Month: November 2017

Just in time for the Christmas rush, we’ve taken delivery of a shiny new cask washer! Not only is it faster than our old equipment, increasing our packaging capabilities, but it’s more efficient, uses less water and safer chemicals, and is therefore more environmentally friendly too.

Yesterday a total of 112 brewer’s barrels of beer was racked into cask and keg – that’s the equivalent of a MASSIVE 32,256 pints and means our lads lifted approximately 21 tonnes of beer between them.

We’re soon to commission an equally shiny new keg washing and filling machine too, a much needed investment to increase our efficiencies and keep up with the growing demand for our delicious keg beer.

Safe to say our brewteam have definitely earned a pint this weekend!

Cheers!

Well that’s it folks, winter is most certainly on it’s way! Whilst we’re busily rustling up some seasonal brews to help get you through the colder months, here’s our pick of where to drink them in five great places around Sheffield to stay snug throughout Autumn and Winter…

The Rising Sun

Our very own pub, the Rising Sun, is the perfect venue for a delicious Sunday dinner or following a brisk and breezy walk out in the countryside. A real community pub, a warm welcome is guaranteed all year round, but in the colder months there’s also a roaring fire to warm your cockles around! 12 real ales are on offer, which always includes a great variety of our cask regulars and specials alike, plus lagers, ciders, keg beer and a carefully curated range of wines and spirits. Food is available all day, and the new seasonal menu focuses on hearty pub classics with a modern twist.

The Itchy Pig

A little gem of a micropub located in popular student area Broomhill. Landlord Ted and his team of lovely staff really know their stuff when it comes to beer, and this place prides itself on offering an ever-changing selection of keg and cask beer (very often including our seasonal specials!) as well as a cracking range of gins. As an aside, there’s also an excellent pork scratching selection (we recommend the Pig of Doom)!

(Photo credit: James Vanderhoven)

The Fat Cat

Run by our friends over at Kelham Island Brewery and widely regarded as one of the pioneers of Sheffield’s beer scene. Another pub with a proper fire, the snug side room is truly cosy and there’s always a lively atmosphere. We can recommend the Monday night quiz and curry too!

Three Stags Heads

Ok, so not strictly in Sheffield this one, but worth the drive out into the stunning Derbyshire countryside. The Stags was our very first customer back in 1996, and still showcases four of our ales, including their very own house brew Black Lurcher, a wonderfully warming, deep and roasty 7.0% stout. A totally unspoilt seventeenth century inn that’s packed full of traditional charm… just make sure your mobile phone stays firmly in your pocket!

Thor’s Tipi Bar

For their second year in Sheffield, Thor’s Tipi Bar will be open in the Peace Gardens from the 22nd November until NYE, bringing Viking inspired Christmas cheer (and plenty of beer) to the city centre. There’ll be a fire pit, fairy lights and furs (faux, of course!), with mulled wine and a hot chocolate station to provide that quintessential festive feeling! Large parties can book in advance now via Thor’s website.

(Photo Credit: Ben Hale Photography)

Over the past few months, you may have noticed that we’ve been releasing some rather intriguing and unexpected brews from our equally intriguingly named Funk Dungeon. Our brewer Jim is the brains behind much of what’s been going on in the slightly creepy space in our cellars, and he’s put this post together to give some insight into where we’re at with the project, with another post to come to let you know what to expect in the future.

A little introduction to the barrels themselves first. The majority of our oak stock is neutral in flavour. Exploring what each different barrel will lend to the end product is something we are excited to investigate as we continue to age our beers. The development of our secondary fermentation culture will be a big part of the project, highlighting healthy fermentation and great flavour. We will be learning as we go and working to repitch into other projects.

Our barrels are stored on racks created by a metal fabricator based just up the road from us. This has allowed us to increase our barrel quantity without taking up too much space. With Sheffield’s rich steel history, local industry is important to us, so we’re proud to have supported small business in this project too.

Anyway, on to the beers. Out in the wild (so to speak!) right now are…

Brett Tangerine Pale (7.3%)

We started off with two barriques of a pale, very lightly hopped wort, which was initially barrel fermented with Sacchromyces Bruxellensis Trois (recently reclassified from a Brettanomyces strain). In primary fermentation this produces a wonderfully orangey flavour. The fermentation took close to 40 days at 12°c, which is the ambient temperature in our cellar. As we sealed the barrels, a dose of Brett Lambicus was added for another 6 months before tasting again. The Brett has really worked it’s magic here and eaten up literally all of the sugar (the final gravity came out at 1000.67) leaving behind a beautifully dry beer. To finish, we dry hopped with Citra and added orange peel to enhance the fruity esters of the yeast as well as adding some sweetness to boost the body, before packaging into kegs. This beer is one of six we’ll be taking to the Eebria Taproom in London this Saturday 11^th November.

Methuselah 2 (8.1%)

For this one we took the first runnings of our core dark beer, Black Mass. It first went into a French oak barrel in August 2016, with the startings of our house culture of Brett and Lacto strains. After a couple of months this was split between a pair of American oak barrels to spread the culture, before being topped up with pre-fermented Black Lurcher (a 7% dark ale) and repitched with additional yeast blends from other barrel fermentation projects. 6 weeks prior to racking into cask, the beer was flavoured with vanilla, cocoa nibs and sour cherries to add some sweetness and round out the flavours better. The result is an 8.1% stout with the wild yeast apparent on the aroma and a fruity palate, where the barrel character has contributed well to the final flavour without any overpowering woodiness. The final pH has come out at 3.92 so whilst it’s not overly sour there’s a fresh tart nature that balances well with the oak character and stout backbone of the original brew. This beer made its first appearance on cask at Salford Independent Beer Festival and went down really well.

Cheers!