Wednesday 11 July 2012

Upcoming ale treats

Hello,

    July looks like being a busy month in terms of events, here in Sheff and a little further afield, so here are some bits of info I've gleaned from social media and the wider tinterweb for your delectation.

We start with the biggest event.....

Of course, eclipsing all planned activities for most of the year I reckon (sorry Sheffield beer festival....) is the launch of Sheffield's newest Brewery, "On the Edge", based in and launching in Nether Edge on Saturday.

This exciting new Pico-brewery* is launching with what sounds like an innovative and really interesting range of beers, eight of which are expected to be available on Saturday, and all of which I am really looking forward to trying.

Teasers released by the brewery on social media include a smoked malt imperial stout, a Chinook and Citra hop IPA, and a 9 month aged Marzen.

The event runs from 12 noon at the Old Junior School, South View Road, Nether Edge, Sheffield. For more details see @OntheEdgeBrew on Twitter, the latest copy of Beer Matters, or the following Facebook link .

Further afield..

The Star Inn, Folly Hall, Huddersfield is running a beer festival starting tomorrow, or more likely today, since its now Wednesday. Not really a sleuthing by myself, since this info is on the A Swift One blog, so for more details see : aswiftone .

Maybe less further afield?

Also high up on any ale aficionado's beer destination list is Derby;  their summer beer festival, which I have been to a couple of times, starts today and runs until Sunday. More details here

Music and ale ahoy!

Another reminder, although I doubt any Sheffield folk require it, that Tramlines is on from Friday 20th to Sunday 22nd July, featuring numerous venues for music and of course beer, and a bar down at CADS on Snow Lane Shalesmoor serving up blues and real ales. Last year a few pubs that previously hadn't ever, started selling real ale for the event, and still are, so maybe try a few new venues and see what you find.

Cask vs Keg dream realised

Well, I sincerely hope I get the chance to see this to happen!

The Hallamshire House and everything have said that they will be selling Thornbridge Kipling on cask and Keykeg side by side at the same time! This presents me with a really interesting opportunity to properly assess the relative and contrasting merits of each style, as well as hopefully sampling some of the other delights, like maybe my favourite Pollards Coffee Milk Stout.

And whilst we're on the subject of cask vs keg, I would like to finish with a question for you to ponder (and would really appreciate some answers/help on this one). Having received a comment from Keykeg team on my recent post on the subject, which really is a bit naughty, since they are a trading website so officially its spam, I wondered what exactly it was that made Keykeg so damned expensive?

I note that more often or not the halves of KK I am buying are at a very considerable strength, or imported, or both , but even the few UK brewed lower ABV ones I have encountered are all over £3.50 a pint.

I genuinely don't understand why Keykeg is so much more expensive a method of dispense (especially with it being pricier than normal keg, although obviously better).

Does anyone know or can anyone explain WHY?

All help gratefully received!

See you at Nether Edge


Wee Beefy

*(it sounds smaller than a nano, you see, so that description figures, unless, and this seems unlikely, the inexpugnable accuracy of responses on Yahoo answers is wrong.... ahem...)

4 comments:

  1. Wanna see that beer festival. Haven't seen it.

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  2. The following post by "SteelCityAle" on Sheffield Forum is very informative regarding the cost of key-keg.

    http://www.sheffieldforum.co.uk/showthread.php?t=940301&page=3

    "I honestly can't see the logic in using keykeg for local supplies. keykeg are great for export as you don't have to worry about getting them back (we're sending some to Rome and Barcelona in the next couple of months), but for local sales if you wanna sell keg beer use proper kegs! we paid about £30 each for plastic kegs, which can be used again and again. compare that to a keykeg, at about £12 a go but can only be used once. but apparently Thornbridge charge about the same for a 30-litre keykeg as for a 9-gal (41-litre) cask, hence the price difference at the bar - the purchase price is spread over 30 litres instead of 40, so the bar sells 3/4 as much beer at 4/3 the price, to make the same income"

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    Replies
    1. Thanks, that's really interesting.

      The above nicely addresses the idea of when its advisable or suitable to Keykeg a beer, which is what has been puzzling me for ages; depsite my best efforts its not even as simple as dark beers work really well, as do lagers and wheat, but nowt else, which was my early assessment.

      Also, it mentions the numbers, and that's what I've never seen before. I am looking forward to seeing the comparative prices of the KK and cask Kipling at he Hallamshire House tomorrow.

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  3. It is an informative one. Thanks for the post. I appreciate it.

    ReplyDelete