The best pump clip ever?

Is this one of the best pump clips you've ever seen? It's certainly one of the biggest. The super-size artwork looms over the bar at The Riverside in Sheffield.
I'm told the Riverside Pale Ale clip was designed by one of the staff. It neatly captures the pub's proximity to the River Don in Kelham Island.
The grey heron on the clip can often be seen stalking prey from the pub's excellent beer garden or from nearby Lady's Bridge.
Art seems to be a key feature at The Riverside as a glance across the bridge reveals a massive Kraken mural on the brickwork below the beer garden.
There is also a Kraken Bitter, which I enjoyed a swift half of before leaving the Valley of Beer.
This pub is fairly new to me as I always seem to be drunk up by the time I reach it having started further up.
But I'm aiming to go back whenever we get a nice summer's day and spend a session here. I will report back.
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Valley of Beer part one

Today sees the start of A Swift One series on the "Valley of Beer".

We've been prompted to take a fresh look at Sheffield's vast delights after Shakespeares dethroned the Kelham island Tavern after nine years as the city's top pub.

The steel city is huge and it was difficult to know where to start. But after spotting the 53 beer bus near Sheffield station there was only one destination: Kelham Island.

I decided to begin the tour where it all started for me real ale wise (2005) in The Fat Cat.

I'm sure everyone has their particular favourite Sheffield pub, the two round the corner should be high up on anyone's list, but The Fat Cat is mine.  

Why do I like it so much? Perhaps it's the beer, the food, the staff or just nostalgia for the place where I discovered real ale.

On Saturday, when I visited, it was on top form. I went for a pale beer from Kelham Island Brewery called Sheffield Snog and a dark beer from Barlow Brewery. But I couldn't get near the Barlow clip because the popular snug bar was heaving.
I did manage to see a Revolutions on the bar and three ciders but couldn't make out the rest.
I adjourned to the spacious front room with my drinks. The Sheffield Snog was - excuse the pun - an easy drinking 'neckable' beer. I got the impression it was a limited run. The pump clip, designed by Kelham's regular artist Pete McKie, was attracting attention in the bar.
The unknown Barlow had a ruby tint to it and went down rather well with my ploughman's lunch.
My visit coincided with the first anniversary of the sad passing of Fat Cat co-founder Dave Wickett, who was a trailblazer for real ale in these parts.
A quick glance at The Fat Cat's website reveals a roll call of his achievements since taking over 'The Alma' with Bruce Bentley back in 1981.
The pub is a fitting legacy to his pioneering work.
I could have easily whiled away Saturday afternoon here but the siren's song of the Tavern and the Shakey was calling to me. All in the name of research!
To be continued...
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Take two: Bank Holiday Bonus

In my giddiness to upload the earlier piece on The Star's MMM post, I overlooked the fact the festival is also open on Bank Holiday Monday (May 27).

I've revised the original post (below) and have included a fresh quote about 'The hop test'. (Please scroll down)
Apologies for my earlier clumsiness. It's not often you get the chance to drink in The Star on a Monday. Make the most of it!

For completeness, the festival on Albert Street opens on Friday, May 24 at 5pm and continues Saturday, Sunday & Monday at 12 noon.
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Captain Gingerbead parades at Dewsbury beer fest which begins today

Flavoured beers may not be my blogging colleague's favourite  cup of tea but does he like infusions of gingerbread?

I came across Geeves Brewery's Captain Gingerbread wheat beer recently in Sheffield and loved it.

It had that subtle but distinctive taste of ginger rather than the overpowering "syrupy" flavours we've all had the misfortune to encounter.

I remember drinking a cherry flavoured beer in Slathwaite a few years back and to be polite, it was not for me.

But getting back to Geeves, their beer had lots going on it rather than just one taste.

I don't normally like ginger in  beer as a rule - notable exception Five Towns Peculiar Blue rhubarb and ginger ale - but the Geeves beer really hit the spot.

The tasting notes describe it as "A naturally hazy pale wheat beer infused with ginger. Spicy, refreshing and with a hint of citrus. This is a quirky take on a classic."

And I'm far from the only one who likes it as Captain Gingerbread won best specialty beer at Bradford CAMRA Festival 2013.

Rather than wax lyrical, I'll let the brewers, Pete and Harry Geeves, jointly describe their own beer: "Captain Gingerbread 4.3% is one of our most labour intensive brews, comprising of four different grains, three different hops and 6kg of root ginger, peeled and grated by hand and added at three different stages of the process. However, we think it's worth it!"

Now you can taste it for yourselves as Captain Gingerbread is on the beer list for Dewsbury Beer Festival, which begins today.

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Alchemy really is solid gold

Image: courtesy of Abbeydale

Every now and then I find a beer which perfectly fits my mood. This week, having taken my holidays on the windy and now rain-swept moors, I sought refuge in Wortley Club on the border between Barnsley and Sheffield.

On the bar - of this CAMRA award-winning club - was Abbeydale's Alchemy. As I ordered a pint, I was informed by someone who was drinking the beer that it was in tip-top condition and a "really refreshing pint". And how right he was. The perfect beer after a trudge on the moors. Not only did I like it but two other family members also gave it the thumbs up.

The 4.2% beer from Sheffield's Abbeydale Brewery is aptly described by them as a full flavoured pale and hoppy beer with "lots of fruit, especially citrus and some spiciness from the Amarillo hops. A refreshing bitter finish. Ideal for summer drinking".

So A Swift One contacted Abbeydale to compliment them on the beer and to find out a bit more about an ale I'd not come across before.
Sales manager and brewer Dan Baxter said: "Alchemy 4.2% is what we call semi-regular, whereby it features at least every year. Usually we have our regulars in our core range and brew a special every week.

"But beers like Alchemy we try and drop in every year because we love the hops that go in it and it seems to sell well every time. Then to get nice feedback only strengthens our justification."

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Do you ever look at the ceiling ?

When you are in the pub, do you ever take any notice of the ceiling ? No I thought not. Years ago all that one found on the ceiling of a pub was brown nicotine staining from years of constant tobacco abuse, so I suppose I shouldn't be surprised. But if you look up, sometime you are in for a real treat.

I must admit that my interest in pub ceilings actually started across the border in Manchester when I was sitting in the Crown & Kettle. Their ceiling was painted and interesting but because of a recent fire was covered with a net to prevent bits of it falling in customers beer. However, one room did have the original and very good it was too, it was just a bit awkward to see properly without laying on the floor which I think could be frowned upon.

I have been to several other places with interesting ceilings too, but in the north east they have become the rule rather than the exception. In Newcastle, The Bodega has a wonderful glass domed ceiling in the rear bar, worth visiting the pub just to see that. Likewise in the Union Rooms, but that is three storeys up. But that has set me off walking into a pub looking at the roof before I look at the bar, and it gets me some strange looks at times.

A visit to Edinburgh reinforced my enthusiasm. Almost every pub I visited, in fact since I only visited three, it was every pub I visited, had a fascinating ceiling. I know the ones I called in were historic but although I expected the wonderful wooden bars, and superb glasswork, I did not realise the work that had gone into the ornate ceilings. I wish I had taken photos but it was not until I reached 'The Guildford' how exceptional they were. The other two being The Abbotsford and The Cafe Royal if you want to check them out.

So, if you are out and about, or even in your local, take a look upwards, you may be surprised at what you've been missing.  

Things that should not go in beer - no4

It is not like me to rant, well not recently anyway, but my bete noire has reared its head again. Regular readers will know of my dislike of brewers putting things in beer that should not be there. Yesterday I came across another example, and one that addressed another of my pet hates, unhelpful pump clips. A double whammy !

One of the successful local breweries here is Three Kings, fairly local to me as well, and I occasionally come across the brewer, Ewan, in my local but he never warned me about this. When I saw their 'Shy PA', which was a new beer to me, a swift one was obviously in order. I never actually examined the clip in great detail, but after a mouthful I wished I had. There was something about the beer that tasted familiar, but out of place.

Another mouth full did little to solve the problem, but then, after checking the clip it was all revealed, and I was kicking myself for my useless sense of taste. It had coconut in it. And the more I tasted it, the more pronounced it became. The base beer was a light IPA style, and the two do not match. Maybe coconut in a dark stout works, but not in a light beer. It was a waste of a good IPA, and possibly of good coconut too.

And if some other brewer out there has a similar idea, can they make the pump clip flash and shout at me, so that I know what to expect. Not hide it away so I get eye strain

reading the small print.