Further to my first blog about my latest trip to Sheffield, full of microbreweries, genuine freehouses and micropubs, here's details of other pubs I visited and ales I drank. 😁 Again my abode for this visit was The Crow Inn, 33 Scotland Street S3 7BS (website), which reopened 7 years ago after a few years closure, and has 7 en suite bedrooms. It sells quite a few interesting ales (I drank the 2 below) and crafty keg beers and interesting bar snacks. It opens Mon-Wednesday 3pm to 12 midnight; Thurs-Saturday 12 noon to 1am; Sunday 12 noon to 11pm.
At The Crow Inn my first ale was the 3.8% Titan Pale Ale from dependable carbon-neutral Bristol brewery Left Handed Giant (website). Brewed with Citra (hopslist), Nelson Sauvin (hopslist) and Centennial (hopslist) hops, producing a pale golden ale with citrus in the aroma and hints of orange, grapefruit and grapes in the subtle fruit flavours, light with a dry bitter finish, nice one.
Also, from across the Pennines in Macclesfield, Cheshire, and Red Willow Brewery (website) was their 4.6% Heartless, a Chocolate Stout brewed with chocolate malt, and Columbian cacao added. I cannot find out the hops used, but no doubt they will be typical citrus type hops from the USA like Citra, to balance the darker flavours. As you would expect, mostly dark chocolate in the taste with a hint of coffee, and a bitter finish, a quite luxurious stout indeed. 👍
Closer to the city centre is the Bath Hotel, 66-68 Victoria St, Sheffield S3 7QL (facebook), another excellent pub in Sheffield, where I've had many good times over the years. With Brian (seen in the photograph below) back running the pub following leasing it to Thornbridge Brewery, it's like being home, as his warm welcome always makes you feel at home! And here I met up with Peter the Brewer (Blue Bee); we had arranged to meet, so not a coincidence. 👍
At the Bath Hotel, we both started off with North Yorkshire brewery Pennine Brewing Co (website) Amber Necker, unsurprisingly a 3.8% amber session ale. I immediately thought English hops, as it tasted like a traditional Bitter, slightly nutty, but no, apparently hops from the USA are used as well as English hops! Sadly, I cannot discover which hops are used, and I'm not going to guess for a change, because nothing particularly stood out. Not a bad beer, indeed tasting like a traditional English Bitter, pretty decent and easy to drink. But...
There's a story behind local brewery Abbeydale (website) and their associated pub the Rising Sun (website), which were given by founders Pat and Sue Morton in 2024, to keep their independent legacy, to the 50-odd staff members. 👍 The business is now 100% employee-owned, decent bosses or what?!? I first drank in the Rising Sun many years before Abbeydale started leasing it, indeed, it was the pub I drank in the evening of my interview at the University of Sheffield back in 1994, and Abbeydale Brewery started up not long afterwards in 1996.
I've enjoyed this ale many times before, the 4.1% Abbeydale Deception! This 'New Zealand Pale Ale' is primarily hopped with New Zealand Nelson Sauvin hops (hopslist), but Amarillo (hopslist), Chinook (hopslist), Galaxy (hopslist) and Columbus (hopslist), U.S. hops, are added too, all hops that make my taste buds tingle. 😉 An excellent pale ale, with citrus, grape and gooseberry in the flavour, refreshing, with a dry bitter finish, still as good as ever, cheers! 😁
Close to Kelham Island, I met up with Jeff and Lindsay at Shakespeare's (facebook), 146-148 Gibraltar Street S3 8UB, which, as you can see from the exterior, used to be a Ward's pub until 1999, when I lived nearby. This Georgian pub was closed for 18 months from early 2010 after 10 years with Punch Taverns (indeed, Jeff, Lindsay and I had helped finish off their array of rums back then!). Since then it's been refurbished, reopening in July 2011 free of tie, and winning CAMRA awards; it's the Sheffield CAMRA July Pub of the Month. They sell up to 9 real ales, many from local brewers, over 50 bottled beers, and a fair few crafty keg beers.
Here I drank, from Newcastle based Full Circle Brew Co (website), their single hopped Waves of Citra (3.4%), obviously brewed with Citra hops (hopslist). 😉 As ever, this hop produces orange and lemon flavours, though predominantly grapefruit, but with hints of tropical fruits too, pale colour, and with a dry bitter finish, it would be very easy to knock back a few of these!
I visited The Wellington, 1 Henry Street S3 7EQ (facebook), at nearby Shalesmoor, two times. The Welly has its own local microbrewery Neepsend Brew Co (website). The first visit was drinking with Peter the Brewer, and then with Jeff and Lindsay, hence why there's a few ales in the photographs below, plus I met up with Richard the Brewer the second visit!
Yes, all these ales are from James' (who worked at Kelham Island Brewery long before I did, and who has run pubs in Sheffield since) Neepsend Brew Co, first Vulcan, a 3.9% Bitter, traditional and brewed with English hops Challenger (hopslist) and East Kent Golding (hopslist). Yes, pretty much does what it says on the tin, a traditional English Bitter, amber colour, slight malt flavour with hints of citrus, and a dry bitter finish, decent indeed.
Next Numakulla, a 4.5% Pacific Pale Ale brewed with New Zealand hops Nectaron (Charles Faram) and Superdelic (Charles Faram), and Australian hops Enigma (John I Haas) and Vic Secret (hopslist). As you can imagine, a much more complex taste, with citrus and tropical fruit flavours in this pale bitter, more tropical dominated, but I even got strawberry in there! Smooth, too easy to drink, with a dry gently bitter finish, very good.
On the second visit I started off with the 3.9% New England Session Pale Aurora, brewed with Galaxy (hopslist), Amarillo (hopslist) and Strata (Indie Hops) hops. Unsurprisingly, with those hops, citrus dominates the aroma and taste, and particularly grapefruit in the taste, very pale, dry and with a bitter finish, refreshing and so easy to knock back! 😁
My final drink, for this visit to the Welly, was Neepsend Proteus, a 5.9% U.S. style IPA brewed with Ekuanot (Yakima Chief), El Dorado (hopslist) and Simcoe (hopslist) hops. You won't be surprised to read this was packed full of flavour, gentle malt background with punchy darker fruits as well as citrus and tropical fruits, I got damson and plum in there too, but pale, with a dry bitter finish, and quality to finish off with, cheers m'dears! 🍺
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