Hello,
over the first few days of 2016 I encountered some excellent beers. I posted about that. However, in keeping with that theme, I have encountered some other extra quality beers in cask, keg and bottle. Here is what I found...
I recently came across the Cloudwater Imperial stout. It was 10.1% and an eye watering £6.00 a pint on cask.
I naturally had a pint - and finished it in 20 minutes. This was not my most sensible move. Luckily, at Shakespeares, Matty was on hand to get another round, and after that he bought me another pint of the excellent Cloudwater. A fantastic beer to end any night - which I had a further (slower) two pints of at a later date.
Last night I was in the Bath Hotel. They had the excellent Cloudwater IPA on at 7.4%. It was chuffing lovely. In the end, I bought pints for Matty and Tash and had 4 or 5 pints myself. Accompanied by an excellent roast pork sandwich this was the perfect night out!
We later went into BrewDog Sheffield. Tash sensibly had a half of a keg beer whilst me and Matty had a bottle of Fantome Saison to share. Thirsty as we were for this excellent saison, we had another bottle - a fantastic way to finish...
Finally, and I apologise for the brevity of this post (as possibly justified hereafter) but tonight after excellent pints of the Blue Bee into the Void and Oceanic Red (along with Acorn Gorlovka for Matty) at the Three Tuns, we ended up once again in Shakespeares.
Here, as well as the Siren Orange Boom at 2.8%, an exemplary, refreshing, low gravity orange wheat, we also had, and I tried, a pint of the Double Ace from Buxton, an, at least, triple IPA based on the excellent Axe Edge, at 10.1%. This, in some ways, may explain the brevity of this post!
A fantastic IPA, this featured vanilla as well as hoppy citrus flavours as well as strong chocolate orange character in the initial and after taste - an astounding and hugely enjoyable beer.
The final beer is in bottle - Hitachino Nest Saison du Japon. Made with lemon and rice wine it is possibly the easiest drinking beer I have ever tried. Me and Matty drunk ours in about two minutes! A perfect but uniquely enjoyable palate cleanser in a line of stronger beers. We bought ours from Archer Road Beer Stop by the way....
And talking of which, tomorrow I will be out with Dave for a rerun of a previous pub crawl - I hope to , write that up soon....
Cheers!
(Hic - edited, as was a trifle refreshed when I posted the above....)
Wee Beefy
Sunday, 31 January 2016
Wednesday, 27 January 2016
A mooch round Abbeydale and Heeley
Hello,
last week I was out and about with Matty. Himself and my were out sampling a few pubs and the ales they sell. Its always good to take someone somewhere new, and Matty had not been to two of the intended pubs. Here's some details of what we found and saw and drank in Abbeydake and Heeley.
We started at Daves, better known as Archer Road Beer Stop. Despite rumours to the contrary, Davefromtshop is still selling real ales - he had Moonshine and Invocation on from Abbeydale when we visited. We were invited in the back for a chat and Dave insisted we try a couple of bottles between the three of us of Hambleton Thoroughbred Legend. This was a new beer, but which was a stronger version of the established golden ale but stronger and hoppier, around 6.5%. We all tried the beer, which was very tasty, and Dave intends to get the whole range in. It was good to introduce Matty to the shop, and was a great start to our night.
Down to Athol and then Little London Road next we were soon on Chesterfield and visited the Tramsheds. This is my second visit and the venue did not disappoint. Although, when we asked if there were any sour beers, I did have to name some, but they offered us a can of Magic Rock Salty Kiss which is excellent, so Matty had that, and I had a hop Oil IPA called Hophunter from Sierra Nevada which was delicious. Matty also got chatting to Alan behind the bar, who he knew from school.
We headed up to the Brothers Arms next, and lined our stomachs with two curried scotch eggs, in my first visit for months. I had a pint of the Blue Bee Ginger and am certain that Matty had something hoppy, perhaps from Revolutions brew. The Brothers was busy as always and we enjoyed sitting in he room on the left, catching up, making plans and watching a steady flow of people heading to and from the bar.
Just down the road is the Sheaf View. This was likewise busy, and we were surprised to find the room at the back virtually empty after we got our pints - a beer I can't remember the name of for me, and a beer I can;t remember the name of for Matty. We got chatting to Dave Staves and enjoyed our more memorable than this post would suggest, real ales. Another cracking visit.
Down onto Chesterfield Road was our penultimate pub the White Lion. We both had pints of Dancing Duck in here, and Matty also tried a strong dark beer which I think was a plum Porter. Details eh - who has them? The beer was reasonably priced as usual and we sat in the beautiful front snug, soaking up the atmosphere and chatting to the guy whose table we had joined.
We left here late on and went to meet Tash and Mr Scatt in the Bath Hotel. Alas we arrived after last orders but luckily halves of a beer had been bought for us. The pub was still quite busy despite it being late and we stayed here for a while before getting a taxi home.
As always, his could be part of a much longer crawl with many different pubs involved. And once again, the crawl demonstrates that there is a large number of different styles of venues selling an interesting range of beers in all formats very close to each other. Long may that continue!
Cheers
Wee Beefy
last week I was out and about with Matty. Himself and my were out sampling a few pubs and the ales they sell. Its always good to take someone somewhere new, and Matty had not been to two of the intended pubs. Here's some details of what we found and saw and drank in Abbeydake and Heeley.
We started at Daves, better known as Archer Road Beer Stop. Despite rumours to the contrary, Davefromtshop is still selling real ales - he had Moonshine and Invocation on from Abbeydale when we visited. We were invited in the back for a chat and Dave insisted we try a couple of bottles between the three of us of Hambleton Thoroughbred Legend. This was a new beer, but which was a stronger version of the established golden ale but stronger and hoppier, around 6.5%. We all tried the beer, which was very tasty, and Dave intends to get the whole range in. It was good to introduce Matty to the shop, and was a great start to our night.
Down to Athol and then Little London Road next we were soon on Chesterfield and visited the Tramsheds. This is my second visit and the venue did not disappoint. Although, when we asked if there were any sour beers, I did have to name some, but they offered us a can of Magic Rock Salty Kiss which is excellent, so Matty had that, and I had a hop Oil IPA called Hophunter from Sierra Nevada which was delicious. Matty also got chatting to Alan behind the bar, who he knew from school.
We headed up to the Brothers Arms next, and lined our stomachs with two curried scotch eggs, in my first visit for months. I had a pint of the Blue Bee Ginger and am certain that Matty had something hoppy, perhaps from Revolutions brew. The Brothers was busy as always and we enjoyed sitting in he room on the left, catching up, making plans and watching a steady flow of people heading to and from the bar.
Just down the road is the Sheaf View. This was likewise busy, and we were surprised to find the room at the back virtually empty after we got our pints - a beer I can't remember the name of for me, and a beer I can;t remember the name of for Matty. We got chatting to Dave Staves and enjoyed our more memorable than this post would suggest, real ales. Another cracking visit.
Down onto Chesterfield Road was our penultimate pub the White Lion. We both had pints of Dancing Duck in here, and Matty also tried a strong dark beer which I think was a plum Porter. Details eh - who has them? The beer was reasonably priced as usual and we sat in the beautiful front snug, soaking up the atmosphere and chatting to the guy whose table we had joined.
We left here late on and went to meet Tash and Mr Scatt in the Bath Hotel. Alas we arrived after last orders but luckily halves of a beer had been bought for us. The pub was still quite busy despite it being late and we stayed here for a while before getting a taxi home.
As always, his could be part of a much longer crawl with many different pubs involved. And once again, the crawl demonstrates that there is a large number of different styles of venues selling an interesting range of beers in all formats very close to each other. Long may that continue!
Cheers
Wee Beefy
Sunday, 17 January 2016
Three days of Birthday drinks
Hello,
on Friday it was Tash's birthday. We both booked the day off work and had many plans to celebrate. We met up with a handful of friends in a number of pubs to sample glorious ales. I can remember what Tash's age is, but it would be rude to let that be known. I can also, however, remember most of what we drank with whom, and where.....
After work on Thursday, having left quite late, we headed across the river to the Harlequin. Matty was already there with Chris and we found the pub packed. Half an hour before we had arrived a retirement do turned up - a scrum was fought through to get to the bar and we were lucky to find somewhere to sit. Matty was on the 7% or more Speyside stout from Exit 33 and recommended the Club 33 from the same brewery. In the end, I bought him another pint of that and me and Tash a pint of the Five Towns beer. The four of us then sat down to watch the crowd enlarge and the noise level raise higher. Great for the pubs coffers am sure, but we didn't fancy staying.
We walked round to Tesco to get supplies and headed for Shakespeares where we met Tony. I bought a pint of Tempest Amber ale for me and halves of the excellent Cloudwater IPA at 8% for Tash and Matty and we sat in the clock room for a catch up. Another round of Cloudwater followed for all of us. halves of course, and we started discussing plans for Tash's birthday, and my Mum' at the end of the month.
We finished the night in the Three Tuns drinking the excellent, hoppy, Blue Bee Rakau pale ale. It has an initially citrus slightly fruity bitterness and then finishes with an incredible dry bitter aftertaste. Matty had gone home by now and after another piont each and a chat with Unpro and his German brewer friends Mark and Sebastien we headed home.
Friday saw us up and out later than planned but it was nice to get a lie in! We quickly went to a couple of shops and got to the Sheffield Tap about 17.30. Oakham Inferno was the beer for me Matty and Tash at an eye watering £10.80 for 3 pints (its 4.0%!) and we got some stools round a table and sat down to await Rachael and Wee Keefy.
After they arrived, further pints of the Inferno followed before WK decided to buy three strong bottled beers to try. Having dissuaded him away from buying a strong USA sharing bottle at £23.00 we opted for a Trappist Rochefort Double at 7.1% for him, a can of Magic Rock Cannonball at 7.4% for Tash and a fantastic bottle of Loch Ness Prince of Tranquility Barrel aged imperial stout at 10.1% for me. WK liked his Trappist I think, everyone liked the astounding clean hoppiness of the Cannonball and all of us were blown away by the alcohol and smooth balance of flavours in the Loch Ness. An excellent beer from Drumnadrochit.
From here we headed up to the Dove and Rainbow, me via a snack after my hefty beer, and I had a pint of the Blue Bee Tempest (or maybe Hambleton Nightmare, or maybe neither!) and Tash as she was a mature regular, was given a bottle of Chaumet perry to drink for her birthday. Needles to zay, Matty dispensed with this. From here most people went home and me and Tash went down to the Shakespeares to finish.
Shakespeares had alas run out of the Cloudwater but I bought Tash a pint of the excellent Kernel Centennial pale ale on keg and me a pint of another Tempest red ale I think, on cask. We met up with Tony once again and he very kindly gave Tash a bottle of the 8% Cloudwater Winter IPA for her birthday - which is now in my fridge awaiting tasting by Tash. A further pint each of the Kernel followed plus we got chatting to the lovely Katie, and also spotted Dave, who admired my Tweed jacket - big hugs to Tash for this gift! A late taxi home, followed by pizza at 03.00 rounded off the night nicely.
Yesterday was a much more relaxing day - we opened the Pinot Noir and supped a couple of small glasses each around 19.00 before leaving the house in the snow about 22.00. We got to the Bath Hotel at 22.40 and found excellent Hopjacker Kansas City Shuffle and Anarchy Brew Co Quiet Riot on cask, both at 5.5%. We started on a pint each of those two followed by a pint for me and a half for Tash of the Hopjacker. When Matty arrived we had a pint each again, and a final pint and a half before catching a taxi about 01.00. Great as always to see Stef and despite some of the loudest people on earth drinking in their it was still a great two hours supping.
Looking forward to enjoying more excellent ales in the coming weeks, and to celebrating two more friends birthdays in January.
Hic!
Cheers
Wee Beefy
on Friday it was Tash's birthday. We both booked the day off work and had many plans to celebrate. We met up with a handful of friends in a number of pubs to sample glorious ales. I can remember what Tash's age is, but it would be rude to let that be known. I can also, however, remember most of what we drank with whom, and where.....
After work on Thursday, having left quite late, we headed across the river to the Harlequin. Matty was already there with Chris and we found the pub packed. Half an hour before we had arrived a retirement do turned up - a scrum was fought through to get to the bar and we were lucky to find somewhere to sit. Matty was on the 7% or more Speyside stout from Exit 33 and recommended the Club 33 from the same brewery. In the end, I bought him another pint of that and me and Tash a pint of the Five Towns beer. The four of us then sat down to watch the crowd enlarge and the noise level raise higher. Great for the pubs coffers am sure, but we didn't fancy staying.
We walked round to Tesco to get supplies and headed for Shakespeares where we met Tony. I bought a pint of Tempest Amber ale for me and halves of the excellent Cloudwater IPA at 8% for Tash and Matty and we sat in the clock room for a catch up. Another round of Cloudwater followed for all of us. halves of course, and we started discussing plans for Tash's birthday, and my Mum' at the end of the month.
We finished the night in the Three Tuns drinking the excellent, hoppy, Blue Bee Rakau pale ale. It has an initially citrus slightly fruity bitterness and then finishes with an incredible dry bitter aftertaste. Matty had gone home by now and after another piont each and a chat with Unpro and his German brewer friends Mark and Sebastien we headed home.
Friday saw us up and out later than planned but it was nice to get a lie in! We quickly went to a couple of shops and got to the Sheffield Tap about 17.30. Oakham Inferno was the beer for me Matty and Tash at an eye watering £10.80 for 3 pints (its 4.0%!) and we got some stools round a table and sat down to await Rachael and Wee Keefy.
After they arrived, further pints of the Inferno followed before WK decided to buy three strong bottled beers to try. Having dissuaded him away from buying a strong USA sharing bottle at £23.00 we opted for a Trappist Rochefort Double at 7.1% for him, a can of Magic Rock Cannonball at 7.4% for Tash and a fantastic bottle of Loch Ness Prince of Tranquility Barrel aged imperial stout at 10.1% for me. WK liked his Trappist I think, everyone liked the astounding clean hoppiness of the Cannonball and all of us were blown away by the alcohol and smooth balance of flavours in the Loch Ness. An excellent beer from Drumnadrochit.
From here we headed up to the Dove and Rainbow, me via a snack after my hefty beer, and I had a pint of the Blue Bee Tempest (or maybe Hambleton Nightmare, or maybe neither!) and Tash as she was a mature regular, was given a bottle of Chaumet perry to drink for her birthday. Needles to zay, Matty dispensed with this. From here most people went home and me and Tash went down to the Shakespeares to finish.
Shakespeares had alas run out of the Cloudwater but I bought Tash a pint of the excellent Kernel Centennial pale ale on keg and me a pint of another Tempest red ale I think, on cask. We met up with Tony once again and he very kindly gave Tash a bottle of the 8% Cloudwater Winter IPA for her birthday - which is now in my fridge awaiting tasting by Tash. A further pint each of the Kernel followed plus we got chatting to the lovely Katie, and also spotted Dave, who admired my Tweed jacket - big hugs to Tash for this gift! A late taxi home, followed by pizza at 03.00 rounded off the night nicely.
Yesterday was a much more relaxing day - we opened the Pinot Noir and supped a couple of small glasses each around 19.00 before leaving the house in the snow about 22.00. We got to the Bath Hotel at 22.40 and found excellent Hopjacker Kansas City Shuffle and Anarchy Brew Co Quiet Riot on cask, both at 5.5%. We started on a pint each of those two followed by a pint for me and a half for Tash of the Hopjacker. When Matty arrived we had a pint each again, and a final pint and a half before catching a taxi about 01.00. Great as always to see Stef and despite some of the loudest people on earth drinking in their it was still a great two hours supping.
Looking forward to enjoying more excellent ales in the coming weeks, and to celebrating two more friends birthdays in January.
Hic!
Cheers
Wee Beefy
Friday, 15 January 2016
The Three Tuns is pub of the month!
Hello,
as per usual with my blog am behind the times - after all, its Friday and the award was made on Tuesday night. That's not actually that bad by recent standards. So here's what happened on Tuesday at the Three Tuns public house Silver Street Head in Sheffield.
The Three Tuns public house Silver Street Head in Sheffield is a lovely long, thin, almost ships bow shaped pub not unlike the Talbot Tap or similar in Ripley. You've all been there. It has a bar opposite the top and bottom entrance, the lower being where all the lovely real ales are kept, the upper where the less meritable lagers ciders and one keg ale live.
The pub is fitted out to a high standard with lots of old woodwork and a wonderful area which I call the bow, probably erroneously, at the right end of the pub. The seating is mostly fixed in the right end and with stools and more fixed seating at the left where the entrance to the loos are. The sating is form the lovely wooden and brass bar. Its really rather attractive I have to say. A lovely place, assuming the quiz isn't on, to go for a quiet pint.
They also do food - much less now Phil has left, but the pork pies an chip butties with bacon and blue cheese are excellent, and I believe they still do a stew or curry - a note though, food is only served til 19.00. On Tuesday I asked Ethan if there would be any food - it was 19.15 so he said he would have thought not. Gawd blezzim. He was "pulling my leg". It was a POTM award night. Food was on its way!
On the bar I and Tash had pints of the interesting Ashover Fabrick Pale Ale, and Matty the Blue Bee Tempest Stout. After this opener, all of us moved onto the 6% Blue Bee Into the Void, a delicious Black IPA. Several, if not numerous, pints were supped, as the pub started to fill up, and we were soon joined by Mr P and Sean. Soon after the food arrived,and thronged by CAMRA folks and regulars alike, everyone massed to celebrate the recent achievements of one of my most frequently visited pubs.
I got some photos of the staff behind the bar, showing off their award proudly. At this point a bloke in the crowd at the front said to Kate, or Dave as you will know her if you read this blog and don't visit the Tuns "Get yer tits out love". I wasn't aware of this, I just saw Kate look at someone and say "why the hell would you say that to me?". Apparently the sexist prick thought it was hilarious and looked around us for support, as if it were 1951 in a town called Retard. It was not. He was still a prick. When confronted about it, he said that the pub was shit - despite having been there four or five hours and spending £40.00. Like I said. A prick.
Still, this din;t put a downer on the evening and after Tash and Mr P went, I finished off some of the excellent Blue Bee Geek (I did not see which one because it wasn't officially on yet, if you get me) and left about 23.30, five hours after arriving, whilst Siobhan and Methane took down the bunting and balloons.
Well done once again to Andrew Inns and their hard working staff, Nathan, Ethan, Mark (possibly?) Kate, Jamie and a lady with a French name which I have forgotten since last night (sorry lady with a French name that I have forgotten since last night). Its great to see for their customer service, hard work, choice of beer and tolerance, rarely I am happy to report, of simpletons from the past rewarded. Long may this excellent recipe for success continue.
Cheers!
Wee Beefy
as per usual with my blog am behind the times - after all, its Friday and the award was made on Tuesday night. That's not actually that bad by recent standards. So here's what happened on Tuesday at the Three Tuns public house Silver Street Head in Sheffield.
The Three Tuns public house Silver Street Head in Sheffield is a lovely long, thin, almost ships bow shaped pub not unlike the Talbot Tap or similar in Ripley. You've all been there. It has a bar opposite the top and bottom entrance, the lower being where all the lovely real ales are kept, the upper where the less meritable lagers ciders and one keg ale live.
The pub is fitted out to a high standard with lots of old woodwork and a wonderful area which I call the bow, probably erroneously, at the right end of the pub. The seating is mostly fixed in the right end and with stools and more fixed seating at the left where the entrance to the loos are. The sating is form the lovely wooden and brass bar. Its really rather attractive I have to say. A lovely place, assuming the quiz isn't on, to go for a quiet pint.
They also do food - much less now Phil has left, but the pork pies an chip butties with bacon and blue cheese are excellent, and I believe they still do a stew or curry - a note though, food is only served til 19.00. On Tuesday I asked Ethan if there would be any food - it was 19.15 so he said he would have thought not. Gawd blezzim. He was "pulling my leg". It was a POTM award night. Food was on its way!
On the bar I and Tash had pints of the interesting Ashover Fabrick Pale Ale, and Matty the Blue Bee Tempest Stout. After this opener, all of us moved onto the 6% Blue Bee Into the Void, a delicious Black IPA. Several, if not numerous, pints were supped, as the pub started to fill up, and we were soon joined by Mr P and Sean. Soon after the food arrived,and thronged by CAMRA folks and regulars alike, everyone massed to celebrate the recent achievements of one of my most frequently visited pubs.
I got some photos of the staff behind the bar, showing off their award proudly. At this point a bloke in the crowd at the front said to Kate, or Dave as you will know her if you read this blog and don't visit the Tuns "Get yer tits out love". I wasn't aware of this, I just saw Kate look at someone and say "why the hell would you say that to me?". Apparently the sexist prick thought it was hilarious and looked around us for support, as if it were 1951 in a town called Retard. It was not. He was still a prick. When confronted about it, he said that the pub was shit - despite having been there four or five hours and spending £40.00. Like I said. A prick.
Still, this din;t put a downer on the evening and after Tash and Mr P went, I finished off some of the excellent Blue Bee Geek (I did not see which one because it wasn't officially on yet, if you get me) and left about 23.30, five hours after arriving, whilst Siobhan and Methane took down the bunting and balloons.
Well done once again to Andrew Inns and their hard working staff, Nathan, Ethan, Mark (possibly?) Kate, Jamie and a lady with a French name which I have forgotten since last night (sorry lady with a French name that I have forgotten since last night). Its great to see for their customer service, hard work, choice of beer and tolerance, rarely I am happy to report, of simpletons from the past rewarded. Long may this excellent recipe for success continue.
Cheers!
Wee Beefy
Monday, 11 January 2016
Five of the best
Hello all,
firstly, happy 2016 - seems very similar to 2015 to me, yer know, eleven days in. And no bloody dryanuary for me once again - really, f you must do it, at least buy soft drinks in the pub as well, thereby keeping pub atmosphere alive and profits near normal in January, the worst month of the year. Actually, this post serves as a reminder in many ways of just why going to the pub is so vital. I mean, if I hadn't how would I have tried five such amazing beers?
By the way, five of the best is restricted to a time frame, 31 December 2015 until today. They are the best beers I have tried in those twelve days. Maybe over a longer period. Not that I can remember....
On New Years Eve against my better judgement I left work quite late and met Tash and Matty in Shakespeares. We were intending to catch the last bus, but in a surprising outcome, we did not. I had heard that the Cloudwater Special IPA was on cask. When I arrived they were already drinking a pint each - something told me it was quite popular so I bought two pints and sat down and joined them Shortly after it ran out. It was, as I thought, a very popular beer.
Interestingly, Matty found it a little one dimensional, and Tony thought it had deteriorated in the cask over the months it had been kept. Cloudwater, he advised, brew beers to be drunk fresh. This is an interesting pint, since I can't think of many cask IPA's that have improved with ageing. On the other hand, I thought the beer was bloody lovely. An excellent end to the year.
On Sunday I was surprised to read that Walkley Beer Co was open. Having lazily plodded to Spasda for supplies I left it late to get there for 17.00 - I arrived at 16.53, just as Kit came out to call last orders. The cask had run out but the excellent Kernel Centennial Simcoe IPA at 6.7% was on keg at a fiver a pint. Kernel IPA's rarely disappoint - and this blew me away. A fantastic blend of citrus fruit and bitterness that I could have made last a lot longer, had time not been called soon after.
However, just before that I decided to buy a bottle to take out. I asked Kit what saisons he had and he pointed one out which I thought about and then saw some Cloudwater. I said "Ooh, Cloudwater! I bet you haven't got any Double IPA". Kit went quiet, walked to a small fridge near the bar and got me a bottle out. "its my last one" he said. I was so grateful. If nothing else because Tony had raved about this beer, and I had read their blog about it. It was £4.20 a bottle and m,e and Tash drank it later that night. It was wonderful - complex, bitter, refreshing, easy drinking, aromatic, punchy, strong - an exceptional beer.
Back at Shakespeares early the next week I tried two new keg beers. Described I think by Chris B as perhaps the hoppiest beer Siren have ever brewed, the rather oddly named Dippy and the Equinox is a wonderful, if strong and slightly pricey, keg pale or possibly red ale. Brewed with Boneyard Brewery in far away, it has heaps and heaps of complimentary hops and a wonderful zesty lingering finish. In the last week I have had several pints and enjoyed every drop of every one. A tremendous brew!
My final favorite came from The Beer Engine. Arriving the same night as the staff party meant I saw Tom for the first time in ages, and me and him had a conversation about cans - as per my last blog post. The beer that stood out here however was a 7.0% cask Ryesing Tides IPA from Siren. I remember having this beer last year at some point and hadn't actually had a rye beer for a while - which is strange, since I really like a rye IPA. The beer is strong but very easy to drink and reasonably priced at £4.20 a pint - bearing in mind that you don't need many. Siren are well known for well balanced beers (although sometimes they get it very wrong) and this was perfect example of a blend of rye and hops and I think red malt, making a delicious real ale.
Once again, a range of different venues purveying excellent beers in cask, keg and bottle demonstrate how lucky we are here in Sheffield to be able to find such a range of excellent ale. Lets hope this quality continues throughout the rest of 2016. Just don't stop going to the pub to find it.
Cheers!
Wee Beefy
firstly, happy 2016 - seems very similar to 2015 to me, yer know, eleven days in. And no bloody dryanuary for me once again - really, f you must do it, at least buy soft drinks in the pub as well, thereby keeping pub atmosphere alive and profits near normal in January, the worst month of the year. Actually, this post serves as a reminder in many ways of just why going to the pub is so vital. I mean, if I hadn't how would I have tried five such amazing beers?
By the way, five of the best is restricted to a time frame, 31 December 2015 until today. They are the best beers I have tried in those twelve days. Maybe over a longer period. Not that I can remember....
On New Years Eve against my better judgement I left work quite late and met Tash and Matty in Shakespeares. We were intending to catch the last bus, but in a surprising outcome, we did not. I had heard that the Cloudwater Special IPA was on cask. When I arrived they were already drinking a pint each - something told me it was quite popular so I bought two pints and sat down and joined them Shortly after it ran out. It was, as I thought, a very popular beer.
Interestingly, Matty found it a little one dimensional, and Tony thought it had deteriorated in the cask over the months it had been kept. Cloudwater, he advised, brew beers to be drunk fresh. This is an interesting pint, since I can't think of many cask IPA's that have improved with ageing. On the other hand, I thought the beer was bloody lovely. An excellent end to the year.
On Sunday I was surprised to read that Walkley Beer Co was open. Having lazily plodded to Spasda for supplies I left it late to get there for 17.00 - I arrived at 16.53, just as Kit came out to call last orders. The cask had run out but the excellent Kernel Centennial Simcoe IPA at 6.7% was on keg at a fiver a pint. Kernel IPA's rarely disappoint - and this blew me away. A fantastic blend of citrus fruit and bitterness that I could have made last a lot longer, had time not been called soon after.
However, just before that I decided to buy a bottle to take out. I asked Kit what saisons he had and he pointed one out which I thought about and then saw some Cloudwater. I said "Ooh, Cloudwater! I bet you haven't got any Double IPA". Kit went quiet, walked to a small fridge near the bar and got me a bottle out. "its my last one" he said. I was so grateful. If nothing else because Tony had raved about this beer, and I had read their blog about it. It was £4.20 a bottle and m,e and Tash drank it later that night. It was wonderful - complex, bitter, refreshing, easy drinking, aromatic, punchy, strong - an exceptional beer.
Back at Shakespeares early the next week I tried two new keg beers. Described I think by Chris B as perhaps the hoppiest beer Siren have ever brewed, the rather oddly named Dippy and the Equinox is a wonderful, if strong and slightly pricey, keg pale or possibly red ale. Brewed with Boneyard Brewery in far away, it has heaps and heaps of complimentary hops and a wonderful zesty lingering finish. In the last week I have had several pints and enjoyed every drop of every one. A tremendous brew!
My final favorite came from The Beer Engine. Arriving the same night as the staff party meant I saw Tom for the first time in ages, and me and him had a conversation about cans - as per my last blog post. The beer that stood out here however was a 7.0% cask Ryesing Tides IPA from Siren. I remember having this beer last year at some point and hadn't actually had a rye beer for a while - which is strange, since I really like a rye IPA. The beer is strong but very easy to drink and reasonably priced at £4.20 a pint - bearing in mind that you don't need many. Siren are well known for well balanced beers (although sometimes they get it very wrong) and this was perfect example of a blend of rye and hops and I think red malt, making a delicious real ale.
Once again, a range of different venues purveying excellent beers in cask, keg and bottle demonstrate how lucky we are here in Sheffield to be able to find such a range of excellent ale. Lets hope this quality continues throughout the rest of 2016. Just don't stop going to the pub to find it.
Cheers!
Wee Beefy
Monday, 28 December 2015
Cans.
Hello
in the 1980's and 90's people really seemed to like canned beers. Almost all breweries canned their beers, from Multinationals to regional family brewers and even some new, up and coming microbreweries. Cans were available in corner shops and supermarkets and were inexpensive. My first party aged...um...an age, where canned drink was bought, was memorable as much for the antics of the guests as the number of cans and PET bottles that I disposed of the next day.
At Hagueys on Crookes you could buy cans of beer with widgets in - Castle Eden, John Smiths, Guinness, Trophy being ones I remember. These produce a silky smooth, film-like, jet of foamy beer which had almost no taste apart from a slight malt and bitter aftertaste - sometimes a lingering pharmaceutical aftertaste. Probably as bad as smoothflow beers are now.
As soon as I got into real ale aged 18 (ish) I started drinking less cans and moved onto pints and bottles - most notable when I started going to Archer Road Beer stop. Pretty soon I stopped drinking crap cans of bowze. I mean, why would I?
In the US of A, am fairly certain that breweries producing hoppy, excellent quality beers, Sierra Nevada, Brooklyn and Anchor spring to mind in this respect, have been producing their wares in cans for a long time. However, its probably only five years ago in the UK, likely with London based Microbreweries, that high quality hoppy tasting UK beers have started to appear in cans - most noticeably, in my experience, in the last eighteen months.
Given the above memories, and the often sky high cost of such products, I immediately turned my nose up - just like I did with keykeg, before I understood what it actually was. Earlier this year I tasted a couple of UK cans, I think from CamdinBev and Roosters at Sheffield beer week, and really enjoyed them, And then later, Tom, or Barry Valentine at the Beer Engine, kindly gave me and Tash a can of Roosters baby faced assassin to try. I was amazed at how hoppy and distinctive it was. Granted, the beer itself is a hoppy easy drinking strong pale ale, so right up my street, but it tasted superb. What on earth was going on?
I have since tried Beavertown cans, and Magic Rock and think that as long as they are sold at a sensible price, the can is, or rather can be, a valuable means of dispense. A case in point is Magic Rock Grapefruit High Wire. Bought from Archer Road Beer Stop for £2.00 a can, which is a sensible price given its cost on keg, I was immediately struck by just how grapefruity the beer smelled and tasted. I have had this beer on keykeg, which I expected to love, (expectation versus delivery, I know...) and found it disappointing - the grapefruit was no more than a subtle hint in the background, perhaps overwhelmed by the carbonation?
In the can, the grapefruit is a complimentary but strong flavour at the forefront and again in the aftertaste. Supping a can last night I found it was refreshing and fruity and hoppy, as well as excellent value. Is this an example of the can being the best dispense method for a particular type pf beer?
Well, alas I can't say - I have not had the beer in a bottle or on cask so its not a fair comparison. What is a fair comparison is that cans from forward thinking innovative microbreweries now seem far better than the widget weary smooth foam of the nineties. If those selling such a product could be more realistic about pricing then I may start drinking more canned beers. And cans are after all, recyclable.
I would always prefer to drink real ale though, in case anyone is worried...!
Psssht click
Wee Beefy
in the 1980's and 90's people really seemed to like canned beers. Almost all breweries canned their beers, from Multinationals to regional family brewers and even some new, up and coming microbreweries. Cans were available in corner shops and supermarkets and were inexpensive. My first party aged...um...an age, where canned drink was bought, was memorable as much for the antics of the guests as the number of cans and PET bottles that I disposed of the next day.
At Hagueys on Crookes you could buy cans of beer with widgets in - Castle Eden, John Smiths, Guinness, Trophy being ones I remember. These produce a silky smooth, film-like, jet of foamy beer which had almost no taste apart from a slight malt and bitter aftertaste - sometimes a lingering pharmaceutical aftertaste. Probably as bad as smoothflow beers are now.
As soon as I got into real ale aged 18 (ish) I started drinking less cans and moved onto pints and bottles - most notable when I started going to Archer Road Beer stop. Pretty soon I stopped drinking crap cans of bowze. I mean, why would I?
In the US of A, am fairly certain that breweries producing hoppy, excellent quality beers, Sierra Nevada, Brooklyn and Anchor spring to mind in this respect, have been producing their wares in cans for a long time. However, its probably only five years ago in the UK, likely with London based Microbreweries, that high quality hoppy tasting UK beers have started to appear in cans - most noticeably, in my experience, in the last eighteen months.
Given the above memories, and the often sky high cost of such products, I immediately turned my nose up - just like I did with keykeg, before I understood what it actually was. Earlier this year I tasted a couple of UK cans, I think from CamdinBev and Roosters at Sheffield beer week, and really enjoyed them, And then later, Tom, or Barry Valentine at the Beer Engine, kindly gave me and Tash a can of Roosters baby faced assassin to try. I was amazed at how hoppy and distinctive it was. Granted, the beer itself is a hoppy easy drinking strong pale ale, so right up my street, but it tasted superb. What on earth was going on?
I have since tried Beavertown cans, and Magic Rock and think that as long as they are sold at a sensible price, the can is, or rather can be, a valuable means of dispense. A case in point is Magic Rock Grapefruit High Wire. Bought from Archer Road Beer Stop for £2.00 a can, which is a sensible price given its cost on keg, I was immediately struck by just how grapefruity the beer smelled and tasted. I have had this beer on keykeg, which I expected to love, (expectation versus delivery, I know...) and found it disappointing - the grapefruit was no more than a subtle hint in the background, perhaps overwhelmed by the carbonation?
In the can, the grapefruit is a complimentary but strong flavour at the forefront and again in the aftertaste. Supping a can last night I found it was refreshing and fruity and hoppy, as well as excellent value. Is this an example of the can being the best dispense method for a particular type pf beer?
Well, alas I can't say - I have not had the beer in a bottle or on cask so its not a fair comparison. What is a fair comparison is that cans from forward thinking innovative microbreweries now seem far better than the widget weary smooth foam of the nineties. If those selling such a product could be more realistic about pricing then I may start drinking more canned beers. And cans are after all, recyclable.
I would always prefer to drink real ale though, in case anyone is worried...!
Psssht click
Wee Beefy
Sunday, 27 December 2015
A Monday night in the bath. Hotel.
Now then,
less than a week ago I met Tash in town after work. It was a Monday night, and Christmas was fast approaching. The previous night we had been in the Rutland til late drinking and moshing after seeing a fillum at the picture house. Tonight we were meeting to enjoy a coffee. I didn't meet Tash until gone 19.00 and we'd both had a hard day. No prizes for guessing which decision we made then, about where to go...
I mean, am sure the Bath Hotel could have done us a coffee, but we didn't really want one. And when we got in Sheffield's only National Inventory pub and saw a Cloudwater Extra Special IPA on cask on the bar, it frankly seemed silly to have a hot drink. The Cloudwater IPA was 7.2% and on at what is a very reasonable for the Bath £4.20 a pint. I set up a tab, got us a seat and ordered two pints. We then spent a short time drinking and catching up with the staff. Followed by another short time....
Mark was working and possibly Paul. We sat at a table near the drinking corridor where Scott and Stef and Sean were chatting, next to what I imagine is one of the Bath's first Christmas trees - a bloke came in a taxi and said he had a spare one to give away so they accepted it and dressed it, naturally, in pump clips and baubles and tinsel. We wrote a card to the staff (at least, all those whose name we could remember) and handed it over before Scott came over and Stef, Scott mainly to wish us a very happy Christmas and New Year (you too mate). More pints of the excellent Cloudwater IPA were bought and supped. This was an outstanding IPA, and devilishly easy to drink despite its strength. Perhaps one of the beers of the year.
Tash had another chat with Stef and we were joined by Sean (other Sean) and Matty fresh from Meadowhell. He had bought bags of reduced price sandwiches and was doling them out amongst the four of us. He bought us more pints of Cloudwater IPA and we continued socialising. At some point, I lost one of my sarnies and some fish cakes - I understand they weren't found in the Bath so are probably rotting somewhere between the road and our front garden!
As time went on more IPA was bought and we were joined first by Pete Green who seemed a trifle refreshed, but was his usual friendly charming self, and also by Kat. More sarnies were doled out and the pub started to slowly empty whilst we ordered more pints of Cloudwater and Matty bought a number of people halves.
A final round of IPA's came our way before we bought shots of Lagavulin to finish on - I think actually Tash may have migrated to another drink by this stage but I finished on the Cloudwater IPA, over four hours after I started, and six pints down. What an amazing night. What an amazing pint!
Many thanks to Matty for his generosity and him, Tash, Stef, Sean, Pete and Kat for their company. Although I was, unsurprisingly, slightly zombified the next day at work, this was the best nights out all Christmas.
And in case am not back in again until 2016, I would like to wish all the staff at the Bath Hotel a very merry New Year. Here's to a prosperous 2016.
Cheers!
Wee Beefy
less than a week ago I met Tash in town after work. It was a Monday night, and Christmas was fast approaching. The previous night we had been in the Rutland til late drinking and moshing after seeing a fillum at the picture house. Tonight we were meeting to enjoy a coffee. I didn't meet Tash until gone 19.00 and we'd both had a hard day. No prizes for guessing which decision we made then, about where to go...
I mean, am sure the Bath Hotel could have done us a coffee, but we didn't really want one. And when we got in Sheffield's only National Inventory pub and saw a Cloudwater Extra Special IPA on cask on the bar, it frankly seemed silly to have a hot drink. The Cloudwater IPA was 7.2% and on at what is a very reasonable for the Bath £4.20 a pint. I set up a tab, got us a seat and ordered two pints. We then spent a short time drinking and catching up with the staff. Followed by another short time....
Mark was working and possibly Paul. We sat at a table near the drinking corridor where Scott and Stef and Sean were chatting, next to what I imagine is one of the Bath's first Christmas trees - a bloke came in a taxi and said he had a spare one to give away so they accepted it and dressed it, naturally, in pump clips and baubles and tinsel. We wrote a card to the staff (at least, all those whose name we could remember) and handed it over before Scott came over and Stef, Scott mainly to wish us a very happy Christmas and New Year (you too mate). More pints of the excellent Cloudwater IPA were bought and supped. This was an outstanding IPA, and devilishly easy to drink despite its strength. Perhaps one of the beers of the year.
Tash had another chat with Stef and we were joined by Sean (other Sean) and Matty fresh from Meadowhell. He had bought bags of reduced price sandwiches and was doling them out amongst the four of us. He bought us more pints of Cloudwater IPA and we continued socialising. At some point, I lost one of my sarnies and some fish cakes - I understand they weren't found in the Bath so are probably rotting somewhere between the road and our front garden!
As time went on more IPA was bought and we were joined first by Pete Green who seemed a trifle refreshed, but was his usual friendly charming self, and also by Kat. More sarnies were doled out and the pub started to slowly empty whilst we ordered more pints of Cloudwater and Matty bought a number of people halves.
A final round of IPA's came our way before we bought shots of Lagavulin to finish on - I think actually Tash may have migrated to another drink by this stage but I finished on the Cloudwater IPA, over four hours after I started, and six pints down. What an amazing night. What an amazing pint!
Many thanks to Matty for his generosity and him, Tash, Stef, Sean, Pete and Kat for their company. Although I was, unsurprisingly, slightly zombified the next day at work, this was the best nights out all Christmas.
And in case am not back in again until 2016, I would like to wish all the staff at the Bath Hotel a very merry New Year. Here's to a prosperous 2016.
Cheers!
Wee Beefy
The Cobden View and the White Lion
Hello readers,
firstly, I would like to say that I hope that you all had a wonderful Christmas, and to wish you a very merry new year, and a prosperous 2016. I was lucky enough to wake up on Christmas Day in the arms of Tash for the first time, and spent the day with her, then the Wee men at Wee Fatha's. Before all that however, blogging was temporarily suspended due to imbibing. Over the next few days, I hope to recall some of that.
On Saturday 19th December I met Wee's Fatha and Keefy, Mumrah and Martin and Matty and Tash at Crosspool for our Christmas meal out. Afterwards we went to the Punch Bowl and then were heading off to the Closed Shop and Hallamshire House to finish. More details of the first two pubs will follow. En route to School Road we were on Cobden View Road and Tash had a pressing need. Since it wasn't too late I agreed we popped in the Cobden View for a half and an obviate. In the end, we stayed all night.
The Cobden View, or the Cobden as its usually known, to me at least, is a back street boozer. Its on Cobden View Road, with houses or flats on either side and the back of Western Road houses overlooking it - there is even a jennel from the beer garden to Western Road. I first went in when I was seventeen - I used to drink Newcastle Brown in bottles, and bought and poured one hastily, causing it to be half head. Being so young, I mistakenly thought this was a Southern head, and went to see some such folks from Church (I know...) and loudly laughed at them and it. I made myself look like a tit to be honest. That never, luckily, stopped me going in.
Matty had never been in the Cobden. I told him, in a casual but believable sounding Beefy lie, that it was named after the industrialist Richard Cobden, as opposed to the guy who had a short-lived brewery and Nightclub in Stockport in the nineties. To my surprise, I found a poster in the loos confirming this was (virtually) the case. Richard Cobden was a commercial traveler then businessman, setting up near Clitheroe and then in Manchester a Calico printing factory. He later became a member of the Anti Corn Law league and a peace campaigner and campaigned for Free Trade, described as the "greatest classical-liberal thinker of International affairs". He wasn't just an industrialist, in fact his views meant he wasn't at all. Its nice to make up something which is virtually true however...!
We had halves of Belgian Blue for Tash, Hobgoblin for Matty and Copper Dragon Best for me. We sat in the room on the left and noticed a huge jug of mulled wine was nearby with mince pies. When I returned from the loo Matty and Tash were tucking into roast chestnuts. I've never had them, so joined in. The occasion? The 150th anniversary of the licensing of the Cobden View in 1865 (originally as the Cobden Tavern). There were carol singers, who sing only in pubs on request (and the woman singer leading had an incredible voice), a huge pot of stew, and regulars and newcomers alike.
We talked to the managers Andrew and Laura (am not sure, sorry!) who was a university student from Stoke. They were keen on promoting the pub and making it an inclusive part of the community - in my opinion this has been pulled off perfectly. There is an excellent mix of local students and local born residents, a former boxer who is unsteady on his feet who collects the glasses, friendly bar staff and a proper community spirit. We had stew and mulled wine and mince pies (we were encouraged to!) and carried on drinking pints of Farmers Belgian Blue and Blonde, and chatted to other punters.
One of the most amazing things about the night was that I went to the bar to ask if I could pay on card, telling the man serving me, who may have been called Chris (sorry!) that I needed the change for the taxi. "Where you going to?" he asked. "Handsworth via Arbourthorne " I replied. He said it would be fine to take us - even though, when I asked him where he lived he said it was just round the corner. When we pressed him for an explanation later he said " well, just think of it as a Christmas present". What a lovely kind gesture that was. His generosity nicely summed up the spirit of the pub and the friendliness we had been shown. For more information and news, here is a link to their Facebook page .
A short mention next about the White Lion on London Road Heeley bottom. Its short because I was only in shortly the other day. It is no lesser a pub!
Earlier this year the pub was taken over by my friends Jon and Mandy. I was surprised to say the least, because even though they were long time regulars in there, I didn't think either of them had any experience of running a pub. Going in soon after they opened, I found out this was the case. Despite that, more than 6 months on they are still there, making money, showcasing live music and have put their own individual stamp on a pub which had become a little predictable in its beer range prior to them taking over.
Initially Jon told me that he wanted to introduce his own prices as he felt the current were too high, and to make changes to the beer range. The first few times we came in that hadn't been possible, and it took a fortnight to get a card machine, but one thing that shone though was the quality of the beer - I understand the cellar is immaculately clean. However, other than seeing him run a bar at Tramlines (selling excellent Wild and Siren beer) I don't think I've been in the pub since.
On Wednesday I was up at Manhattan's Motorcycles buying a present and popped in the Sheaf View for a half of Geeves fully laden IPA - on my way to Davefromtshop's shop, I decided to pop in - and found that as promised, the prices were much reduced, and the beer range was incredible. As I was pushed for time I only tried a half - of Waen Snowball, a 7.0% chocolate, coconut and vanilla porter - a bargain, given its strength, at £3.50 a pint. Other beers on offer included Dancing Duck Hoppy Christmas, a beer from Coastal, one from XT and many more. For more info, see their Facebook page here.
Its great to see the changes that Jon and Mandy have introduced, and I wish them all the very best. I will have to start adding this to my Brothers and Sheaf View crawl from now on. Once again, Sheffield presents two excellent community pubs hosting live music, and selling excellent real ale at sensible prices. God bless the Steel City!
Cheers
Wee Beefy
firstly, I would like to say that I hope that you all had a wonderful Christmas, and to wish you a very merry new year, and a prosperous 2016. I was lucky enough to wake up on Christmas Day in the arms of Tash for the first time, and spent the day with her, then the Wee men at Wee Fatha's. Before all that however, blogging was temporarily suspended due to imbibing. Over the next few days, I hope to recall some of that.
On Saturday 19th December I met Wee's Fatha and Keefy, Mumrah and Martin and Matty and Tash at Crosspool for our Christmas meal out. Afterwards we went to the Punch Bowl and then were heading off to the Closed Shop and Hallamshire House to finish. More details of the first two pubs will follow. En route to School Road we were on Cobden View Road and Tash had a pressing need. Since it wasn't too late I agreed we popped in the Cobden View for a half and an obviate. In the end, we stayed all night.
The Cobden View, or the Cobden as its usually known, to me at least, is a back street boozer. Its on Cobden View Road, with houses or flats on either side and the back of Western Road houses overlooking it - there is even a jennel from the beer garden to Western Road. I first went in when I was seventeen - I used to drink Newcastle Brown in bottles, and bought and poured one hastily, causing it to be half head. Being so young, I mistakenly thought this was a Southern head, and went to see some such folks from Church (I know...) and loudly laughed at them and it. I made myself look like a tit to be honest. That never, luckily, stopped me going in.
Matty had never been in the Cobden. I told him, in a casual but believable sounding Beefy lie, that it was named after the industrialist Richard Cobden, as opposed to the guy who had a short-lived brewery and Nightclub in Stockport in the nineties. To my surprise, I found a poster in the loos confirming this was (virtually) the case. Richard Cobden was a commercial traveler then businessman, setting up near Clitheroe and then in Manchester a Calico printing factory. He later became a member of the Anti Corn Law league and a peace campaigner and campaigned for Free Trade, described as the "greatest classical-liberal thinker of International affairs". He wasn't just an industrialist, in fact his views meant he wasn't at all. Its nice to make up something which is virtually true however...!
We had halves of Belgian Blue for Tash, Hobgoblin for Matty and Copper Dragon Best for me. We sat in the room on the left and noticed a huge jug of mulled wine was nearby with mince pies. When I returned from the loo Matty and Tash were tucking into roast chestnuts. I've never had them, so joined in. The occasion? The 150th anniversary of the licensing of the Cobden View in 1865 (originally as the Cobden Tavern). There were carol singers, who sing only in pubs on request (and the woman singer leading had an incredible voice), a huge pot of stew, and regulars and newcomers alike.
We talked to the managers Andrew and Laura (am not sure, sorry!) who was a university student from Stoke. They were keen on promoting the pub and making it an inclusive part of the community - in my opinion this has been pulled off perfectly. There is an excellent mix of local students and local born residents, a former boxer who is unsteady on his feet who collects the glasses, friendly bar staff and a proper community spirit. We had stew and mulled wine and mince pies (we were encouraged to!) and carried on drinking pints of Farmers Belgian Blue and Blonde, and chatted to other punters.
One of the most amazing things about the night was that I went to the bar to ask if I could pay on card, telling the man serving me, who may have been called Chris (sorry!) that I needed the change for the taxi. "Where you going to?" he asked. "Handsworth via Arbourthorne " I replied. He said it would be fine to take us - even though, when I asked him where he lived he said it was just round the corner. When we pressed him for an explanation later he said " well, just think of it as a Christmas present". What a lovely kind gesture that was. His generosity nicely summed up the spirit of the pub and the friendliness we had been shown. For more information and news, here is a link to their Facebook page .
A short mention next about the White Lion on London Road Heeley bottom. Its short because I was only in shortly the other day. It is no lesser a pub!
Earlier this year the pub was taken over by my friends Jon and Mandy. I was surprised to say the least, because even though they were long time regulars in there, I didn't think either of them had any experience of running a pub. Going in soon after they opened, I found out this was the case. Despite that, more than 6 months on they are still there, making money, showcasing live music and have put their own individual stamp on a pub which had become a little predictable in its beer range prior to them taking over.
Initially Jon told me that he wanted to introduce his own prices as he felt the current were too high, and to make changes to the beer range. The first few times we came in that hadn't been possible, and it took a fortnight to get a card machine, but one thing that shone though was the quality of the beer - I understand the cellar is immaculately clean. However, other than seeing him run a bar at Tramlines (selling excellent Wild and Siren beer) I don't think I've been in the pub since.
On Wednesday I was up at Manhattan's Motorcycles buying a present and popped in the Sheaf View for a half of Geeves fully laden IPA - on my way to Davefromtshop's shop, I decided to pop in - and found that as promised, the prices were much reduced, and the beer range was incredible. As I was pushed for time I only tried a half - of Waen Snowball, a 7.0% chocolate, coconut and vanilla porter - a bargain, given its strength, at £3.50 a pint. Other beers on offer included Dancing Duck Hoppy Christmas, a beer from Coastal, one from XT and many more. For more info, see their Facebook page here.
Its great to see the changes that Jon and Mandy have introduced, and I wish them all the very best. I will have to start adding this to my Brothers and Sheaf View crawl from now on. Once again, Sheffield presents two excellent community pubs hosting live music, and selling excellent real ale at sensible prices. God bless the Steel City!
Cheers
Wee Beefy
Sunday, 13 December 2015
An Ale Amble round the edges of Sheffield centre
Hello,
yesterday I was pleased to meet up with Charlie, AKA renowned beer blogger from the aswiftone beer blog Ale Ambler. We had not met up for a couple of years and we decided to meet in the Sheffield Tap to start a short pub crawl.in the grey, darkening streets of sodden Sheffield
The days tarted well I had arranged to meet Charlie the night before -desit having been a trifle refreshed at the time, and despite having lost my phone, I remembered that I was meeting the AA at
12.30. I hadn't however, remembered to get ready for 11.45. I was burning my bacon at that point. And trying to contact the AA via Facebook. Luckily I found his Twitter account and messaged him. I found my dead phone 10 minutes before I left, and met the AA at 13.08. Luckily things improved form here on.
In the Sheffield Tap it was busy and I spotted the AA at the bar. He had a half of Arbor Oz Bomb and me a First Chop AVA. We repaired to the brewery room where the smell f brewing hung in the air, and I sat and gently shook whilst Double A made notes. I was still mildly drunk from the night before you see. Both beers were lovely. Especially the Arbor.
Coats and scarves done up we walked out of the Tap into a wall of water and struggled along Brown Street, Sidney Street and up onto Arundel Street. Double A is fond of street art - as opposed to graffiti (the difference between which is different to many) and we stopped off at a wall near the pub to look at some.
The Lord Nelson is a small, back street, corner local, owned by Greedy King, but still retaining its character and selling a good range of real ales and bottles - and black pudding pork scratchings. I also noticed bottles of West Brewing St Mungo's lager in the fridge - not something I have seen anywhere for a while.
We had a pint and a half of Pennine Happy New Year 2016 - maybe a little early but it isn't how I would expect a celebration ale to taste. That said. it was beautiful. Very quaffable with a balanced bitterness and very easy to drink. The AA also had a half of Bradfield Belgian Blue. This was as I predicted - poorly balanced and sweet (and with no identifiable blue). Absolutely nothing with how it was kept I should point out. It was in here as well that I decided to recharge my phone. Alas, two minutes in, the lead fell out and I didn't notice. It would be two pubs later before I got my phone charged!
The AA liked the lord Nelson - now with I love Fanny's T-shirts to order, for those confident that people would realise the pub was known as that. He liked what they had done with the space and the fact that there were four separate drinking areas still. Definitely a pub we will revisit.
Along back streets and through Decathlon car park we were soon in the underpass and heading for the Beer Engine. Sadly Tol Barry was not around - he would be in later. The AA will have to return to Sheffield to meet him.
On the bar was a great selection of real ales and kegs - sadly rather too many dark ones for me but the Siren Oatmeal Pale Undercurrent was on at £3.40 a pint so I had a half of that and the keg four Hopmen of the Hopocalypse. The AA meanwhile had a half o the Wild Beer Millionaire, a salted caramel chocolate ale which we were warned was quite sweet. It was an immensely strong flavoured beer at 4.7%, and although I preferred my delicious Oatmeal Pale and Hopmen, the AA found it quite easy to drink.
As usual there was an interesting range of music on and trade was steady, if not busy. One thing I will point out about the Beer Engine is the toilets - soft loo roll, heating, handwash and a hand dryer and hot water. None of which are difficult to provide, but usually only two of which are available in other pubs. Its nowhere near as important as the quality of the beers however. Since they are also excellent and well thought through, this makes the Beer Engine a fab place for a pint.
Up Eccy road next and we arrived from the continuing downpour at the Portland House. On the bar there were four Welbeck and Leeds best and a Celt Experience beer called something an Brett. The guy behind the bar asked of we were here to try it, and given the choice we were. The AA was not aware of brettanomyces - part of the Saccharomycetaceae family of myacies, for ease of reference! The only reference I could muster at the time was that they featured in Imperial Russian Stouts, and that breweries were now trying them out for the unique unusual flavour. The beer was certainly in possession of that - it was an unusual but possibly over-bretted beer, but definitely one that challenged our taste buds. The other thing here was that I managed to charge my phone o 26%.
We caught a bus back into town and went to collect the AA's haul of shopping from Wateralls and a cheese specialist - where I also purchased some Brampton Impy Dark Derby cheese. After a quick chat with Sean from Beer Central we headed up to the Devonshire Cat. The AA got a half of Shiny Sorachi and I the Hop Studio Obsidian Black IPA. We sat in my usual place and found that we couldn't use the sockets to charge my phone....
Never the less, we enjoyed our beers, but me rather more than the AA whose Sorachi flavoured beer was overpowering! We also bumped into new manager Liz formerly of the Sheffield Tap. December, it seems, is s busy time of year to start your new job...
Up the road next for me and The AA's final pub the Bath Hotel. I got a pint of Harbour Pale and he a half of Jaipur on keg. We sat in the back and watched the fire very slowly fail to get going and then be drowned by more coal. A shame, since we were soaked. I had a further pint of Jaipur and Matty joined us whilst we waited for Tash, but the AA admitted he had reached his limit and we soon left for him to get his train. Thanks so much for your company Ale Ambler! Glad to have introduced you to a new Sheffield pub or two.
I headed off to BrewDog next to wait for Tash - as the crawl was finished we could now drink beer in the cntre. We shared a bottle of the Fantome Saison. The bar was quite packed and the music was fantastic as it so often is. We also had two halves of the Aberdeen BrewDog Ghost Writer and the Prototype Black IPA, along with a venison pie and mash and gravy - which was very tasty, but really needed to have come on a plate as opposed to in a box.
Our final stop of the night was in the Tap and Tankard where we had two halves of the Green Jack gone fishing and a half of Double Top Shanghai. I also bought Tash a double gin and tonic as she was feeling a little unwell. The music changes from being rock and dub to awful pop later one - a deliberate ploy no doubt to persuade customers to leave. It worked, and we left about midnight.
This was another fantastic pub crawl in Sheffield featuring a mix of different pub styles and beer styles. Great to catch up with the Ale Ambler, and this day out proves that there are plenty of other Sheffield crawls for us both, and indeed us three, to do in the future.
Cheers!
Wee Beefy
yesterday I was pleased to meet up with Charlie, AKA renowned beer blogger from the aswiftone beer blog Ale Ambler. We had not met up for a couple of years and we decided to meet in the Sheffield Tap to start a short pub crawl.in the grey, darkening streets of sodden Sheffield
The days tarted well I had arranged to meet Charlie the night before -desit having been a trifle refreshed at the time, and despite having lost my phone, I remembered that I was meeting the AA at
12.30. I hadn't however, remembered to get ready for 11.45. I was burning my bacon at that point. And trying to contact the AA via Facebook. Luckily I found his Twitter account and messaged him. I found my dead phone 10 minutes before I left, and met the AA at 13.08. Luckily things improved form here on.
In the Sheffield Tap it was busy and I spotted the AA at the bar. He had a half of Arbor Oz Bomb and me a First Chop AVA. We repaired to the brewery room where the smell f brewing hung in the air, and I sat and gently shook whilst Double A made notes. I was still mildly drunk from the night before you see. Both beers were lovely. Especially the Arbor.
Coats and scarves done up we walked out of the Tap into a wall of water and struggled along Brown Street, Sidney Street and up onto Arundel Street. Double A is fond of street art - as opposed to graffiti (the difference between which is different to many) and we stopped off at a wall near the pub to look at some.
The Lord Nelson is a small, back street, corner local, owned by Greedy King, but still retaining its character and selling a good range of real ales and bottles - and black pudding pork scratchings. I also noticed bottles of West Brewing St Mungo's lager in the fridge - not something I have seen anywhere for a while.
We had a pint and a half of Pennine Happy New Year 2016 - maybe a little early but it isn't how I would expect a celebration ale to taste. That said. it was beautiful. Very quaffable with a balanced bitterness and very easy to drink. The AA also had a half of Bradfield Belgian Blue. This was as I predicted - poorly balanced and sweet (and with no identifiable blue). Absolutely nothing with how it was kept I should point out. It was in here as well that I decided to recharge my phone. Alas, two minutes in, the lead fell out and I didn't notice. It would be two pubs later before I got my phone charged!
The AA liked the lord Nelson - now with I love Fanny's T-shirts to order, for those confident that people would realise the pub was known as that. He liked what they had done with the space and the fact that there were four separate drinking areas still. Definitely a pub we will revisit.
Along back streets and through Decathlon car park we were soon in the underpass and heading for the Beer Engine. Sadly Tol Barry was not around - he would be in later. The AA will have to return to Sheffield to meet him.
On the bar was a great selection of real ales and kegs - sadly rather too many dark ones for me but the Siren Oatmeal Pale Undercurrent was on at £3.40 a pint so I had a half of that and the keg four Hopmen of the Hopocalypse. The AA meanwhile had a half o the Wild Beer Millionaire, a salted caramel chocolate ale which we were warned was quite sweet. It was an immensely strong flavoured beer at 4.7%, and although I preferred my delicious Oatmeal Pale and Hopmen, the AA found it quite easy to drink.
As usual there was an interesting range of music on and trade was steady, if not busy. One thing I will point out about the Beer Engine is the toilets - soft loo roll, heating, handwash and a hand dryer and hot water. None of which are difficult to provide, but usually only two of which are available in other pubs. Its nowhere near as important as the quality of the beers however. Since they are also excellent and well thought through, this makes the Beer Engine a fab place for a pint.
Up Eccy road next and we arrived from the continuing downpour at the Portland House. On the bar there were four Welbeck and Leeds best and a Celt Experience beer called something an Brett. The guy behind the bar asked of we were here to try it, and given the choice we were. The AA was not aware of brettanomyces - part of the Saccharomycetaceae family of myacies, for ease of reference! The only reference I could muster at the time was that they featured in Imperial Russian Stouts, and that breweries were now trying them out for the unique unusual flavour. The beer was certainly in possession of that - it was an unusual but possibly over-bretted beer, but definitely one that challenged our taste buds. The other thing here was that I managed to charge my phone o 26%.
We caught a bus back into town and went to collect the AA's haul of shopping from Wateralls and a cheese specialist - where I also purchased some Brampton Impy Dark Derby cheese. After a quick chat with Sean from Beer Central we headed up to the Devonshire Cat. The AA got a half of Shiny Sorachi and I the Hop Studio Obsidian Black IPA. We sat in my usual place and found that we couldn't use the sockets to charge my phone....
Never the less, we enjoyed our beers, but me rather more than the AA whose Sorachi flavoured beer was overpowering! We also bumped into new manager Liz formerly of the Sheffield Tap. December, it seems, is s busy time of year to start your new job...
Up the road next for me and The AA's final pub the Bath Hotel. I got a pint of Harbour Pale and he a half of Jaipur on keg. We sat in the back and watched the fire very slowly fail to get going and then be drowned by more coal. A shame, since we were soaked. I had a further pint of Jaipur and Matty joined us whilst we waited for Tash, but the AA admitted he had reached his limit and we soon left for him to get his train. Thanks so much for your company Ale Ambler! Glad to have introduced you to a new Sheffield pub or two.
I headed off to BrewDog next to wait for Tash - as the crawl was finished we could now drink beer in the cntre. We shared a bottle of the Fantome Saison. The bar was quite packed and the music was fantastic as it so often is. We also had two halves of the Aberdeen BrewDog Ghost Writer and the Prototype Black IPA, along with a venison pie and mash and gravy - which was very tasty, but really needed to have come on a plate as opposed to in a box.
Our final stop of the night was in the Tap and Tankard where we had two halves of the Green Jack gone fishing and a half of Double Top Shanghai. I also bought Tash a double gin and tonic as she was feeling a little unwell. The music changes from being rock and dub to awful pop later one - a deliberate ploy no doubt to persuade customers to leave. It worked, and we left about midnight.
This was another fantastic pub crawl in Sheffield featuring a mix of different pub styles and beer styles. Great to catch up with the Ale Ambler, and this day out proves that there are plenty of other Sheffield crawls for us both, and indeed us three, to do in the future.
Cheers!
Wee Beefy
Thursday, 10 December 2015
Supterday
Hello,
on Saturday I popped in the pub after overtime. I had earned some extra cash and decided to spend it about 7 weeks in advance. In the end, due to events far North in Cumbria, Tash was quite late joining me. Very quite late. Luckily, in the meantime, I decided to sup in the pub. And virtually remained sober. Here are the details of those twelve hours....
I got to Shakespeares at 14.15 and had a pint of the excellent, biting hopped Arbor Triple Hop at 4.0%. I supped this very slowly as it turned out, joined briefly by Paul and his family, before I spotted T_i_B from the internet. Having got his attention (he does not answer to Tib) I chatted with him for a good hour or two. He started on the super strong Brodies Simcoe for Breakfast whilst I moved onto a 7.2% Red IPA from Buxton - just a half of course. Tom (for it is he) then moved down to the Arbor and I joined him for a last couple of halves of the same, before heading for food nearby.
The Three Tuns was busy, as it often is thankfully, and I managed to get a seat at the right near the bow end of the pub. I had a half of Blue Bee Motueka and ordered a chip butty with blue cheese and bacon. The menu is reduced since this time last year and this was actually quite a small butty, but it still did the trick. I spoke to Tash and she was still trying to find out details of the flooding in Cumbria so I quickly got myself another half of Motueka and sat back down.
I walked very slowly (deliberately) around 19.00 up to the Bath Hotel - this was also rammed, and initially I had to stand at one end of the bar. I bumped into Nick out with some mates and supped a pint of the excellent Hopjacker Kansas City Shuffle, a 5.5% pale ale brewed at the Dronfield Arms. This was an excellent pint, and I eventually got sat down and ordered a half a pork pie and a glass of water. The pub was emptying a little now, around 20.00 and I moved on to a half of Jaipur on keg. Heading to the bar for more water, I was spotted by Clare and Gav.
They were in enjoying drinks having been out walking their dog Jezza and I was allowed by the same to join them. They were also on keg Jaipur (which I think is a good price at £3.90, or rather about 50p only, more expensive than the cask) and I stopped on my dwindling supplies until Tash turned up about 22.00. She was really stressed about the flooding since her Mum and Brother live in Carlisle - by Sunday morning they had been evacuated. In an attempt to distract her I bought her and myself a pint of Hopjacker each and we chatted to Clare and Gav.
About 23.00 we were joined by Emma, Matty's friend. She arrived quite late but just in time for a glass of wine and persuaded Matty to get out of bed to join us. I bought me and Tash another pint each of the excellent Hopjacker and Matty turned up just after last orders.
From here we secured funds and caught a taxi to Shakespeares. In all honesty I can only say for definite what I had for the last rather than the first round. I know Matty had a pint of Abbeydale Marshmallow Meltdown, a 7.0% stout brewed with Hop Hideout, and am guessing I sensibly went for a pint of the Triple Hop. We were joined by Katie and Lee and sat in both the clock room and outside in the yard catching up and putting the world to rights. I finished on a half of the Simcoe for breakfast, the 10.2% Brodies breakfast stout before we caught a taxi about 02.40.
Notwithstanding the ride home, when Tash was treated terribly by the taxi driver for reasons that I on't share on here, this was a great day of (mostly) restrained drinking of excellent real ales and keg beers in three different fabulous pubs. I may have had nine or ten pints in all but I wasn't that drunk and crucially I really enjoyed every one of them. Even if I forgot one of them....
With thanks to Tom, Gav, Clare, Emma Katie and Lee and of course Matty and Tash for their company on a wonderful long short pub crawl.
Cheers!
Wee Beefy
on Saturday I popped in the pub after overtime. I had earned some extra cash and decided to spend it about 7 weeks in advance. In the end, due to events far North in Cumbria, Tash was quite late joining me. Very quite late. Luckily, in the meantime, I decided to sup in the pub. And virtually remained sober. Here are the details of those twelve hours....
I got to Shakespeares at 14.15 and had a pint of the excellent, biting hopped Arbor Triple Hop at 4.0%. I supped this very slowly as it turned out, joined briefly by Paul and his family, before I spotted T_i_B from the internet. Having got his attention (he does not answer to Tib) I chatted with him for a good hour or two. He started on the super strong Brodies Simcoe for Breakfast whilst I moved onto a 7.2% Red IPA from Buxton - just a half of course. Tom (for it is he) then moved down to the Arbor and I joined him for a last couple of halves of the same, before heading for food nearby.
The Three Tuns was busy, as it often is thankfully, and I managed to get a seat at the right near the bow end of the pub. I had a half of Blue Bee Motueka and ordered a chip butty with blue cheese and bacon. The menu is reduced since this time last year and this was actually quite a small butty, but it still did the trick. I spoke to Tash and she was still trying to find out details of the flooding in Cumbria so I quickly got myself another half of Motueka and sat back down.
I walked very slowly (deliberately) around 19.00 up to the Bath Hotel - this was also rammed, and initially I had to stand at one end of the bar. I bumped into Nick out with some mates and supped a pint of the excellent Hopjacker Kansas City Shuffle, a 5.5% pale ale brewed at the Dronfield Arms. This was an excellent pint, and I eventually got sat down and ordered a half a pork pie and a glass of water. The pub was emptying a little now, around 20.00 and I moved on to a half of Jaipur on keg. Heading to the bar for more water, I was spotted by Clare and Gav.
They were in enjoying drinks having been out walking their dog Jezza and I was allowed by the same to join them. They were also on keg Jaipur (which I think is a good price at £3.90, or rather about 50p only, more expensive than the cask) and I stopped on my dwindling supplies until Tash turned up about 22.00. She was really stressed about the flooding since her Mum and Brother live in Carlisle - by Sunday morning they had been evacuated. In an attempt to distract her I bought her and myself a pint of Hopjacker each and we chatted to Clare and Gav.
About 23.00 we were joined by Emma, Matty's friend. She arrived quite late but just in time for a glass of wine and persuaded Matty to get out of bed to join us. I bought me and Tash another pint each of the excellent Hopjacker and Matty turned up just after last orders.
From here we secured funds and caught a taxi to Shakespeares. In all honesty I can only say for definite what I had for the last rather than the first round. I know Matty had a pint of Abbeydale Marshmallow Meltdown, a 7.0% stout brewed with Hop Hideout, and am guessing I sensibly went for a pint of the Triple Hop. We were joined by Katie and Lee and sat in both the clock room and outside in the yard catching up and putting the world to rights. I finished on a half of the Simcoe for breakfast, the 10.2% Brodies breakfast stout before we caught a taxi about 02.40.
Notwithstanding the ride home, when Tash was treated terribly by the taxi driver for reasons that I on't share on here, this was a great day of (mostly) restrained drinking of excellent real ales and keg beers in three different fabulous pubs. I may have had nine or ten pints in all but I wasn't that drunk and crucially I really enjoyed every one of them. Even if I forgot one of them....
With thanks to Tom, Gav, Clare, Emma Katie and Lee and of course Matty and Tash for their company on a wonderful long short pub crawl.
Cheers!
Wee Beefy
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