Year: 2016

Sunfest is almost upon us once more! This year, not only is it our 20th birthday here at Abbeydale, but it’s also the tenth Sunfest… a double cause for celebration!

Sunfest X starts on Thursday 7th July at the Rising Sun, Fulwood Road, Sheffield, and runs until Sunday 10th July. Here’s what to expect by way of cask ales!

 

Abbeydale	Not Just Jam	4.1%
Abbeydale	Barrel Aged Black Mass	6.66%
Abbeydale	Hop Smash	7.4%
Abbeydale	Red Wit and Blue	4.6%
Abbeydale	Sipper	3.7%
Acorn	England’s Dreaming	4.5%
Alechemy	Line Breaker	5.0%
Alechemy	Bad Day At The Office	4.5%
Ashover	About Thyme	4.5%
Ayr Brewing Co	Hiphopopotamus	4.0%
Bad Co	Slow Rider	2.8%
Bad Seed	Summer Ale	3.8%
Bad Seed	Session IPA	4.0%
Barlow Brewery	Orange Is The New Black	5.0%
Black Iris	Dark Angel	4.5%
Black Metal	Will-O-The-Wisp	6.0%
Blue Bee	Amarella Pale	3.9%
Bollington	Eastern Nights	5.6%
Bournemouth Brew Co	Stouty McStoutface	4.3%
Bradford	Northern Soul	3.8%
Bradford	Solero MK2	4.2%
Brass Castle	Mint Royale	3.3%
Brass Castle	Moka	5.0%
Brewster’s	Brittania’s Brew	4.8%
Brown Cow	Over The Moon Gold	4.2%
Caveman Brewery	Neolithic	4.1%
Cerne Abbas	Gurt Stout	6.2%
Chantry	Teeming Gold	4.3%
Chin Chin	Chin Up	3.8%
Cromarty	Brewed Awakening	4.7%
Dancing Duck	Sapphire	4.2%
Dorset Brewing Co	Chesil	4.1%
Emmanuales	Glory, Glory Aleluia	5.1%
Exit 33	Ginger Daze	3.8%
Fallen	Chew Chew	6.0%
Fernandes	Butterscotch & Raisin	4.7%
Five Kingdoms	Bysbie Blonde	4.5%
Fixed Wheel	The Kaiser	5.0%
Fixed Wheel	Summer Smiles	4.8%
Flipside	The Euro	4.1%
Fool Hardy	Risky’s Ginger Sister	4.0%
Great Heck	Proverbs 31:6	6.0%
Hilltop	Raspberry Beret	4.7%
Hopcraft	Mate, Spawn & Die	5.4%
Hopcraft	Temple Of Love	3.8%
Hopjacker	Spanish Suspect	4.7%
Intrepid	Journeys #5 – NZPA	4.3%
Jaw Brew	Surf	4.3%
Kelburn	Goldihops	3.8%
Kelham Island	Imperial Stout	7.0%
Kingston Farm	Zummertime	3.9%
Lenton Lane	Outpost	4.5%
Little Critters	Rye Fox	4.3%
Lost Industry	Lizzie Ward EIPA	6.5%
Magpie	Five For Silver	3.9%
Martland Mill	Lancashire Loom	4.2%
Martland Mill	Bombers	4.4%
Merlin Brewing Co	Dragon Slayer	5.6%
Neepsend Brew Co	Astraeus	4.2%
Northern Monk	Heathen	7.2%
Northern Monk	Eternal	4.1%
Oakham	Enough Rope	4.3%
Oldershaw	Ultimate Goal	4.6%
Ossett	Sizzler	4.0%
Partners	Mungo Mild	4.4%
Pied Bull	Matador	5.0%
Pilot	Orange/Green	5.1%
Pot Belly	Crazy Daze	5.5%
Prospect	Ginger Stinger	4.4%
Rat	Iron Rat	4.8%
Rat	Ratsputin	7.4%
Raw	All Along The Herb Garden	3.9%
Raw	Gin & Tonic	3.8%
Redwillow	Weightless	4.2%
Revolutions	The Paris Match	4.5%
Revolutions	Rip It Up	4.5%
Riverhead	Honey Blonde	4.5%
Saltaire	Belgian Red	7.2%
Seven Bro7hers	Water Melon Wheat Beer	4.5%
Sheffield Brewery	Festivale	4.0%
Slightly Foxed	Fox Glove	4.3%
Steel City	Beleidigung Zur Geshichte	5.3%
Sunbeam Ales	Honey & Lavender	5.2%
Sunny Republic	Guardian Angel	4.0%
Swannay	Island Hopping	3.9%
Tarn 51	Par 4	4.0%
Tarn 51	About Time	4.8%
Titanic	They Think It’s Ale Over	4.5%
Toolmakers	Vardy’s Measure	3.8%
VOG	Dark Matter	4.4%
Waen	Bunny Boiler	4.2%
Waen	Lemon Drizzle	3.7%
Welbeck Abbey	Flying Start	4.2%
Windswept	Weizen	5.2%
XT / Animal	Sloth	4.6%
Yeovil Ales	Hop 125	4.2%

 

We’ve also got an extended keg selection available this year. Firstly, we are thrilled to be putting on a real showcase of our keg range…

 

Abbeydale	Heathen	4.1%
Abbeydale	Last Rites	11.0%
Abbeydale	Double Brimstone	8.1%
Abbeydale	Lady Ra Ra	4.5%
Abbeydale	Full Moon Lager	4.3%

As well as this, we’ve gone with a bit of an international flavour this year, here’s a taster of what’s to come…

Arbor	Basta Rosse	5.0%
Bad Seed/Mashtun & Meow	Mojito: Lime Gose	4.9%
Black Iris/True North	Morning Glory	5.0%
Blackjack	Belgian IPA	6.0%
Brew Age	Hopfenauflauf	5.4%
Buxton	Nth Cloud	8.2%
Dry & Bitter	Alone In The Dark	6.7%
Elgood’s	Coolship Ale	6.0%
Firestone Walker	Velvet Merlin	5.5%
Gypsy Inc	Pale Trail	4.7%
Gypsy Inc	Tipsy Gypsy	4.7%
Hardknott	Brownian Motion	4.5%
Pica (Magpie)	Oatmeal Stout	6.5%
Redwillow	Faithless 54	4.6%
To Ol	Sur Mosaic	6.0%
White Hag	Fionnabhair	5.0%
Yeastie Boys	Pot Kettle Black	6.0%

Last month we embarked on our very first run of bottled beers, and we chose the first of our special birthday beers Double Brimstone – 8.1%! So for a few weeks, the 150 bottles were conditioning nicely at the brewery, and when they were ready, we have sent them out into trade! Find below where will be stocking them so you can find yours!

The bottles are 750ml sharing bottles that have been bottled conditioned and wax sealed. Price will vary by outlet.

Sheffield

The Rising Sun
Devonshire Cat
Archer Road Beer Stop
Beer Central
The Dram Shop
Starmore Boss
Turner’s
Walkley Beer Co.

Outside of Sheffield

Beer Stop – Dronfield
Brew Cavern – Nottingham
Cotteridge Wines and Ales – Birmingham
Tall Boys Beer Market – Leeds
Three Stags Head – Wardlow Mires, Peak District. 

We would like to announce the newest permanent beer to our range. 

When we first started brewing keg beers early in 2014, we set about a series of one-off beers that were (imaginatively) named ‘Pale Ale #1′, ‘Pale Ale #2′ etc.  Our favourite recipe was ‘Pale Ale #6′, which formed the basis of Mosaic. The initial artwork for Mosaic was originally intended to be a stop gap and the long term plan had always been to rebrand the beer at some point.

So we set about upon a task of coming up with a new name for this wonderful beer.  We wanted something that was worthy of us shouting about, something that recognised our past, but also can help drive the image of the brewery forward in this ever changing industry.  We enlisted the talents of a new, young artist who is starting to create a name for his work, especially in relation to good beer, and I hope you agree he has done a fine job. We hope this is the start of a long working relationship between him and the brewery.

We present Abbeydale Brewery ‘Heathen – American Pale Ale’, with artwork by James D Murphy.  

Now in just it’s second year, Sheffield Beer Week has already firmly established itself as a key part of the events calendar, not just here at Abbeydale but across Sheffield and beyond. Co-ordinated by beer guru Jules Gray, who also runs bottle shop Hop Hideout, Sheffield Beer Week hosts events galore and is a real showcase of the breweries, pubs and other beery venues worth shouting about in our fine city.

Sheffield Beer Week also handily happens to be at the same time as the SIBA (Society of Independent Brewers) Beer X conference and festival, meaning that there are already hundreds if not thousands of beer lovers in the area and plenty of brewery folk around to both lead and attend events.

Here’s a little overview of what we’ve got going on…

Firstly, we’ve made a special collaboration beer in conjunction with beer bloggers Mashtun and Meow (mashtunandmeow.co.uk) and food and beer events duo Karma Citra (@KarmaCitra on twitter). “Wet Yer Whiskers” is a 5.5% unfiltered coffee white stout brewed with oats, lactose and cacao nibs. Look out for it popping up on bars across the city!

On Tuesday 15th March, our Office Manager Laura will be teaming up with Liz Casserly, our wonderful GM down at the Devonshire Cat, for a women’s networking event and tasting session. From 7pm, free entry.

Also on Tuesday 15th March, our Sales Director Dan and the beardiest of our brewers, Jim, will be hosting the online Craft Beer Hour from the Rising Sun on Fulwood Road. Expect tweets about the upcoming celebrations for the brewery’s 20th birthday, including our first foray into bottling. There’ll also be a competition to win a bottle from the very first batch! Join in on twitter using #craftbeerhour between 9 and 10pm, or if you’re in the area pop along and have a pint!

On Saturday afternoon (19th March) Liz at the Devonshire Cat is also hosting a tasting session featuring oodles of our beers, perfect if you haven’t had chance to try our whole range yet.

For more of what’s on during the week, a full list of events is available on the Sheffield Beer Week website, sheffieldbeerweek.co.uk.

Some of the Abbeydale team will be spending time at the Beer X conference (Dan’s even presenting a little speech!), and we’re having a big night out at the festival on the Friday too, so please do come and say hello if you spot us!

Brimstone is a beer that’s been with us for over a decade. An American hopped take on the classic English bitter, it’s become renowned for its robust, well balanced flavour and of course the horny goat-like devil in a pentacle pump clip. It’s a much loved beer here at the brewery and one that our brewers always enjoy creating.

However, there’s recently been a bit of a twist in Brimstone’s tale (or should that be tail?!). Many of you may be aware of the global hop crisis that’s going on at the moment. As a result, it’s becoming harder and harder to get our hands on certain hops. One of those most affected for us is Amarillo, the very backbone of our Brimstone brew. With such a distinctive character, we’ve had to have a major think about whether we want to allow our beloved Brimstone to quietly fade away as the hops diminish, or whether it’s best just to call it a day. Sadly, we’ve reached the difficult decision to lay this particular Beelzebub to rest.

BUT! This isn’t a beast that’s going to die quietly, oh no! The first of our limited edition birthday beers is to be DOUBLE BRIMSTONE… a 7.8% American brown ale, with a mammoth malt grist, outrageous hop quantities and a special new yeast strain.

We’re also thrilled to announce the winner of our competition to design the pump clip for Double Brimstone as Carl Flint. He’s managed to capture the spirit of our beloved beast and suitably soup it up. The “groovy red pentacle shades” really suit him, don’t ya think?! You can find out more about Carl and his work on his website, http://www.carlflint.com/.

In further exciting news, and an absolute first for us here at Abbeydale, we’re going to be releasing a limited run of Double Brimstone in bottles! We’ve decided on 750ml bottles to make them perfect for sharing. Look out for them at select local retailers and our pubs, the Devonshire Cat and the Rising Sun, in the spring.