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We are THRILLED to announce that for the third year in a row, our Black Mass is a champion, again winning a top class Gold award in the Speciality IPA category at the Society of Independent Brewers (SIBA) Regional Bottle & Can Awards!

A Gold award means that Black Mass scored over 90/100 and will go forward to the National Finals, due to be held in March next year.

Brewer Jim Rangeley (himself winner of Brewer of the Year!) says, “Black Mass has always been one of my favourite beers both to make and to drink, and it’s great to see that the judges agree! I’m looking forward to celebrating with a can of it.”

Part of our range for our entire 28 year history, Black Mass is one of the world’s first Black IPAs. A hop forward character coupled with delectable flavours reminiscent of bitter chocolate, fruitcake and raisins, meets aromas of fresh pine alongside coffee and just a hint of burnt toast – it’s classic and familiar yet simultaneously unique and boundary defying.

The SIBA Independent Beer Awards is the UK’s leading beer competition, which sees beers marked against internationally recognised style guides for the different beer award categories – looking at appearance, aroma, flavour, aftertaste and saleability. The awards are judged by beer sommeliers, experienced beer judges and fellow brewers too. The full list of winners from the North East region can be viewed here.

Cans of Black Mass are available now, direct from ourselves either online or in person, as well as from independent retailers nationwide.

Now that’s a Christmas present!

Cheers!

Team Abbeydale

Our deliciously thirst-quenching Sparkling Hop Water is a fantastic non-alcoholic option in it’s own right – spritzy, zesty, relaxing and refreshing. Infused with Nelson Sauvin hops, it’s clean and crisp with a delicious grape-esque character. However…

It also works brilliantly as a mixer! We’ve tried switching it instead of our usual tonic water in a classic G&T, which was delicious (we particularly recommend it with a garnish of lime), but we reckoned we could get even more creative and come up with something special – especially with the festive season well and truly in full swing!

So, we’ve handed over to the experts here and asked for a cocktail recommendation from the marvellous Cynthia at Locksley Distilling. Cynthia and the team REALLY know their stuff when it comes to flavour (we hugely recommend the monthly cocktail nights held at the distillery just down the road from us in Portland Works, Sheffield), so we were excited to get their thoughts on our Sparkling Hop Water. Here’s what Cynthia had to say…

“When we first tasted Abbeydale Brewery’s Sparkling Hop Water, our thoughts immediately turned to cocktails. The flavour is refreshing on its own, so we thought it would be the perfect mixer for one of our cocktails. The lovely herbal notes work incredibly well with our Raspberry and Cardamom gin. We tasked Elliott (gin school host and brand ambassador) with coming up with a cocktail and we think he nailed it!”

Abbeydale Raspberry Spritz

Ingredients (makes 1 cocktail):

• 40ml Locksley Distilling Real Raspberry and Cardamom Gin (available from their website here)
• 25-30ml simple syrup
• 20ml lime juice
• Sparkling Hop Water (Nelson Sauvin)
• Cucumber
• Mint

Method:

Muddle the mint and the cucumber along with the syrup and lime juice and add to a crystal rocks glass. Add a handful of ice cubes. Pour in your gin and give it a good stir, then top up with Sparkling Hop Water to taste. Enjoy!

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Have you tried our Sparkling Hop Water as a mixer to your favourite tipple? We’d love to hear of your experiments! We’re off to try a whisky highball next…

Cheers!

Team Abbeydale

It’s nearly time to get those presents unwrapped! But if you are the type of person that’s yet to finish off your Christmas shopping (and let’s face it, we’ve all been there!) read on for all the information you need to get your Abbeydale goodies in time for Christmas…

We will continue to ship orders received before 9am on Monday 23^rd December for both local and nationwide delivery, however we strongly recommend you place your order by midday on Thursday 19^th December to give our drivers and courier partners time to get to you before the big day! We’re aware they’re already very busy and experiencing delays in some areas of the country, so our advice would be the sooner the better – once it’s left us we’re afraid we can’t guarantee how long it will take for your parcel to reach you (although of course we’ll always do our best to help!).

Our onsite shop will be open all the way through until Christmas Eve, including on Saturdays, and of course we can offer collection of online shop orders too – check out our handy gift guide if you’re still looking for ideas for the beer fan in your life! 

Our opening hours are:

Mon 16^th-Weds 18th December: 12-5pm

Thurs 19^th-Fri 20^th: 12-6pm

Saturday 21^st: 12-4pm

Sunday 22^nd: CLOSED

Monday 23^rd: 12-5pm

Tues 24^th (Christmas Eve!): 9am-midday only

Christmas Day & Boxing Day: CLOSED

Friday 27^th: 12-4pm

Sat 28^th-Sun 29^th: CLOSED

Mon 30^th-Tues 31^st: 12-2pm

Weds 1^st January: CLOSED

Thurs 2^nd-Fri 3^rd: 1-4pm

Find us on Aizlewood Road, S8 0YX. 

Trade customers should contact the sales team ([email protected] or call 0114 2812712) for details of our deliveries over the festive period. Although our offices are fully closed on Christmas Day, Boxing Day and New Year’s Day, we’re working very hard around this to ensure nobody goes thirsty!

Wishing you a very merry time,

Team Abbeydale x

Our on-site shop is now open! As well as two massive fridges full of deliciously chilled beers, you can pick up full cases of cans which we’ll bring to you straight from our cold store. Christmas party coming up? We can sort you a full 72-pint cask along with everything you need to serve it. And we’ve got plenty of other goodies including a myriad of gift ideas! Head to our Christmas gift guide here for more.

In the run up to Christmas, we’re excited to let you know that we’re offering extended opening hours to help you get your Christmas shopping done with ease. From today (Monday 2^nd December) our opening hours will be:

Monday – Wednesday 12-5pm

Thursday & Friday 12-6pm – with the exception of Friday 13^th, when we’ll be closing at 3pm for the Team Abbeydale Xmas Do!

Saturday 7th, 14th and 21st December 12-4pm

Sunday 8^th December 12-4pm

And on Tuesday 24^th, Christmas Eve, we’ll be open from 9am-midday only so our team can get their own festivities underway.

Christmas Day & Boxing Day – CLOSED

The one off Sunday opening on 8^th December has been planned to co-incide with the Independent Abbeydale Christmas Market, so it’s the perfect opportunity to support local. We will also have local beer writer Dave Pickersgill with us on this day, who will be signing copies of his new Pub Heritage Walk booklet, a great read that would make an absolutely fantastic stocking filler!

For that funny in-between-Christmas-and-New-Year period when nobody knows what day it is, our opening hours will be limited to 12-4pm on Friday 27^th, and 12-2pm on Monday 30^th and Tuesday 31^st December. We’ll be closed on New Year’s Day.

Please do come down for a browse and a chat – we’d love to talk you through our brews! Of course our online shop is still operational too for delivery nationwide, and if you’d prefer to reserve your items online in advance you can collect your order from us at all of the hours listed above too.

You can find us on Aizlewood Road – S8 0YX, easily accessed from Abbeydale Road, just across from the fab Forge Bakehouse and Cole’s Corner. We hope to see you soon!

Next up in our series where you get to know Team Abbeydale (our co-owners!) a little better, we’re having a chat with our amazing Ethna! Ethna’s a long standing member of our sales team, our biggest proponent of stouts and porters, and the member of the team who makes the dreamiest cheesecakes. Over to Ethna!

What’s your name and where do you come from?

My name is Mrs Ethna Wild (cos I love being Mrs Wild!), originally from Sligo, Ireland, I lived in London for some years but now I’ve made Sheffield my forever home.

What is your role at Abbeydale Brewery?

I’ve been very fortunate to be part of the sales team for over 12 years – they don’t seem to have found me out yet! So most of my time is spent chatting to our wonderful customers.  My role also involves a little office management, cracking the whip, ensuring shared tasks get completed and we know who’s out and who’s in, that sort of thing!

What’s your favourite beer style and why?

Absolutely, completely, every time partial to a stout – the roastier and toastier the better!  One of my favourite Abbeydale beers will always be our Dark Chocolate and Raspberry Stout.  Created originally within the Signature Beers Series as “Born to be Wild” (yes mine), it really did just so impress me the way the brewers could take ingredients that I’d been playing with in my kitchen at home and create this absolutely cracking stout.  There’s a myriad of amazing stouts out there but this one will always be close to my heart.

What’s your favourite thing about working at Abbeydale Brewery?

When I decided I wanted a change from working as a QS in the construction industry, I couldn’t believe I’d actually landed a job at a brewery, a local independent brewery and in sales!  This should be a blast sort of thing! What completely blew me away and something that I very much consider to be a vital part of Abbeydale today is the complete and absolute dedication to Quality and Customer Service that is ingrained within this company. That’s what I love about working here.

Best place to enjoy a pint?

This is a hard one – but I’m going to say With Friends – if that’s not too gushy?? Couldn’t possibly narrow the choice down to one single pub, so I’m going to go with a fabulous memory, or a favourite memory of being in a pub!  And that was in the Hard Rock Café in Budapest. I was there for a long weekend with hubby, we just had the best weekend – fab apartment, fab weather, fab city and just the best time seeking out the Ruin bars. And that night in the Hard Rock was just the icing on the cake, the cocktails, the company, the music, the ambience, thinking about it now just makes me want to go back there!

Where did you have your first (legal!) pint?

Hmm, don’t really know this one… I wasn’t really bothered about drinking (once upon a time!!) so I came late to the party I think.  I’m going to blame the Drama Society at Galway ITC, so my first pint was probably in some random pub in the gorgeous city of Galway, most likely the Hole in the Wall.

Favourite snack to enjoy alongside a beer?

Without doubt has to be big fat chunky chips, with a good shake of big coarse ground salt. When you’re out hiking with hubby and pooch and you happen on a pub that does proper chips it’s just the best thing. 

Bacon and Scampi Fries are vile devils food – even pooch won’t eat them!

When you’re not selling beer, what do you like to get up to?

Thankfully, Lizzy, our 15 year old pooch has taken to her pram, so we’re still able to get off exploring when we go away – near enough monthly, in our touring caravan.

I also like to grow things, which I consider different to gardening! Germination, propagation, resurrecting a plant from death row – love all that, once it’s up and growing then someone else can take over!

Also recently took the plunge and started doing some wild swimming, just love the feeling of freedom that comes with it and mastering your fears/apprehension of the cold!!

Along with a weekly class, I endeavour to practice yoga daily, little 20/30mins sessions, I think it’s just so good for you, mentally and physically, and sincerely believe it would benefit so many people if they would just give it a go.

And my other favourite thing is being a member of Shine Choir. Just the best bunch of lassies and amongst all the chatter and laugher we do manage to get some practice/rehearsals in and then get to do fabulous shows all through the year including Tramlines Fringe Festival and just recently supporting Marie Curie at their charity collection in Sheffield Station, the feeling of empowerment doing that surprised us all.

Who’s your hero (beery or otherwise!)?

Another difficult one, but if hero is one who you’d like to emulate, who’s qualities you admire, then I’m going to go with my oh so inspiring niece. When life threw a curve ball in her chosen career, she just played with it, set a new course and earlier this year was awarded Young Entrepreneur of the Year.  Strong and independent, super intelligent, loving, caring and funny. And a rugby fan of course! Though so very very proud to be her Auntie, I do also like to think of us as being bessie friends.  She’s just cool, calm and collected our Rach!

And finally… If you were a cartoon character, who would it be?

Red from Fraggle Rock, hands down. Just loved her never ending enthusiasm, energy, empathy and positivity.  Red’s great – don’t think I’m quite as competitive as her though, but husband might disagree with that!

CHRISTMAS IS COMING! We’ve got a huge range of cans to choose from to fill your fridge ready for the festive season, as well as some ace gift ideas for that special someone.

First up, the clue is in the name with our beautiful gift boxes! We have a choice of these featuring 3 delicious beers and a glass, perfect for a Secret Santa present. Plus some deluxe options featuring our super limited edition 750ml bottles too which are ideal ways to celebrate – choose from deliciously robust Barley Wine Last Rites, our 2024 vintage Old Ale, and a selection of mixed fermentation Funk Dungeon beers created by Brewer of the Year Jim Rangeley.

In other gifting news, we’ve got plenty of lovely merchandise available. Take your pick from glassware and other goodies to make your home bar feel more like the real deal, to t-shirts, snuggly hoodies, and cosy hats. We’ve also just released tickets to brewery tours, taking place over 2 weekends in January, for those looking for a unique experience to give as a gift. And if you’re not sure what your recipient’s usual tipple is, there’s always the option of a voucher to allow them to choose for themselves.

Having a Christmas shindig? 9-pint minikegs of our beloved flagship pale ale Moonshine are now available to pre-order, and we also offer 72-pint casks of our core beers that come complete with everything you need for beer festival style service, simply perfect for parties and a real showpiece!

We can deliver to your door nationwide (full casks excluded, sorry!) or, for those local to us in Sheffield, you can also choose to pop in to the brewery to collect your beery treats or have a browse of our wares in person! Our onsite shop is open 12-5 weekdays for the rest of November. In the run up to Christmas, we’ll be open until 6pm on Thursdays and Fridays, PLUS 12-4 on Saturday 7^th, 14^th and 21^st December and on Sunday 8^th December, to coincide with the Independent Abbeydale Winter Festival.

Finally, for a little balance (or to ease those post-party sore heads!), we’ve got our refreshing, hydrating and delicious Sparkling Hop Water to add a sprinkle of alcohol free sparkle to the season.

Christmas is the season of giving, so we’d also like to give a shout out to our Charity of the Year, Sheffield & Rotherham Wildlife Trust. They have some great gift ideas and their 2025 calendar would make a wonderful present for any nature fan!

And don’t forget, if you’re still looking for the perfect spot for a Christmas get together, our lovely pub would love you to join them for a delicious meal and a few beers (other drinks are also available)! Get in touch with The Rising Sun for further information and to book.

Support local, support independent, enjoy the pub and have a very merry Christmas time!

Cheers,

Team Abbeydale x

It’s back! Our much acclaimed Old Ale went down an absolute treat last year, and we’re delighted to announce that the 2024 vintage is now available!

The history of old ale as a style is a long and complex one, just like the beers themselves – beginning around 400 years ago. Hops had just been introduced into the brewing repertoire of England – they’d been used in continental Europe since around the 9^th century, but prior to the 1600’s we were happy using yarrow, heather, mugwort and other such adjuncts. Hops, however, had several advantages – they were cheaper, grew relatively easily, and rendered beer much more stable. The extended shelf life which hops gave to beer meant that beer could be stored for long periods and aged, meaning that flavours would be allowed to develop over time, mellowing and melding to create something unique.

The beer would be brewed to a high gravity to achieve a high alcohol content, and stored in large casks or vats, emerging from these vessels as “stock”, “stale” or “old” – flat and entirely lacking in carbonation.  This would then be blended with “mild” or fresh beer before being served – the intense, oaky flavour of the old ale being rounded and enlivened by the addition of the more recently brewed, unaged beer.

So that’s what we’ve done for this year’s release! 50% 2023 Vintage and 50% freshly brewed in 2024. The result is a blend of two years of craftsmanship – rich, mellow and well balanced.  Bottled at 8% ABV, expect flavours of toffee, fruitcake and raisins, coupled with a light oak character and a subtle spiciness from the UK grown Fuggles and Olicana hops.  At the time of bottling, creamy vanillins and notes of rich caramel are evident, alongside a lingering warmth in the finish.  The perfect drink to sip beside a fireside on a cold winter night, or to act as a delectable accompaniment to a richly flavoured dish such as roast beef or lamb (dare we go so far to suggest it as the ideal pairing for your Christmas dinner?!)

The artwork, created by our designer James Murphy, pays homage to our history, featuring an illustration of Beauchief Abbey, the old ruins of which inspired our brewery logo. The map in the background shows the location of the abbey, and dates from the early 20^th century. And under the vintage you will see a leaf from one of the trees that can be found in the ancient woodland of Ladies’ Spring and Park Bank woods which surround the abbey grounds – for 2024, a rowan leaf has been selected, replacing 2023’s Sessile Oak.

Old Ale 2024 is available now, in cask, keg, and 750ml bottles designed for savouring and sharing. As with the 2023 release, half of this year’s brew has been blended in with the remainder of the batch left to quietly rest, ready to be blended back and form part of next year’s vintage. We also squirrelled away the last few cases of bottles from last year to make up some extra special gift packs featuring one of each to compare and contrast.

Inspired by heritage, made for today.

We’re excited to announce that we’ve opened an on site shop! After many years of our offering being online only, you can now pop down any weekday afternoon and buy your beer in person.

Our opening hours are midday-5pm Monday-Friday. As well as two massive fridges full of deliciously chilled beers, you can pick up full cases of cans which we’ll bring to you straight from our cold store. Party coming up? We can sort you a full 72-pint cask along with everything you need to serve it. And in addition we’ve got plenty of merchandise, glassware and other goodies for your home bar along with a myriad of gift ideas!

We also have special weekend openings planned for the run up to Christmas! On Saturday 7th, 14th and 21st December we will be open from 12-4, with an additional one off Sunday opening on 8th December, 12-4, to coincide with the Independent Abbeydale Winter Festival taking place in the neighbourhood, so it’s the perfect opportunity to support local.

For those of you that prefer to order online, our click and collect service remains unaffected (but with extended collection hours to mirror when our shop is open) and please note the offering in store will be the same as online, although we do have some in store exclusives to come! All beer is served on a strictly takeaway basis only – unfortunately we don’t have a taproom.

Please do come down for a browse and a chat – we’d love to talk you through our brews!

You can find us on Aizlewood Road – S8 0YX. We hope to see you soon!

HUGE NEWS! We’re incredibly excited to announce that Abbeydale Brewery is changing hands… and the new owners are all of the staff who make up Team Abbeydale!

Ever since brewery founder Patrick Morton started Abbeydale Brewery back in 1996, he knew he wanted to do things a little differently, and we’ve always been people powered at heart. But now that’s a legal reality, and entrenched into the very core of our existence as we become an Employee Ownership Trust (an EOT).

As we approach our 30-year anniversary, and with owners Pat and Sue beginning to look forward to a very well-earned retirement, they started to look towards how best to ensure the legacy and success the business has enjoyed over the past three decades could continue after they fully step back from their day-to-day responsibilities (which, we hasten to add, won’t be for a while yet… they’re still here!). And we’re thrilled that they’ve decided that the best long-term custodians for the business – encompassing both the brewery itself and our pub, The Rising Sun – are all of us, the people who’ve helped them to build it, together.

There are 57 members of staff in total who make up Team Abbeydale (split fairly evenly between the two sides of the business) and between us we have almost three centuries of experience here! Both the brewery and pub will now come under the new umbrella of Sheffield Beerworks EOT Ltd.

There’s no selling out to the big boys here – just an independent brewery and thriving community pub, renewing our commitment to independence through business succession and strengthening the legacy we’ve already worked so hard to build.

It’s leaving the business in the hands of those who know it best, as well as recognising the contribution our employees have made and continue to make. For us as employees, it means entrenching our stake in the business and a say in how things are run (a privilege we all enjoy informally already), as well as enhancing the sense of pride and empowerment we share, ensuring a strong understanding of who we are, our values, and how we’re going to use that knowledge to get to where we want to be.

The name we’ve democratically chosen for the new Trust, Sheffield Beerworks EOT Ltd, is a nod to our past – some of our longstanding customers may remember that our early beers, including all of the original Doctor Morton’s series, were released under the Beerworks brand – so it already has a connection to us. It seems like fate to be able to bring back something which was important to our history to now be a part of our future too.

To celebrate, look out for our special beer, Trust. It will launch at The Rising Sun on Monday, 14^th October and Sheffield Steel City Beer Festival on Wednesday, 16^th October, so please join us for a pint of it and have a chat with the team about what this means to us. This beer recipe was collectively voted for by all of Team Abbeydale – our new owners – and is a representation of what we think we do best. The “Big 3” hops from our core range, Willamette, Nelson Sauvin and Mosaic, in an easy drinking, sessionable, hazy pale ale with plenty of character. Combining our legacy with our future in a people-powered beer.

In terms of the day-to-day operations here, nothing will really change. It’s the same staff, doing the same things, just with the addition of also being co-owners! We’ve always known we’ve got something a little bit special going on here, and a distinct ethos that’s always put the team at the heart of everything we do. We’re hugely excited for this next chapter in Abbeydale Brewery’s story, and looking forward to having the opportunity to share in our continued growth.

Thank you to everyone who’s supported us over the past 28 years. We do hope you’ll come with us on the next exciting stage of our journey.

Cheers!

Team Abbeydale – Co-Owners of Abbeydale Brewery and The Rising Sun

First brewed on 29^th January 1997 and not seen since our silver anniversary three years ago, we’re THRILLED to announce that Last Rites is finally back, and it’s available now, in (very limited) cask, keg, and 750ml bottle!

One of our most iconic beers, our delicious barley wine has truly stood the test of time. Last Rites was originally created from the first runnings of our flagship pale ale, Moonshine. That very first brew almost 28 years ago therefore resulted in two beers (one each of Moonshine and Last Rites) – gyles 49a, and 49.1. We’ve never done things the simple way around here.

Last Rites is at heart a strong barley wine with tons of flavour. Our brewery founder and beery mastermind Patrick Morton originally set out to create a high gravity beer which somehow still managed to be eminently drinkable. Last Rites is just that – full of rich flavour to tease and satisfy the palate, an unusually smooth beer with tempting tones of caramel and a hint of roasted sugar. The bitterness from the hops keeps the sweetness in check and allows the full spectrum of flavours to reach the palate without becoming cloying. In keeping with the original recipe, this brew has been single hopped with Willamette (still the key hop in Moonshine too), for delicately spicy notes alongside hints of zesty lemon.

The brewday itself was relatively straightforward, but has the key challenge of enabling the conversion of sugars from our malted barley to ensure a highly fermentable wort, so that the beer can reach the desired strength of 11.0% ABV. To achieve this, Last Rites is mashed in at a lower temperature (63 rather than 68°C) and is fermented warm so as to not limit the yeast potential. We used an American ale yeast, which gets less stressed at higher alcohols and temperatures than our house culture. It took around three times as long to ferment than our beers usually do, requiring concentration, care and attention all the way through the process. The beer has also already had a longer conditioning period before packaging than is usual for us, and it will continue to age well.

First given a new look by our designer James Murphy in 2019, when it was re-imagined to bring it in line with our Brewers Emporium range, the 2024 release sees a refined update to the distinctive artwork, and the move to 750ml bottles gives it more a sense of occasion which we feel is befitting of this very special beer. A thoroughly delicious drink which has been brewed with every care for depth of flavour and true drinkability. Smooth and robust with a huge depth of flavour and a lingering finish, it’s one to truly savour and a beer we’re very proud of.