Now then,
I have written before about my experiences in the Kelham Island pub the Tap and Tankard, formerly the Sportsman on Cambridge Street. Initial visits were promising but there was an issue with the Pedigree and the guest beers seemed OK, but not exciting. I considered there was work to do, and that they needed to find their feet. My experiences in the last fortnight persuade me they have.
On Thursday I started out in the Three Tuns with a delicious pint and a half of Tigertops roast walnut stout. Always a pleasure to see the Tigertops beers especially sine they don;t seem to appear in Sheffield that often. This was a lovely rounded stout which started the night off well.
After meeting Tash I asked if she fancied trying the Tap and Tankard. On entering, along with beers from Harthill and Atom breweries, was a delight to behold - Buxton Axe Edge IPA. When I first tried this many years ago my palate and interest in beers was different, and I found it a little overwhelming. I mention my palate then, since it has obviously changed, and I was now confident I would like it. The barman described it very well - as a powerful IPA with the most grapefruity flavour - I love grapefruit. But I love Buxton Axe Edge even more!
The beer is 6.8% and £3.80 a pint and it is worryingly easy to drink. Its brimful of grapefruit flavours and fruity and bittering hops with a lovely long dry finish. Its perhaps one of the top 3 beers of this young year. Its delightful! I got chatting with the staff and the young guy behind the bar claimed he was always looking to put a very hoppy beer on - which is good news to supplement what, in terms of Kelham produce, is usually a low hop range. Three pints of Axe Edge each was enough, however, and we finished on pints of Moonshine listening to some singers in the Grapes. A perfect end to a fabulous nights drinking.
Yesterday I met Tash and Matty in Wetherspoons having been quickly to the Riverside for a leaving do. I had a pint and a half in there of a lower gravity hoppy beer from Great Heck Brewery. My addled brain tells me this beer was called shocker but that, I know, is wrong and it wasn't. Alas the Great Heck website also cannot tell me what it was! In Spoons I tried some of Matty's O Hanlons Port Stout which was delicious, but alas this had run out so I opted for a slightly lacklustre half of Kelham Island Pale Rider. I then walked on ahead to find a seat in the Tap and Tankard, and to start once again on the wonderful Axe Edge IPA.
The pub was really busy on a Friday night but I got us a cluster of seats and found the IPA was still on so had two pints - one for me and one for Matty who promised he liked strong hoppy beers, despite almost always buying a stout. The Axe Edge was once again on impeccable form, and went down very well, and alarmingly quickly.
Tash and Matty turned up and the Axe Edge continued to be drunk. In all I had three and a half pints of it. Each sip fizzed with citrus and fruity hops and was a delight to drink. If I am out later, which I undoubtedly will be, I hope to be back in supping the last of this wonderful cask beer. And I will return anon to find out what this improving city centre pub has to offer.
Cheers!
Wee Beefy
Showing posts with label Riverside Mowbray Street. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Riverside Mowbray Street. Show all posts
Saturday, 31 January 2015
Monday, 31 March 2014
Odes of March
So, its nearly April and am doing my 13th or 14th post of 2014...
hardly a productive third but also not a dry one. Here are a few notable details from the last week to support the second point,
Monday I was in the Bath Hotel after seeing Wee Fatha to meet Miss N and collect my keys. which had mischievously jumped out of my pocket on Saturday when I got my camera out, Along with access to my house this also allowed me chance to sup a couple of pints of the excellent Whim Flower Power, a favourite IPA of mine with plenty of hops and a refreshing dry bitterness. We finished on halves of Hardknott Azimuth pale on Keykeg which was drier still, but a nice drop.
We followed this with a trip to Brewdog Sheffield based in the former Jacks records opposite the Forum on Division street. Inside its quite small considering how busy it was and how popular Division street gets, but we found a booth overlooking the Forum and supped Tempest marmalade IPA and Magic Rock circus of sour for Miss N. We followed this with half a hardcore IPA and a bottle of Fantome saison, a surprisingly effective combo. Back in on Saturday we shared a bottle of the Fantome but am not sure it was a tenner this time...
Yesterday I was in the Rutland supping Hopcraft Mosaic Plus at a rather hefty price, along with excellent Magic Rock Punchline chipottle porter and Summer Wine Cascade IPA at over 7% which was a very enjoyable beer. After an emergency chip butty we headed for the Sheffield Tap; I seem to have forgotten what we enjoyed, but we did bump into Tap Mum Liz.
Friday I supped a Brew Co Pioneer IPA in the Riverside for a few hours before heading to meet Miss N and Matty in Shakespeares where he had a stout and Miss N and I supped the excellent Brodies - rare that you see Brodies and this was on great form when we supped iyt. We also stopped out for a curry from West Bar Tandoori which was excellent.
Sunday me and Wee Keefy were in Crookes at the Ball and I was supping the Chatsworth Gold from Peak ales and the Naylors 1641 pale, all at £3.00 0r less and well kept. En route to meet Miss N in the Rutland I also had a quick half of Moonshine in the Red Lion which made a good change.
More news and hopefully regular posts when I get to fix my old or buy a new tomputer!
Wee Beefy
hardly a productive third but also not a dry one. Here are a few notable details from the last week to support the second point,
Monday I was in the Bath Hotel after seeing Wee Fatha to meet Miss N and collect my keys. which had mischievously jumped out of my pocket on Saturday when I got my camera out, Along with access to my house this also allowed me chance to sup a couple of pints of the excellent Whim Flower Power, a favourite IPA of mine with plenty of hops and a refreshing dry bitterness. We finished on halves of Hardknott Azimuth pale on Keykeg which was drier still, but a nice drop.
We followed this with a trip to Brewdog Sheffield based in the former Jacks records opposite the Forum on Division street. Inside its quite small considering how busy it was and how popular Division street gets, but we found a booth overlooking the Forum and supped Tempest marmalade IPA and Magic Rock circus of sour for Miss N. We followed this with half a hardcore IPA and a bottle of Fantome saison, a surprisingly effective combo. Back in on Saturday we shared a bottle of the Fantome but am not sure it was a tenner this time...
Yesterday I was in the Rutland supping Hopcraft Mosaic Plus at a rather hefty price, along with excellent Magic Rock Punchline chipottle porter and Summer Wine Cascade IPA at over 7% which was a very enjoyable beer. After an emergency chip butty we headed for the Sheffield Tap; I seem to have forgotten what we enjoyed, but we did bump into Tap Mum Liz.
Friday I supped a Brew Co Pioneer IPA in the Riverside for a few hours before heading to meet Miss N and Matty in Shakespeares where he had a stout and Miss N and I supped the excellent Brodies - rare that you see Brodies and this was on great form when we supped iyt. We also stopped out for a curry from West Bar Tandoori which was excellent.
Sunday me and Wee Keefy were in Crookes at the Ball and I was supping the Chatsworth Gold from Peak ales and the Naylors 1641 pale, all at £3.00 0r less and well kept. En route to meet Miss N in the Rutland I also had a quick half of Moonshine in the Red Lion which made a good change.
More news and hopefully regular posts when I get to fix my old or buy a new tomputer!
Wee Beefy
Wednesday, 30 October 2013
First, less, and (mostly) always
Now then
over the last week there has been a definite beer festival flavour. That's not going to change as tomorrow Shakespeares are having their beer festival, which promises to be excellent as usual - including a special from Arbor ( a collaboration black saison) and specials from Blue Bee. I mean, really, why would you want to be at home answering the doors to felt-tip covered urchins when you could be out boozing* at the best pub in Sheffield?
However, my post wasn't supposed to be just about that, it was mainly about a trio of visits to pubs...
Saturday was a family birthday and we were whisked off to Matlock. As it was a family affair I wasn't off round Moca and the Fishpond and the Thorn Tree et al, instead I was studiously following orders. In doing which, our venue for the meal turned out to be a pleasant surprise.
Barringtons at Darley Dale is a hotel and restaurateur with a bar. Granted plenty of pubs now fit that description but this place markets itself as a restaurant. thereby managing drinkers expectations. Approaching from Darley Dale station you can take a pleasant walk through Whitworth park, then round to the front of the building which is on the main road near where the Two Dales road joins the A6. Inside is a room on the left purely for diners, and a room on the right that whilst housing plenty of tables, also boasts a bar with three real ales.
Prices are about normal for Matlock at £3.10 a pint and they had Doom Bar, Pedigree and Peak Ales Swift Nick on when we visited. It was a no brainer as to what I would have of course, but I wouldn't have said no to a Pedigree if the LocAle hadn't been on. There appears to be a changing guest and I suspect the Doom and Pedi are permanent. The food was also reasonably priced and very good. Although its not strictly a pub, it reckon would be worth a stop off if you were wanting real ale and a meal.
Friday lunch saw me in the Riverside on Mowbray Street for the first time in ages. Initially we were a bit surprised arriving en masse about 10 past midday to find only three beers on - Krakken, Riverside Pale and Golden Salamander - but more came on as we were there, attending a mass leaving do. I had a pint of the Golden Salamander. It was a fairly average beer with few distinguishing flavours apart from a bitter finish. Luckily whilst we sat chatting and eating the other beers that arrived included the Great Heck Five, a former Sheffield beer festival award winner with plenty of lovely hops that went down alarmingly well. Both beers were around the £3.10 mark but the Heck was far and away the better of the two.
Finally, a round up of the attractions at the triumvirate of tremendous pubs which comprises the Tap, the Rutland and Shakespeares. Saturday night saw me and Miss N at the Rutland Arms. She opted for a pint of the Gorlovka, marginally less expensive there than at the Tap, and I two pints of the excellent Otley Oxymoron Black IPA. This was a good black IPA because it remembered it could show off the finer points of the dark malts used - if that means they should have put in more hops I could have my arm twisted but it certainly tasted well rounded and was very enjoyable.
Meanwhile the Sheffield Tap had a decent choice as seems normal these days - alas the star of the show had run out so I had a half of the Bristol beer factory Bitter Kiwi - the small measure supporting my theory that despite thinking I should, I wouldn't really rate it - and a pint of the Wild Raven. Miss N followed suit with the Raven as well. As ever this was on fine form and provided a very enjoyable end to a great night out.
Shakespeares also had a few beers on as you'd expect. I stuck mainly to pints of the Arbor Motueka which was on great form, whereas Miss N started on the latest dark Dr Morton's offering from Abbeydale. I finished on that, and in between times tried a slightly perfumed Revolutions Brew Super Creeps, a pleasing if slightly odd IPA at 4.9%. All sensibly priced under or just at £3.00, and still a decent range available just a couple of days before the beer festival (link to the FB page here with the beer list posted 25 October).
Detail of that to come in the next few days.
Cheers!
Wee Beefy
*for boozing, read "sampling different ales responsibly" If yer like.....
over the last week there has been a definite beer festival flavour. That's not going to change as tomorrow Shakespeares are having their beer festival, which promises to be excellent as usual - including a special from Arbor ( a collaboration black saison) and specials from Blue Bee. I mean, really, why would you want to be at home answering the doors to felt-tip covered urchins when you could be out boozing* at the best pub in Sheffield?
However, my post wasn't supposed to be just about that, it was mainly about a trio of visits to pubs...
Saturday was a family birthday and we were whisked off to Matlock. As it was a family affair I wasn't off round Moca and the Fishpond and the Thorn Tree et al, instead I was studiously following orders. In doing which, our venue for the meal turned out to be a pleasant surprise.
Barringtons at Darley Dale is a hotel and restaurateur with a bar. Granted plenty of pubs now fit that description but this place markets itself as a restaurant. thereby managing drinkers expectations. Approaching from Darley Dale station you can take a pleasant walk through Whitworth park, then round to the front of the building which is on the main road near where the Two Dales road joins the A6. Inside is a room on the left purely for diners, and a room on the right that whilst housing plenty of tables, also boasts a bar with three real ales.
Prices are about normal for Matlock at £3.10 a pint and they had Doom Bar, Pedigree and Peak Ales Swift Nick on when we visited. It was a no brainer as to what I would have of course, but I wouldn't have said no to a Pedigree if the LocAle hadn't been on. There appears to be a changing guest and I suspect the Doom and Pedi are permanent. The food was also reasonably priced and very good. Although its not strictly a pub, it reckon would be worth a stop off if you were wanting real ale and a meal.
Friday lunch saw me in the Riverside on Mowbray Street for the first time in ages. Initially we were a bit surprised arriving en masse about 10 past midday to find only three beers on - Krakken, Riverside Pale and Golden Salamander - but more came on as we were there, attending a mass leaving do. I had a pint of the Golden Salamander. It was a fairly average beer with few distinguishing flavours apart from a bitter finish. Luckily whilst we sat chatting and eating the other beers that arrived included the Great Heck Five, a former Sheffield beer festival award winner with plenty of lovely hops that went down alarmingly well. Both beers were around the £3.10 mark but the Heck was far and away the better of the two.
Finally, a round up of the attractions at the triumvirate of tremendous pubs which comprises the Tap, the Rutland and Shakespeares. Saturday night saw me and Miss N at the Rutland Arms. She opted for a pint of the Gorlovka, marginally less expensive there than at the Tap, and I two pints of the excellent Otley Oxymoron Black IPA. This was a good black IPA because it remembered it could show off the finer points of the dark malts used - if that means they should have put in more hops I could have my arm twisted but it certainly tasted well rounded and was very enjoyable.
Meanwhile the Sheffield Tap had a decent choice as seems normal these days - alas the star of the show had run out so I had a half of the Bristol beer factory Bitter Kiwi - the small measure supporting my theory that despite thinking I should, I wouldn't really rate it - and a pint of the Wild Raven. Miss N followed suit with the Raven as well. As ever this was on fine form and provided a very enjoyable end to a great night out.
Shakespeares also had a few beers on as you'd expect. I stuck mainly to pints of the Arbor Motueka which was on great form, whereas Miss N started on the latest dark Dr Morton's offering from Abbeydale. I finished on that, and in between times tried a slightly perfumed Revolutions Brew Super Creeps, a pleasing if slightly odd IPA at 4.9%. All sensibly priced under or just at £3.00, and still a decent range available just a couple of days before the beer festival (link to the FB page here with the beer list posted 25 October).
Detail of that to come in the next few days.
Cheers!
Wee Beefy
*for boozing, read "sampling different ales responsibly" If yer like.....
Saturday, 15 June 2013
Birthday week boozing
Its here folks.
The anniversary date of my being around, largely refreshed, and well walked, for another year. So as to maximise the enjoyment of this annual event I have spread my celebrations over two weekends. Next weekend will see me filling a small polypin with something pale and hoppy, possibly from Salamander, maybe from Abbeydale, to accompany my barbecue. Meanwhile, on Friday, I amassed a crowd of quite frankly excellent people to join in with drinking and larking about and trying to look sober.
Details of that anon, first, here's some gen about my my trial run.
Monday saw me in the University Arms. I had a lovely pint of Abbeydale Cosmology, which was very easy drinking, and a pint of their Tramlines 2 beer, which was a pleasant pint, if not particularly striking. Tramlines beers are always a bit of a tin medal - its a great honour to be chosen, but god forbid you brew something striking. or, to be fair, aimed ta the small handful of beer geeks and hop heads who drink the sort of beers I do. That said, this was an ideal accompaniment to my hugely filling meat and potato pie and chips, which more or less grounded me.
On Thursday I noticed it was sunny, so sloped off after work to the Riverside to "catch some rays" on the balcony. A pint of Abbeydale Phone Dip was ordered - in an amusing eyesight failure, I noticed a word containing the letters s and t and assume it was a stout. To be fair, the gent behind the bar didn't question my request, but poured me pale ale anyway - when I said "erm..." and picked it up to look at it he said "it will settle in a minute" thus having misunderstood my surprise at it being significantly less black that I'd expected! Never mind, it was a much needed refreshing pint.
I walked to the Wellington next and had a very agreeable pint of the LAC Harleys Galaxy, at a bargain £2.40, sat in the garden in the last of the evening sun. All too soon this had disappeared so I headed back for a recommendation from the brewer - returning to my sunny spot with a pint of William Henton Carver, still only £2.40 a point but a bit stronger. Kudos as a always to the Wellington for serving interesting beer at sensible prices.
A hop on the tram saw me to my next stop,the Bath Hotel, where Steff was dispensing wisdom and info as always, and nearly persuaded me to have a very silly pint indeed. Luckily I saw sense and restricted myself to two halves only - Hawkshead Gold and a rather strong Red Willow Shameless. Probably about 7% and packed with flavour, there may have been a smidgen too much sweetness for me but it was enjoyable all the same.
I finished the night at DAda where there was a "do" on and a slightly disappointing range of real ales. Lord Mumbles, Brother Boring, Hawkshead Red and Thornbridge Steelmakers. I found the latter woeful on Keykeg but assumed a bit of cask conditioning may improve it. Alas I was wrong. It's dire. Still, my spirits were lifted by a midweek discount and two bottles of excellent Kernel, resulting in a free bottle of Halcyon. Which was nice.
And so to last night. Two pubs, twenty people and one or two pints over nine hours. We started in the Harlequin at 16.00 and I met up with Tina, Dextrose, Rachael, Malc and Aidan. Wee Fatha arrived about 5 and by this time I was on my second pint of Revolutions Uprising. As usual with Revolutions, it was fantastic. Prior to that, as a birthday treat, I'd splurged cash on a bottle of Kernel Cascade. Which was not as good as their Simcoe, alas, but got better as it warmed up. Before we left I'd had a third Revolutions and we'd been joined by Ally, Mr Cain, erm thingy (sorry erm thingy) and Glasgow Edwardo, who despite my crap name recall, was actually called Chris...
Shakespeares beckoned and we met Miss M who had just arrived, along with Wee Keefy. Before long, Jambon, J9, Dave, Angie, Mr G, Tash, Gav and Clare, Michelle, and Carlos had all joined us, as we accidentally took over the clock room.
Beers in the Shakespeares were - reliant on my memory. Allegedly, pints in my session included Acorn UK Cascade (at least 2) Brew Company Oatmeal Stout and Ella, Kirkstall Three Swords and something in a bottle. And possibly Deception.
To be fair, this was my birthday night out - I wasn't "working" so am afraid there are areas of uncertainty over what beer was supped. Realty it didn't matter. This was one of the best nights out I've ever had. Fantastic company, excellent beer and good music in a great venue. At one stage I mooted the idea of heading off somewhere else. In the end, there seemed little point, and we were in for about 7 hours. Thanks to Shakespeares for their hospitality and my friends for making it such a great night.
Cheers!
Wee Beefy.
The anniversary date of my being around, largely refreshed, and well walked, for another year. So as to maximise the enjoyment of this annual event I have spread my celebrations over two weekends. Next weekend will see me filling a small polypin with something pale and hoppy, possibly from Salamander, maybe from Abbeydale, to accompany my barbecue. Meanwhile, on Friday, I amassed a crowd of quite frankly excellent people to join in with drinking and larking about and trying to look sober.
Details of that anon, first, here's some gen about my my trial run.
Monday saw me in the University Arms. I had a lovely pint of Abbeydale Cosmology, which was very easy drinking, and a pint of their Tramlines 2 beer, which was a pleasant pint, if not particularly striking. Tramlines beers are always a bit of a tin medal - its a great honour to be chosen, but god forbid you brew something striking. or, to be fair, aimed ta the small handful of beer geeks and hop heads who drink the sort of beers I do. That said, this was an ideal accompaniment to my hugely filling meat and potato pie and chips, which more or less grounded me.
On Thursday I noticed it was sunny, so sloped off after work to the Riverside to "catch some rays" on the balcony. A pint of Abbeydale Phone Dip was ordered - in an amusing eyesight failure, I noticed a word containing the letters s and t and assume it was a stout. To be fair, the gent behind the bar didn't question my request, but poured me pale ale anyway - when I said "erm..." and picked it up to look at it he said "it will settle in a minute" thus having misunderstood my surprise at it being significantly less black that I'd expected! Never mind, it was a much needed refreshing pint.
I walked to the Wellington next and had a very agreeable pint of the LAC Harleys Galaxy, at a bargain £2.40, sat in the garden in the last of the evening sun. All too soon this had disappeared so I headed back for a recommendation from the brewer - returning to my sunny spot with a pint of William Henton Carver, still only £2.40 a point but a bit stronger. Kudos as a always to the Wellington for serving interesting beer at sensible prices.
A hop on the tram saw me to my next stop,the Bath Hotel, where Steff was dispensing wisdom and info as always, and nearly persuaded me to have a very silly pint indeed. Luckily I saw sense and restricted myself to two halves only - Hawkshead Gold and a rather strong Red Willow Shameless. Probably about 7% and packed with flavour, there may have been a smidgen too much sweetness for me but it was enjoyable all the same.
I finished the night at DAda where there was a "do" on and a slightly disappointing range of real ales. Lord Mumbles, Brother Boring, Hawkshead Red and Thornbridge Steelmakers. I found the latter woeful on Keykeg but assumed a bit of cask conditioning may improve it. Alas I was wrong. It's dire. Still, my spirits were lifted by a midweek discount and two bottles of excellent Kernel, resulting in a free bottle of Halcyon. Which was nice.
And so to last night. Two pubs, twenty people and one or two pints over nine hours. We started in the Harlequin at 16.00 and I met up with Tina, Dextrose, Rachael, Malc and Aidan. Wee Fatha arrived about 5 and by this time I was on my second pint of Revolutions Uprising. As usual with Revolutions, it was fantastic. Prior to that, as a birthday treat, I'd splurged cash on a bottle of Kernel Cascade. Which was not as good as their Simcoe, alas, but got better as it warmed up. Before we left I'd had a third Revolutions and we'd been joined by Ally, Mr Cain, erm thingy (sorry erm thingy) and Glasgow Edwardo, who despite my crap name recall, was actually called Chris...
Shakespeares beckoned and we met Miss M who had just arrived, along with Wee Keefy. Before long, Jambon, J9, Dave, Angie, Mr G, Tash, Gav and Clare, Michelle, and Carlos had all joined us, as we accidentally took over the clock room.
Beers in the Shakespeares were - reliant on my memory. Allegedly, pints in my session included Acorn UK Cascade (at least 2) Brew Company Oatmeal Stout and Ella, Kirkstall Three Swords and something in a bottle. And possibly Deception.
To be fair, this was my birthday night out - I wasn't "working" so am afraid there are areas of uncertainty over what beer was supped. Realty it didn't matter. This was one of the best nights out I've ever had. Fantastic company, excellent beer and good music in a great venue. At one stage I mooted the idea of heading off somewhere else. In the end, there seemed little point, and we were in for about 7 hours. Thanks to Shakespeares for their hospitality and my friends for making it such a great night.
Cheers!
Wee Beefy.
Thursday, 21 March 2013
The misuse of pugil sticks, and the difference between rats and hamsters.....
Evenin,
I was out last night with folks from the internetesphere. Real people, in real life, who also exist online. It seems implausible I know, but there is a world outside of social media. Its just as annoying, with infuriating delays or loss of service, exposure to information and imagery you neither covet nor can necessarily stomach, idle threats, confusion and spam. It is also significantly colder, but on the plus side, the beer is more refreshing.
Meeting me at the Riverside were Clare, Gav, Jane and Neil. We no longer have to communicate in twitter identities, so am afraid the cat's out of the bag. I mean, there can't be that many people with those names, who all know other people with one of those same names, minus their own, in the Sheffield and Rotherham area...
First up was a pint of Empire True Blonde for me and Jane, a pint of Brew Co Krakken for Gav, a Budvar Dark for Neil and a pint of Beechams for Clare, who had a troublesome ailment. Nowt worse. We got ourselves a table and another round of drinks and set about ordering food. At this point the reality of eating real food in real life became less appealing.
There was a limited menu available alas, but they did have their pies which sounded delicious on the website, as well as a range of burgers ribs and similar with chips and veg or salad. Without going in to immense detail, the ribs were OK, ish, but didn't cut the mustard with rib-o-phile Neil, mine and Jane's beef and mushroom pies had ale in them which sadly, when warmed, makes the gravy taste a bit, erm, soil-y, and Clare's veggie burger was a disaster. The next 20 minutes (it felt,) was spent making honest recommendations to the guy behind the bar about what could be done to improve the food. I think I'll stick to drinks for now myself.
Off round the corner to the Fat Cat and to Clare's delight the charity pie and a pint night was on. For considerably less than what we paid earlier, she got a pint of a Kelham beer (I think) a piece of pie, marrowfat peas, tatties and gravy. It looked fab. As so often with the Cat, it quietly and reassuringly reminds you that you could have had just as much or more enjoyment eating there. Shame on us.
I was drinking the rather excellent Welbeck Abbey Calypso in here, and apart from a disappointing Dunkel from Kelham the beers seemed to be in great nick, including the Two Roses Full Nelson which Neil and Jane were on. Soon, as the beer tally mounted, the conversation took a rather alarming turn and after a charity inspired game of Eastern European bingo, Gav introduced the subject of bizarre objects recovered from humans.
In short, we got to discussing the Illinois enema bandit, and it got steadily more disturbing from there on, although, at least I now have a handy rhyme with which to remember the difference between a hamster and a rat. Now how did it go...
Having shaken a fearsome image of pugil sticks from our collective consciousness, our night finished in the ever reliable Shakespeares, where, still feeling sheepish after missing my first Shakespeares fest, I was keen to make amends by buying lots of beer. Gav had the Brooklyn erm strong dark thing, Neil a pint of their Lager, Jane a Privateer Dark Revenge, as did I, and Clare had, erm, a cold. Bless.
We started to wander off home from here although I made a sterling effort by having another cheeky pint of the excellent Privateer, after the others had gone home to the warmth and clean upstanding tone of the Internet. The Privateer beer I tried in the Gardeners was not quite what I was expecting, but the self same malty edge that made their Blonde fall short of what I wanted previously was now the leading flavour that pulled their dark beer together brilliantly. I only stopped short of another because I had to miss my bus....
More Reallife-ups are planned for the future, and who knows we may even manage something reckless like a weekend night out where we can indulge in a few more pints. For now though, it was just nice to get out with great company to sup excellent beer.
Here's to plenty more of the same.
Wee Beefy
I was out last night with folks from the internetesphere. Real people, in real life, who also exist online. It seems implausible I know, but there is a world outside of social media. Its just as annoying, with infuriating delays or loss of service, exposure to information and imagery you neither covet nor can necessarily stomach, idle threats, confusion and spam. It is also significantly colder, but on the plus side, the beer is more refreshing.
Meeting me at the Riverside were Clare, Gav, Jane and Neil. We no longer have to communicate in twitter identities, so am afraid the cat's out of the bag. I mean, there can't be that many people with those names, who all know other people with one of those same names, minus their own, in the Sheffield and Rotherham area...
First up was a pint of Empire True Blonde for me and Jane, a pint of Brew Co Krakken for Gav, a Budvar Dark for Neil and a pint of Beechams for Clare, who had a troublesome ailment. Nowt worse. We got ourselves a table and another round of drinks and set about ordering food. At this point the reality of eating real food in real life became less appealing.
There was a limited menu available alas, but they did have their pies which sounded delicious on the website, as well as a range of burgers ribs and similar with chips and veg or salad. Without going in to immense detail, the ribs were OK, ish, but didn't cut the mustard with rib-o-phile Neil, mine and Jane's beef and mushroom pies had ale in them which sadly, when warmed, makes the gravy taste a bit, erm, soil-y, and Clare's veggie burger was a disaster. The next 20 minutes (it felt,) was spent making honest recommendations to the guy behind the bar about what could be done to improve the food. I think I'll stick to drinks for now myself.
Off round the corner to the Fat Cat and to Clare's delight the charity pie and a pint night was on. For considerably less than what we paid earlier, she got a pint of a Kelham beer (I think) a piece of pie, marrowfat peas, tatties and gravy. It looked fab. As so often with the Cat, it quietly and reassuringly reminds you that you could have had just as much or more enjoyment eating there. Shame on us.
I was drinking the rather excellent Welbeck Abbey Calypso in here, and apart from a disappointing Dunkel from Kelham the beers seemed to be in great nick, including the Two Roses Full Nelson which Neil and Jane were on. Soon, as the beer tally mounted, the conversation took a rather alarming turn and after a charity inspired game of Eastern European bingo, Gav introduced the subject of bizarre objects recovered from humans.
In short, we got to discussing the Illinois enema bandit, and it got steadily more disturbing from there on, although, at least I now have a handy rhyme with which to remember the difference between a hamster and a rat. Now how did it go...
Having shaken a fearsome image of pugil sticks from our collective consciousness, our night finished in the ever reliable Shakespeares, where, still feeling sheepish after missing my first Shakespeares fest, I was keen to make amends by buying lots of beer. Gav had the Brooklyn erm strong dark thing, Neil a pint of their Lager, Jane a Privateer Dark Revenge, as did I, and Clare had, erm, a cold. Bless.
We started to wander off home from here although I made a sterling effort by having another cheeky pint of the excellent Privateer, after the others had gone home to the warmth and clean upstanding tone of the Internet. The Privateer beer I tried in the Gardeners was not quite what I was expecting, but the self same malty edge that made their Blonde fall short of what I wanted previously was now the leading flavour that pulled their dark beer together brilliantly. I only stopped short of another because I had to miss my bus....
More Reallife-ups are planned for the future, and who knows we may even manage something reckless like a weekend night out where we can indulge in a few more pints. For now though, it was just nice to get out with great company to sup excellent beer.
Here's to plenty more of the same.
Wee Beefy
Tuesday, 5 February 2013
Man walks into a pub. Then another. Then...
Hello,
over the past week I have been all over the shop, as they say, drinking in different counties, the throes of a Twissup and CAMRA award winning rural pubs, like the concept of Sheffield as the beer capital was long forgotten. Aside from any CAMRA rivalry of course, its not forgotten. Its just that other locations have took my fancy. By way of illustration, here's a (brief as possible) who's got what of local hostelries over the past 8 days.
Firstly, The Riverside. I only ever seem to get here on busy Friday evenings after work and have never really taken to the pub. Perhaps my usual demarcation to a corner of he bar before spewing out onto the patio when its packed has skewed my appreciation, but I gained a little the other night. I had an excellent pint of Blue Bee Parenthesis, a great hoppy dry bitter which did everything it didn't say by being named parenthesis, but crucially tasted fab.
I sat down on a comfy sofa in a cosily lit part of the bar near the opened out fireplace, admiring the lights outside and listening to some fairly excellent dub. Sometimes music in pubs can be a blight, but its untypical of the traditional boozer and its slightly cafe bar intentions are well suited to decent tunes. Especially when they really are. Another pint of the Blue Bee followed, as well as a tour of the upstairs before I headed off to sample a few other boozers.
One such was the Woodside Inn. This was only my second visit, and it didn't seem much busier, but there was a steady stream of arrivees to play in a darts match. Alas, no-one but me seemed to be supping real ale,m but the halves of Sheffield Brew Co Stainless went down really well, and still on at a decent price. Also disappointing was another poor Wood Street brew, although I opted for a taste first. I understand the pubs reinvention has seen the "original" owners return - am unsure if this is true but I hope they can recapture whatever it was the losing off made them depart.
The Gardeners rest was having a quiet night, but was enchanting visitors with excellent beers as always, and another plus was that I got a chance to catch up with Pat who I've not talked to for a while.
Here I had a half of Privateer Beers Dainty Blonde, plus another half of the Parenthesis, at which point I bumped into Brewer Rich. We did have quite a detailed discussion about the punctuation theme of his beers, the details of which I would suggest neither of us could remember. I also had a half pint of the Black Swan from Vale, which was nice, but there was a hint of sweetness in the Privateer which I wasn't keen on.
The Wellington is still sort of an irregular haunt so it was nice to pop in and have a pint - despite a darkish beer being on I went for a Little Ale Cart Eldorado, specially brewed with the hop of the same name. This was a really well balanced bitter beer, which, if only I went more often and the beers didn't change every day or so, I'd like to try again.
The Ship on Shalesmoor was selling my favourite Kelham Island beer Bette Noire so that's what I had in there, which was on great form and a decent price at £2.80 a pint, before I headed off to Shakespeares, via some dubious late night scran.
On this visit I had a rather odd but not unenjoyable half of Julian Church Brewery Martyr, and a rather ill advised half of Flying Dog K9, which was easier to drink than its high strength suggested, and didn't have too much of that odd Belgerican yeast.
I was also in on Friday with Mr G, supping the last of a barrel of Raw Pacific Gem, which was nice enough, as well as a further pint of Revolutions Clash London Porter for me. Nice to see the Porter again, just a shame the Gem was so very tired.
Prior to this I had been in DAda, enjoying a couple of pints of the reasonable Lumford (now now DAda, a lack of non Thornbridge beers doesn't suit you and you know it), yet so un-tempting was the cask range (after Lumford ran out) that myself and Mr G retired to a comfy spot to very slowly drink Thornbridge Chiron and Thorny Goat. Chiron did not disappoint, but the Keykeg Goat is a poor relative of the much better cask. Bring it back dammit!
The final bit of news is not about Sheffield pubs but about Bottle Conditioned Ale. Following on from my post about the CAMRA says this is real ale logo, I discovered to my horror more sour yeasty soup masquerading as a drinkable bottle of beer. Despite Wee Fatha's astonishing claim that he would drink it because it seemed a shame to pour it away, which is heroically disingenuous, we replaced it instantly with a much safer none BCA option.
I am going to have to contact the brewery concerned to make them aware of the problem, and hopefully arrange recompense, but in a producer, retailer, promoter(logo), customer, arrangement, I'd argue that having also bought the product from the brewer the two parties looking most shoddy from this situation are the brewery and the logo owning promoters; CAMRA. I can see this issue will be long in the resolution....
So, that's all for now, hopefully I will have more news in the coming days.
Cheers!
Wee Beefy
over the past week I have been all over the shop, as they say, drinking in different counties, the throes of a Twissup and CAMRA award winning rural pubs, like the concept of Sheffield as the beer capital was long forgotten. Aside from any CAMRA rivalry of course, its not forgotten. Its just that other locations have took my fancy. By way of illustration, here's a (brief as possible) who's got what of local hostelries over the past 8 days.
Firstly, The Riverside. I only ever seem to get here on busy Friday evenings after work and have never really taken to the pub. Perhaps my usual demarcation to a corner of he bar before spewing out onto the patio when its packed has skewed my appreciation, but I gained a little the other night. I had an excellent pint of Blue Bee Parenthesis, a great hoppy dry bitter which did everything it didn't say by being named parenthesis, but crucially tasted fab.
I sat down on a comfy sofa in a cosily lit part of the bar near the opened out fireplace, admiring the lights outside and listening to some fairly excellent dub. Sometimes music in pubs can be a blight, but its untypical of the traditional boozer and its slightly cafe bar intentions are well suited to decent tunes. Especially when they really are. Another pint of the Blue Bee followed, as well as a tour of the upstairs before I headed off to sample a few other boozers.
One such was the Woodside Inn. This was only my second visit, and it didn't seem much busier, but there was a steady stream of arrivees to play in a darts match. Alas, no-one but me seemed to be supping real ale,m but the halves of Sheffield Brew Co Stainless went down really well, and still on at a decent price. Also disappointing was another poor Wood Street brew, although I opted for a taste first. I understand the pubs reinvention has seen the "original" owners return - am unsure if this is true but I hope they can recapture whatever it was the losing off made them depart.
The Gardeners rest was having a quiet night, but was enchanting visitors with excellent beers as always, and another plus was that I got a chance to catch up with Pat who I've not talked to for a while.
Here I had a half of Privateer Beers Dainty Blonde, plus another half of the Parenthesis, at which point I bumped into Brewer Rich. We did have quite a detailed discussion about the punctuation theme of his beers, the details of which I would suggest neither of us could remember. I also had a half pint of the Black Swan from Vale, which was nice, but there was a hint of sweetness in the Privateer which I wasn't keen on.
The Wellington is still sort of an irregular haunt so it was nice to pop in and have a pint - despite a darkish beer being on I went for a Little Ale Cart Eldorado, specially brewed with the hop of the same name. This was a really well balanced bitter beer, which, if only I went more often and the beers didn't change every day or so, I'd like to try again.
The Ship on Shalesmoor was selling my favourite Kelham Island beer Bette Noire so that's what I had in there, which was on great form and a decent price at £2.80 a pint, before I headed off to Shakespeares, via some dubious late night scran.
On this visit I had a rather odd but not unenjoyable half of Julian Church Brewery Martyr, and a rather ill advised half of Flying Dog K9, which was easier to drink than its high strength suggested, and didn't have too much of that odd Belgerican yeast.
I was also in on Friday with Mr G, supping the last of a barrel of Raw Pacific Gem, which was nice enough, as well as a further pint of Revolutions Clash London Porter for me. Nice to see the Porter again, just a shame the Gem was so very tired.
Prior to this I had been in DAda, enjoying a couple of pints of the reasonable Lumford (now now DAda, a lack of non Thornbridge beers doesn't suit you and you know it), yet so un-tempting was the cask range (after Lumford ran out) that myself and Mr G retired to a comfy spot to very slowly drink Thornbridge Chiron and Thorny Goat. Chiron did not disappoint, but the Keykeg Goat is a poor relative of the much better cask. Bring it back dammit!
The final bit of news is not about Sheffield pubs but about Bottle Conditioned Ale. Following on from my post about the CAMRA says this is real ale logo, I discovered to my horror more sour yeasty soup masquerading as a drinkable bottle of beer. Despite Wee Fatha's astonishing claim that he would drink it because it seemed a shame to pour it away, which is heroically disingenuous, we replaced it instantly with a much safer none BCA option.
I am going to have to contact the brewery concerned to make them aware of the problem, and hopefully arrange recompense, but in a producer, retailer, promoter(logo), customer, arrangement, I'd argue that having also bought the product from the brewer the two parties looking most shoddy from this situation are the brewery and the logo owning promoters; CAMRA. I can see this issue will be long in the resolution....
So, that's all for now, hopefully I will have more news in the coming days.
Cheers!
Wee Beefy
Friday, 21 September 2012
Continuing excellence
Now then,
following on from my Tuesday epiphany, I returned to abstinence on Wednesday then back to reckless abandon as I careered towards the weekend.
My indulgence started with a meal. Not my usual way of supping, usually I find that eating interferes with the process of ale consumption but, albeit after a pint, I was starting with a meal at the Rutland Arms on Brown Street.
I knew thew food here was excellent based on every time I had eaten there but that doesn't help explain my lack of foody visits, and the dearth of minutes partaking in joyous mastication at its tables. I started with a pint of Dark star Sunbeam or similar - alas Dark Star do two ales with Summer in the name, and one of them, which I don't particularly care for, has ginger or something similarly wrong in it. This was it. perfectly kept, but doing nothing for me. Humph.
Instead I went for the excellent Welbeck Abbey Brewery King Tom(?) red ale, and ordered what, from the ingredients alone, appeared to be a dream meal. Ignoring the somewhat unfortunate name (Sports Pork? I'll get me Profanisaurus) I was bowled over by the suggested parts and ordered it without a second thought. Heeley City Farm boar loin with mushroom and black pudding mash, peas, carrots and red cabbage in an excellent possibly ale gravy. And it was only £8.00. Stupendous value.
I had another Welbeck here but all too soon my companion for the night Middlemarch, was struggling and had to go home. So I went to the Sheffield Tap for a couple of halves.
Tempest Into the Light, 4.1% and an excellent Great Heck Porter were my liquid companions here, and both were fine ales, although I concede I much preferred the roasty bite of the excellent porter. Great heck are a brewery who's beers I have long enjoyed but recent offerings, especially those with the distinct pumpclips, have been rewarding.
Dada provided my finishing flourish, more excellent McConnells came my way, as did the fine company of the Jims. There was a singer on, which was mildly annoying in terms of conversational quality, but he wasn't too bad. Several pints of McConnells passed my lips before I opted for a half of the Schlenkerla, by way of comparison.
I was also forced, on pain of death, by the Jims, to sup a half of the Chiron. I accept its a punchy hoppy pale beer that's not too strong but I still had to let it stand for 20 minutes to start getting the flavours. I'm not sold on this!
I also popped in the Riverside recently. Spiro was leaving for pastures new and I joined him and his mates for a pint or two. The beer range can be very good at the Riverside, but there can be a reliance on samey Brew Company output and also much of the range is unavailable! I mentioned I hadn't seen or tried the Freedom Stout - then noticed the glass on the dispense and conceded that this situation would remain unchanged.....
Sat outside under the shelter proved very enjoyable (especially when a wall of rain fell), and I enjoyed a pint of Crouch Vale Summer Breeze. Alas this ran out after my pint so I migrated to Brew Co Summer instead, which was a decent golden pint.
Round the corner I popped in the Fat Cat. Having a funding malfunction I had cleverly arrived hungry, with enough for either a half, or a pork pie. I wanted both. I opted for a half of the Salamander Warpath 4.5% stout in the end. I didn't stop long, but loitering with intent in the hallway I spotted seminal starlets Alison and Diane, and redoubtable bar wizard Steven.
It was great catching up with all three, Diane taking time out for a chat in the corridor. It's no exaggeration to say that I cut my drinking, erm, cliche finishers in here in the nineties, especially honing my solitary supping skills whilst on the dole (my other doley mates didn't want to squander their money on an afternoon or more likely dinnertime of pints, so I often ventured in alone). That I could still wander in and find the familiar friendly faces of the team makes the Fat Cat a must visit pub, even if I accept that I go in less now tan I did when I was broke.
Shakespeares was my final call on this occasion, and I was pleased once again with the choice on the bar. A half of the Salamander (again), a pork pie and a pint of the excellent Brass Castle Bad Kitty vanilla stout secured a card payment, and I settled down to a read and a long and interesting chat with Dave in the bar about photography.
The Bad kitty is a little heavy (I only had a pint and a half) but is so luxuriously fine as to warrant savouring every last delicious drop. For the second time in a week I was in Shakespeares contemplating the practicalities of draining an entire cask of a beer by myself. Luckily I was more sensible than that and was home before 21.00.
Finally, I am going to Lancashire with WF tomorrow so need to be up early. I hope to write on Sunday about my trip to the Limeburners Arms in Nether Kellet. I have wanted to go there for about 18 months, but I am worried that whenever I want to visit an unspoilt pub, one outcome usually prevails - it shuts. Finding that the number does not exist earlier doesn't fill me with confidence.
Lets hope this isn't another unspoilt treasure that I miss.
More news soon
Wee Beefy
following on from my Tuesday epiphany, I returned to abstinence on Wednesday then back to reckless abandon as I careered towards the weekend.
My indulgence started with a meal. Not my usual way of supping, usually I find that eating interferes with the process of ale consumption but, albeit after a pint, I was starting with a meal at the Rutland Arms on Brown Street.
I knew thew food here was excellent based on every time I had eaten there but that doesn't help explain my lack of foody visits, and the dearth of minutes partaking in joyous mastication at its tables. I started with a pint of Dark star Sunbeam or similar - alas Dark Star do two ales with Summer in the name, and one of them, which I don't particularly care for, has ginger or something similarly wrong in it. This was it. perfectly kept, but doing nothing for me. Humph.
Instead I went for the excellent Welbeck Abbey Brewery King Tom(?) red ale, and ordered what, from the ingredients alone, appeared to be a dream meal. Ignoring the somewhat unfortunate name (Sports Pork? I'll get me Profanisaurus) I was bowled over by the suggested parts and ordered it without a second thought. Heeley City Farm boar loin with mushroom and black pudding mash, peas, carrots and red cabbage in an excellent possibly ale gravy. And it was only £8.00. Stupendous value.
I had another Welbeck here but all too soon my companion for the night Middlemarch, was struggling and had to go home. So I went to the Sheffield Tap for a couple of halves.
Tempest Into the Light, 4.1% and an excellent Great Heck Porter were my liquid companions here, and both were fine ales, although I concede I much preferred the roasty bite of the excellent porter. Great heck are a brewery who's beers I have long enjoyed but recent offerings, especially those with the distinct pumpclips, have been rewarding.
Dada provided my finishing flourish, more excellent McConnells came my way, as did the fine company of the Jims. There was a singer on, which was mildly annoying in terms of conversational quality, but he wasn't too bad. Several pints of McConnells passed my lips before I opted for a half of the Schlenkerla, by way of comparison.
I was also forced, on pain of death, by the Jims, to sup a half of the Chiron. I accept its a punchy hoppy pale beer that's not too strong but I still had to let it stand for 20 minutes to start getting the flavours. I'm not sold on this!
I also popped in the Riverside recently. Spiro was leaving for pastures new and I joined him and his mates for a pint or two. The beer range can be very good at the Riverside, but there can be a reliance on samey Brew Company output and also much of the range is unavailable! I mentioned I hadn't seen or tried the Freedom Stout - then noticed the glass on the dispense and conceded that this situation would remain unchanged.....
Sat outside under the shelter proved very enjoyable (especially when a wall of rain fell), and I enjoyed a pint of Crouch Vale Summer Breeze. Alas this ran out after my pint so I migrated to Brew Co Summer instead, which was a decent golden pint.
Round the corner I popped in the Fat Cat. Having a funding malfunction I had cleverly arrived hungry, with enough for either a half, or a pork pie. I wanted both. I opted for a half of the Salamander Warpath 4.5% stout in the end. I didn't stop long, but loitering with intent in the hallway I spotted seminal starlets Alison and Diane, and redoubtable bar wizard Steven.
It was great catching up with all three, Diane taking time out for a chat in the corridor. It's no exaggeration to say that I cut my drinking, erm, cliche finishers in here in the nineties, especially honing my solitary supping skills whilst on the dole (my other doley mates didn't want to squander their money on an afternoon or more likely dinnertime of pints, so I often ventured in alone). That I could still wander in and find the familiar friendly faces of the team makes the Fat Cat a must visit pub, even if I accept that I go in less now tan I did when I was broke.
Shakespeares was my final call on this occasion, and I was pleased once again with the choice on the bar. A half of the Salamander (again), a pork pie and a pint of the excellent Brass Castle Bad Kitty vanilla stout secured a card payment, and I settled down to a read and a long and interesting chat with Dave in the bar about photography.
The Bad kitty is a little heavy (I only had a pint and a half) but is so luxuriously fine as to warrant savouring every last delicious drop. For the second time in a week I was in Shakespeares contemplating the practicalities of draining an entire cask of a beer by myself. Luckily I was more sensible than that and was home before 21.00.
Finally, I am going to Lancashire with WF tomorrow so need to be up early. I hope to write on Sunday about my trip to the Limeburners Arms in Nether Kellet. I have wanted to go there for about 18 months, but I am worried that whenever I want to visit an unspoilt pub, one outcome usually prevails - it shuts. Finding that the number does not exist earlier doesn't fill me with confidence.
Lets hope this isn't another unspoilt treasure that I miss.
More news soon
Wee Beefy
Sunday, 1 April 2012
Summers here kids
Good afternoon,
granted if you are reading this in 48 hours time any notion of Summer will seem absurd and long since passed, but it has been summer for the last week (except yesterday) so that's what we need to focus on.
As a result, I have been out every day since Wednesday socialising in licensed establishments. Its funny how a drop of sunshine changes our patterns of behaviour - I had actually already made an arrangement to meet up with Mr P on Thursday irrespective of meteorological considerations, and Friday was pay day, so it was the law that I had to go out, but in every establishment I rolled up in there seemed numerous people for whom the potential of a sultry after work pint was too much of a draw to resist.
This was perhaps most noticeable (and impressive) on Friday night when it quickly became apparent that the hot spell was coming to an end, yet over optimistic folks, myself included, were out in a t-shirt and short sleeved shirt, sat outside in near empty beer gardens determined to live the summer time dream, even though as soon as it passed 18.30 the temperature dropped like a stone....
Here are a few details of the ales, ale houses and alesmen I have encountered over the last 4 days.
Thursday - Riverside supping
I was to meet Mr P at our usual allotted time and venue, and we were going to the Harlequin for some well earned after work refreshments. Mr P announced that we were meeting up with Mr K, one of my former colleagues, which was certainly a rare occurrence. Alas the pub was rammed and had a 10 minute queue at the bar, so we made a surprise visit to the Riverside.
This was also busy but most people had gravitated outside - we managed to find a spot on a bench but had we wanted to sit in comfort inside there were choices available. From a range of 5 or 6 real ales Mr P chose the Brew Company Riverside Pale, which one assumes is a rebadge (but not necessarily!), and I had their Krakken, both of which were enjoyable refreshing ales, at a decent price as well. Here was the only place in the 4 day hot spell that we really got any sunshine, soaking up a watery white suns rays just clearing the flats across the river as we sat , appropriately enough, beside the river, at the Riverside.
I also had time here for a half of the Two Roses brewery Black Beauty Stout, a bitter creamy slab of black beer at 5.0% which whilst I was glad I had not started on, could easily have had a good session drinking it.
Gardeners Rest
Possibly only our 1st visit of 2012 Me and Mr P were so reckless as to go and sit outside near the river, giver that the evening afforded such clement climes. In reality, it was chuffing freezing, which meant we had a rather short stint outside during our visit. Here Mr P went pale (that would his beer choice not his appearance) and I had a very interesting pint of the Norton Priory Festivale. It was perhaps getting a little low in the barrel, but it was no less enjoyable, and a rare find in these parts I think.
Having given up being outside in the cold lapping up the balmy single figure temperatures we sat down near the Bar Billiards table and supped some more ale, well I did anyway - I tried the very enjoyable Sheffield Brewing Co IPA 11 (I am fairly certain this was eleven not two!) which was as hoppy and well rounded as I had hoped. I also tried the easy drinking dark roasty Wilson Potter Dark from the brewery of the same name, which was a tasty mild with bags of flavour to dispel any preconceptions about its magnitude. A good way to finish our visit to the Gardeners.
Ship Ahoy
For the sake of a talking point if nothing else we steered our passage to our last pub via the Ship on Shalesmoor, assuming it would be shut. However, our plans were delightfully scuppered when we found it open. On the bar were 3 real ales, once more heavily featuring Sheffield beers. Mr P went for the Abbeydale (possibly the deception) and I had a pint of the excellent Kelham Island Night Rider, which I had somehow contrived to think was a Black IPA - not sure where this idea came from, since reviews suggest this is basically a dark version of Pale Rider, which I think is about right. It was a drink to sip slowly whilst chatting to the landlord about Greedy King, pub ownership and weak beers - I get the feeling you'd be very unlikely to see anything below 4.0% on his bar any time soon.
Shakespeares Ale and Cider House
So to our last stop. I seem to have accidentally become resident at the Shakespeare. Whether by accident or the result of some other worldly karmic happenstance, I have found that I want to go there or are meeting people there quite a lot of late. Mind you, the range of beers helps.
We sat down in the left hand room, me with a half of Salamander squonk porter and Mr P with a half of the SWB Vanguard, which I later had a pint of. The porter (could have been a stout?!?) was a nice drink but the real star of the show was the vanguard. It had a very specific well defined hop flavour which I couldn't put my finger on for the life of me. Try as I might I couldn't recognise it, and it seemed quite different to what I had been expecting, but the more I drank it the more I liked it. Another excellent offering from SWB.
Friday freshments
Shakespeares - again!
Yep, Friday was still officially summer so I went to the nearest pub likely to afford me somewhere to sit, and which had a beer garden. Unfortunately Shakespeares doesn't exactly catch the early spring sun so it was a breif sit down outside admiring the surroundings and drinking an excellent beer. I had spotted the Summer Wine Brewery Barista and remembered that it was a beast of a beer from earlier tastings. Regrettably this was my first beer of the night so I should have headed for a lower gravity less challenging beer but a combination of SWB and espresso and hops was too good to miss. True to form the Barista, £2.80 a pint, was in fabulous condition and went down a treat.
The Blake
Off round the corner up the hill next to catch the 31a to Daniel Hill and walk up to the Blake. I haven't been in since Christmas and it seems after a rash of earlier visits about this time last year my patronage has dropped off somewhat.
I was meeting Mr Robbery around 18.00 and got there at just gone 5 past, to find, as is more or less guaranteed, no pork pies, and a range of excellent ales to tempt me (as always). I started with a hoppy pint of Pictish Newport (4.3%, £2.50 pint) which the barman suggested had hints of gooseberries in the hop flavours - and by jove, the man was right! Having said that he was bigging up the attributes of the Geeves beer as he finished pouring mine, which made me think I ought to have a go at that as well.
Mr Robbery duly arrived not long after I got sat down in the beer garden, which, also having missed the last of the Friday sunshine, was likewise freezing, in fact we stayed out only for about 5 minutes before scurrying in and getting ourselves a seat in the long left hand room. Here crisps were the order of the day (literally in the case of Mr Robbery who bought what could only be described as a sack of them) and I quickly headed back to the bar for a pint of the Geeves Fully Loaded IPA.
The barman assured me he had found only excellent ales form them which was a slightly different experience to mine - the first two of theirs I tried, albeit likely only a month or so after they opened, were pretty damn grim. But I had enjoyed their Tunnel Mouth at the Magna beer fest so was willing to take a punt. Luckily the barman was right, this was a lustrous full bodied hoppy but not too dry IPA with bags of flavour. I don't think I could have lasted long on a session of these though....
My final drink before departing was a half of the Beartown Kodiak Gold which had a lot more subtle malt flavour than I remembered, but was a pleasant easy drinking golden ale to finish.
Sheffield Tap
Off next to the bus station on the 31a, and then over to the Sheffield Tap. I knew it was going to be busy, but I desperately wanted to get in and be seduced once more by their beer range. I got served fairly quickly and waddled over to the room with the window facing the platform. Bag sticking out around my waist, two halves in hand, I was fairly uncertain that I was going to be able to squeeze my way past the bank of chairs and past the rickety little tables safely, so plumped to put both my halves on the table nearest me - for safety.
Unfortunately, having made this decision, I lost my balance whilst swinging my bag round and took one heavy footstep forward, and the impact of my boot on the table's spindly leg sent it rocking, and losing me one of my halves (completely smashed), and showering a random bloke who I was going to be sat next to, with ale and glass into the process. How absolutely tremendously chuffing brilliant.
I quickly got the attention of someone behind the bar and requested a mop and to be fair it was all cleared up very quickly, but I was now of course minus a half, which I had already paid a pretty penny for (ironically it was the most expensive half that I had relinquished). Back at the bar I spotted ale taster extraordinaire Brian on one of his many tasting expeditions, and having pointed out my intended brew to him I reordered a half of the Tempest Brewing smoked rye and Juniper ale (5.4% and £1.80 a half - hmmmm.). There were also three Lytham brewery offerings, two from Kirkstall and another Tempest beer to choose from.
Safely sat back down I drank my Lytham brewery Blonde, which was a 3.6% light golden ale which wasn't really up my street, if pleasant enough, and of course the aforementioned expensive smoked beer. This was a very uncompromising but an interesting mix of flavours, and like all good smoked ale, it tasted of salami or applewood smoked bacon, thus making it very nice indeed.
Rutland Arms
My last stop was the Rutland, as I wanted to find somewhere to sit down and update my notes and retain a steady hand. From a good range including a couple from Blue Bee, I opted for a half of the Arbor Ales Mild West. This was a really enjoyable almost unbelievably creamy mild with even more flavour than the Wilson Potter offering, but of course, it was short on hops, as it should be, being a "mild". I supped this in here with Brian and some of the other clan of the higher tickerati, before wending my way home for a rather tasty extra rare ribeye steak and cous cous for me tea.
Its Saturday - its gotta be Shakespeares!
Yes, this was visit number 4 for the week, and still the beer range kept delivering the goods. I was in to see a mates band,. the Hudares, playing upstairs. This gave me the opportunity to discover that the rather nice looking upstairs bar is open, albeit at present without any handpumps, so not a tremendous amount of help to me. I also got to listen to some good music with a modest but appreciative crowd, but also, (and with the greatest respect to my friend Mr H who's musical exploits I was there to witness) to try some truly excellent beer.
The Dark Star Coffee Pilsner was a revelation - all the bite of coffee (well, obviously), with a good bite of hop but also creamy Sussex and Munich lager malt (I think, also Italian coffee?) which made for a refreshing and enjoyable beer that I had about 5 pints of in the end. I did wonder, what with the prevalence of the lager malt, that the distinctive flavour that i was assuming was Dark Star's favoured Sussex malt might not in fact have been their strain of yeast? Whatever it is you can detect it in all of their beers.
The lager malt gave it more quaffability than an ale of the same strength and with the same amount of bitter coffee flavours, and it was essentially very moreish. I did briefly divert to a Revolutions Brewery Devolution, which I can now confirm is not what I had at the University Arms or Fat Cat last month - because it had such a strong incongruous flavour that I would definitely have remembered having had it before.
I stayed in Shakespeares with friends until gone midnight, and at some point, in a reckless moment of unguarded refreshment, I gave away my "secret" online identity to the bar staff. Obviously, if you are reading this bar staff, then, erm, it wasn't me. Nope. That was someone else who obviously mis-remembered their own blog name....
Silly bloggers
So all in all this last week has proven to be a very refreshing exercise with some excellent pubs and truly outstanding beer.
Which was nice....
Wee Beefy
granted if you are reading this in 48 hours time any notion of Summer will seem absurd and long since passed, but it has been summer for the last week (except yesterday) so that's what we need to focus on.
As a result, I have been out every day since Wednesday socialising in licensed establishments. Its funny how a drop of sunshine changes our patterns of behaviour - I had actually already made an arrangement to meet up with Mr P on Thursday irrespective of meteorological considerations, and Friday was pay day, so it was the law that I had to go out, but in every establishment I rolled up in there seemed numerous people for whom the potential of a sultry after work pint was too much of a draw to resist.
This was perhaps most noticeable (and impressive) on Friday night when it quickly became apparent that the hot spell was coming to an end, yet over optimistic folks, myself included, were out in a t-shirt and short sleeved shirt, sat outside in near empty beer gardens determined to live the summer time dream, even though as soon as it passed 18.30 the temperature dropped like a stone....
Here are a few details of the ales, ale houses and alesmen I have encountered over the last 4 days.
Thursday - Riverside supping
I was to meet Mr P at our usual allotted time and venue, and we were going to the Harlequin for some well earned after work refreshments. Mr P announced that we were meeting up with Mr K, one of my former colleagues, which was certainly a rare occurrence. Alas the pub was rammed and had a 10 minute queue at the bar, so we made a surprise visit to the Riverside.
This was also busy but most people had gravitated outside - we managed to find a spot on a bench but had we wanted to sit in comfort inside there were choices available. From a range of 5 or 6 real ales Mr P chose the Brew Company Riverside Pale, which one assumes is a rebadge (but not necessarily!), and I had their Krakken, both of which were enjoyable refreshing ales, at a decent price as well. Here was the only place in the 4 day hot spell that we really got any sunshine, soaking up a watery white suns rays just clearing the flats across the river as we sat , appropriately enough, beside the river, at the Riverside.
I also had time here for a half of the Two Roses brewery Black Beauty Stout, a bitter creamy slab of black beer at 5.0% which whilst I was glad I had not started on, could easily have had a good session drinking it.
Gardeners Rest
Possibly only our 1st visit of 2012 Me and Mr P were so reckless as to go and sit outside near the river, giver that the evening afforded such clement climes. In reality, it was chuffing freezing, which meant we had a rather short stint outside during our visit. Here Mr P went pale (that would his beer choice not his appearance) and I had a very interesting pint of the Norton Priory Festivale. It was perhaps getting a little low in the barrel, but it was no less enjoyable, and a rare find in these parts I think.
Having given up being outside in the cold lapping up the balmy single figure temperatures we sat down near the Bar Billiards table and supped some more ale, well I did anyway - I tried the very enjoyable Sheffield Brewing Co IPA 11 (I am fairly certain this was eleven not two!) which was as hoppy and well rounded as I had hoped. I also tried the easy drinking dark roasty Wilson Potter Dark from the brewery of the same name, which was a tasty mild with bags of flavour to dispel any preconceptions about its magnitude. A good way to finish our visit to the Gardeners.
Ship Ahoy
For the sake of a talking point if nothing else we steered our passage to our last pub via the Ship on Shalesmoor, assuming it would be shut. However, our plans were delightfully scuppered when we found it open. On the bar were 3 real ales, once more heavily featuring Sheffield beers. Mr P went for the Abbeydale (possibly the deception) and I had a pint of the excellent Kelham Island Night Rider, which I had somehow contrived to think was a Black IPA - not sure where this idea came from, since reviews suggest this is basically a dark version of Pale Rider, which I think is about right. It was a drink to sip slowly whilst chatting to the landlord about Greedy King, pub ownership and weak beers - I get the feeling you'd be very unlikely to see anything below 4.0% on his bar any time soon.
Shakespeares Ale and Cider House
So to our last stop. I seem to have accidentally become resident at the Shakespeare. Whether by accident or the result of some other worldly karmic happenstance, I have found that I want to go there or are meeting people there quite a lot of late. Mind you, the range of beers helps.
We sat down in the left hand room, me with a half of Salamander squonk porter and Mr P with a half of the SWB Vanguard, which I later had a pint of. The porter (could have been a stout?!?) was a nice drink but the real star of the show was the vanguard. It had a very specific well defined hop flavour which I couldn't put my finger on for the life of me. Try as I might I couldn't recognise it, and it seemed quite different to what I had been expecting, but the more I drank it the more I liked it. Another excellent offering from SWB.
Friday freshments
Shakespeares - again!
Yep, Friday was still officially summer so I went to the nearest pub likely to afford me somewhere to sit, and which had a beer garden. Unfortunately Shakespeares doesn't exactly catch the early spring sun so it was a breif sit down outside admiring the surroundings and drinking an excellent beer. I had spotted the Summer Wine Brewery Barista and remembered that it was a beast of a beer from earlier tastings. Regrettably this was my first beer of the night so I should have headed for a lower gravity less challenging beer but a combination of SWB and espresso and hops was too good to miss. True to form the Barista, £2.80 a pint, was in fabulous condition and went down a treat.
The Blake
Off round the corner up the hill next to catch the 31a to Daniel Hill and walk up to the Blake. I haven't been in since Christmas and it seems after a rash of earlier visits about this time last year my patronage has dropped off somewhat.
I was meeting Mr Robbery around 18.00 and got there at just gone 5 past, to find, as is more or less guaranteed, no pork pies, and a range of excellent ales to tempt me (as always). I started with a hoppy pint of Pictish Newport (4.3%, £2.50 pint) which the barman suggested had hints of gooseberries in the hop flavours - and by jove, the man was right! Having said that he was bigging up the attributes of the Geeves beer as he finished pouring mine, which made me think I ought to have a go at that as well.
Mr Robbery duly arrived not long after I got sat down in the beer garden, which, also having missed the last of the Friday sunshine, was likewise freezing, in fact we stayed out only for about 5 minutes before scurrying in and getting ourselves a seat in the long left hand room. Here crisps were the order of the day (literally in the case of Mr Robbery who bought what could only be described as a sack of them) and I quickly headed back to the bar for a pint of the Geeves Fully Loaded IPA.
The barman assured me he had found only excellent ales form them which was a slightly different experience to mine - the first two of theirs I tried, albeit likely only a month or so after they opened, were pretty damn grim. But I had enjoyed their Tunnel Mouth at the Magna beer fest so was willing to take a punt. Luckily the barman was right, this was a lustrous full bodied hoppy but not too dry IPA with bags of flavour. I don't think I could have lasted long on a session of these though....
My final drink before departing was a half of the Beartown Kodiak Gold which had a lot more subtle malt flavour than I remembered, but was a pleasant easy drinking golden ale to finish.
Sheffield Tap
Off next to the bus station on the 31a, and then over to the Sheffield Tap. I knew it was going to be busy, but I desperately wanted to get in and be seduced once more by their beer range. I got served fairly quickly and waddled over to the room with the window facing the platform. Bag sticking out around my waist, two halves in hand, I was fairly uncertain that I was going to be able to squeeze my way past the bank of chairs and past the rickety little tables safely, so plumped to put both my halves on the table nearest me - for safety.
Unfortunately, having made this decision, I lost my balance whilst swinging my bag round and took one heavy footstep forward, and the impact of my boot on the table's spindly leg sent it rocking, and losing me one of my halves (completely smashed), and showering a random bloke who I was going to be sat next to, with ale and glass into the process. How absolutely tremendously chuffing brilliant.
I quickly got the attention of someone behind the bar and requested a mop and to be fair it was all cleared up very quickly, but I was now of course minus a half, which I had already paid a pretty penny for (ironically it was the most expensive half that I had relinquished). Back at the bar I spotted ale taster extraordinaire Brian on one of his many tasting expeditions, and having pointed out my intended brew to him I reordered a half of the Tempest Brewing smoked rye and Juniper ale (5.4% and £1.80 a half - hmmmm.). There were also three Lytham brewery offerings, two from Kirkstall and another Tempest beer to choose from.
Safely sat back down I drank my Lytham brewery Blonde, which was a 3.6% light golden ale which wasn't really up my street, if pleasant enough, and of course the aforementioned expensive smoked beer. This was a very uncompromising but an interesting mix of flavours, and like all good smoked ale, it tasted of salami or applewood smoked bacon, thus making it very nice indeed.
Rutland Arms
My last stop was the Rutland, as I wanted to find somewhere to sit down and update my notes and retain a steady hand. From a good range including a couple from Blue Bee, I opted for a half of the Arbor Ales Mild West. This was a really enjoyable almost unbelievably creamy mild with even more flavour than the Wilson Potter offering, but of course, it was short on hops, as it should be, being a "mild". I supped this in here with Brian and some of the other clan of the higher tickerati, before wending my way home for a rather tasty extra rare ribeye steak and cous cous for me tea.
Its Saturday - its gotta be Shakespeares!
Yes, this was visit number 4 for the week, and still the beer range kept delivering the goods. I was in to see a mates band,. the Hudares, playing upstairs. This gave me the opportunity to discover that the rather nice looking upstairs bar is open, albeit at present without any handpumps, so not a tremendous amount of help to me. I also got to listen to some good music with a modest but appreciative crowd, but also, (and with the greatest respect to my friend Mr H who's musical exploits I was there to witness) to try some truly excellent beer.
The Dark Star Coffee Pilsner was a revelation - all the bite of coffee (well, obviously), with a good bite of hop but also creamy Sussex and Munich lager malt (I think, also Italian coffee?) which made for a refreshing and enjoyable beer that I had about 5 pints of in the end. I did wonder, what with the prevalence of the lager malt, that the distinctive flavour that i was assuming was Dark Star's favoured Sussex malt might not in fact have been their strain of yeast? Whatever it is you can detect it in all of their beers.
The lager malt gave it more quaffability than an ale of the same strength and with the same amount of bitter coffee flavours, and it was essentially very moreish. I did briefly divert to a Revolutions Brewery Devolution, which I can now confirm is not what I had at the University Arms or Fat Cat last month - because it had such a strong incongruous flavour that I would definitely have remembered having had it before.
I stayed in Shakespeares with friends until gone midnight, and at some point, in a reckless moment of unguarded refreshment, I gave away my "secret" online identity to the bar staff. Obviously, if you are reading this bar staff, then, erm, it wasn't me. Nope. That was someone else who obviously mis-remembered their own blog name....
Silly bloggers
So all in all this last week has proven to be a very refreshing exercise with some excellent pubs and truly outstanding beer.
Which was nice....
Wee Beefy
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