this information in a bid to free up space on my creakily slow phone. For precisely no benefit.

I jumped off the tram at the University next and went to the Bath Hotel for a pint of Dark Star Festival and the brilliant 1910 Porter, which I topped off with a sneaky Halcyon, possibly on cask, but am not sure (last night it was on Keykeg and cask). It was nice to get to try some new (to me) Dark Star beers, and equally enjoyable to slake some Halcyon. Talking of which, as above, I was also in last night supping a couple of pints of that fantastic haze maker. It was great to finish on such an epic beer, and to catch up with Geoff, and John, from the now disbanded Sheffield beer board. A scheme or concept that none of you know anything about, because, erm, we never set it up, and I never mentioned it...

Business ideas eh!

Wee Beefy 

Man walks into a pub. Then another. Then...

Hello,

      over the past week I have been all over the shop, as they say, drinking in different counties, the throes of a Twissup and CAMRA award winning rural pubs, like the concept of Sheffield as the beer capital was long forgotten. Aside from any CAMRA rivalry of course, its not forgotten. Its just that other locations have took my fancy. By way of illustration, here's a (brief as possible) who's got what of local hostelries over the past 8 days.

Firstly, The Riverside. I only ever seem to get here on busy Friday evenings after work and have never really taken to the pub. Perhaps my usual demarcation to a corner of he bar before spewing out onto the patio when its packed has skewed my appreciation, but I gained a little the other night. I had an excellent pint of Blue Bee Parenthesis, a great hoppy dry bitter which did everything it didn't say by being named parenthesis, but crucially tasted fab.

I sat down on a comfy sofa in a cosily lit part of the bar near the opened out fireplace, admiring the lights outside and listening to some fairly excellent dub. Sometimes music in pubs can be a blight, but its untypical of the traditional boozer and its slightly cafe bar intentions are well suited to decent tunes. Especially when they really are. Another pint of the Blue Bee followed, as well as a tour of the upstairs before I headed off to sample a few other boozers.

One such was the Woodside Inn. This was only my second visit, and it didn't seem much busier, but there was a steady stream of arrivees to play in a darts match. Alas, no-one but me seemed to be supping real ale,m but the halves of Sheffield Brew Co Stainless went down really well, and still on at a decent price. Also disappointing was another poor Wood Street brew, although I opted for a taste first. I understand the pubs reinvention has seen the "original" owners return - am unsure if this is true but I hope they can recapture whatever it was the losing off made them depart.

The Gardeners rest was having a quiet night, but was enchanting visitors with excellent beers as always, and another plus was that I got a chance to catch up with Pat who I've not talked to for a while.

Here I had a half of Privateer Beers Dainty Blonde, plus another half of the Parenthesis, at which point I bumped into Brewer Rich. We did have quite a detailed discussion about the punctuation theme of his beers, the details of which I would suggest neither of us could remember. I also had a half pint of the Black Swan from Vale, which was nice, but there was a hint of sweetness in the Privateer which I wasn't keen on.

The Wellington is still sort of an irregular haunt so it was nice to pop in and have a pint - despite a darkish beer being on I went for a Little Ale Cart Eldorado, specially brewed with the hop of the same name. This was a really well balanced bitter beer, which, if only I went more often and the beers didn't change every day or so, I'd like to try again.

The Ship on Shalesmoor was selling my favourite Kelham Island beer Bette Noire so that's what I had in there, which was on great form and a decent price at £2.80 a pint, before I headed off to Shakespeares, via some dubious late night scran.

On this visit I had a rather odd but not unenjoyable half of Julian Church Brewery Martyr, and a rather ill advised half of Flying Dog K9, which was easier to drink than its high strength suggested, and didn't have too much of that odd Belgerican yeast.

I was also in on Friday with Mr G, supping the last of a barrel of Raw Pacific Gem, which was nice enough, as well as a further pint of Revolutions Clash London Porter for me. Nice to see the Porter again, just a shame the Gem was so very tired.

Prior to this I had been in DAda, enjoying a couple of pints of the reasonable Lumford (now now DAda, a lack of non Thornbridge beers doesn't suit you and you know it), yet so un-tempting was the cask range (after Lumford ran out) that myself and Mr G retired to a comfy spot to very slowly drink Thornbridge Chiron and Thorny Goat. Chiron did not disappoint, but the Keykeg Goat is a poor relative of the much better cask. Bring it back dammit!

The final bit of news is not about Sheffield pubs but about Bottle Conditioned Ale. Following on from my post about the CAMRA says this is real ale logo, I discovered to my horror more sour yeasty soup masquerading as a drinkable bottle of beer. Despite Wee Fatha's astonishing claim that he would drink it because it seemed a shame to pour it away, which is heroically disingenuous, we replaced it instantly with a much safer none BCA option.

I am going to have to contact the brewery concerned to make them aware of the problem, and hopefully arrange recompense, but in a producer, retailer, promoter(logo), customer, arrangement, I'd argue that having also bought the product from the brewer the two parties looking most shoddy from this situation are the brewery and the logo owning promoters; CAMRA. I can see this issue will be long in the resolution....

So, that's all for now, hopefully I will have more news in the coming days.

Cheers!

Wee Beefy

Wee Beefy's Sunday Ale Amble

Now then,

     a couple of weeks ago, myself and Fluff met up for a beverage or two, and a walk from Broomhill, over Crookes, down to Commonside, onto Infirmary Road and into town. There was a secondary motive for this yomp, but mainly it was to get to some pubs that we either rarely or had never previously in Fluff's case, visited.

We started in Broomhill, just time for one pub here from the choice of 5.  If I'd had my visiting a new pub head on we'd have gone to The Place - but I hadn't, and we met in The York.

Visiting The York on a Sunday is probably suggests its a restaurant that serves food. Its clear that most of the tables are for gnashing and chomping at and despite the relaxed lazy Sunday vibe and comfy seating on the right, I can't escape feeling like I'm gatecrashing a family meal.

When we were 17 (shock, horror, scandal!) we both used to drink in the York. I know I used to favour the Bass over the Stones, but its unrecognisable in terms of interior as well as beer choice now - from a range of beers dominated by True North offerings, I tried the excellent Kelham Island Wild Rider, which is or more likely has made an appearance at the Ship at Shalesmoor. This is a cracking hoppy beer and probably one of the best Kelham beers I've had for a while, although their Brooklyn Porter a year or so ago was exemplary.

After Fluff had recovered from walking over from Woodseats, and finished his much needed pint we headed up the bus route to Crookes. If we'd been doing a proper survey we'd have made 4 stops before we reached the Punch Bowl but really Crookes was just a convenient route over the hill to Commonside. A pressing need for Fluff however meant an unplanned visit to the Princess Royal.

Still serving a good range of beers it was warm, crowded and friendly, and there was some good music on the jukebox. We both had  halves of the Welbeck Bay Middleton, a well kept refreshing dry bitter with a lovely aftertaste.

All too soon we were off for a rare visit to the Dram Shop. We'd earlier noticed that Rhythm and Booze on Crookes had real ales on handpump, but despite the obvious temptation to follow suit, the Dram Shop have always steadfastly concentrated on bottles. From a list of to be fair expensive bottled exotica, Fluff purchased a Brooklyn beer (I think) whilst I saved my cash for more beer in the next pub.

Its only a short walk round the corner along Howard road and down the hill to the Blake Hotel. This was the first time I had been when I noticed the slow service that some people complain about. To be honest, its fair to say this was out of the hands of the staff - some customers really are just slow.

Fluff had time to go to the loo and come back to find me in exactly the same position, and when a bloke turned up and motioned for us to go to the bar to be served since he'd only just arrived, I was quick to point out that I needed to have been nearer sooner to spot which beers were on offer. Bizarrely, this chap took my comment as an invitation to simply put his order in first, and then take a seeming age to get it. A lack of pub etiquette always baffles me, but this was surprising in just how brazen it was. I was temporarily speechless.

Luckily the beers helped soothe the hurt, and despite not being reckless enough to make any notes the quality of the very best beer means I can remember clearly what it was. I know we sampled halves of Potbelly and possibly a Phoenix offering as well but stand out ale there was the Peakstones Rock Black Hole, very much like a silky porter or dark ale to me, but described by the brewery as a dark bitter brewed with chocolate malt. Either way it was fantastic.

Down the hill next to the Hillsborough, where I noticed the Raw Dark Peak Stout was on so had an OK pint of that, Fluff meanwhile went for a Wood Street Brewery Ebony Stout. The jury, I think, is still out on Wood Street beers. The stout was nice enough but not especially well balanced, and lacking in that edge that usually defines a stout. Still, a work in progress can of course improve, so I will continue to try their beers as and when I get chance.

Our final stop was the Wellington. Despite being accused of being the inventor of Saison beer, I was disappointed not to be referred to in such terms, and after a rather awkward bar staff identification mix up me and Fluff both went for pints of the excellent Mallinsons Topaz Centennial, one of my beers of the festival at the Sheffield beer fest that same weekend. Its ironic because I'd been espousing the credentials of the excellent Little Ale Cart beers all the way to the pub - and then we didn't have any...

Fluff ended up walking all the way back into town from here whilst I studiously reserved sufficient funds to catch the bus. All in all this wander was further than we anticipated, but none the worse for it, and featured some great pubs and beer along the way.

Definitely worth doing again to take in some of the other gems that we missed.

Cheers!

Wee Beefy

Wee Beefy's August beer bites, already...

Hello,

  with the hectic month hardly started, here's a round up of beer and pubs encountered over the last week.

Old House

A goodly selection of ales to choose from including First Porter from True North/Welbeck, but I plumped for the Abbeydale Dog Star having missed it at Sun fest. This beer, with an amount of each pint being donated to rain rescue, was a really satisfying well balanced fruity hoppy ale which went down well. I also tried a bottle of Saison Silly. Points go to the House for having a branded glass for this, but alas this was the most disappointing saison I've tried so far - far too sweet and hardly refreshing.

Wick at Both Ends

Just the Farmers Blonde on when I visited, and unfortunately their world bottled beer festival was in Asia, so nothing tempted me from the bottles either. Regrettably I had just missed the European leg - most unfortunate! The music was excellent though, so that was a plus point.

Gardeners Rest

A recent trip in with Mr P heralded another stonking range of new brews plus the output from Sheffield Brewing Co. I started with a pint of Bowness Tern Mild and Mr P the Radnorshire Whimbledon. The Radnorshire was, putting it politely, very grim. Slightly jarring with an odd malt flavour and a bewildering hop taste that defied description. It wasn't off, just awful. Luckily the smoky crispness of the Tern was far better.

We also tried pints of the Hackney Best for Mr P and Blackjack Stout for myself, whilst enjoying the calm before the storm sat in the beer garden. The stout was a perfect roasted, dry bitter beer which did everything it should. The Hackney was nice, with a slight caramel taste and good earthy hops.

Ship

We would have stood outside waiting to get in the Ship but it was hammering it down, luckily by the time they opened it had brightened up. Kelham and Abbeydale ruled the bar this time and I had a pint of the Abbeydale Brimstone, the same as Mr P. It was good to take some time out and relax in the pub watching the weather change from sun to downpour and back again outside.

Silly saison at the Wellington.

I persuaded Mr P our last one should be in the Wellington, a pub he had previously avoided due to a dislike of one of the members of staff. Realising that this was probably a long time ago I insisted we should go, espcially since their own brewed beer was so good. I got a pint of the Kimbolton Castle again, which was fantastic, and Mr P a mild which could have been called Light Grey. I should know by now to write these things down....

When it was the Cask Neil used to keep a fairly impressive range of Belgian beers so having sunk my pint I thought I'd try and find out if they stocked a saison. Having discovered they didn't, I also found out that this incredible departure from normality had attracted the attention of the grumpy man who runs the place. He asked what saison was, but as it turned out wasn't actually interested to find out the answer. Now I'm no saison fanboy, but me and the gent stood next to me did try to describe it, while his followers mumped and grumbled amongst themselves about the beer which it was suggested was a"new fangled thing". Alas the opportunity to improve this discourse with an answer was drowned out and the conversation then moved onto Rodenbach Grand Cru, one assumes not because its similar, since that's a well known Belgian sour ale (that he did not like either) as any fule kno.

I opted for another pint of Kimbolton because it was very good, and sat back down wondering why given an apparent lack of knowledge about beer styles, no-one seemed interested in learning anything, like erm, what the beer they had likely never tried was, for example. Had this been Shakespeares, never mind that they do stock one, and are probably quite knowledgeable (and polite), had they not known what it was they would have been interested to find out.

Shakespeares

Nicely segued from the above I was in Shakespeares twice, once to have a half and once to have a pint, of the excellent Steel City Brewing A slight case of over-hopping 14 (according to the barman), which had to be secretly fetched from the cellar like some illicit product. It certainly ticked all the right boxes for me, and wasn't too strong either, so this was an excellent beer. I also think it was actually called a Hopfenweiss.

Interestingly, Steel City are going to brew a saison - alas, with it having ginger in it (and something else incongruous), I think I'll probably dislike it as much as Dave himself! Which means I'll be looking forward to the next slight case of over-hopping instalment instead.

The Blake

At long last I got back to the Blake with the excellent company of my good friend Middlemarch. She was off fruit beer for the evening so opted for a pale lightly hopped bitter, which was provided by Allgates, and named after a Pagan goddess. meanwhile, as well as the obligatory pork pies, I had a good few pints of the Bobs Yakima Pale, which was a brilliant session beer, along with a pint of Fortl Kolsch, (please note, I am sure that is wrong, can anyone tell me what brand the Kolsch in the Blake is at the moment?) which was a new one on me. This was another great reminder of how enjoyable it is to spend an hour or four sat in the Blake enjoying the simple pleasure of supping ale. Excellent.

That's all for now, hopefully I will have some more info over the next few weeks.

Cheers!

Wee Beefy

Wee Beefys Sheffield beer bites July 2012

Ay up,

  well, since we are now the inspiration and some are partakers in the opening ceremony of the Olympics it seems only fair to raise the profile of our fair city even higher- by having an old man witter on abut this and that beer in which ever pub or blah. Or my blog, as its otherwise known...

Thursday saw a photography trip with Maureen around the salubrious and distinctly less then salubrious environs of the River Don and Kelham Island. The idea was to try out my new camera, and, obviously, to pop in a pub or two.

The Gardeners Rest was our first port of call, with a dazzling selection of beers from breweries I';d never heard of. Being a sensible lad Maureen had come in his car so I had a pint and he a half. His Severn session was a light gold beer with not much to say about itself - puny  bitterness and lumbering malt with neither aspect showing through. Go buy some Citra! Meanwhile, my Camden Golden Ale was streets ahead, with a distinctive hoppiness but a lovely warm malt to balance it. A cracking beer to enjoy sat by the river, as we did.

Unintentionally sloping bar pic....

Next we wandered in the direction of and into the Wellington at Shalesmoor. Another good array of beers with an emphasis on brews from Millstone and the Little Ale Cart brewery. Maureen declined a beer in here but I had a pint of the LAC Kimbolton which was a tremendously enjoyable beer which I could have drank all day. This simply raises more questions about why I don't drink in there more often to be honest.

Up Scotland street next for a glim and a pic of the decaying Queens Hotel, where "only" 16 years or so ago a friend worked and me and my housemate popped in for Wards and Pool once or twice. Its finally for sale, but the only outcome realistically is that some tax avoiding property developer will buy it and flatten it and build some "much needed" loft apartments in its place.

Last stop for us both, as Maureen had to get home, was Shakespeares where I had two halves, of the rather disappointing Oxfordshire Ales Team, and a half of the rather better Great Newsome dark mild, which I enjoyed sat in teh garden enjoying the last of the sunshine that was managing to peep over the roof.

A quick walk took me to Dada next, where I am becoming an all too recognisable feature (I like this homeliness, but am not sure this is good news for my bank balance) and where I started with, wait for it, a half of Keykeg Halcyon. Yep, that's right, upside down cross branded into my head as I sipped it, I really enjoyed the sweet citrus bite and flavours of grapefruit and pineapple, just as I had done on Saturday, hence my decision. This was followed by a pint of Jaipur, which was a nice satisfying IPA as it should be, although I can't get past my inclination that its "different" somehow.

James looking at the Maui brewery price list..

My next sojourn was rather less successful, I popped in to talk to Barraharri but only for 5 minutes as I needed feeding, alas I contrived to miss all of the deadlines for ordering food at the local hostelries, leading ,e to veer into the arms of Satan himself (Tesco) to buy a reduced price wrap and head off down to the Sheffield Tap for a last one.

Here beervana was found as they had Dark Star Saison on cask, so I had to have a pint and a half, which I sat outside to enjoy in the last light of the day before heading home.

Yesterday, after work, I was at the hospital for 17.00 and on my way back into town settled on having a beer in the sunny beer garden at the University Arms. Some confusion came about because I was paying by plastic (bad Beefy) and the price came to £4.90, with crisps. Rather than charge extra for the crisps as I offered, or charge me £5.00 and put 10p in the charity box as I suggested, the management were adamant that no such deal could be done, and I bought an extra pack of crisps for later. A slightly bizarre and not very well thought through approach which ended up looking a bit silly I reckon.

I sat in the garden in the sun drinking my wonderfully weird half of Fox brewery Steamboat (with its absurd levels of distinctive malt) and an unusually disappointing pint of the normally excellent Dark Star Espresso stout. On the other hand, I did bump into Sheffield beer legend Aston, delivering some beer as I was on my way out. Good to see one of the "team" back on the scene.

Next I was propping up the bar at Harrisons 1854 enjoying a couple of pints of Moonshine, which was on decent form, and a half of Deception. This gave me chance to brief Dave about some of the details of our beery trip out Friday, and also to spend time somewhere cool and relaxing with decent music. All important factors.

My final stop was at Dada once again, James had cut his hair in protest at being photographed by me the night before, and Jamie and Steph were manning the bar. I got the chance to try something utterly insane that Emily had bought and also to repeat my beer prescription from the night before, so this was another enjoyable visit, although its gets more lively on a Friday so standing alone at the bar is a slightly sad preoccupation. Hence I ran away home for chicken wrapped in bacon and lemon rice.

One last point, according to the sign outside the Dog and Partridge the pub is closing down this week. Hardly surprising when you consider the arrogant and shortsighted greed of the pub company, and the shambolic conditions the manager has been given to trade in. I really hope the pub company will be big enough to admit they got it wrong and sell the pub as a going pub concern to an interested individual, then we might see throngs of customers in the Dog again, as opposed to it being forlorn and empty as it has over the last two years. I won't hold my breath though...

Wee Beefy

Shalesmoor and Kelham pub crawl

Evening,

  this post in essence follows on from my Shakespeares beer festival post earlier, as that was the first place I went on my night out with Mr C. Here's the details of where we got to next, and a new pub opening...

Kelham Island Tavern

Here I had a very nice pint of porter from the new Blackjack brewery in Manchester, who have already won a prize for their ale at the Stockport beer festival last weekend. Despite detailed notes ("blackjack porter") I remember the pumpclip very well, with a white background and a circle of images, which caught my eye. I am looking forward to this being precisely nothing like the actual pumpclip, and instead being something I dreamt. If not dreamy perhaps, the porter was certainly a good beer, which we supped in the back room which was, understandably, a little quieter than normal.

Ship Inn

More pale beers for me (no dark on last two visits, humph!) whilst Mr C stuck to Carling I had a pint of the excellent Spire Diamond Jubilee ale. Being the only customers in having recklessly arrived at about 20.00, we got chatting to the barman, and before we knew it, round 2 was on the cards.

Enjoying the beer and some rather eclectic tunes on the haunted jukebox (we spent ages trying to work out what buzzword alerted the spiritual realm to our need to hear the jukebox, because it was certainly on a random setting!) it was soon time to have yet more beer. All in all we had three in the Ship, in what was one of the most enjoyable sessions I've had for ages. Come to think of it, its probably ages since I had an actual session on just one beer. Not that it was necessarily sessionable strength.

Caskington

Our final port of call was the excellent Wellington, where I had a pint of Stout, which may have been from a Manchester based brewery such as Boggart, or may not. All I know is it was a stout and it was jolly tasty. Mr C somehow managed to find a beer to drink given his lager fondness (it may even have been a bottle?) but this didn't impinge our enjoyment, and a fine finish to the evening was had, including a most excellent misremembering a persons name event, which I won. Sorry Mr S!

New pub opening soon....

To finish here's a smidgen of news from Chesterfield. Walking past the Cathedral towards the train station yesterday (report on my adventures coming soon) I noticed a sign proclaiming that Raw Brewery were opening a new pub selling real ales, food and something that my phone has decided is called puag. No,  I have no idea what I was typing either, but the pub is the White Swan and its on St Mary's Gate in Chesterfield. Couldn't find any info on Raw's website and the pub is listed on the closed pubs website but no info on there either.

You'll just have to wait and see!

Wee Beefy

Friday night out in the valley of beer

Good day,

    last night I was fortunate to be carried away to a bibulous nirvana, set adrift on a raft of refreshments in a river of beery bibacity, when I went out to sample the wares of the valley of beer.

I hadn't expected to be going anywhere to be perfectly honest - a quick call to the bank earlier that day had revealed a distinct lack of funds and I had resigned myself to an evening of sobriety and drear, until I got a surprise call from Wee Keefy. He asked if I wanted to meet him at the Gardeners Rest for a pint. I explained my monetary predicament and he offered to buy me one, so, despite obviously feeling quite sick at the heinous suggestion of free beer, I reluctantly agreed...

The 1854

Before then however there were 2 hours to fill in, so I gritted my teeth and stayed working as long as I could bare before leaving the office and walking up to Harrisons 1854. Arriving like a heaving, perspiring beetroot, I committed the cardinal sin of buying some beer using plastic. Surely, the express way to destruction, but on a hot day, a very welcome way of paying for a thirst quenching pint.

This was Farmers Blonde, of which I had two, sat at the bar chatting to Barkeep Barraharri and planning a beer trip later in the year. It would have been nice to have taken advantage of the sunshine by sitting outside but I knew I had a walk to the Gardeners ahead so preferred a cool rest. Suitably chilled, I soon headed off for the bounty of the Upper Don Valley, the valley of beer, no less...

Wellington

Soon I was away down the side of Netherthorpe road, then along Meadow Street and down to the tram stop.  Here, using the last real money I had, I stopped for a quick half in the Wellington. Myk was at the bar filling me in on details of pubs that I had missed or forgotten, whilst I supped a half of a Little Ale Cart beer called Simon. Obviously I was certain I'd remember its full title (it was 4.0%) but having scoured the tinterweb for details I'd suggest its quite new because I can't find out the beer's surname...

Still, it was another very drinkable and fairly delicious ale cart offering, which its a shame I didn't have more time to enjoy. Because all too soon I was Gardeners bound. Just after leaving the pub, heading along the old Penistone Road, I received a text from Wee Keefy - he was going to be late so I needn't rush. Good. I was ten minutes away at best, was dieing for the loo, and had 20 pence.

Still, I gamely forged on, seeking out the jennel and walkway at the side of the river which I used to consider a useful shortcut for many years but then inexplicably stopped using, and finally arrived at the Gardeners, with companions nowhere to be seen, to set about waiting across the road.

Gardeners Relief

At 10 to 8 Wee keefy and Jambon arrived and we went inside to firstly attend to a need, and then rejoice at finding another redoubtable range of beers on the bar. So vast was the range (and so uncertain the promise of further ale) I had two halves instead of a pint - half of the Llangorse Brewery Dark Side, and half of the Brodies Old Street.

Regarding the Llangorse, I know I could have asked, but I really thought it was going to be dark. It wasn't. It was light brown, and tasted OK, but nothing to get excited about. There was a strange aftertaste that I couldn't pin down, and as soon as  I tasted Keefy's Old School Brewery Blackboard I knew I would have preferred that.

The Brodies on the other hand was a totally different scenario. Absolutely masses of hops, fizzing on the tongue and receding to a dry citrussy aftertaste, all packed into what I thought was a low gravity beer, but is in fact 5.3%, (which to be fair is much more the strength it tasted). I was now officially really glad that I had gone out for a pint, even if I was relying on brotherly generosity. Not just the brother though...

Next Jambon declared he would buy a round, Carlos had joined us by this time, he went with his favoured Guinness and me and Jambon pints of the Brodies, which simply got hoppier the more we drank, but without ever becoming ascorbic or harsh, just citrus hops and smiles all the way down the pint.

Our final pint in here was more Guinness for Carlos and a pint of the Navigation Stout, which is another Navigation beer that didn't quite match the exellence of the first one I tried at the beginning of the month in Shakespeares, but was still very good none the less. This had a very dry roast bitterness before finishing with a more creamy malt led finish, and in fact it rather grew on me as I ontinued drinking.

Ship

Off next to the Ship since neither Jambon or Wee Keefy had ever visited, and as usual we weren't disappointed by the beer range - we all had (except for Carlos!) pints of the Spire Sovereign, which went down well with those who tried it, as did the pub. I am pleased to announce two more converts to my list of new found Ship Inn fans. That the atmosphere and overall experience of visiting is every bit as reliable as the beers makes this an excellent stop off whilst in the area.

Shakespeares

Our final stop was without notes. It was late, I don't think we got there til 23.00, and although I know I only had one pint, I concede I have absolutely no idea what it was. Being Shakespeares I bet there's a good chance it was the an SWB or Revolutions brew, but I couldn't say. All I know is we ended up sat outside in the smoking garage (?!) slowly sipping our pints, before I had to run away and catch the night bus home.

A fab night with friends and family, with impeccable beer and pubs. I really can't think of anything better.

Wee Beefy

Shefield pub news and a far away festival.

Hello,

    here is some info based on recent events, nights out and discoveries.

Dada

it seems the Da's have lost their minds completely and only gone and put on two guests from their allocation of four handpumps. Oakham Ales JHB, and the excellent Dark Star Pale Ale where the offerings to complement the Thornbridge Brock, and the thingemabob. James advises that Oakham Citra will be on soon as well - this is one of my favourite Oakham offerings, mores the shame that a sudden scarcity of funds means I may miss tasting it.

Wellington

Is continuing to offer excellent in house brewery beers and, on my last two visits, a guest from the excellent West Berkshire Brewery. Prices are also very competitive, especially for the Little Ale Cart beers, and they continue to provide at least one dark beer, so its well worth a visit.

Rutland Arms

Tonight was to be the night I wrote about the recent revelations about the Rutland, and the impact on the pub, its regulars, and its "community". My main point was going to focus firmly on the lack of any statement from the pub. Happily this situation has now changed.

As befits a pub which places itself firmly in the social media spectrum, a statement has been made on the Rutland's Facebook Wall (I haven't checked Twitter yet, although, being limited to 140 characters one assumes only a link to Facebook....) There may be a catch in that you have to "Like" them, (ironic!) but its there.

It was vital a statement was made to highlight the pub and pub company's stance concerning what had happened and the wider issue of "banter" and sexual harrassment at work. Whether you think they took too long over it, or even that it makes no difference, I personally think its a positive development. I read the story in three different papers and got conflicting details, (and really only one side) so clarification is beneficial, and ultimately something the regulars deserve.

Crucially, the Blue Bee Turned Out Mild and their excellent Red White and Blue were in impeccable form when I visited on Saturday, especially the latter. It starts with the beer ....

The Hop

The Hop continues to showcase covers bands and opens that little bit later on a weekend than some of the more traditional pubs nearby. They have also continued to stock a non-Ossett/Ossett acquired brewery guest real ale. On Saturday night the excellent Milestone Traditional Mild was on good form, and formed part of a decent range of pale and dark beers on offer.

And finally....

Far away festival

Years ago in days of yore this blog was rather "catchily" called Wee Beefy's unspoilt pubs and Cretan kafenions. This was very a reflection of my soft spot for Crete (there are some posts from there from 2010 in the post list) and regular visits to it.

Very slowly Crete is starting to make beer. Its own beer. Not Henninger or Carlsberg or Amstel brewed under license (and am not sure that is even still done in Crete itself, more likely the Greek mainland), but actual Cretan beer. Albeit even then the first brewery to be set up commercially in Crete, possibly since the inter war years or longer, was set up by an enterprising German, there are very very small signs of interest in beers brewed in Crete.

At present, to the best of my not very up to date knowledge, there are two breweries actually in Crete - Brinks Rethymnian, an organic brewery making unpasteurised bottled beer, and Charma, a brewery based in or around Chania producing a lager and a dark ale (Charma Black). Mythos, Alfa and the excellent Craft Brewery from Greece are also notable, more so Craft for its excellent Pilsner.

Its not an exaggeration to say that before these two Cretan brewers started and before Craft became available (albeit in small pockets, mainly on the South coast), beer in Crete was dismal. If you didn't like Amstel or Heineken it was useless. Mythos provided some respite, and Alfa is quite palatable, but it was only if you paid over the odds for export Guinness or found a bottle of Amstel Bock hiding at the back of a fridge or Supermarket shelf, that you could ever get anything darker to sup.

In a surprise but welcome development, I can report that this year Crete will hold its first beer festival. It runs from the 13th to the 22nd of July, and is taking place in Platanias, a touristy area outside one of the major cities, Chania. There is a link here but the details are almost all as above, and the link to the exhibition centre, if you translate it, is really for advertisers, sponsors, or, I dunno, brewers?

The logo's on the Exhibition centre advert mysteriously mention neither of the two Cretan breweries so this could all be a cynical exercise in appealing to the more, how shall we say, beer loving nations that swarm to the island every year, but we'll have to see. There is also one which seems to say "I'm Backing The Pub" which despite its apparent Englishness I think I have seen before on a beer mat in Chania.

If I hear anything else I'll let you know, but if you happen to find yourself on the island in the second week of July, I would recommend a visit, if nothing else to find out what Troegs Craft brewers decide to sell, and how popular the Smithwicks and Macfarland brands turn out...

More news and stuff soon.

Wee Beefy

Wee Beefy's Tuesday tipples

Salutations

    in the last week there has been a payday and many reasons to celebrate. So, I am afraid I have to admit, I have spent quite a few occasions in the last 7 days partaking of a fine and tasty beverage in a good pub. Here are some details of my excursion into Tuesday temulency.

Gardeners Rest

Myself and Mr P started our evening in the Gardeners Rest. The river level had mercifully dropped by now, and I wondered whether the extensive work done towards Lady's Bridge which included dredging the river bed had kept the pub dry in the last fortnight of horrific inundation. Luckily all was fine.

There were quite a few people in for a Tuesday, and a good selection of beers to choose from. I started with a pint of the Reedley Hallows Old Laund Bitter, 3.6% and Mr P the Scarborough Moody's Mild at 4.1. Reedley Hallows is perhaps the best name of any of the current crop of Microbreweries, so I was drawn to it right away, but also because it was quite a low gravity beer to start on. Its based in Burnley and has some link to Moorhouses. The beer was very much of its locale, but still had quite a bit of flavour, if not a tremendous amount of hops.

For our second pint we swapped beers and I got to taste the Moody's Mild, which was a dry and bitter drink, perfectly black and likewise very drinkable. I also had time to have a half of the Sheffield Brewing Co Chocolate Cascade, perhaps suffering slightly from being named after a euphemism, but tasting very nice despite its sweet dairy ingredient. Overall a very good quota of ales.

Ship

Off next to Shalesmoor and the Ship where there were 3 real ales on as usual. Mr P had a pint of the Abbeydale Daily Bread and me the excellent Spire Coal Porter.

We had a goodly time in here sat down trying to decipher how Mr P had managed to change his smart new phone's language setting to Greek, and supping the beer. All too quickly I had finished the Porter but unfortunately so had it - luckily I was able to fit in a half of the excellent Dark Side of the Moon from Spire which replaced it. Another excellent session in the Ship.

Wellington

Myself and Mr P parted ways here as I headed off West Street way under the flimsy premise of seeing if the Bath was yet reopened. I missed a tram so decided that the only solution, rather than wait for my next one, was to go in the Cask and Welly for a half.

This time I triumphed in having one of their beers, only to not chuffing write down what it was - it was about 4.2 to 4.5% and was stronger than, erm , another of theirs (and was a very enjoyable tipple). Whilst in here I was pleased to bump into a few people I have known for years, such as Dave S and Mark and Wendy. It was great to catch up, albeit briefly. 

The Old 54

I jumped off the tram at the University stop and headed down to the Bath to see if it was open, but as we all now know it wasn't, though teasingly the lights were on. So I popped in Betty's for a fishcake butty (my evening meal) before heading up to Harrisons 1854.  Here the Deception was back on form so I had  a pint or two of that and caught up with Barraharri before I made the rash decision to go and get some late tipples at Dada.

Dada

The pub was quite empty but there were a couple of blokes at the bar enjoying a pint and a discussion with James who runs the place. I had a pint of the Thornbridge Pica Pica and soon got into discussing, quite pertinently, Thornbridge Brewery (a popular recent subject of mine) and beers. Seeing that last orders had passed and that we were in the mood for further "ale hard talk(?!) and beer we headed up to The Wick at Both Ends for a late one. In here I am certain that I had a Thornbridge beer but I didn't note it down and also made sure I made it last so as to reduce the impact on me for the next day, before escaping home in a taxi.

This was a good Tuesday crawl featuring some great beers, and was the ideal warm up to a week of reckless excess and rejoicing, the details of which will be coming over the next couple of days.

Wee Beefy