Sheffield Visit - Part 2

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! 🍺

Sheffield Visit

As I often do, I stayed at the Crow Inn, 33 Scotland Street, S3 7BS (website), which I have written about many times before, eg blog, where I met up with one of my friends, more joined as the 'crawl' continued! 😉 And yes, I had eaten at Mama's and Leonies, where I usually eat in Sheffield, eg blog, I took  no photographs this time, but plenty of photographs in other blogs.

I spent much more time chatting to the 4 friends I drank with this 'pub crawl' in Sheffield, including the nomadic Steev, who I hadn't seen for many years. Consequently, my notes were very sparse, and so were photographs taken this visit, but careful use of my own 'library images' and knowing all the places I visited very well, will make up for that, I trust. Indeed, all these pubs will have been linked here many times. As you can see, I did take a photograph of one of the ales I drank at the Crow (above), from across the Pennines at Macclesfield brewery Red Willow (website), their Weightless, a 4.2% session IPA, brewed with Mosaic hops (hopslist), which resulted in a lovely pale ale, tasting of citrus grapefruit and tropical fruits, and with a dry bitter finish, excellent!

We also visited The Wellington, 1 Henry Street S3 7EQ (facebook), where we met up with Steev, and which I've also written about many times before, also at this blog. Now, I do remember eating one of their excellent value cheese and red onion sandwiches, similar to that photographed for that blog, and I drank ales from their own brewery, Neepsend (website), which were no doubt excellent, but apologies, I have no notes, so cannot share anymore information here. 😒

Of course, we also visited the award winning Kelham Island Tavern, 62 Russell Street S3 8RW (website), and with pal Pete of Blue Bee Brewery (website), who brew the pub's 'house ales' 🍺 and I will have had one of their cracking pale bitters. Most likely it would have been their latest version of American Five Hop (4.3%), or another one-off ale, whatever, it will have been excellent, or I would have remembered. I have never had a bad ale from Blue Bee, always hoppy, fruity with a dry bitter finish, they do know how to use hops properly, cheers Pete!

Again, no notes for visiting here, but we did visit, no doubt about that! Shakespeares, 146-148 Gibraltar Street S3 8UB (facebook), which always has a fine array of ales and crafty keg beers for sale. I'll guess I drank an ale from Abbeydale Brewery (website), which is highly likely. 😉

Because I quite often use the Winter Garden in Sheffield (Council website) as a quiet place to relax and reflect, fill in time, or to warm up in colder weather, I thought I'd share that I did visit again, on my way to the railway station this time. The opening times for the Winter Garden are Monday to Saturday 08.00 to 20.00; Sunday 10.00 to 17.00; Public Holidays 10.00 to 17.00; and the only day of the year it is closed, excluding emergencies, is Christmas Day. 🌲

And, on reaching Sheffield Railway Station, 1b Sheaf Street S1 2BP, on platform 1 (internally), is the Sheffield Tap (website). And what a great place the Tap is too, historically it is placed in the tastefully refurbished Edwardian Refreshment Room and Dining Rooms, and with its own on-site microbrewery, which has another excellent head brewer I know.

So, from the 11 handpulls on the bar, which of their own ales did I drink? As I was travelling a fair few miles and hours I went for the very easy drinking 3.6% 'New Zealand Pale Ale' Tapped Brew Co Toha. Brewed with Nelson Sauvin (hopslist), Taiheke (NZhops), and Nectaron (NZhops) hops, this may only be a 'weaker' session pale ale, but it certainly packs a lot of flavour from the use of those hops, nice one Ben! Pale, full of tropical and citrus fruits, with grapefruit, lime and gooseberry standing out, pale and dry with a bitter finish, pretty damn good indeed!

I'll return to Sheffield yet again, and pretty soon, cheers m'dears! 😁

First Real Ales of 2018!

Well, my first trip to a public house in 2018 was on Tuesday to the Tower, 251 London Road TN37 6NB (tel: 01424 721773), which, depending on how you consider your geography, is described as St Leonards on Sea, which is in the borough of Hastings, but the smaller area the pub is in is called Bohemia... Whatever, it is up the hill about 1250 metres from the beach, and I prefer to call it Bohemia, because, well it sounds more bohemian (see Ordnance Survey website). And, by "real ale" I mean cask-conditioned ale, see CAMRA website; though Belgian beers do come a close second to proper British cask-conditioned draught ales, in my opinion...

The Tower is the reigning CAMRA (Campaign for Real Ale) South East Sussex Pub of the Year 2017, and sells 6 real ales from hand pumps; 2 regular excellent ales from Sussex brewer Dark Star (website), their 3.8% session ale Hophead and the stronger 4.7% American Pale Ale (APA), so-called because of the style and the use of hops from the other side of the Atlantic Ocean. There are also 4 regularly changing guest ales (and more often than not from local breweries too), and 6 real ciders and 1 perry (the perry currently from Westons; concerning 'real cider and perry' see CAMRA website).

The 'guest' ales included Hopback Summer Lightning (5%, see website), an excellent pale bitter I've used to help convert lager drinkers to real ale many times over many years! Also, the 3.9% pale session bitter from Red Willow (website), their Stateless, which is brewed with more hops from across the Pond, Cascade, Columbus and Chinook... it does what it says on the label, it's pale with citrus flavours and finishes with a dry bitterness. But...

OK, it's obviously the right time of year to be appreciating darker beers, but I particularly want to express just how good the Porter shown in the photograph was, however, I next drank, from Kent, Whitstable Brewery Christmas Spirit (I noted 4.6%, the website says 4.7%, I could be wrong! Website). Darker, a reddish chestnut colour, and brewed with English hops, Admiral and East Kent Goldings, as one would expect, producing a slightly spicy beer, not too heavy but with more body than the paler ales, and with a hint of chocolate in the aroma and taste too...

To the Aromatic Porter (4.5%) from Brewsters then (website), a brewery I've mentioned before when talking about women, brewing and witchcraft (eg blog and blog)! I didn't really get the 'aromatic' here though, and the chap sitting next to me at the bar, a well-known local CAMRA enthusiast, had been put off by the term 'aromatic', he needn't have been. Of course there was an aroma, but more subtle than the name implies, I tried to work out what it was, and I think I've come up with a dark berry, mostly blackcurrant, to the nose, certainly fruity. A much darker, well-bodied, bitter beer, with a dry finish and a hint of roasted barley in the taste, it was pretty damn excellent, and just £3 a pint, cheers Louisa!

Not to forget, ignoring Wetherspoons, the Tower is the best value real ale pub in Hastings, with the two regulars £2.90 a pint for Hophead and £3 a pint for APA, and on the day, the most expensive ales were £3.20 a pint, eg the Summer Lightning, and all in lined glasses too...

Keep up the good work Lou!