Sheffield Pub News - September 2009

Organisers of CAMRA's 35th annual Steel City Beer & Cider festival in Sheffield, which takes place in Cemetery Park from 1st to 3rd October, have announced the line-up of entertainment to keep festival goers happy - just in case the choice of over 100 beers and over 30 ciders and perrys isn't enough!

Thursday night sees a couple of bands on stage. The Unfortunate Incident are a promising Sheffield band that play indie, punk, vountry and folk and have been getting a good reception at gigs across the north of England and have played on a number of specialist music radio shows. Their debut album is now out. The headline act is a local indie band who have been branded the most exciting and promising band in Sheffield, they are playing a secret gig for us, so we cannot say who they are until the night itself!

Friday afternoon is all about the beer. The brewer from both The Brew Company and Sheffield Brewery will be available at the bar serving their beer to answer any questions about their beer including what goes into it and how it is brewed.

Friday night sees The Unforgiven playing on stage. They are normally found in pubs and clubs playing covers of rock and blues songs, however they have agreed to put together a special set for the beer festival which has been described as a more acoustic style.

Saturday afternoon is, as every year, pub quiz time. As previous years, Rico and Duncan have set the questions for the quiz, which is being run to raise funds for the Cemetery Park Trust.

Saturday night the live music is rather more folkier, with festival favourites Treebeard back again this year to entertain us with their unique folky interpretations of popular songs along with some of their own material, played in a style described by the band as 'Heavy Wood'.

Throughout the festival the CAMRA Tombola will be in operation with beery prizes for anyone who pulls out a ticket with a '1' in.

The beer & cider festival opens at 5pm on Thursday and runs until Saturday. More information can be found at www.camra.org.uk/sheffield.

The list for the cider & perry bar has just been announced by organisers of this years Steel City Beer & Cider Festival, which is due to take place from the 1st to 3rd of October in Cemetery Park.

A choice of over 30 drinks will be available to keep apple and pear lovers happy.

Highlights in the list that drinkers will be keen to try include a number of ciders fermented in old rum, Rioja and spirit casks which give a bit of an infused flavour and also some ciders that were given the thumbs up by James May and Oz Clarke when featured on their drink of Britain TV show. There is also a cider that despite being produced fairly close-by in Nottinghamshire rarely makes it into pubs in Sheffield.

What all the ciders and perrys at the festival have in common are the fact they are all the genuine traditional product, made naturally from nothing more than fermented fruit juice. None of them are made from concentrate or have any ingredients that didn't really ought to be there, and none of them require serving with ice to hide nasty sulphurous flavours...

The sider & perry list can be found on the Steel City Beer & Cider Festival website. All will be subject to availability. An excellent range of around 100 real ales will also be available, along with bottled European beers and country wines.

For more about the Steel City Beer & Cider Festival visit the website at www.sheffieldcamra.co.uk/beerfestival.htm.

With the 35th annual Steel City Beer & Cider Festival fast approaching, local brewers have been turning their thoughts to the beers they will be supplying the festival with. Part of the beer range at the festival will be a 'LocAle' showcase, demonstrating the quality real ales brewed within our local area. Many of the breweries will be brewing or blending one-off special ales for the festival so visitors can try something new.

One of the locally brewed specials will be from The Brew Company. Pete Roberts, head brewer and co-owner, decided to take it further and invited Andrew Cullen, the chairman of the Sheffield & District branch of CAMRA down to the brewery to brew a special beer for the festival himself.

Whilst Andrew has visited many breweries, he hasn't actually ever done any brewing himself, so it will be a team effort with Andrew assisting Pete with the brewing. Says Andrew "Pete asked if I would like to come down to the brewery for the day and brew my own beer for the festival, and it sounded like a great opportunity. He asked me what sort of beer I fancy brewing and came up with an interesting recipe for me"

The beer should be dark and decadent. It is planned to brew a Imperial Stout-style beer, which involves various roast malts but with a few special extra ingredients not found in a typical stout - chocolate and raisins. Obviously the beer will take time to ferment, so to find out what the beer actually tastes like, drinkers will just have to come to the beer festival and try it. The Brew Company will be staffing their own bar at the festival, so drinkers wanting to know more about their beers can simply ask the person behind the bar!

The Steel City Beer & Cider Festival takes place in Cemetery Park from the 1st to the 3rd October and will feature around 100 different craft brewed real ales along with cider, perry, continental bottled beers, soft drinks, food and entertainment.

More information about the beer festival is available from the organiser, Dave Williams, on 07851998745.