Cask Ale Week 2019, it now is!

Yes, it is Cask Ale Week again, yes it really is! Cask Ale Week 19-29 September 2019 (website) does what it says on the label, promotes cask ale, get supping now!

A Sheffield Mile Long Pub Crawl...

As seen in my last blog, I ate at Mama's and Leonies (website), then visited a new (ish, was closed for a while and open before in a previous guise as the Crown, which I have visited many years ago!) pub, the Crow Inn, 33 Scotland Street, S3 7BS (facebook). A mate, Will, advised me about this reopening a short while ago, cheers, so it was my second port of call, following my meal at Mama's, just above West bar Police Station, which is no longer there!

Behind the bar was one of the co-owners, Kate, who was happy to answer my questions (she also co-owns the Rutland), and very friendly. The Crow has 5 real ales, 3 real ciders and a perry, not to mention 14 crafty kegs! I went for a pint of the Mission Creep (never heard of this Welsh brewery, so new to me) Anger Management (4.4%), advertising the use of 'C' hops from the USA, consequently looked promising to me. A golden bitter which wasn't quite as I expected, as in not as fruity, quite dry and bitter, slightly sour taste. There were also ales from more local brewers, including Abbeydale and Blue Bee. Promising new addition to Sheffield's pubs!

Just walking down from there the next pub I visited was Shakespeares, 146-148 Gibraltar Street, S3 8UB (website), by now with company for my travels, Jeff and Lindsay, long time no see lads. This is a regular award winning pub in recent years with a wide choice of ales, 9 in all, prices starting at £2.70 a pint, oh yes, and they sell real ciders too, as do most of the decent pubs in Sheffield of course. I had the North Riding (website) Citra Pale (4.5%) at £3.20, which was okay, but I was a wee bit disappointed as I love the award winning Oakham Citra IPA, for example, which is only 4.2% and has much more flavour, oh well, it wasn't bad...

Opposite Shakespeares is The Bar Stewards, a micropub at 163 Gibraltar Street, S3 8UA (website) which serves 4 real ales, crafty kegs etc... Forget the whisky that appeared here, thank you Lindsay, from the 4 real ales they serve I drank Great Heck (website) Mosaic (4.5%), a golden fruity bitter with plenty of flavour, getting better indeed.

Crossing over the A61 (Shalesmoor) and we made a visit to the Kelham Island Tavern, 62 Russell Street, S3 8RW (website), a many award winning hostelry, indeed twice CAMRA National Pub of the Year. I had the local Blue Bee (website) Triple Hop (4.3%) with Citra, Mosaic and Ekuanot being the three hops. Another pale golden bitter of course, well this is me, grapefruit in the taste, big in the nose and flavour, with a dry bitter finish, very good!

And around the corner is another multi award winning pub, indeed, world leading beer writer Roger Protz has just written in the 500th edition of Beer Matters, Sheffield CAMRA's monthly magazine, that Dave Wickett, who bought and refurbished the Fat Cat and set up Kelham Island Brewery "started the beer revival" in Sheffield. Having worked for Dave at Kelham Island Brewery myself i also witnessed his love of ale and football that Roger emphasises. Sadly Dave passed away a couple of years ago, R.I.P.

Anyway, at the Fat Cat itself, 23 Alma Street, S3 8SA (website), I first drank Jolly Sailor (website) Summer Pale, a 4.2% dry hopped 'session pale' bitter, pale golden colour, not bad, but then it had to compete with their own Kelham Island (website) Pint Break (5.0%), brewed with lager yeast and 2 types of hop from the USA. Pint Break had a deep golden colour with a sort of bitter sweet flavour at first taste, drying out bitterness, plenty of depth and body, very decent; £3.40 a pint, prices here from £2.70 to £3.70 a pint. 

And a brand new bar for me. just round the corner from the Cat at 50 Green Lane, S3 8AY, is Pa's Bistro (website), where I sampled a couple of ales from a local brewery new to me too. As you can see a new building, and this area has had a lot of financial support from the EU by the way, and a friendly lad behind the bar, and some nice customers too, other than me... Anyway, the ale, from a choice of 9 regular brews of Fuggle Bunny (website), Pa's have up to 3 ales, 2 for my visit, and at just £3 a pint on match day, nice one. I first drank their Hazy Summer Daze (4.2%), a pale ale, hints of tropical and citrus fruit in the taste, with a dry bitter aftertaste. Then I had the rather excellent Russian Rare-Bit, a 5.0% 'Imperial Black Stout' with its aroma of roasted barley and full deep flavour with hints of chocolate and liquorice, nice one!

My first regular local when I moved to Sheffield in the 1990s was The Wellington, though it wasn't called that then, at 1 Henry Street, S3 7EQ (facebook), prices from £2.80 a pint. I drank XT (website) 3 West Coast IPA, a golden bitter brewed with Chinook, Columbus and Cascade, at £3.00 a pint, not as spectacular as some of their ales I've drunk before, but still good. I also had their own brewed Neepsend (website) Okami (4.7%), brewed with Styrian Wolf, Citra and Sorachi hops, pale golden, red fruit in the aroma, tropical fruit in the flavour, very interesting!

Another pub I've worked in in the 1990s, a ten minute walk away at the other end of Infirmary Road, is The Hillsborough Hotel, 54-58 Langsett Road, S6 2UB (website), which has 8 real ales and good locally sourced food. Here I had a few pints including Acorn (website) Fiesta, a 4.5% golden bitter, hints of citrus, not bad at all, and £3.00 a pint. Also, Abbeydale (website) Deception, a 4.1% 'New Zealand pale ale', probably my favourite pale ale of the visit to Sheffield, and brewed in Sheffield too. Pale golden bitter brewed with Nelson Sauvin hops from New Zealand, plenty of fruit in the taste, good body for the strength, very good!

The Hillsborough Hotel is a friendly establishment run by Tom and Brigitte, and a good place to drink at before and after a visit to Sheffield Wednesday's ground, oh yes, and I stayed there too, hence the breakfast, which one can never turn down, great stuff!

I also have to admit I was drinking in Sheffield for 2 days, and visited some of the pubs more than once, met many pals, and had a great time, cheers!

Sheffield Visit 2019

OK, I visit Sheffield once or twice a year, and I had already been here earlier in the year but hadn't written a blog, which I really wanted to do, but, anyway, here it will be, and a more up to date version as well... But that will wait until my next blog, very soon, I promise! BUT! Where do I always go to on arrival in Sheffield following a long journey? 

Mama's and Leonies (website), of course, situated at 111/115 Norfolk Street, Sheffield S1 2JE (0114 272 0490), just down the road from the famous, for snooker fans particularly, Crucible Theatre. I've been going there for over 20 years now, so no reason why I should change now. Anyway, saw a few familiar faces working there, and had my favourite Warm Chick & Bacon Salad, without the croutons, excellent, never fails to please me!

And above is a hint of the ales on the bar at my first drinking house, new to me in its present guise, but I have drank in there many many years ago! More of very soon...