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.

Three Valleys Beer Festival 2012

Hello,

     apologies for a long stint without posts - I have swapped Internet provider, and after having a reckless 3 hours connectivity on Wednesday night, have had no chuffing signal since! Intermittent signal my arse...

 3 Valleys

Anyhoo, the main purpose of this post is to remind you of the excellent Three Valleys beer festival 2012 which is taking place tomorrow, Saturday the 2nd June. This year, as you would expect, the venue list is reflective of a burgeoning real ale scene in Dronfield, and it seems there is much less interest in Holmesfield, which is a shame - not even the consistently excellent Rutland appears to be involved this time, which is  surprising.

As usual there will be a festival bus running between the Castle Inn at Bradway, Barlow, Holmesfield and Dronfield, and as last year Barlow Brewery will open up their bar and their premises to accommodate drinkers bands and food for the day.

A link to the festival website can be found here , including a download of the rather perplexing bus timetable - my reading is that the Miners Arms at the top of Dronfield is the centre of the route, so for instance you can get there by festival bus from Dore station, then either wait for a bus to Barlow, or carry on down past the Three Tuns to Dronfield. That's what I'm doing, starting at the Three Tuns.

One last tip is to check which side of the road the bus stops on at the Coach and Horses in Dronfield - it seems to only stop on the side of the road heading towards Sheffield, then turns round at Bowshaw roundabout and comes back past the other side heading for the station - but in previous years the driver hasn't picked up on the opposite side, even though there have been 30 or 40 people waiting. Lets hope its a little more clear this year!

Hope you can get along on Saturday, all the best

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

Gardeners Rest last orders beer festival

Now then,

  
 I realise that the festival is still on and they are adding more beers as they settle (Navigation Blonde for example) but I only get to go once and last night was that visit. Here are some details of my latest pub beer festival.

I got there a little later than planned having popped in the Rutland Arms for a beer or two and Dada, details to follow later. I think the walk from The Rutland to the Gardeners probably did me a bit of good, but mainly made me really hungry. Luckily there was food at the festival - always a good sign, nothing worse than grumpy hungry punters.

The beer list was long, being day 3 some had run out and one or two weren't on. The list included Andrews Ales, Ashover, Eden, Alechemy, Front Row, Truefitt, Tryst and TSA to name but a few. I decided to start mild and keep the gravity low in the first few beers, so that I could "save myself" for some of the stronger ones later, and if needs be, go for a late one in town.

A slightly unpromising start was the first beer - not that it wasn't nice, but I asked for a mild, a half of Front Row Touch was suggested, and given that I hadn't looked at the list or pumpclips yet I agreed. A pale bitter arrived (although I tried to pretend it was a light mild), just after paying for which I spotted a Wild Mild pumpclip. Still eh.

I settled down in the conservatory and set about finding a handy list that I could refer to instead of squinting at the one on the wall next to the bar. Although of course that was up to date, so you kind of needed both. One thing I noticed were the prices, with some guests being between £2.30 - £2.40 a pint. And as you know, the Sheffield Brewing Company beers are always good value in here.

My next two halves were better, the Truefitt Ironopolis porter and TSA Wild Mild. I tasted the mild, which was nicely balanced, and it complemented the Front Row quite well. I left the Ironopolis for a bit, since I knew it was quite strong. Milds finished I sought info about food and got a friend for the Ironopolis. The Alechemy Cairnpapple was my second favourite beer of the night, along with the Ironopolis.The contrast of the grassy light malt and dry bitterness in the Cairnpapple nicely enhanced the glorious roasted malt bitterness in the porter. Truefitt are clearly a brewery to watch.

I got a sausage sandwich from outside which filled a hole perfectly before trying the other Alechemy offering, the Five Sisters. I didn't rate this as much as the Cairn but it was still a tasty and quaffable Scottish ale and, I erroneously thought, named after the spectacular Five Sisters of Kintail - the brewery helpfully explain what its really named after here.

Next it was time for a couple of finishers and to move into the main room to catch some of the music. This was more like a folk session with many guitarists and other instrumentalists, and plenty of people willing to stand up and sing. I had the Bottlebrook Rapture, a 5.9% beer which I remember as being blonde rather than pale (I think some notes would have helped) and the Andrew Ales Tinfast, which was described as a porter, and was, sort of.

Both of these finished my festival trip off nicely, and I think of the last two the Tinfast probably edged it, but my beer of the festival was the Ironopolis. The only beer downside was that the Brodies Old Street, which would have been an ideal starter, hadn't cleared by last night, and I can't see me getting down in the next week to try it.

Hopefully I will have plenty of chances to visit during the next couple of months before Eddie and Pat move on to waters new, but for now, that is my last taste of one of their beer festivals.

An early "all the best" to them both.

Wee Beefy 

Hop Studio Launch

Evening all,

    despite having to fanny around "at work" I did find time to visit the Sheffield Tap and to sample some new beers from a new brewery.

Hop Studio brewery, I am assured by my most reliable barkeep at the Sheffield Tap, are based in York, very near to the Pivovar warehouse. No surprise then that they chose the Pivovar family to showcase the first of their new beers.

Hop Studio brewery have just started production and launched at the York Tap, with the head brewer there I understand, and simultaneously the Euston and Sheffield Taps. I found many links to their launch, alas no brewery site, but have chosen to send you to the Trembling Madness link, a place I like, without ever having been there! Link.

Today I tried three of their beers, the Gold, XS and Pilsner, the three of which in halves came to £4.65. The barkeep insisted that the irony was that they weren't hoppy - on my ponderous wobbly amble to a seat I thought gleefully about a malty Hop Studio beer and all the pedantic, supercilious furore this would cause(probably from me I concede), but when I tried them, it was clear that this was not the whole story.

The keg Pilsner started well, like a Czech pilsner, but soon wained in the glass and ended up lame, failing to match the follow through of the better Czech offerings. The Gold, the weakest of the 3, was admittedly not that hoppy, more noticeably dry. I wasn't taken by this initially but it grew on me through the drink and had a strange if intriguing malt flavour at the forefront, which showed bitter-dry in the aftertaste.

By far the best offering was the XS, which really did have some hops at the front, carrying off the characteristics of a slightly astringent (and admirable for being really well rounded) dry premium bitter, bursting with hops, malt and a balance and depth which belied its beer infancy.

Its either amusing or misleading that they are called Hop Studio, yet aren't a predominantly hop forward producer, but that's irrelevant really. You should try the beers based on their merits as individual brands (and I'm sure you will) and let the name of the brewery perform its tacitly unidentifiable semantic role without worrying about the prevalence, or not, of Simcoe.

All in all this is an assured start. Lets hope to see more!

Wee Beefy

A crawl of some new pubs, and a new angle on Keykeg beers

Hello,

       me and Davefromtshop met up to sample a few more beers in pubs that either he has never been to here in sunny Sheffield, or hasn't been in for ages. Measuring your last visit in decades in a city where almost no pub remains unspoilt means you may as well have never been in! So both of the above meet the criteria for our pub crawl (and we finished in some classics, for beer reasons). Here are the details of our trip out.

Bath! And the thirst is gone (sorry)...

We started in the "new" Bath Hotel and Dave had beaten me too it. He was already on the Allgates Napoleon's Retreat. I should really have tried it having not really got on with it first time, but I had my eye on the Thornbridge Frank as Apollo, brewed for the Nicholsons pub chain. This was a very pleasant bitter and seemed a little more balanced, by which I mean a smidgen less hoppy, perhaps to suit those delicate London palates?

We also had time for a half each of the Dark Star Revelation, which seemed to be running out unfortunately. This was every bit as good as I remembered it and Dave was I thought, suitably impressed.

Bowery

On leaving it suddenly seemed as monsoon like as our last crawl so we decided that our next stop would be the Bowery. They started selling real ale last year, I thought maybe for the Tramlines festival only, but either way it was on now. Here we had two halves of Moonshine (£2.80 a pint) in a virtually empty venue. This is interesting for me because I'd never even seen the floor on my last couple of visits.

The Moonshine was a little cold but enjoyable enough, and as we were to find out quite a lot, it and other Abbeydale beers noticeable resilience once connected up was probably a deciding factor in just how many times we saw it throughout the night. There are also a decent range of bottled beers, and depending on your outlook, now and again some decent tunes.

Green Room

This was my second visit this month and once again I ended up with Moonshine, seemingly more reliable than the guests they have had on. Last time Abbeydale Resurrection was beyond being so, this time Kelham Island Riders on the Storm came out the colour of rainclouds, with a piquant olfactory bite to match. A shame, because i rate the beer, but it had to be swapped for Moonshine, on at £3.00 a pint.

This visit on a rainy Tuesday was also an opportunity to get to see the interior of the Green Room. Not least because of my strange battle of wills with them over the last 18 months (almost resolutely always missing the cask!) and also because last time I was in I had too little time to stop for a look around.

I was surprised just how spacious it was and with many different seating areas. They told me they have just started opening during the day, and they serve food during the day as well.

May be a great time to get in and have a look round, and enjoy a pint of the real stuff of course. Hopefully they can continue with the real ales and there will be another decent late night venue that you can go in and not be expected to part with cash for bland UK brewed copy lagers you don't want.



Wick at Both Ends

To give you a last visit timescale here, last time Dave was in it was the Mail Coach. So nothings changed then....

There was only one real ale on here so we both had halves of Deception, at £3.20 a pint. We found a table without school chairs and sat down for a chat listening to a decent selection of tunes. The Deception was on very good form, and although not trying them side by side, I can say quite certainly that I much prefer this beer to Moonshine. Hoppy, citrussy and with a little fruit, a perfect pale session ale.

Bungalows and Bears, of Sheffield and Liverpool fame

Our next stop was not actually a first for Dave. He had visited the Division Street Fire Station many many years ago. Once again, little had changed...

On the bar was Moonshine or Deception (sorry, can't recall, it seems equally likely to have been either) and the Robinsons Elbow beer, unlikely to be called that, but brewed by one of the blokes in the band Elbow (a popular beat combo from the North West I understand) who may also have a connection to the Hop Franchise. We found ourselves a table and set about reading the beer bottle menu, slightly less choice then the Bowery (and the Wick ,which is very good) and watching different people repeatedly make the erroneous decision to walk up some stairs to a barrier, then back down again. Little things...

Roebuck

Next we walked down towards the Rutland and along the way dallied with the idea of a visit to Henry's. Instead though we ended up in the Roebuck, which its a fair few years since I've been in, and longer than you need know for Dave.  Here we sat in what was a very quiet pub, which alas somewhat accentuated the vastness of the premises, and supped a decent half of Kelham Island Pale Rider (£3.20) from a choice of 2, on four handpumps.

Rutland

Our penultimate stop was the Rutland, where it was possible to get a table this time, which was good because we were tiring by now. We each had a pint of the Blue Bee Turned out Mild Again, which Dave seemed very taken by. I also snaffled him some Phoenix Brewery beer mats (a tegestological treasure no doubt) and set about snacking and supping. Its probably about that time that elsewhere in the UK editors were putting the finishing touches to articles reporting the employment tribunal involving the Rutland. Without expanding on any details here, its clear that many people will have some soul searching to carry out in terms of how they and the Rutland continue. Enough said for now I think.

The Sheffield Tap

Our final port of cal was carefully organised so that we had time to try a few beers rather than rushing in before last orders and buying too many halves. Here initially we had a pint (for me) and a half of the truly excellent tempest Cresta, and a half of the Phoenix Black Bee. This honey porter was not really a hit with either us am afraid, it just started with honey and malt and then got sweeter.

Better though were our next round of beers. We had half each of the excellent super hoppy Summer Wine Brewery Kahuna 6.0%, a Camden Hells, and a half of the Magic Rock Brewery Rapture. I think this all came to £7.20, which with a keykeg or two thrown in and given the strength of the Kahuna isn't bad.

The real star of this was the unfiltered, unpasteurised (as written in pen I think on the font label!) Rapture . Gloriously cloudy, and with an amazing array of complimentary flavours that showcased the red hops brilliantly (although I wondered if there was red malt that was coming through?). Either way this was possibly the best keykeg beer I've ever had - the other contender also being from Magic Rock, their Magic 8Ball.

I confess that if there was to be any minor fault, it was a little bit too cold for me. That's one of the infuriating features of keykeg dispense it seems, in my admittedly limited experience. However, putting that aside, far and away the most incredible thing about this beer was the easy drinking quaffable nature afforded by its unfiltered and unpasteurised condition. Normally, as well as being let down slightly by chill, I find keykeg can also be a trifle over carbonated. This wasn't.

I can honestly say that this was a revelation - an easy drinking keykeg beer, and made all the better by the way its flavours burst through. It may be the case that some flavours are lost by colder or more carbonated serving, so the amazing array of malty and hoppy notes, pepping up in the drink intermittently like pogo-ing punks, bringing waves of fabulous flavour across the palate, was a dreamy surprise.

I came away thinking that if keykeg could become popular in this unfiltered form, it would be a much more appealling prospect for the real ale drinker. It would certainley be of equal interest for  me to taste an unfiltered and unpasteurised keykeg offering along with the finest cask beers. I just hope that Magic Rock and other breweries are interested enough to do more of the same.

This was a fitting end to a brilliant night, featuring three or four of the best beers I've tried this year.

Now for a much needed rest from imbibing, in preparation for a visit to the Gardeners Rest beer festival on Saturday.

Wee Beefy.

Good times, Sad times

Hello again,

  this is just a very quick update. No, honestly. I have three snippets of news for you.

First lets start with some positive gen. The Sheffield Tap is, between it and their York and Euston siblings, having a brewery launch night on Thursday 17th May, AKA tomorrow. The Hop Studio are launching with 4 cask ales across session to premium strength, and as far as I can tell the beers will be on sale at the Sheffield Tap. See here for more info.

Secondly, don't forget that its Eddie and Pat's last orders beer festival at the Gardeners Rest also starting tomorrow. I haven't had any info about the beers but am fully intending to get down, either Thursday or Saturday, numerous caveats permitting. This will be a chance to wish them both all the very best in their new semi aquatic existence (note that this description applies to their accommodation, not them. They are not, I repeat not, partially amphibious.). Should be a great festival if you can get down.

And finally the sad news. Its been announced today that Dave Wickett, of Fat cat and Kelham Island Brewery fame, has died. Whilst I never knew him, I know Chala used to work at the Fat cat for a few years, and met Dave many times, and I'm sure there will be lots of people in the Sheffield pubs and real ale scene who will remember him fondly. Reaction from the postcode gazette and the Fat Cat can be found here.

Wee Beefy

Monday night ale tour

Hello,

    what with a bit of leave at my disposal and my mate Christingpher being back from the far East (near Hull) it seemed like a great idea to go out for a few beers. Here are the details of that escapade.

We met early afternoon in the Sheffield Tap, and despite him having an early blip by accidentally buying a cider (A Gwynt Yr Draig Dog Dancer, not that bad I thought) we quickly got on to the fantastic beers, and sat outside in the sunshine.

 

We both had a few pints of the excellent Tempest Brewery Cresta Black 4 grain oat stout. This 4.1% stout packed in loads of flavour, and despite concerns about the potential price (their previous beer in the Tap was really pricey) it was £3.00, which isn't that bad really. "Unfortunately" we had to have many pints of this because it was so damned tasty. We did also however try a couple of key kegs, and the price of these didn't frighten us either.

 

 

By now ensconced inside, Christingpher had half of the Camden Dark Lager and me the Brew Dog Growler. I understand the BrewDog was either rare/limited release, or exclusive to the Tap, either way it was enjoyable, if not amazing. The Camden packed a lot of flavour in just like the Cresta, and was reminiscent of, well, I was going to say a Schwartzbier, but then isn't that essentially what it is?

 

Ruckland

 

All too soon however it was time to move on so we took the natural step of walking to the Rutland Arms. Here it was quite packed what with the association football teams upcoming fixture, and on the bar it was Blue Bee a go go. I had intended to snaffle one of their fab butties but there was nowhere to sit apart from perching in the window near the bar. There were also, crisis piled upon crisis, some reserved tables. Rigorous scientific fact finding comprising of asking a man in the toilets why the seats were reserved offered up no explanation for this blot on their copy books. Turns out it was some sort of film society. Below right is a picture which singularly fails to demonstrate how busy the pub was. So well done me.....

 

Anyway we started on the very palatable and delicious Blue Bee Turned out Mild, a robustly flavoured mild, if that's not an oxymoron, and sensibly priced at £2.60 a pint. The pub was showing no signs of getting quieter and I admit that after thoroughly enjoying my mild I was itching to go somewhere quiet, but Christingpher insisted we stay. This inevitably meant further libation was required, so we had a pint  each of the also excellent Raw Brewery Dark Peak Stout which was 4.5%, £2.80 a pint and surprisingly easy to drink. 

 

We retired to our corner encampment and set about trying to subtly and carefully enjoy the myriad of roasted malt and bitter hoppy flavours, however instead we ended up blazing through the pint far quicker than it was entirely necessary to, which elongated preamble forms the basis of my excuse for remembering precisely nothing else about it.

 

 

 

Window on the World

 

Next stop was current CAMRA squeeze Henry's Cafe bar. From the usual wide range of ales on offer we had halves of Roosters Y.B and Hopback Odyssey. The Hopback had a flavour not to my friend's liking so I ended up with more of it than planned along with the very quaffable Roosters beer, which I thought had a few less hops than normal.

 

 

We undertook this experience looking out of one of the huge windows at the junction of Cambridge Street and Cross Burgess Street. There is nothing finer than sitting at the window edge of your table watching the world in their glad rags wandering by, self consciously trying to ignore the gaping space of the viewing gallery on their way past. That Henry's sells such great beer and at such a good price nicely and indeed perfectly tops off the experience of the drinker.

 

Bath

 

Next we headed to Betty's for some much needed fuel (fishcake butties, what else?) and then onto the Bath Hotel. The last time me and Christingpher were in the pub it was not long after Brian had restored it and we sat in the back room, as we did now, witnessing a really quite frightening event. A man with obvious behavioural problems was in with what I would have to describe as his carer. They were having a polite conversation which suddenly and inexplicably turned violent, with the huge man punching his warder and then hurling abuse and glasses around the room.

 

 

This event shook off the younger ones across from us, but either through gall or stupidity, when asked by the staff  if we were staying, we said we were. We picked the broken shards of glass out of our pints and off the table and seats and waited for all to return to normal. All did not in the end, and we had to leave, not before a ninja like member of staff ran in and grabbed the empty pint pots virtually from our hands even before they had touched the table. Brian must have been wondering what he'd let himself in for.

 

The details of our 2012 reprise, a much safer visit, are summarised in my post from yesterday.

 

Surprise Supplies

 

Back to 2012 and a walk to our last pub occasioned a visit to Harrisons 1854. I am sure Bob and Linda must have mentioned to me many times that Harrisons opens on a Monday, albeit late on, if the band are practising upstairs. Presumably, much like Bart in the Simpsons when he can't listen to anyone talk for more than a minute, I must have filed this info as blah. Sorry Harrisons!

 

Still, this gave us a chance to partake of a half of Deception and have a quick chat whilst Christingpher fretted (on behalf of his Dad he claimed) over the footy score, and Bob and Linda studiously filled the shelves fridges and crisp basket with stock. I really must try and remember that its open Mondays in future.....

 

Dee-dahs

 

Our final stop was in the, ahem "refined exclusivity" (i.e it was empty) of Dada. Here I had a pint of the excellent Beadecas Well and Chris the delicious "not written down" which may have transpired to be Marples. I don't know, basically. We settled down in the comfy leather chairs and had a long enjoyable chat about plans, hopes and concerns and generally set straight the ills of the world as best we could through a disorientating miasma of drunken steam.

 

That's making it sound grim to be honest - it wasn't at all. Instead it was a fab end to a tremendous night out. The only thing left to do was plan to go out again Tuesday, lest the magic be lost in the passing of time.

 

Wee Beefy 

Three visits in, what do we know about the Bath Hotel?

Afternoon,

    yesterday I had one of my now thankfully not that rare catch ups with illustrator extraordinaire Christingpher. Coming up in the next post are the details of our wander, but I want to tell you some more about the Bath Hotel. This is the 3rd time I've been since Thornbridge started running it and I wanted to provide a further update on what changes have taken place, and how its settling in to the comfortable seat that was the Bath under Brian.

Ba'th Humbug

Firstly I think there may be a new sign. The thing about visiting a pub loads of times, given that you know where it is and which building it is, you don't really look at the sign. So maybe its just repainted? Either way it looks good - I wonder if the coat of arms depicted is that on the mirror in the back room?.

Inside I have now found the price list - its tucked away in the small drinking corridor in the top right corner above the hatch. Its a weird place to put it because there's usually someone stood at that hatch so you are unlikely to be served there. Perhaps they were saving the newly unencumbered view of the woodwork on the front bar.

That its difficult to spot is surprising because it shows that contrary to concerns the standard regular Thornbridge beers are inexpensive for town. I am sure Moonshine used to be over £3.00 in the Bath but Brother Rabbit, a similar strength (not the same) beer is on at £2.80, with the weaker Wild Swan at £2.60. Its good to see affordable session ale in the city centre - with the exception of the Bee Hive you pay over £3.00 a pint everywhere in the area, regardless of whether its a sub 4% beer. Also, the standard Bernard lager is £3.20.  Can't really compare this with the price of Carlsberg as I never touched it but it doesn't seem too expensive. The guests are not too expensive either, although I have only had two different ones - more on that later.

I got into the back room and I think its unchanged, apart from maybe a repaint. Its still the best place in the pub for a chat, and you can get service at the hatch which is good. There was also some space reserved in the main room for the musicians. It appears free music is still available, although a low turn out last night was suggested by the performer to be because they'd put the prices up, which isn't true.

So to the beer. I finally got to try Dark Star Brewery's  Revelation IPA, a monstrously dry hoppy pale beer at 5.7% and £3.10 a pint (I think, notes unclear....). This magnificent citrussy beast had, as promised by the lady behind the bar, a very dry finish, but that balances out the pineapple, marmalade, apricot and grapefruit flavours that jump out of the initial mouthfeel. I'm really glad to have had the opportunity to finally sample this, but I have to say, at the mid point of our crawl that night it wasn't one for a session. More of a well deserved last beer of the night.

So far the guests are mainly from Allgates, Phoenix and Dark Star, which are all good breweries, although some other guests, even from the Thornbridge brewing friends, would be welcome. And it would seem that selling beer hasn't been a problem - I was told that the Kipling they'd put on was a Kilderkin. if you can sell 18 gallons of beer before it goes off (albeit Kipling is quite strong) then that suggests good turnover. I don't know of any other pubs in the area using 18's.

So, it seems to have settled in nicely, being reasonably busy on my 3 visits (less last night, but that was a Monday). And I am taking Davefromtshop their tonight so hopefully I will have the opportunity to delve in to the citrus delights of a Dark Star Revelation once more.

Wee Beefy