Hello,
before me and Wee Fatha buggered off round half of Cheshire on Saturday (its worth pointing out at this late stage that I had to dissuade him from heading to Chester for the last few pubs!) we joined Wee Keefy for the annual spectacle of our Christmas meal, always, unfailingly, held in a pub, and featuring plenty of beer. Just like a Christmas meal should.
Previous years have found us at the Crispin in Ashover, the Butchers at Marsh Lane and the Old Poets Corner, also in Ashover. This year it was the turn of the Packhorse Inn at Crowdecote, on the Staffordshire/Derbyshire border.
Nestling in beautiful Dovedale on a bend in the road its an idyllic place to pop in for a pint or a bite to eat, which makes it all the more surprising that its taken so damned long for the place to gain plaudits, and to put decent real ales on the bar. Luckily our new found hobby of visiting the Royal Cottage means we are regularly in the area seeking refreshment, so we decided to make this the venue for the admittedly very early Christmas meal for the menfolk of the clan.
Being a beer blog of course irrelevances such as food aren't really high up on the reprting agenda. Which is ironic because, as it turned out, despite my excited anticipation and Fatha and Keefy enjoying theirs my meal was really disappointing. That said, its cost was taken off the bill without fuss, and apologies forthcoming without question. Its a shame I didn't enjoy my food so much, but I appreciated the pubs approach to sorting the matter out, and better still the beer. Of which we had plenty.
Wee Keefy likes a malty slightly sweet pint as we know, and was smitten with the Cottage, erm, something with an "e" in it. The letter E that is. Meanwhile driver Wee Fatha was on a half or two of the pleasant Titanic Night to Remember. And drinking for two (for WF, am not pregnant) I dispensed with many pints of the fearsomely excellent Bottlebrook Mellow Yellow. Which, I only noticed on getting home, was 5.7%....
Bottlebrook is a brewery I don't come across too often and I have only previously encountered their offerings at beer festivals - which is maybe why I don't usually rate them. This offering overturned that opinion in some style. Meanwhile, Tetley made up the range along with a real cider so there was something for everyone, unless you wanted a stout or porter I suppose. In short the quality of this line up more than matched that which we found on our last visit, and will hope to find on our next.
A real bonus is that the pub is very handily situated nearly opposite a lane that runs into Earl Sterndale, so it seemed churlish not to pop up the hill for a pint or two at the Quiet Woman. Parking on a lake of ice outside we somehow contrived to avoid falling on our arses en route inside, where we got chatting to Ken and the regulars. Sat by the fire, we enjoyed supping Jennings Dark Mild (for WF and WK), and a pint and a half of the very enjoyable and quaffable Wincle Brewery Rambler for me.
I also got to take home an excellent Quiet Woman pork pie for Saturday's exploring, which I am pleased to report came in very handy, as did mixed packs of the Quiet Woman themed bottles that the other two purchased. One surprising note though was that the Quiet Woman is now selling guests from Pins. I can't be certain, but I reckon they must have had a decent throughput in the past (Mansfield Mild (?), Marstons Bitter, Pedigree and Old Rodger being sold on my first visit in 1994) and despite it being dreadful weather, it seemed quiet enough to make buying in pins sound like a necessity.
I don't think for a moment that this classic old pub is teetering on the brink, but it was sobering to consider how much trade seems to have declined. All the more reason to venture out more often then...
So, thus passed an enjoyable annual event featuring great company and fantastic beers on the edge of the Staffordshire Moorlands. Which I'm happy to report is becoming a bit of a habit these days.
Cheers!
Wee Beefy.
Monday, 10 December 2012
Sunday, 9 December 2012
A tour of Cheshire pubs and breweries
Hello,
yesterday me and Wee Fatha drove over to Dunham Massey for him to pick up his extensive Christmas beer supplies, and to visit a crematorium nearby. What with the crematorium opening early and the Dunham Brewery shop opening at 11.00 he could have done everything on his list by midday; but where would the fun have been in that? Sensibly I was invited along to provide suggestions for elongating the days activities, thus.....
I have only been in once, and t was dark, so it was nice to see the place in daylight, and better still that they replaced Deuchars IPA with Weetwood Eastgate Ale on the bar. A pint for me and a tomato juice for WF, we sat in the first room as you enter, warmed by a racing hot erm, electric fire, admiring the sadly slightly obscured 1930's style Allsopp Brewery mirror, and listening in on the lively conversation in the small bar room where, it seemed, everyone was playing dominoes.
yesterday me and Wee Fatha drove over to Dunham Massey for him to pick up his extensive Christmas beer supplies, and to visit a crematorium nearby. What with the crematorium opening early and the Dunham Brewery shop opening at 11.00 he could have done everything on his list by midday; but where would the fun have been in that? Sensibly I was invited along to provide suggestions for elongating the days activities, thus.....
We set off across the Snake in glorious sunshine, admiring the snowy peaks and hazy vistas over Glossop before we descended into fog, murk, and cloud, as we entered Manchester. First stop for WF was to be a personal one so he suggested I might wish to jump out near the Railway in Broadheath. That's not really a question to be honest! Of course I wanted to...
I took a few pics of the exterior on arriving and waited at the bar behind a guy who after being served with a pint of Holts Mild, which was my tipple of choice, asked if it was alright if he took some pictures - I turned to him and said "Oh I;m here to do the same thing". It quickly transpired that we were both fans of National Inventory pubs, and the photographing of them, and that he'd read my blog, which makes him a thoroughly nice chap. The landlady was quite amused about us arriving at the same time having never met, ordering the same drink and then setting off, me first, photographing a different room to one another all the way round this fantastic multi-roomed pub.
A couple of regulars arrived but it was quite quiet, allowing ample opportunity to photograph the interior (I'll put some pics on Flickr, with a link to follow), and it was nice to talk to the landlord about Holts, whose Christmas beer he will be putting on next week, and also of course fellow "Inventory-head" Martin. A great start to the day.
Soon I was back in the beer chariot and we were loading up oodles of lovely bottle conditioned beer (and I mean that literally - none of the sour piss that sometimes passes for BCA, from Dunham Massey brewery) before heading off to pick up a mixed case of bottles from Blakemere/Northern Brewing. Vehicle laden with bottles we clinked our way to our next stop, the Boot Inn at Boothsdale near Kelsall.
Thanks to Mudgie for finding the link to the interesting (if outdated) Olde World Cheshire pubs website from where I found out about the Boot. That its an old pub that WF has never been to in Cheshire is quite a coup - and despite the fact that it must do a roaring food trade, it was still warm and comfortable and selling 4 real ales from the Weetwood Brewery, which can't be more than a mile away. WF had a half (most of a half, since he's driving, and this will be the case, in lesser and lesser quantities, as we go through the day) of Cheshire Cat, and I the Old Dog, whilst we sat in the window near the fire.
We headed to the excellent Travellers Rest at Alpraham next, which is on the National Inventory of Unspoilt pub Interiors. You may recall my having mentioned this before.
I have only been in once, and t was dark, so it was nice to see the place in daylight, and better still that they replaced Deuchars IPA with Weetwood Eastgate Ale on the bar. A pint for me and a tomato juice for WF, we sat in the first room as you enter, warmed by a racing hot erm, electric fire, admiring the sadly slightly obscured 1930's style Allsopp Brewery mirror, and listening in on the lively conversation in the small bar room where, it seemed, everyone was playing dominoes.
Nantwich was our next stop, via their interminable one way system and lack of parking, we got to the Woodlands Brewery owned Globe. There was a huge range of beers in here but alas every table but for one in the bar with high stools that WF can't sit on, was reserved for Christmas meals, so we had to stand at the bar on the left. I had halves of Woodlands Generals Tipple and Oak Beauty, WF had a quantum of the Red Squirrel. That being the lighter opting it was fairly lacking in flavour compared with the others but the ales were nice enough - but no dark beers! It was annoying that so many empty tables were left awaiting diners, and although the staff were very friendly, helpful and apologetic, this could have been a far better pub visit.
Crewe beckoned next, and despite WF confusing a road or two from his childhood visits we found the Borough Arms quite easily. It was very busy with a range of about 7 real ales on, including First Rays, a strong orangey tasting pale beer from their own brewery, which WF had, whilst I had half an Abbeydale Bah Humbug. As with many pubs we visited, Thornbridge, Abbeydale and Welbeck beers were delighting the locals, but we wanted something from nearby! The First Rays satisfied that requirement and was excellent into the bargain, as was this popular town centre pub.
It was getting late and I was starting to feel peckish so when we arrived at the Hawk in nearby Haslington and smelled food, we decided to eat there. This is a fantastic old pub, selling Robinson's beers, and a decent traditional food menu at very competitive prices - mainly £4.95 or £5.95. Better still, we got sat in the real gem of this establishment, the Oak Room at the back. Sitting in this magnificent location eating hearty food is the perfect way to visit the Hawk I reckon. And it was topped off spectacularly by my ordering a pint of Grandma. A gorgeous fruit and toffee flavoured, caramel coloured 6% mix that went down far too easily.
Replete we headed for what was the best beer pub of the day, the Lower Chequers in Sandbach. We had to queue to get in but found space that seemingly no-one had noticed round the other side, and got sat down to drink halves of Joules Pale for WF, and the excellent Merlin Brewery Dragonslayer and Cheshire Brewhouse Squires XB for me. Hoping to add them to my list of on-line "followees", a quick chat with the landlord (who's name I knew I'd forget....) revealed that they steadfastly avoid social media - not that they need any more punters if this visit was anything to go by. This warm friendly busy pub sold impeccably kept beer and had it been at all possible we would have probably stayed all night.
Heading towards Stoke next we stopped at The Lodge in Alsager. This pub has its own brewery, Goodalls, and a range of about 5 real ales. Its a very large pub with rooms on both side, the right hand one containing the bar. It was absolutely rammed, with every chair and table taken up by punters or pints. It reminded me slightly of a canteen - a perfunctory area for a single purpose - they must sell a hell of a lot of real ale in here, and thats got to be good news. Talking of which, WF had a half of Mallinsons Station Bitter, whilst I had an enjoyable half of Goodalls Red Herring. A cracking pub.
Our penultimate stop saw us visiting the now to be demolished Coachmakers in Hanley. Much has been written about the decision to flatten the listed pub for what seems like very little palpable benefit, by the local council, so I won't go over old ground. But you can't escape from the fact that this is a fantastic multi-roomed pub selling great beer and retaining many interesting and important internal features. I suggest any fans of unspoilt town pubs make a visit ASAP, although I can't recall for certain when, next year, its set to be demolished.
Meanwhile we sat in the cosy back room supping halves of Titanic Mild and their delicious Plum Porter. Both were on excellent form and the porter was particularly well suited to fighting off the winter chill.
Our last stop was to have been the Royal Cottage, but possibly due to the ridiculous weather (fog so thick you couldn't see more than a few feet ahead), it looked like Cliff had decided that no-one else would be coming in and so was shut. Instead we headed to the Packhorse at Crowdecote, again (details in next post of previous visit) for a last drink; a tomato juice for Wee Fatha and a pint of the fantastic 5.7% Bottlebrook Yellow Mellow Pale Ale for me.
So, there ends a long but hugely enjoyable 200 odd mile trip around Cheshire and Staffordshire visiting some exceptional pubs along the way. Beers of the day were the Merlin Dragonslayer, Borough Arms First Rays and Bottlebrook Mellow Yellow, but we didn't find a bad one all day.
Cheers!
Wee Beefy
Wednesday, 5 December 2012
Church House update, and other stories
Hello again,
firstly, can I make clear that his isn't actual an update concerning the observations and experiences gleaned from another visit, its more a round up of other info that pertains to the pub. Interestingly, if some of the below information could have been found prior to its opening I would have been none the wiser - on the other hand if some of that info was in my hands I may never have ventured in!
Its interesting that perhaps only 5 of the above could really be considered traditional, and that many don't sell real ale. Prior to owning a copy of the GBG, whenever I found myself looking for real ale in a far off place I'd always go for older and/or Regional Brewery pubs, preferring a combo of both. I can't say that this criteria would yield many decent ales or venues if I used it in Sheffield. Perhaps the notion that old buildings are best (or only) suited to the provision of traditional environs to an older clientele is finally dispelled? Well.....
firstly, can I make clear that his isn't actual an update concerning the observations and experiences gleaned from another visit, its more a round up of other info that pertains to the pub. Interestingly, if some of the below information could have been found prior to its opening I would have been none the wiser - on the other hand if some of that info was in my hands I may never have ventured in!
The first thing to note relates to the building's listed status. As I mentioned before, its listed Grade 2, and has been since 1973. This would have made me take note straight away since I am interested in listed buildings, especially those in the City centre - its amazing how many gems are hidden away down back streets, but slightly less encouraging when you consider how many were unlisted when flattened to make way for embarrassing 70's pre fabs. In this case, the excellent exterior of number 4 St James Street does not seem to be adversely affected by the venue's change of name, which is good news.
Furthermore, in being a listed City centre building, The Church House is in the following company; Maggie Mays, The Bankers Draft, The Brown Bear, Cutlers, Crystal Bar, The Viper Rooms, Graduate, The Howard, Old Monk, Old Queens Head, Lloyds No.1, Three Tuns, Walkabout, and at a push, the bar in the Lyceum Theatre and Cutlers Hall, and perhaps the Sheffield Tap being in Sheffield Midland Station, since those buildings are listed.
Its interesting that perhaps only 5 of the above could really be considered traditional, and that many don't sell real ale. Prior to owning a copy of the GBG, whenever I found myself looking for real ale in a far off place I'd always go for older and/or Regional Brewery pubs, preferring a combo of both. I can't say that this criteria would yield many decent ales or venues if I used it in Sheffield. Perhaps the notion that old buildings are best (or only) suited to the provision of traditional environs to an older clientele is finally dispelled? Well.....
I found a rather alarming document online here relating to the proposed refurbishment of the Church House (although it describes the images as an illustration of potential refurbishment). Hosted by Starpubs.co.uk, the new name for S&N pub company, this is essentially a puff piece cum business plan highlighting sinister Daddy-Heineken's brands, strategies, business framework and customer segmentation. Now, I realise that to earthlings like you and I, this seems like, erm, bullshit. Yet, in an ironic twist, it turns out to be exactly that! (note, this is intentionally and ironically non-ironic).
Parts of the document contain depressing/dubious claims like (The Best Brands) "Britain's most popular draught beers and ciders, John Smiths, Fosters and Strongbow, as well as packaged beers" (that's bottled Newky Brown based on their annotation), which is drawn from data collated in October and November 2009.
More pertinent however, and more bizarre, are their definitions of customer "segments". Confusing punters with crustacea is weird enough, but what in the name of Satan does "Young and Edgy Pubs are similar to A Bit Of Style Pubs but with a younger clientele and an offer to the lower end of the market" mean?
More pertinent however, and more bizarre, are their definitions of customer "segments". Confusing punters with crustacea is weird enough, but what in the name of Satan does "Young and Edgy Pubs are similar to A Bit Of Style Pubs but with a younger clientele and an offer to the lower end of the market" mean?
Further in, the customer expectations and behaviour (oooh, the gaunt spectre of expectation, one of my fascinations) section is possibly my favourite: a general guide to refurbishing a pub to meet the needs of certain customer, erm, segments. Seemingly "Me & My Pint - older customers enjoying a quiet drink alone in traditional surroundings " can be catered for with a range of real ales and "refurbished fixed seating in the bar area". Lets hope those same drinkers don't expect any "Pub Play" though, as this requires different wiring, and is intended for younger males....
The document is almost as hilarious as it is depressing - after all, you can't, despite their claims, meet the expectations of customers no matter what they may be (per type pf pub) by pigeon holing them. It would be worth a re-read in 6 months time as well, irrespective of the pub's success - and once again, I genuinely hope they do well despite their potential exposure to this report.
The document is almost as hilarious as it is depressing - after all, you can't, despite their claims, meet the expectations of customers no matter what they may be (per type pf pub) by pigeon holing them. It would be worth a re-read in 6 months time as well, irrespective of the pub's success - and once again, I genuinely hope they do well despite their potential exposure to this report.
Moving on, and DAda nearby has Fullers Bengal Lancer and the yummy 7.4% Thornbridge Yule on cask at the mo, along with what I believe is a barrel aged General Sherman on Keykeg. As I am not 100% sure of the details surrounding this particular beer, I suggest you pop into find out for yourself.
Finally, news from the beer pricing battlefront.I was in vile retail behemoth Tesco tonight, lured in by memories of their interesting beer and wine range. Tesco to their credit seem to have dedicated a section to lower alcohol beers (all but the Fullers offering at a pound), whereas my local Supermarket Asda still only carries Manns Brown Ale - they also only update their range as regularly as an Easter cactus flowers.
Last time Tesco had a quite good range of bottled beers (sorry, packaged beers), if small, and now they had indeed changed it since I visited earlier in the year. Unfortunately they'd got rid of some of the stouts and most frustratingly the American Double IPA, AKA Brewdog Hardcore in disguise. The Brains Stout looks interesting though, and they are also selling a Carribbean lager called Banks, so its not all run of the mill, but surely a retailer like Tesco could carry some BCA's? Maybe this is the work of the same person that made their wine list so safe and uninspiring....
Last time Tesco had a quite good range of bottled beers (sorry, packaged beers), if small, and now they had indeed changed it since I visited earlier in the year. Unfortunately they'd got rid of some of the stouts and most frustratingly the American Double IPA, AKA Brewdog Hardcore in disguise. The Brains Stout looks interesting though, and they are also selling a Carribbean lager called Banks, so its not all run of the mill, but surely a retailer like Tesco could carry some BCA's? Maybe this is the work of the same person that made their wine list so safe and uninspiring....
Of course, the Supermarket's loss is the independent retailers gain, so thankfully I will be purchasing my Christmas bottles from Archer Road Beer Stop once more. Am hoping someone will buy me a bottle of the excellent Brasserie Fantôme Saison for Christmas.
So that rounds up stuff for now, hopefully I will be back with some info soon after a Friday night meal at a country pub, and a day out in the wilds of Cheshire on Saturday, weather permitting......
Wee Beefy
Monday, 3 December 2012
Day of rest
Hello again,
firstly can I just point out that owing to not finding it fixed, I don't foresee photo's making it onto this post yet again. On-line techno sleuth and fellow blogger Clare is on to it, but the immovable force of Blogger stands in our way. Obviously, as soon as the problem's fixed there'll be pics a plenty on here (and if its sorted already I'll have to come back and delete this bit. Or perhaps I'll leave it in as a kooky little window on my pre-pic solution mindset...).
Anyhoo, talking of mindsets, Sunday is normally a day when the excesses of Friday and Saturday are washed out of my system by a lie in, a scan of some websites and something cooked long and slow in the oven. Normally by about 17.00 the bouts of shaking and breathless perspiration have lessened, some of the words I say are recognisable as English, and I don't list to one side when I walk round the edge of the settee. In essence, I've been a good boy and am ready for work on Wednesday. I do work Mondays and Tuesdays mind, its just that they don't really count. They tend to be more of a subconscious automatic action than a professional undertaking.
This Sunday however, I had just been paid. So it seemed silly to fanny around in the house, most likely doing cleaning or shopping or other necessities. So I jolly well pissed off to the pub around 14.30, for no other reason than I could.
First stop was the Rutland Arms, for reasons including proving that I wasn't in fact mentally unbalanced, and also, that I didn't care about ordering food after all. Although, after buying a delicious and sensible half pint of Jarrow Brewery Isis Blonde at 5%, I remembered that I actually did need and desire food, so I had one of the Rutland's fab bacon butties.
I also had halves of Blue Bee Bees Knees (with added students), my weakest beer of the day, but no less enjoyable, along with Magic Rock Highwire NZ on the inexcusable Keykeg (and at a decent price as well, less than £4.00 a pint if I recall), along with the excellent Dark Star and Magic Rock collaboration Rock Star, which was a very enjoyable Black IPA. Clearly Sunday was going to be a day not of rest, but rapacious consumption. Still eh.
Over to the Sheffield Tap next and I had halves again - there was just so much damn good beer around yesterday it would have been dangerous to attempt anything else, so I bought Tempest Cresta Black, Fyne Avalanche and the Fyne IPA series Ruvaal Blonde IPA. Drunk in that order, this quickly guided me back towards the 5 or 6% beers that would ultimately be my ruin. Oops. The Avalanche was excellent as always.
A surprise stop next at the recently taken over by Wood Street Brewery Roebuck. Nothing immediately obvious decor wise but there were as you'd expect, Wood Street ales on the bar. Here I was tempted to partake in a hot snack - the inexpensive garlic bread was filling and very tasty, just what I needed. The only thing that let the experience down was the rather poor Wood Street Pale Ale. Another sigh of disappointment in a glass.
Off next on the 53 omnibus to a new pub for me. The Forest, which used to be rented out for parties and before that was notable for being the last pub in Sheffield to get a spirits license, has reopened as a traditional pub selling real ales, called the Woodside Inn. The ad in Beer Matters proclaims 6 real ales and there are indeed 6 pumps. Last night one had cider, one is a permanent Black Sheep font/pump thing which I always think is keg, and there were three guests on the remaining handpumps - I went for a half of the RCH PG Steam, at £2.00 a pint. Not a beer to set the world alight but in decent condition and a good price. Certainly a venue to revisit I think, if nothing else to herald the arrival of a new sign.
From here I headed to the Gardeners Rest for a couple more halves, including one of the best of the night, against a fairly exemplary line up. The Ramsbottom Bitter was OK if a little sweet for my taste, but the Hackney Cluster was incredible. Whether intentionally or not, it tasted very much of cereal, but had an orangey zesty bitterness and very warming malts balanced perfectly in what was a very enjoyable beer. Certainly those Hackney chaps seem to know what they are doing.
My penultimate stop was to have been the Brooklyn Steak place round the corner but alas that closes early Sunday so I didn't even get to see if they sell real ale, so I headed on for the Kelham Island Tavern, which I don't seem to get to very often. From a great range, and perhaps wisely eschewing the stronger, darker ales on offer, I had a very pleasant half of the Ascot Ales Single Hop, which unfortunately did not confirm the identity of said bittering ingredient, but was enjoyable all the same.
My last stop was in Shakespeares, and here I found, in a close contest, the absolute winner, the very best beer of the day. Due to unfortunate instances of sleep I can't be sure how many I had, but 1 pint is a safe bet, and 2 pints would be reckless, but not inconceivable. Led to my choice by Robin leaning on the pump it was on, there was no contest when I saw Raw Chinook IPA, 6.2% (and £3.20 a pint) was on sale. An absolutely tremendous beer packed full of immense flavour, but somehow contriving to have a very accomplished and rounded finish. In a November of quite frankly astonishing beer quality, this welcomed in December (ignoring the fact I'd been supping on the 1st!) in some style.
If only one Sunday evening amble is spent drinking beers that good in the coming weeks then 2012 could end up being a benchmark year for beer quality.
Your very best health
Wee Beefy.
firstly can I just point out that owing to not finding it fixed, I don't foresee photo's making it onto this post yet again. On-line techno sleuth and fellow blogger Clare is on to it, but the immovable force of Blogger stands in our way. Obviously, as soon as the problem's fixed there'll be pics a plenty on here (and if its sorted already I'll have to come back and delete this bit. Or perhaps I'll leave it in as a kooky little window on my pre-pic solution mindset...).
Anyhoo, talking of mindsets, Sunday is normally a day when the excesses of Friday and Saturday are washed out of my system by a lie in, a scan of some websites and something cooked long and slow in the oven. Normally by about 17.00 the bouts of shaking and breathless perspiration have lessened, some of the words I say are recognisable as English, and I don't list to one side when I walk round the edge of the settee. In essence, I've been a good boy and am ready for work on Wednesday. I do work Mondays and Tuesdays mind, its just that they don't really count. They tend to be more of a subconscious automatic action than a professional undertaking.
This Sunday however, I had just been paid. So it seemed silly to fanny around in the house, most likely doing cleaning or shopping or other necessities. So I jolly well pissed off to the pub around 14.30, for no other reason than I could.
First stop was the Rutland Arms, for reasons including proving that I wasn't in fact mentally unbalanced, and also, that I didn't care about ordering food after all. Although, after buying a delicious and sensible half pint of Jarrow Brewery Isis Blonde at 5%, I remembered that I actually did need and desire food, so I had one of the Rutland's fab bacon butties.
I also had halves of Blue Bee Bees Knees (with added students), my weakest beer of the day, but no less enjoyable, along with Magic Rock Highwire NZ on the inexcusable Keykeg (and at a decent price as well, less than £4.00 a pint if I recall), along with the excellent Dark Star and Magic Rock collaboration Rock Star, which was a very enjoyable Black IPA. Clearly Sunday was going to be a day not of rest, but rapacious consumption. Still eh.
Over to the Sheffield Tap next and I had halves again - there was just so much damn good beer around yesterday it would have been dangerous to attempt anything else, so I bought Tempest Cresta Black, Fyne Avalanche and the Fyne IPA series Ruvaal Blonde IPA. Drunk in that order, this quickly guided me back towards the 5 or 6% beers that would ultimately be my ruin. Oops. The Avalanche was excellent as always.
A surprise stop next at the recently taken over by Wood Street Brewery Roebuck. Nothing immediately obvious decor wise but there were as you'd expect, Wood Street ales on the bar. Here I was tempted to partake in a hot snack - the inexpensive garlic bread was filling and very tasty, just what I needed. The only thing that let the experience down was the rather poor Wood Street Pale Ale. Another sigh of disappointment in a glass.
Off next on the 53 omnibus to a new pub for me. The Forest, which used to be rented out for parties and before that was notable for being the last pub in Sheffield to get a spirits license, has reopened as a traditional pub selling real ales, called the Woodside Inn. The ad in Beer Matters proclaims 6 real ales and there are indeed 6 pumps. Last night one had cider, one is a permanent Black Sheep font/pump thing which I always think is keg, and there were three guests on the remaining handpumps - I went for a half of the RCH PG Steam, at £2.00 a pint. Not a beer to set the world alight but in decent condition and a good price. Certainly a venue to revisit I think, if nothing else to herald the arrival of a new sign.
From here I headed to the Gardeners Rest for a couple more halves, including one of the best of the night, against a fairly exemplary line up. The Ramsbottom Bitter was OK if a little sweet for my taste, but the Hackney Cluster was incredible. Whether intentionally or not, it tasted very much of cereal, but had an orangey zesty bitterness and very warming malts balanced perfectly in what was a very enjoyable beer. Certainly those Hackney chaps seem to know what they are doing.
My penultimate stop was to have been the Brooklyn Steak place round the corner but alas that closes early Sunday so I didn't even get to see if they sell real ale, so I headed on for the Kelham Island Tavern, which I don't seem to get to very often. From a great range, and perhaps wisely eschewing the stronger, darker ales on offer, I had a very pleasant half of the Ascot Ales Single Hop, which unfortunately did not confirm the identity of said bittering ingredient, but was enjoyable all the same.
My last stop was in Shakespeares, and here I found, in a close contest, the absolute winner, the very best beer of the day. Due to unfortunate instances of sleep I can't be sure how many I had, but 1 pint is a safe bet, and 2 pints would be reckless, but not inconceivable. Led to my choice by Robin leaning on the pump it was on, there was no contest when I saw Raw Chinook IPA, 6.2% (and £3.20 a pint) was on sale. An absolutely tremendous beer packed full of immense flavour, but somehow contriving to have a very accomplished and rounded finish. In a November of quite frankly astonishing beer quality, this welcomed in December (ignoring the fact I'd been supping on the 1st!) in some style.
If only one Sunday evening amble is spent drinking beers that good in the coming weeks then 2012 could end up being a benchmark year for beer quality.
Your very best health
Wee Beefy.
Sunday, 2 December 2012
Not everything is new.
Hello,
you might be forgiven for thinking what with the tone of recent posts that my Sheffield drinking life is an endless Merry-go-round of new breweries and new pubs. Well, I occasionally go to pubs and drink beer that I have been too and tried before! This new fangled trend for not drinking only unheard of brews and visiting pubs over and over again will surely never catch on, but if it does, I've already coined a handy phrase to encapsulate the idiosyncrasies of the phenomenon - "just going out for a pint". You heard it here first...
Friday was just such an example. Although we did attend the, ahem, "launch" of the Church House, we first met up with people from the slave mill in Lloyds No.1 in town. Not perhaps a venue to set the pulse racing but there were 5 handpumps for real ale and one for real cider, and every one was utilised.
Highlights included Bradfield Belgian Blue, Cotleigh Kookaburra and Avery brewing from Boulder Colorado's 3.5% session beer, brewed in the UK. I had a pint of the Cotleigh at £2.09 and a half of the Avery. This was a really enjoyable American hoppy ale, probably brewed in a Burton regional (?) based on a light sulphury edge, and packing in a lot of hoppy flavour for its low strength. Perhaps this explains why I don't get on with the stronger American IPA's - the stronger they are the more the odd ascorbic dryness and ill suited Belgian sweetness seem prominent. Either way it was very good.
Off to the Old House next for the first time in ages. From a range of Moonshine, Kelham Bitter and two from the Fulstow Brewery, who's beers am not keen on, I went for a pint of the True North First Blonde. Given that its probably still brewed at Welbeck, it did seem faintly reminiscent, in flavour at least, of their Bay Middleton. And was thus very quaffable. Its good to get reacquainted with the Old House having been mysteriously absent over the last few months.
After our Church House assessment we went onto DAda. The music was good, Ems and Annie were manning the bar, and I was feeling a little reckless. So much so that after having a delicious pint of Evenlode Porter (becoming one of my beers of 2012) I splashed out an eye watering and obscene amount of cash on the Mikkeller Beer Geek breakfast. Chala then also lost her mind and bought a pile of food and we had a sumptuous and ostentatious feast in convivial surroundings, before leaving to get the bus (and returning for my scarf, the second thing I had left behind in one night!).
Yesterday, I set out in the afternoon to try and sample the Blue Bee/Real Ale Society beer that I'd heard so much about. The Rutland Arms, who is a person, had stated that it was on the bar there so I thought I'd pop out and try it. Except, I got to town near the end of the Football Association cup fixture so decided to head down later. Instead I popped in the Church House, which now no longer counts as a new pub, thus fitting in with the theme of this post.
I can provide you with a few minor clarifications whilst were here. Firstly, the Caledonian Double Dark which I had on this visit is only £2.85 a pint. A good price for any real ale in the centre these days where the norm is £3.00 for average strength, and this is about 4.6% I think. Also, the food menu comprises one side of actual meals, standard pub fare but sensibly priced. The tapas element I had remembered is actually called the Deli section and comprises various cold platters that you can combine yourself, again at a decent price.
Finally, with thanks to the keen eye of the writer K E Page, the impressive circular windows in the entrance show evidence that the pub did used to be called the Ferret and Trouserleg. So anything has to be an improvement! I also noted on the back of their menu that they have a website - of sorts. In keeping with their mysterious unfindable business theme, the website address is for a host site/blog(?) called barbook, and can be found here. The only thing that inks to the pub in Sheffield is the spiel about the food which is that which appears on the pubs menu's, and also the sign on the front of said pamphlets. The whole thing is incredibly light on detail, much like their Facebook page! You can probably find more out by visiting the pub...
I popped into DAda next and straight away started supping pints of the Evenlode which, unbelievably, still hadn't run out. It was good catching up again with Ems and Jamie, but I had other sights in mind so kidnapped Ems and we trooped off up to Harrisons 1854, which I don't go to as often as I used to. Here, as promised, the Belgian Blue was available on cask, so I had a pint, Ems sensibly a half. However, my one gripe was the price! A whopping £3.80 a pint, making it 60p a pint more expensive than the far stronger Evenlode back at DAda. Had I been more cogent and in less of a rush I would have asked Bob why the beer was quite so expensive, but on this occasion I concentrated on enjoying it. It is, after all, a very tasty beer.
Off to the Bath next where there was beer. Ems went for the General Sherman because she's hardcore, I went for something else entirely. Unfortunately, its identity escapes me. I was already unsettled by a desire for food and obviously wasn't paying attention.
Finally we were off to the Rutland hoping to eat (for me) and try the Blue Bee beer I mentioned earlier. Unfortunately, the stupid bus broke down on West Street, and this extra delay in getting to the pub meant I arrived at 20.58 (but not by the clock in the pub, humph). Racked by hunger I pleaded to be fed but the stone cold face of the mighty Rutland was unmoved. So not only did I not get to try the beer but I also had to rush back home before the supermarket shut - if I had stopped for a half, I would have missed the shops as well. Damn you the progression of time! Most annoying (and slightly embarrassing given my desperation).
So that wraps up a couple of trips around some of Sheffield's better and for me less frequently visited outlets. No doubt December will find me in many more venues that get overlooked the rest of the year.
Cheers!
Wee Beefy
you might be forgiven for thinking what with the tone of recent posts that my Sheffield drinking life is an endless Merry-go-round of new breweries and new pubs. Well, I occasionally go to pubs and drink beer that I have been too and tried before! This new fangled trend for not drinking only unheard of brews and visiting pubs over and over again will surely never catch on, but if it does, I've already coined a handy phrase to encapsulate the idiosyncrasies of the phenomenon - "just going out for a pint". You heard it here first...
Friday was just such an example. Although we did attend the, ahem, "launch" of the Church House, we first met up with people from the slave mill in Lloyds No.1 in town. Not perhaps a venue to set the pulse racing but there were 5 handpumps for real ale and one for real cider, and every one was utilised.
Highlights included Bradfield Belgian Blue, Cotleigh Kookaburra and Avery brewing from Boulder Colorado's 3.5% session beer, brewed in the UK. I had a pint of the Cotleigh at £2.09 and a half of the Avery. This was a really enjoyable American hoppy ale, probably brewed in a Burton regional (?) based on a light sulphury edge, and packing in a lot of hoppy flavour for its low strength. Perhaps this explains why I don't get on with the stronger American IPA's - the stronger they are the more the odd ascorbic dryness and ill suited Belgian sweetness seem prominent. Either way it was very good.
Off to the Old House next for the first time in ages. From a range of Moonshine, Kelham Bitter and two from the Fulstow Brewery, who's beers am not keen on, I went for a pint of the True North First Blonde. Given that its probably still brewed at Welbeck, it did seem faintly reminiscent, in flavour at least, of their Bay Middleton. And was thus very quaffable. Its good to get reacquainted with the Old House having been mysteriously absent over the last few months.
After our Church House assessment we went onto DAda. The music was good, Ems and Annie were manning the bar, and I was feeling a little reckless. So much so that after having a delicious pint of Evenlode Porter (becoming one of my beers of 2012) I splashed out an eye watering and obscene amount of cash on the Mikkeller Beer Geek breakfast. Chala then also lost her mind and bought a pile of food and we had a sumptuous and ostentatious feast in convivial surroundings, before leaving to get the bus (and returning for my scarf, the second thing I had left behind in one night!).
Yesterday, I set out in the afternoon to try and sample the Blue Bee/Real Ale Society beer that I'd heard so much about. The Rutland Arms, who is a person, had stated that it was on the bar there so I thought I'd pop out and try it. Except, I got to town near the end of the Football Association cup fixture so decided to head down later. Instead I popped in the Church House, which now no longer counts as a new pub, thus fitting in with the theme of this post.
I can provide you with a few minor clarifications whilst were here. Firstly, the Caledonian Double Dark which I had on this visit is only £2.85 a pint. A good price for any real ale in the centre these days where the norm is £3.00 for average strength, and this is about 4.6% I think. Also, the food menu comprises one side of actual meals, standard pub fare but sensibly priced. The tapas element I had remembered is actually called the Deli section and comprises various cold platters that you can combine yourself, again at a decent price.
Finally, with thanks to the keen eye of the writer K E Page, the impressive circular windows in the entrance show evidence that the pub did used to be called the Ferret and Trouserleg. So anything has to be an improvement! I also noted on the back of their menu that they have a website - of sorts. In keeping with their mysterious unfindable business theme, the website address is for a host site/blog(?) called barbook, and can be found here. The only thing that inks to the pub in Sheffield is the spiel about the food which is that which appears on the pubs menu's, and also the sign on the front of said pamphlets. The whole thing is incredibly light on detail, much like their Facebook page! You can probably find more out by visiting the pub...
I popped into DAda next and straight away started supping pints of the Evenlode which, unbelievably, still hadn't run out. It was good catching up again with Ems and Jamie, but I had other sights in mind so kidnapped Ems and we trooped off up to Harrisons 1854, which I don't go to as often as I used to. Here, as promised, the Belgian Blue was available on cask, so I had a pint, Ems sensibly a half. However, my one gripe was the price! A whopping £3.80 a pint, making it 60p a pint more expensive than the far stronger Evenlode back at DAda. Had I been more cogent and in less of a rush I would have asked Bob why the beer was quite so expensive, but on this occasion I concentrated on enjoying it. It is, after all, a very tasty beer.
Off to the Bath next where there was beer. Ems went for the General Sherman because she's hardcore, I went for something else entirely. Unfortunately, its identity escapes me. I was already unsettled by a desire for food and obviously wasn't paying attention.
Finally we were off to the Rutland hoping to eat (for me) and try the Blue Bee beer I mentioned earlier. Unfortunately, the stupid bus broke down on West Street, and this extra delay in getting to the pub meant I arrived at 20.58 (but not by the clock in the pub, humph). Racked by hunger I pleaded to be fed but the stone cold face of the mighty Rutland was unmoved. So not only did I not get to try the beer but I also had to rush back home before the supermarket shut - if I had stopped for a half, I would have missed the shops as well. Damn you the progression of time! Most annoying (and slightly embarrassing given my desperation).
So that wraps up a couple of trips around some of Sheffield's better and for me less frequently visited outlets. No doubt December will find me in many more venues that get overlooked the rest of the year.
Cheers!
Wee Beefy
Saturday, 1 December 2012
The Church House, 4 St James Street Sheffield
Morning,
*ADDITION!* Stupid Blogger spellcheck is broken. Apologies for any errors, proofreading whilst hungover is tricky!
last night, I ventured to the Church House on St James Street. You know, St James Street. Everyone knows where St James street is surely? Well, erm, no, and I found it difficult enough to get people to imagine its location even using massive local landmarks. Luckily everyone has heard of the Cathedral; far fewer have heard of Sanctuary Bar though....
Anyway, I was there last night for the opening night. Except, that was Thursday. The sign had the right date but the wrong day, so I missed out on free stuff, which is a tragedy of immeasurable proportions. Humph.
Despite that, it was nice to see a range of six real ales on the bar, including some you rarely see in Sheffield. Being a Scottish and Newcastle pub (under the dirty umbrella of Heineken, alas) they had dipped into their dwindling portfolio of available cask beers, and colluded with Greedy King to bring a choice of Caledonian Deuchars IPA, Church House Bitter, Flying Scotsman, Elf Esteem and Double Dark Oatmeal Stout, plus Greedy King Olde Trip. Beer was averagely priced (due to a mix up with crisps it was unlcear in round one but I think my second pint, of Deuchars, was £3.00 - get me with me research!), and Bacon Fries were on sale at the going rate, i.e 80p a pack. Crucial info...
There's a decent wine list with a few bottles I'd like to try plus a few fillers that are easily affordable - a good mix of prices means if you take the whole thing a bit seriously as I sometimes do you can choose with confidence, but if you want wines to taste of wine and have alcohol in them you don't have to fork out a fortune only to be disappointed. The food menu looks to be bar snacks-cum-Tapas, with lots of fairly standard fare which I didn't pay a tremendous amount of attention to, but it didn't look too expensive.
Meanwhile, with thanks to Anne Greaves from Twitter for finding it, they have gone and got a Facebook page which doesn't carry much info I have to say. Puzzlingly their cover pic also appears to be a rack of thirds (although, there seems to be 4 - are these 142ml measures then?!). I didn't see or get offered any thirds whilst pondering my choice so am not sure if this is meant to be a literal representation or just a popular ale related image.
On a similar subject, when I asked about the lack of social media coverage and promotion of the reopening, the lass behind the bar said they had been handing out leaflets locally, presumably to business, but there are a lot of ecclesiastical buildings and offices nearby, so this seems a weird target audience. And also, leaflets! Why not stone tablets, telegrams or carrier pigeons? I know I was a late, reluctant convert to Twatter et al but its positively improved the numbers of people reading this blog, so I admit to being a fan of it as a promotional tool.
On a completely different subject the decor is quite good - a useful opposite to the themes most regularly encountered in similar venues like Browns (light and dark sitting awkwardly with ultra modern) and Henrys (light airy open spaces with wood and steel). The theme is quite clearly "old", but not in a gratingly twee or clumsy way, but in a homely, comfortable and quite striking in some parts, way. I particularly like the bar, a bit like what the West End have done but with more assurance and subtelty. Chala was very much wooed by the comfy chairs we were relaxing in - so much was I that I left my bag on the chair when we left!
Oh and the last important detail is about beers - Barman Jared (thats not his full name) informs me that the Deuchars, Church House Bitter and Flying Scotsman are likely to be regulars with the other three pumps changing, although the Elf Esteem, being a festive brew, should be on until Christmas. Me and chala both had the excellent Double Dark oatmeal stout, which was a very enjoyable, quite complex stout with a very pleasant aftertaste. I also tried a pint of Deuchars - now a sad facsimilie of a previously good beer.
Despite this, I think the Church House deserves credit for opening with a dark beer, which even in these enlightened times is still a woefully under represented beer style on the bars of Sheffield.
So in conclusion, it was an enjoyable visit. The beer was good, the food and wine list was OK, the decor looked good, it smelled of new pubs (I love that smell!) and the clientel was mixed, and bar staff helpful.
But will it succeed? Well, based on info from Andy Lonsdale (again from Twitter) and others, it seems to have had numerous incarnations, which always points to instability and a lack of business acumen or forward planning. It was previously Sanctuary which, it was suggested, used to be a not very successful gay bar - no idea if they sold real ale. Prior to that when my friend Sheeps Head Paul used to work behind the bar, it was called Gladstones, and did sell real ale, but he used to say it was mental Friday nights and quiet the rest of the time (and the ale was often awful). Someone also suggested it had a novelty name as well over the years; and before that it was definitely offices.
I see Heineken as a regressive influence, especially where the real ales are concerned (and for the record there is nothing of even the remotest interest in bottles or on keg). As a company they don't exactly seem to push the boundaries with products or indeed their attitude towards acquisitoin and management of companies, so it could suffer from their depressing mass market, lowest common denominator outlook. On the other hand, its a beautiful building, its in a very interesting location, it sells real ales unusual to Sheffield (well some) and is possibly just shielded from Church Street enough to be a place for a comfortable drink or meal prior to a night out in rowdier haunts.
So I really can't predict if it will succeed, but I hope it does well, because if nothing else, it can now be added to my after work pub crawl of Shakespeares, Three cranes and DAda. And extra choice is what we all strive for, surely?
Wee Beefy
*ADDITION!* Stupid Blogger spellcheck is broken. Apologies for any errors, proofreading whilst hungover is tricky!
last night, I ventured to the Church House on St James Street. You know, St James Street. Everyone knows where St James street is surely? Well, erm, no, and I found it difficult enough to get people to imagine its location even using massive local landmarks. Luckily everyone has heard of the Cathedral; far fewer have heard of Sanctuary Bar though....
Anyway, I was there last night for the opening night. Except, that was Thursday. The sign had the right date but the wrong day, so I missed out on free stuff, which is a tragedy of immeasurable proportions. Humph.
Despite that, it was nice to see a range of six real ales on the bar, including some you rarely see in Sheffield. Being a Scottish and Newcastle pub (under the dirty umbrella of Heineken, alas) they had dipped into their dwindling portfolio of available cask beers, and colluded with Greedy King to bring a choice of Caledonian Deuchars IPA, Church House Bitter, Flying Scotsman, Elf Esteem and Double Dark Oatmeal Stout, plus Greedy King Olde Trip. Beer was averagely priced (due to a mix up with crisps it was unlcear in round one but I think my second pint, of Deuchars, was £3.00 - get me with me research!), and Bacon Fries were on sale at the going rate, i.e 80p a pack. Crucial info...
There's a decent wine list with a few bottles I'd like to try plus a few fillers that are easily affordable - a good mix of prices means if you take the whole thing a bit seriously as I sometimes do you can choose with confidence, but if you want wines to taste of wine and have alcohol in them you don't have to fork out a fortune only to be disappointed. The food menu looks to be bar snacks-cum-Tapas, with lots of fairly standard fare which I didn't pay a tremendous amount of attention to, but it didn't look too expensive.
Meanwhile, with thanks to Anne Greaves from Twitter for finding it, they have gone and got a Facebook page which doesn't carry much info I have to say. Puzzlingly their cover pic also appears to be a rack of thirds (although, there seems to be 4 - are these 142ml measures then?!). I didn't see or get offered any thirds whilst pondering my choice so am not sure if this is meant to be a literal representation or just a popular ale related image.
On a similar subject, when I asked about the lack of social media coverage and promotion of the reopening, the lass behind the bar said they had been handing out leaflets locally, presumably to business, but there are a lot of ecclesiastical buildings and offices nearby, so this seems a weird target audience. And also, leaflets! Why not stone tablets, telegrams or carrier pigeons? I know I was a late, reluctant convert to Twatter et al but its positively improved the numbers of people reading this blog, so I admit to being a fan of it as a promotional tool.
On a completely different subject the decor is quite good - a useful opposite to the themes most regularly encountered in similar venues like Browns (light and dark sitting awkwardly with ultra modern) and Henrys (light airy open spaces with wood and steel). The theme is quite clearly "old", but not in a gratingly twee or clumsy way, but in a homely, comfortable and quite striking in some parts, way. I particularly like the bar, a bit like what the West End have done but with more assurance and subtelty. Chala was very much wooed by the comfy chairs we were relaxing in - so much was I that I left my bag on the chair when we left!
Oh and the last important detail is about beers - Barman Jared (thats not his full name) informs me that the Deuchars, Church House Bitter and Flying Scotsman are likely to be regulars with the other three pumps changing, although the Elf Esteem, being a festive brew, should be on until Christmas. Me and chala both had the excellent Double Dark oatmeal stout, which was a very enjoyable, quite complex stout with a very pleasant aftertaste. I also tried a pint of Deuchars - now a sad facsimilie of a previously good beer.
Despite this, I think the Church House deserves credit for opening with a dark beer, which even in these enlightened times is still a woefully under represented beer style on the bars of Sheffield.
So in conclusion, it was an enjoyable visit. The beer was good, the food and wine list was OK, the decor looked good, it smelled of new pubs (I love that smell!) and the clientel was mixed, and bar staff helpful.
But will it succeed? Well, based on info from Andy Lonsdale (again from Twitter) and others, it seems to have had numerous incarnations, which always points to instability and a lack of business acumen or forward planning. It was previously Sanctuary which, it was suggested, used to be a not very successful gay bar - no idea if they sold real ale. Prior to that when my friend Sheeps Head Paul used to work behind the bar, it was called Gladstones, and did sell real ale, but he used to say it was mental Friday nights and quiet the rest of the time (and the ale was often awful). Someone also suggested it had a novelty name as well over the years; and before that it was definitely offices.
I see Heineken as a regressive influence, especially where the real ales are concerned (and for the record there is nothing of even the remotest interest in bottles or on keg). As a company they don't exactly seem to push the boundaries with products or indeed their attitude towards acquisitoin and management of companies, so it could suffer from their depressing mass market, lowest common denominator outlook. On the other hand, its a beautiful building, its in a very interesting location, it sells real ales unusual to Sheffield (well some) and is possibly just shielded from Church Street enough to be a place for a comfortable drink or meal prior to a night out in rowdier haunts.
So I really can't predict if it will succeed, but I hope it does well, because if nothing else, it can now be added to my after work pub crawl of Shakespeares, Three cranes and DAda. And extra choice is what we all strive for, surely?
Wee Beefy
Thursday, 29 November 2012
New faces in Sheffield
Hello,
despite the title, regrettably I haven't managed to snare a fresh faced buoyantly optimistic newly arrived student to write this post. It would no doubt be an interesting idea, but I find that even had I not used the word "snare", approaching persons 20 years my junior and asking them to look at my prose/help me out with a blog could be misconstrued, especially in a loud bar. Not that I particularly frequent such places, but...
Anyhoo, this is just a little bit of news really, and the first info surrounds a new pub, or rather a pub reopening, in the city centre. For years there seems to have been no life in the Sanctuary on St James Street, between Vicar Lane and the Cathedral. I rarely recall seeing it open, and before that its name escapes me, but I know I never visited it. So the fact that its reopening tomorrow as The Church House means I may be setting foot inside, finally, for the first time.
Details are, to say the least, sketchy. I photographed the pub walking past but I can't read the Facebook address on the sign, although I did find a page which might relate to the pub (but I won't share it in case it transpires to be some dreadful religious organisation). Oh, and there is nothing on it but a photo. And it aint of a pub. I also could only find one reference on the Twatter, so have had to make do with dieing of boredom reading the planning application.
In short the application relates only to some external signage and entrance lights, and that the proposer is Scottish and Newcastle (pre Sanctuary, in the mid nineties, it was Sherwood Inns). Add to this some rather overly technical architectural details I found on the British listed buildings website, and that the sign proclaims real ales and free Wi-Fi (plus irrelevances such as coffee and "food", whatever that is) and you now know as much as I do.
So, erm. Wooh! Yeah! A new pub run by Heineken in disguise is to open in Sheffield. Oh, and by the way sign writers, announcing that the pub will open on Friday the 29th November does not fill me with confidence. Just saying....
In other news, Harrisons 1854 has staged a bit of a coup by getting hold of some of Bradfield Brewery's perennial winter favourite Belgian Blue. Despite its gimmicky colour its actually a very pleasing and suitably seasonal offering and a Bradfield brew that I usually look out for. Barkeep extraordinaire Barraharri tells me (and, erm, Facebook) that it will be on the bar this weekend. So get thi sens darn theer and try it.
Meanwhile DAda, who are people, have news of some Thornbridge Yule coming on soon, and also a couple of casks of the excellent Fullers Bengal Lancer. Fullers Past Masters and seasonals don't seem to make it oop North, not to Sheffield at least, so in addition to this being a very competent exploration of the brewing styles of the past this is also a quite unusual beer for the area. No specific dates for its appearance, but you could always go in and sup the absolutely excellent Thornbridge Evenlode Brown Porter whilst waiting for the Fullers to appear.
Finally, Black Lurcher, a beer brewed for the Three Stags Heads at Wardlow Mires by Abbeydale brewery, has appeared in bottles, and everything. Intrepid explorer Wee Keefy returned from a recent visit with a bottle for us to sup. Some confusion surrounds its antecedence since I have a sneaking suspicion that its bottled at the pub, although, am not sure how long it would last if that was the case.
I know from my days working at Archer Road Beer Stop that Abbeydale weren't keen on bottling of any kind so I'd be interested to know the story behind this bottle, but to be fair, I haven't got round to asking them yet!
So, that's all for now, hopefully with payday arriving in a couple of hours I will have a bit more news to bring you over the coming week.
Cheers!
Wee Beefy
despite the title, regrettably I haven't managed to snare a fresh faced buoyantly optimistic newly arrived student to write this post. It would no doubt be an interesting idea, but I find that even had I not used the word "snare", approaching persons 20 years my junior and asking them to look at my prose/help me out with a blog could be misconstrued, especially in a loud bar. Not that I particularly frequent such places, but...
Anyhoo, this is just a little bit of news really, and the first info surrounds a new pub, or rather a pub reopening, in the city centre. For years there seems to have been no life in the Sanctuary on St James Street, between Vicar Lane and the Cathedral. I rarely recall seeing it open, and before that its name escapes me, but I know I never visited it. So the fact that its reopening tomorrow as The Church House means I may be setting foot inside, finally, for the first time.
Details are, to say the least, sketchy. I photographed the pub walking past but I can't read the Facebook address on the sign, although I did find a page which might relate to the pub (but I won't share it in case it transpires to be some dreadful religious organisation). Oh, and there is nothing on it but a photo. And it aint of a pub. I also could only find one reference on the Twatter, so have had to make do with dieing of boredom reading the planning application.
In short the application relates only to some external signage and entrance lights, and that the proposer is Scottish and Newcastle (pre Sanctuary, in the mid nineties, it was Sherwood Inns). Add to this some rather overly technical architectural details I found on the British listed buildings website, and that the sign proclaims real ales and free Wi-Fi (plus irrelevances such as coffee and "food", whatever that is) and you now know as much as I do.
So, erm. Wooh! Yeah! A new pub run by Heineken in disguise is to open in Sheffield. Oh, and by the way sign writers, announcing that the pub will open on Friday the 29th November does not fill me with confidence. Just saying....
In other news, Harrisons 1854 has staged a bit of a coup by getting hold of some of Bradfield Brewery's perennial winter favourite Belgian Blue. Despite its gimmicky colour its actually a very pleasing and suitably seasonal offering and a Bradfield brew that I usually look out for. Barkeep extraordinaire Barraharri tells me (and, erm, Facebook) that it will be on the bar this weekend. So get thi sens darn theer and try it.
Meanwhile DAda, who are people, have news of some Thornbridge Yule coming on soon, and also a couple of casks of the excellent Fullers Bengal Lancer. Fullers Past Masters and seasonals don't seem to make it oop North, not to Sheffield at least, so in addition to this being a very competent exploration of the brewing styles of the past this is also a quite unusual beer for the area. No specific dates for its appearance, but you could always go in and sup the absolutely excellent Thornbridge Evenlode Brown Porter whilst waiting for the Fullers to appear.
Finally, Black Lurcher, a beer brewed for the Three Stags Heads at Wardlow Mires by Abbeydale brewery, has appeared in bottles, and everything. Intrepid explorer Wee Keefy returned from a recent visit with a bottle for us to sup. Some confusion surrounds its antecedence since I have a sneaking suspicion that its bottled at the pub, although, am not sure how long it would last if that was the case.
I know from my days working at Archer Road Beer Stop that Abbeydale weren't keen on bottling of any kind so I'd be interested to know the story behind this bottle, but to be fair, I haven't got round to asking them yet!
So, that's all for now, hopefully with payday arriving in a couple of hours I will have a bit more news to bring you over the coming week.
Cheers!
Wee Beefy
Tuesday, 27 November 2012
A Monday night tour of Chesterfield pubs
Hello,
this week due to it ending with payday, I have decided to get my drinking done and out the way at the beginning. So that's my excuse for why I ended up sampling the obvious and less obvious delights of Chesterfield in the pissing rain last night. Here's what we found during our extended weekend night out.
I met Davefromtshop in the salubrious environs of the Rutland Arms in Sheffield. The Internet, which is a person, had told me that the first beer from the new Chantry Brewery in Rotherham would be on the bar - and so it was. As I was planning quite a significant evening of refreshment and since Dave turned up after me we both stuck to halves like good lads. Mind you, the draw of the excellent and yummy XT Brewing "9" Black Velvet was too strong so we had another half, of that.
The New York Pale from Chantry was excellent by the way. A lovely peachy, orangey citrus hit from the hops (including centennial) made it gloriously refreshing yet reassuringly luxurious - certainly a brew that promises good things. Heres their somewhat embryonic website, which has at least a line more info on the beer and brewery than the above paragraphs contain....
Off to Chesterfield next on the train - seemingly we caught the only one not delayed by floods - and made our way straight to Coco Bar. Davefromtshop is in the CAMRA, and we knew he was entitled to a discount, so it was his round. To be honest, neither of us expected it to be quite so generous, at 15%. This meant we had two pints of the excellent Dark Star Revelation (5.9%) at just £2.55 per pint. Dangerously good value, and impeccably kept.
Up the hill and off to the other Rutland next, for my first visit this century. A range of about 6 beers included larger regional stalwarts plus 3 guests from smaller outfits. Dave opted for half a Barbarian from Derventio Brewery, whilst I had a half of Black Country Ales BFG. Derventio are frustratingly inconsistent, and they were consistent in this approach by making Barbarian, which should have been really good, slightly poor. The BFG was excellent on the other hand.
Dave had long wanted to visit the Crooked Spire pub. We headed there next with my full approval since I had never seen or heard of it despite its central location. Alas, this enormous former Mansfield house had two handpumps but no cask ale - the barman said they have just one on at a time, but it wasn't ready. So our first visit will have to wait. We went to the Victoria next, recently reopened after plans were shelved to turn it into a strip joint. It was modern, spacious and comfy inside and was similar to Wetherspoons, except without the range of ales. Sharps Doom Bar and Wychwood Hobgoblin were available, served in not bad condition, at £2.00 a pint.
The Spa Lane Vaults was another pub threatening to be very inexpensive indeed. Not that its expensive at the best of times (real ales £2.09 a pint) but Dave had some vouchers for this actual Wetherspoons pub which we used when selecting a couple of pints from a range rather too top heavy with Derventio style masters of inconsistency Milestone Brewery. Their Old English Ale was tasted and found to be grim, so we opted for pints of Rich Ruby which may have been £1.49 each. Either way they were inexpensive and on decent form.
It was my turn to purchase inexpensive drinks next as we ventured unexpectedly to Abacus bar across the road. Easily the oldest people there, we quickly noted that it looks more forlorn when empty based on the extent to which its clearly a place to be seen, glad ragged and wide eyed, strutting your stuff beneath flashing lights and glitter balls. Nothing says depressing more than an empty dancefloor. Still, there were two real ales on and we both had halves of the uninspiring if decently kept Morland Original, which sells at £1.79 a pint. Given that its the same price in the Anglers Rest in Richmond, I wonder whether Abacus is a Barracuda pub?
Our final stop saw us save the best till last. The White Swan had a full compliment of 8 or 9 real ales on plus some Keykeg offerings and as reported previously, bottled exotica. Myself and Dave both opted for halves of the excellent Bridestones brewery Dark Mild, whilst I also had a half of the Steel City Brewing Schrodinger's Cat is Alive and Dave the excellent Raw Try Ale. As this was our last stop we also treated ourselves (probably, this is one of those ghost memories!) to further halves in the form of Try Ale for me, since it was fantastic, and, erm, yer know. Beer. For Dave.
We finished on a half between us of the Arbor Ales Down Deeper on Keykeg. It was very very silly indeed, and unsurprisingly, quite difficult to drink what with its formidable 12% strength. What was perhaps more silly though, was that try as we might, we couldn't get the White Swan to revise their pricing policy. It was £3.95 a pint. That's right the same price as a half pint of a weaker albeit perhaps better Keykeg beer in the Rutland last week. Astounding value.
And so ended a very enjoyable amble, albeit in monsoon torrent, drizzle and high winds, round the largely deserted streets of Chesterfield town centre. Its worth noting that in my 4 visits to the White Swan and 5 to Coco I have never had a bad beer or reason to grumble, making the Vegas of the East Midlands a must stop when in the area. Long may the town's real ale resurgence continue.
Cheers!
Wee Beefy
P.S Stupid arse Blogger is still disbarring me from uploading any images (like some of the rubbish phone pics I took last night). Apologies for the unavoidable lack of photos whilst this daft situation is resolved.
Sunday, 25 November 2012
Oh aye, we can all mess around going to pub beer festivals
Hello,
well, I survived the trauma of another late November night of camping, and apart from a few mislaid items, losing horribly at darts and needing six hours to dry my boots out I seem to have come away from the 18th Annual Cropton Brewery beer festival unscathed. Not that I'll be able to share any photographs of said event with you - Blogger, in its ultimate wisdom, has decided I have now filled my Picasa web album (where, allegedly, my pictures are stored, even though they don't need to be) and wishes me to part with cash to upload more. It ends with off, I beleive...
Anyway, whilst I wait to start that battle I can be telling you about the beer festival at the New Inn in Cropton.
Firstly, its notable that its called the Annual Cropton Brewery beer festival - because in late April next year the New Inn will be hosting the 1st Great Yorkshire Brewery beer festival, at the brewery. Which one assumes is still the same one that makes Cropton beers, housed behind the pub. Right?
I say this because some of you may know that Cropton have rebranded themselves - as the Great Yorkshire Brewery (GYB). Except, erm, its not that simple. Last night there were GYB keg beers and a cask beer on the bar at the New Inn, along with Cropton cask beers. In the festival downstairs there were 6 GYB beers on cask (and the lager was available on lager font and cask), plus 5 Cropton beers. And, the beer festival glass (misplaced item A!) had both breweries logo's on it. The New Inn sign still proclaims its a free house but advertises Cropton brewery ales, and there are picture frames of their bottle labels in the pub, along with a selection of the bottles. So what is happening?
Well, am afraid I don't know any more than you. Cropton and GYB are both on Twitter and Facebook, the GYB website lists their keg beers and other beers (cask), none of which seem to be re-badged Cropton beers (although Blackout, on keg, was a Cropton beer) and there is a lot of emphasis on their lager. In a puzzling little tease they say that they are using new methods to brew their beers, and that a video of the brewing process and other details are coming soon. Whatever could they mean?!
Also, there is a Cropton Brewery website which mentions the brewery and the New Inn in Cropton but makes absolutely no mention of cask ales - only bottles. Finally, the Cropton Twitter account stated on 8th November 2012 "We have rebranded and are now The Great Yorkshire Brewery, please follow us
So, here goes, maybe GYB will produce cask and Keykeg beers (spearheaded by their Yorkshire lager which is making appearances in many bars around tNorth), whilst Cropton will concentrate solely on bottles. That's my guess. If anyone knows whats really going on please let me know!
So, onto the beer, and talking of the lager, I started with a generous half of that since I was very thirsty. I could have had it on cask but chose to have it a bit colder, as befits the style. It was excellent. Very tasty, and very easy to drink despite its carbonation. Wee Keefy started on the Wolf Lupus, being a fan of the maltier beers as he is.
Next up was Red Squirrel Hopfest, which was very palatable indeed, and Jo C's Norfolk Kiwi - a new brewery to me, producing a very quaffable pale beer with New Zealand hops (heres a link to their website). Next I had a pint of the excellent Dark Star American Pale Ale. In some ways I was really pleased to see it, since I love this beer, but the unfortunate downside was that it severely restricted the number of beers amongst the 80 on offer, that I tried.
I did however, manage to try halves of Fyne Ales Jarl, which is always a good hoppy light beer, Cross Bay Zenith, which was very nice but too late on to have many details, ahem, and I also had a half of the excellent Red Squirrel Redwood IPA, a perfectly balanced fruity hoppy ale that went down far too well. By now Carlos, Jake and Mole from Sheffield had caught up with us, and we were chatting with them and some of the bikers from the Hidden Valley bike rally next door.
My final half/taster was the J W King Old Ale, which was fantastic, before I settled on several pints of the Dark Star APA, which is undoubtedly why I lost at darts - not because I'm crap at darts. Which I am. The Dark Star was excellent by the way.
Food wise there was a decent range of burgers and hot dogs, and not too badly priced considering the pies were expensive last year, there was also a commendable range of ciders, quite a few of which I got to try tastes of because two of Wee Keefy's biker friends were working their way through some of the offerings and asked me to taste them. Despite this, I bet zoider drinkers Jeannette and Sue felt better than I did the next morning, putting on cold wet boots to walk across a muddy field in the wind and rain, with a horrendous hangover, to use the portakabin loos!
Finally, the music was quite good as well this year, which is good since it had been a bit hit and miss on the Saturday last year. And all the above serves to remind me that I really must try and get back on a none festival weekend to have a meal when its quiet (does it ever get quiet?) and appreciate the pubs homely charm and see, if nothing else, whether Cropton or Great Yorkshire Brewery cask beers are on - if not both...
Heres to April 2013 at the New Inn!
(and hopefully more seating, which was literally my only gripe about an excellent beer festival...)
Wee Beefy
Thursday, 22 November 2012
Ilkley, Mikkeller, Fullers, Hardknott, Blue Bee, gold, fine wine, luxury liners....
Hello,
after my joy unbounded at drinking the Blue Bee Shake Rattle and Roll and Magic Rock Human Cannonball in the Rutland the other night, I figured it would be some time before such a stellar line up could be found again.
This was quite a dispiriting outlook though, so I went back to the Rutland last night, assuming that (hopefully) the price would scare off all but the most determined punters from draining the Human Cannonball keg. Alas, when I arrived this is precisely what had happened. Yet I still ended up having a truly fantastic selection of ales. How could that possibly be?
Well, firstly in the Rutland Arms the Blue Bee Shake Rattle and Roll was still on so I had a couple more pints of that, Mr P opting for a Nectar to start before joining the growing band of this beer's admirers. Continuing the Blue Bee theme we bumped into Brewer Rich, who informed us that the SRnR was brewed with New Zealand hops, mainly Green Bullet but also Summit and Galena. Just another beer that demonstrates the glorious pungency and bitterness in "new world" hops. Good to see K.E Page from the world of writing as well.
So you'll forgive me if it all seems like a bit of a late on the boat, heard it all before, well worn refrain when I say that Beer Geek Breakfast was stunning. I was worried that the beer might taste ever so slightly of hype but no, it just tasted of perfectly balanced, excellently delivered bottled coffee stout which I could have drank plenty of. It was the epitome of what a good smooth stout should be, and that's up against some stiff competition. Perhaps this is one of those rare occasions when the hype is in fact just reasonable comment.
Wee Beefy
after my joy unbounded at drinking the Blue Bee Shake Rattle and Roll and Magic Rock Human Cannonball in the Rutland the other night, I figured it would be some time before such a stellar line up could be found again.
This was quite a dispiriting outlook though, so I went back to the Rutland last night, assuming that (hopefully) the price would scare off all but the most determined punters from draining the Human Cannonball keg. Alas, when I arrived this is precisely what had happened. Yet I still ended up having a truly fantastic selection of ales. How could that possibly be?
Well, firstly in the Rutland Arms the Blue Bee Shake Rattle and Roll was still on so I had a couple more pints of that, Mr P opting for a Nectar to start before joining the growing band of this beer's admirers. Continuing the Blue Bee theme we bumped into Brewer Rich, who informed us that the SRnR was brewed with New Zealand hops, mainly Green Bullet but also Summit and Galena. Just another beer that demonstrates the glorious pungency and bitterness in "new world" hops. Good to see K.E Page from the world of writing as well.
Off to the Sheffield Tap next, to find a dangerously good range of beers. From the casks available 3 were from Ilkley; Mr P had a pint of their Fireside Porter and I the Mary Jane IPA (6.0%). This beer was a sumptuous blend of hops and malt that packed a nice punch but was effortlessly easy to drink. I followed this with half a Hardknott Azimuth which was a decent dry, hoppy, pale beer, and the excellent Ilkley Siberia Rhubarb Saison. The prefect foil to the ascorbic bite of the Azimuth, and a beer everyone I was to meet later on was also enthusing about.
Mr P sensibly headed home at this point and I went for a last "one" at DAda, where the brilliance continued. I had a fantastic half of Fullers Bengal Lancer on cask (first time I have seen it, and it was fantastic), plus a somewhat unwise pint of Halcyon. I was then treated to two of DAda's best bottled exotica courtesy of a member of staff from another Thornbridge pub who was buying and sharing some of the finer examples of the brewers art. A noble and highly commendable gesture.
First up at (£price too high to insert) was a large bottle of Mikkeller Beer Geek Breakfast. Shared between a handful of us I got a decent sized taste, and wasn't disappointed. Despite its near legendary reputation and high standing in the (wait, am going to heave) "Craft" world, I have had very little Mikkeller output. I had a bottle they did with BrewDog back in 2011 (at the excellent Andersons Bar in Fortrose) and also had a taste of the Big Worse barley wine. Other than that the whole collective Mikkeller-gasm has eluded me.
So you'll forgive me if it all seems like a bit of a late on the boat, heard it all before, well worn refrain when I say that Beer Geek Breakfast was stunning. I was worried that the beer might taste ever so slightly of hype but no, it just tasted of perfectly balanced, excellently delivered bottled coffee stout which I could have drank plenty of. It was the epitome of what a good smooth stout should be, and that's up against some stiff competition. Perhaps this is one of those rare occasions when the hype is in fact just reasonable comment.
Up next was Thornbridge/Odell Pond Hopper. I didn't really like it on draught, I found it clumsy and overly sweet and just not , well, balanced enough. In bottle it was better. It was a similar sized helping and was definitely a good choice to finish the night on. I still think that Thornbridge have done better beers but there's no escaping that this was a big statement. Very many thanks to the kindly benefactor who funded these free tastes - although financial ruination now beckons since I am now willing to go out and pay silly money for the Beer Geek Breakfast...
So, an impeccable night of local, national and international beer aristocracy was enjoyed, giving me the chance to be blown away by quality and consistency for the second time in a week. A hugely rewarding way to spend 4 hours....
Cheers!
Wee Beefy
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