Sheffield Revisited - I shouldn't leave it so long next time! Day One:

I visited to 1) see friends, 2) go to football at Hillsborough Park, and 3) drink ale!

 

As you will see, over the 2 nights I was there, I only drank at 5 of the very many fine ale houses in Sheffield, starting with the double National CAMRA Pub of the Year, and often Yorkshire and Sheffield POTY, the Kelham Island Tavern, 62 Russell Street S3 8RW (0114 2722482 - website). What can I say? Great ale house, spoke to the landlords, Trevor and Lewis, and to Dave, presumably Head Barman, I didn't ask, but I've known them all for a number of years now, and I felt reyt welcome, indeed, Dave came out for a drink with us the second time I visited the KIT with a couple of other mates, Lindsay and Jeff, later that evening! 

13 ales to choose from at the KIT, starting at £2.40 a pint for 4 of them, and upwards, but reasonable priced ales all! I don't think I made a note of all I had to drink here over the 2 visits, and a note of every ale that was available is certainly not forthcoming! First, though, Wigan brewery Allgates (website) Tuckers Hill (3.8%), a zesty golden bitter with a hint of smoked grain. 

Then I had 2 excellent IPA/APA style bitters; from West Yorkshire, Bridestones (website) American Pale Ale (5%), with "copious Willamette aroma hops" they say, and I believe! This was pale, sharp, and very bitter, great stuff, just what the doctor ordered... Then I had something even more exquisite, a collaboration between another 2 Yorkshire breweries, Brass Castle (website) Rampart (7%), and Ossett (website). The Rampart is described as a "heavily hopped IPA" and is another very dry bitter, though with a wee bit more hint of fruit. I'm sure I had more there, but you'll have to go there yourself to enjoy the pleasures of the many ales available!        

In between visits to the KIT, I met up with Lindsay at the Fat Cat, 23 Alma Street S3 8SA (0114 2494801 - website), a pub I first visited in 1989, and, locally, the two pubs, which are a stones lob away from each other, are referred to together as the KitCat! The Fat Cat has its own brewery next door, Kelham Island Brewery (website), where I worked whilst a postgraduate student many years ago.

Problem, I cannot remember what I had to drink, mainly because it was good to meet up and chat with friends I hadn't seen for years, I also chatted to Diane and Stephen behind the bar too, obviously... Also, we met up with 2 away fans, and their buddy from Exeter, father and son; the younger studying at Sheffield Hallam University.  

When Lindsay, Jeff, Dave and I left the KIT we finished off at The Shakespeare, 146-148 Gibraltar Street S3 8UB (0114 2755959 - website), 3 excellent pubs in such close proximity, and quite a few not so far away either! Here, by chance, I also met up with a few others I hadn't seen for a while, including 'Owls' fan, Ian, and, though I'm sure I drank something else too, or maybe just more than one pint of this, The Da Vinci Cod (4.5%). Brewed by another Sheffield brewer, Abbeydale (website), dry-hopped with Vic Secret, and I have written, citrus fruity, dry & bitter, "A Carman Miranda of an ale", £2.90 a pint, and I liked it, a lot!    

More to come, cheers! 

Natural Phenomena and Latin Nature...

As you're reading this, I take it you know about how 'natural' real ales are; unless other natural substances are added, eg spices, herbs and fruit, ales are brewed using just 4 natural ingredients. First, malted grain is used to provide sugars to ferment, as well as provide flavour, this is usually barley, but can include other grain, eg wheat and oats, and un-malted roasted barley can be used for flavour, particularly for stouts. The second ingredient is water, called 'liquor' by brewers, hot liquor is used when converting the starch in malt to more simple sugar, stimulated by enzymes in the malt; this liquid, now termed 'wort', is boiled in the kettle or 'copper'. At different times during the boil, the third ingredient, hops, are added for preservation, but also to add flavour and bitterness. The final natural additive is yeast, which converts the sugars in the cooled solution into alcohol. OK, it's a wee bit more complicated than that, but that's the basic art of brewing...      

So, with all the potential flavours and types of ales, why is it that we have preferences for one over another? People who know me well, or who have read a few of these blogs, will know I prefer pale bitters, the more pale, dry and bitter, the better. I can love ales that are just bitter, or some that have fruity flavours added by hops, eg typical of many hops coming from the USA, like Citra, Cascade or Amarillo, which provide citrus-like flavours. But, I also can enjoy good ales of all types, eg winter warmers, stouts and porters, but I'm not really into beers that are just 'malty', or lack hops, though others happily enjoy such ales, that I find boring or too malty. Such is life when considering real ales, there really is something to suit most people's tastes, or to go with different types of food, very similar to wines, but with even more variety. 

Now, I do like Dark Star's paler and hoppy ales, indeed I like ultra hoppy ales brewed elsewhere, eg by Steel City, Oakham, Crouch Vale, Saltaire, I could go on... However, there is a 'new kid on the block', well, not that new, as he had been brewing at Dark Star for a while previously, and had devised the recipe for Hophead, a pale hoppy bitter I first tasted in Sheffield many years ago. Indeed, I have already commented on Burning Sky's 3.5% Plateau "Pale Ale" previously, which I even prefer to Hophead! Burning Sky also brew a stronger ale regularly too, the 5.6% Aurora, and what a lovely ale I savoured at The Tower, London Road, Hastings St Leonards very recently, after searching it out for quite a while now. The Aurora is subtitled "Strong Pale Ale",, which belies the flavours and substance of the ale: this has grapefruit aroma smacking you across the cheeks as it wafts up your nostrils, it's tastes fruity, it has loadsa body, it finishes off dry, it is very delicious indeed!   

But it's not just Dark Star and Burning Sky ales offered down in East Sussex, many more hoppy ales are provided from near and afar. At The Tower I have also enjoyed drinking Wild Cat, from The Fat Cat brewery attached to the Norwich version of a Fat Cat very recently. This is a 5% bitter subtitled "An ultra-pale hop monster", though not as 'ultra hoppy' as Steel City, and not too much aroma, this is still a very good dry pale bitter, nice and easy to drink, and liked by me very much! There has been all manner of other lovely ales at The Tower recently too, of course from Dark Star, eg Hophead and American Pale Ale, the Burning Sky Plateau again, and now an apparently regular beer from Hastings Brewery, their No5 Hop Forward Pale Ale. Excellent stuff, reported on many times, cheers Louisa!  

But we are blessed with other very good providers of lovely ales in East Sussex too. For example, from the First in Last Out (FILO), High Street, Hastings 'old town', who do not only provide 5 of their very own brews from 7 or 8 regular and seasonal beers, eg FILO Gold "Premium Ale" (4.8%), Churches "Pale Ale" (4.2%), the very good session bitter Crofters "Best Bitter" (3.8%), and the excellent full-flavoured and full-bodied Cardinal "Sussex Porter" (4.6%), but guest ales too. Sadly, for me, they've run out of their, far too easily, very drinkable seasonal Our Auld Ale (6.5%), reported on before, but are considering brewing this again before next Christmas. I don't want to wish my life away, so I shall be patient, but I'm looking forward to it again Tony... 

As I said, they don't only provide their own crackin' ales, they also provide a couple of guest ales from other breweries too, in recent times, for example, the Oakleaf Brewery's Quercus Folium (4%), which we accurately translated in the bar, from the latin, as "Oakleaf". The Oakleaf Oakleaf, or Quercus Folium is what I call a 'traditional' bitter colour, ie, how I remember bitters from when I first started drinking, and before I experienced a 'pale' bitter, even 'pale ales' in those days were a darker colour than they are favoured to be now! This had a slight caramel flavour, with a nice bitter aftertaste. More recently, they had the Essex-based Crouch Vale Yakima Gold (4.2%), which I have recently commented on when I drank it at the Dolphin, together with a note on it's Native American name. Indeed, it is still a refreshing pale bitter with a fruity grapefruit and peach aftertaste, very nice again, cheers Mike and Adam!       

Meanwhile, further down in the 'old town' of Hastings, opposite the fishing beach and huts, is the Dolphin, Rock-a-Nore, the reigning local CAMRA Pub of the Year. As ever, the 3 regular ales are Dark Star Hophead, Harveys Sussex Best, and Young's Special, all reported on previously numerous times. They also provide 3 guest ales, rumoured to be increasing by one to a total of 7 ales overall later this year, variety indeed! 

Guest ales recently have included, from near and far, from Swindon, Arkell's Moonlight, a 4.5% dark golden bitter, with a slight caramel flavour and nice bitter aftertaste; from the newish local venture Brighton Bier, Underdog, a 4.2% bitter with a nutty aftertaste, a bit like the flavour of the inside of a hazelnut, and very nice indeed; and from Scotland, Cairngorm Trade Winds, a 4.3% pale, slightly sweet bitter. In addition, also from the West Country, the excellent Salopian Hop Twister, a 4.5% pale dry bitter, with a hint of citrus and grapefruit aroma, cheers Mark!  

Finally, for this blog, I have recently visited The Albatross Club (RAFA) a couple of times, the local CAMRA Club of the Year, where you need to be signed in by a member; CAMRA members being very welcome. It's a good 10 mile walk (round trip) for me along the coast to Bexhill-on-Sea, a wee bit tiring in the strong winds and rain recently, but it had to be done! The welcome here is always very friendly, and the 4 ales on offer are regularly changing, so do not expect to drink the same ale 2 trips running, unless you visit daily, but even then... What has been available recently? 

I loved it, of course, the 3.5% Burning Sky Plateau, with a grapefruit aroma, grapefruit in the taste, pale, dry and bitter, delicious! Other local ales have included Rother Valley Exit (5.7%) and Isfield Flapjack (5.3%). Also, a collaboration between the local Dark Star Brewery and Yorkshire based Saltaire Brewery, Bock, a dark 'rusty' brown coloured 5.6% bitter with full body and roasted flavour. From much further afield have come Just a Minute Time Tunnel, a 4.1% dark golden bitter, and Summer Wine Espresso (4.8%), you can guess what flavour that has, and Zenith, a 4% pale refreshing dry bitter, very nice too. Also, from the dependable Essex brewer again, Crouch Vale Amarillo, a 5% pale hoppy ale, grapefruit flavour, dry and bitter, it hit the spot, cheers Geoff, another nice one! 

Cheers folks!!      

Sheffield Part II - even more greater ales!

Where do I start when visiting a City with a plethora of genuine free houses and microbreweries, and consequently, loadsa luvverly ale!?! The easiest way would be to start at the very beginning, as a certain governess said in The Sound of Music, so I shall... but I shall also deviate a wee bit from convention, and leave the second pub visited that day until last, particularly as I was drinking there twice that day... 

I was going to have a cheapo breakfast in one of the many Sheffield Wetherspoons, but kept putting it off and didn't in the end, as I don't like the last 'spoons I reached that morning, the one at Hillsborough Corner, it feels reyt unfriendly; though I did meet an old neighbour in there, Dave, before I used its toilet facilities. So, instead, I decided to walk to Hillsborough Stadium, through the Park, and visited the memorial to the Tragedy; a visit here has always helped me to put things into perspective. Then, as I was in the area, I did as people are meant to do whilst in Rome, do as the locals do, so I had a pork sandwich (to my Southern readers, that's a soft bap, called a bread cake there, with pork in it) for my late breakfast, followed by a £1 poke of chips for my early lunch; healthy eating... 

Anyway, a short walk from nearby Malin Bridge tram stop is the bottom of Stannington Road, a wee way up which, on a corner on the right hand side of the road, is The Anvil, an Enterprise pub, now run by long-time friends, and more, Tom (full-time at The Anvil) and Brigitte (who also works full-time elsewhere), as I mentioned in Part I. Tom being a chef, I have no doubt the food will be very good, but I only stopped in for a pint as I had much more to do that day, so cannot report on the food, but the lovely barmaid (I've forgotten her name, as in forgot to write it down) served up a decent pint of Derbyshire brewer, Derventio's Winter King, a 4% pale hoppy bitter with a dry aftertaste. As I hadn't let them know about my likely visit, I also surprised both Tom and Brigitte when I turned up. Good luck to the both of you with your venture! 

Anyway, after visiting the second pub of the day, reporting further down in this blog, I had some more food, and a rest from alcohol, before visiting one of the most recent additions to good ale houses in Sheffield, Shakespeare's on Gibraltar Street, a music venue as well, and for a while closed, when it desperately needed refurbishment. Indeed, this is one of 28 Sheffield pubs in the 2014 CAMRA Good Beer Guide, and 26th of those that I have had an ale or three in over the years, though I had been here in the past under different management. I had arranged to meet up at 6pm with Noel (fellow R), and other mates, Lindsay and Jeff MacDoughnut, all 3 living in Sheffield still, though none of the 4 of us are from South Yorkshire, being 2 Southerners (me with mucho Celt in me), a Scot and a Paddy; good company indeed! 

We all turned up within a couple of minutes of each other, and I was pleased with the work done in the pub, which has not noticeably changed at all architecturally. It was great to meet up with the 3 lads, who are great friends I hadn't seen for a couple of years. This being a beer and pub blog, though, I shan't go over our conversations, but just add notes on the 2 ales I had from their 12 real ale handpumps. The only regular ale is the Sheffield brewer Abbeydale's Deception, a 4.1% pale, fruity hoppy ale, though this wasn't one of the two 'guests' I tried. No, I had ales from further afield, though still from 2 Yorkshire breweries. First, the 4.3% North Riding Brew Pub's Galaxy (4.3%), another fruity pale hoppy bitter, presumably using Galaxy hops, and very nice too. Second, Great Heck's Five, a 5% pale hoppy bitter with plenty of grapefruit aroma and flavour, I liked this very much!     

We then ventured to the Kelham Island Tavern. Shakespeare's has already won awards, which is great, but the KIT, as we like to refer to it locally (oh dear, I'd became a local all over again, if only for 48 hours), has won the CAMRA Pub of the Year, in recent times, NATIONALLY... and 2 years in a row, which is some feat! Immediately, we saw Pete (who works part-time behind the bar at the Wellington) as we entered, the pub was tightly packed, though, with a great variety of people as we expect in here; young and not so young, male and female, it is an excellent success story for Trevor and Louis, the owners/landlords. Indeed, I had a good chat with Trevor whilst there, and with Dave, who I keep in touch with on facebook, though he'd probably deny we are 'friends' ;-) was serving behind the bar, together with a few others, including a rather fetching young lady who, again, I hadn't added her name to my notebook, but she made an impression... 

Ales-wise, there is an excellent choice of ales served from 12 handpumps, regular and guests, as you would expect from such a prolific award winning pub, from local microbreweries, and some from further afar. Indeed, I drank an ale brewed over t' Pennines in Rochdale, Pictish Polaris, a 4.5% dry pale bitter, perfectly suiting my taste, and as recommended by Dave, cheers! 

From the KIT, we wandered round the corner to the Fat Cat (get it? KIT-CAT, as locally referred to) and bumped into 2 more great friends, Bob and his wife Marie, as they left the Cat, which sits in front of Kelham Island Museum, and which has it's own brewery Kelham Island (where I worked for a while at the turn of the Millenium until 2001/2). Bob and Marie were on the way to the KIT with a couple of friends I didn't know, but you can appreciate the general mobility of regulars in this area... 

So, our penultimate destination was the Fat Cat, one of the earliest exponents of real ale in the country, a very early brewpub of modern times, and started up by my old employer, Dave Wickett, who sadly died in 2012, following a lengthy illness with cancer: RIP Dave. We met up with a few folk in here too, and Duncan still the manager too, though it was too busy to chat with him, another pub packed with young and old, male and female alike; who said real ale was just for old men? I didn't drink one of their own ales, from the array on offer, but had a 'guest', from another Yorkshire brewer, Salamander's Scarf & Mittens (5%), a very good pale hoppy winter ale at £3 a pint. Whilst at the Fat Cat, another mate, Will, contacted me to say he'd meet up with us at our next port of call, which he did...  

My second visit of the day to The Wellington (previously, Cask & Cutler and, previous to that, The Wellington), so my second and ultimate pub of the day, which serves up many of its own ales under the label of 'Little Ale Cart Brewery' that used to be brewed out' back, but now brewed elsewhere in the city. They brew excellent pale and hoppy ales, but, as I'd let Will know, this day they had their own dark bitter, and a stout on sale too, hence ensuring his joining us! They also serve, from their 10 handpumps, a real cider, and guests from other micros too; their only 'regular' being Millstone Baby Git, an excellent 4% pale hoppy oxymoron of an ale at £2.40 a pint. There are no keg beers and lagers only in bottle; and quite a few Belgian bottled beers too. 

As soon as we walked into the 'Welly', sans MacDoughnut (who has an issue with Richard the owner here) standing at the bar already were Andy and Jan, two former regular customers at the Bath Hotel; which is why I hadn't seen them at the Bath the previous night, they've moved allegiance. It was good to see them, plus the rest of the regulars here; it was like going back 3 years, and I'd have known everyone who would be there, virtually. Indeed, my earlier in the day visit had seen me meeting up with a few old friends too, NB the other Richard (not owner) and Pete, who was serving behind the bar then. It was excellent to meet up with so many people I hadn't seen for years and who I like; too many to mention individually, but great stuff! 

Little Ale Cart ales? The 2 dark ones that enticed Will to visit and appreciate were the 3.9% brown bitter Farmer's Boy, the pump clip featuring Richard the landlord/owner as a wee lad on a tractor even further up North, as can be seen above; he's not so cute now! The other dark ale was Daft Sheep Stout, 6.2% and just £3 a pint. The 4 pale hoppy bitters I tried during the 2 visits included 2 featured in their steam engine series, Alnwick Castle, a 4.3% fruity bitter and Flying Scotsman Mk 4, 5% with more body and more bitter. 

The other 2 were 'Harley's Dog's Dinner 97' (Harley is Richard's, the owner, dog, and 'Dog's Dinners' are mixes, generally using up ale left over following racking off brew lengths) Sleekit Beastie, a 4% slightly darker beer than usual, in that Farmer's Boy was one of the ingredients, and my favourite ale of the weekend, a 'Harley's Hop Special', Tornado, 4% as well, but much paler, dryer and more bitter with plenty of grapefruit aroma and flavour, and just £2.30 a pint, luvverly!   

Next blog, my journey home via London, cheers for now!

Brighton, and 2 new pubs for me, but should have been 3!

A visit to Brighton following St Jude's 'storm', and I attempted to go to the much heralded Craft Beer Company, however, despite the CAMRA Good Beer Guide stating their opening times as 12.00 every day, from this week (my life!) Monday to Wednesday, they will be opening at 3pm for the Autumn/Winter. Damn! So I wandered further down Upper North Street...

... and I revisited The Hampton, which changed hands early this year, so is missing from the 2014 Good Beer Guide, but it remains a fine establishment selling local real ales and some very interesting food, notably burgers extraordinaire! Had a long chat with one of the landlords, I believe, David, a Scot who left that country many years ago for the gentler climate of the south coast... Anyway, a real cider, sorry I missed the name, and 5 real ales, from the 6 handpumps.

Laine's Best (4%), more about later, Kings Poacher's Moon (4.1%), Dorking Number One, Pin Up Beers Red Head (4.2%), and the quite excellent Dark Star Art of Darkness (3.5%), yes, I've mentioned it before, and it is only 3.5%, but what a great light dark bitter with hops+++! So I had 2 pints of it, no Craft Beer Co, so extra time for me...

Then, off to The North Laine, Gloucester Place, a brewery in a pub... Among their ales were Laine's Best (4%), amusingly, brewed for Laine's by Kings (too high a demand for this ale apparently), and a stout, Black Rock (4.5%), Brighton Brau (5.2%), Summer Lovein (3.5%), and the two I tried... an attempt to compete with Fullers, I'd guess, ESB (4.8%), a not bad darker bitter, and India Pale Ale, a 5% nice pale bitter. You can order mini-kegs of their ales (9 pints, I believe) for less than £16, not a bad deal, email northlaine@drinkinbrighton.co.uk for more information. 

Round the corner in Trafalgar Street is The Prince George, a pub specialising in vegetarian food, and very good the food looks too! Also, another establishment selling local ales, served very ably, this day, by Claire. a friendly and knowledgeable lass, including Dark Star Partridge (4%), 1648 Laughing Frog (5.2%) and Festival 30 (3.8%), and the one I tried, Hepworth Sussex Traditional Pale Ale, a 3.5% pale bitter. This weekend, 31st October to 3rd November, they are holding a beer festival, with 6 ales from handpump, and another 6 on stillage by the bar; again, all local ales; go to their website for more information. 

Finally, one just has to stop at The Evening Star before catching the train home, only a few minutes walk from the station too. 3 ciders/perries, and 7 real ales, all served from handpumps, including Dark Star ales, being the brewery tap, despite the distance. I started off with the excellent Revelation (5.7%), already reported on, and full of flavour, plus they had Hophead (3.8%), American Pale Ale (APA, 4.7%), and The Original (5%). Also, from the Norwich-based Fat Cat brewery Wild Cat, a 5% "ultra hop monster", very nice, but could have done with a few more hops, IMHO, Loch Ness Dark Ness (4.5%), and a big 7% Bristol Rock from Art Brew, which had plenty of flavour, but again, could have done with more hops. Oh yes, and another 'green hopped' ale for me, Downlands Fulking Green Hop, 4.4%, pale-ish, not bad... 

Cheers, maybe the Craft one next time!

Congratulations to the South East Sussex Pub of the Year!



 

Congratulations to all at the Dolphin, Rock a Nore, Hastings, for winning the CAMRA South East Sussex 2013 Pub of the Year!

 

A good 'finger buffet' supplied by the landpersons, apparently, but the CAMRA peeps whacked it back very quickly, so no chance of a bite there for me! So, thank goodness I'd already eaten before coming down on Tuesday.  Anyway, a good night was had, and the ales included the usual 3 regulars, Hophead, Youngs Special and Sussex Best, also the seasonal regular, APA, and the returning Milk Street The Usual ( 4.4%) and, from my old employer up int' North, Sheffield, Kelham Island Easy Rider (4.4%).  Good stuff!

Nice to have another of my 'locals' win an award; the RAFA Club in Bexhill, and the Kelham Island Tavern, Cask & Cutler/Wellington and Fat Cat/Kelham Island Brewery, all in Sheffield, being previous winners of CAMRA awards...

I know how to pick my locals, indeed, cheers!

Part IV - 13th June, the drinking...

I soon came to realise, last Wednesday, that I really do miss Sheffield, certainly the ales, pubs and friends, not necessarily in that order... First to drink at...

The Wellington at Shalesmoor sells great ales, and they have their own brewhouse out the back Little Ale Cart brewery... Absolutely approved of their 4.3% Naworth Castle, pale, hoppy (7 different hops used), fruity, bitter, delicious! I also tried their 4% The Badsworth (6 different hops) and 5% Spion Kop (a mere 5 different hops used). No keg beers here at all, not even the better quality lager they used to sell, just 8 different real ales, only Millstone Baby Git (4%) a regular, and always including at least one dark ale, a stout or mild. Met up with my mate Rob here too, and chatted to Gary (barman) Gee (manager and brewer) and Richard (owner) - I do miss the place!

Rob and I then visited the Fat Cat, also the brewery tap for Kelham Island Brewery. Dave Wickett, the man behind the businesses, sadly died a couple of weeks ago, RIP Dave; but it's still a great pub.  Rob came down here with me and this is where we met up with Jeff and Bob. The Kelham Island Pale Rider is still good!  I tried their 5.5% Wild Rider too, but not as good as the Pale Rider, and apart from the usual Kelham Island ales and regular Landlord, there were 5 other guest beers on sale. Enjoyed one of their excellent pork pies, baked with their own ale in the recipe as well. Had a brief chat to Duncan (the manager), cheers mate!

Round the corner, to the Kelham Island Tavern, and back down to just Jeff and me now; what more can you say about this pub than it won CAMRA's NATIONAL pub of the year 2 years running, the first pub to ever do that, I believe, and Sheffield's pub of the year about 10 years running.  

Shouldn't have done this, as 13 ales on sale, but I drank Dark Star Hophead here, a crackin' ale, and it travels well; only drank it as an experiment - honest!

Before leaving the area we visited Shakespeares, another recently refurbished and reopened pub under new ownership. Still just Jeff and I, and up to 9 ales on sale here. They have one regular, Abbeydale Deception, but today I had Full Moon Brewery's Celestial Blonde, 4.3%, smooth and creamy with a bitter aftertaste, nice one, cheers!