Proud to be British

I've thought a lot about the types of beers we need to brew at Welbeck. Some kind publican friends, and many of the new bunch from the estate have given me some advice, but it's a bit tricky. Well, it's not tricky, but there are two different types of beer drinkers which I need to think about.

Think of the M1 running through South Yorkshire and North Notts - the brewery is just to the south of Worksop. The road is oddly placed and acts like a divide between the beer buffs in the West, and your good ol' bitter drinkers in the East. It means that I need to brew to both satisfy the wests insatiable appetite for new and quirky beers, and produce a regular beer which can out sell John Smiths extra smooth and all the other cream-flow, kegged beers in the club houses.

Whilst that may be a challenge, I have decided that it's a brilliant opportunity to revive a passion for good, old fashioned beers. There are so many pale ale producers in the micro brewery industry, which is great, but I don't want to be too focused on the North American and NZ hops and be lost as a little fish in big pond. A very small fish in a very small pond.

Hops are great, but so it malt. I've decided that the first brew is going to be of the pale ale ilk, really getting a huge hit of zesty hop aroma with Willamette and Cascade. I've decided this because it's a) what I'm used to brewing at Kelham, b) should be quite saleable in the real ale areas, and c) it's seasonal. Although it's blinkin' chilly at the minute. After this I want to brew a cracking beer using lots of lovely caramely, biscuity crystal malt for a sweeter base. To this I'll add some traditional British Fuggles and Goldings hops to match it with a smooth bitterness and earthy aroma. It'll probably be about 4%. It's going to be all British, fitting in with the locally produced. high quality ethos of Welbeck. Brilliant.

Any thoughts, let me know please.

The York

When I came to Sheffield as a wee excitable student in 2006, I passed a rather dingey looking yellow and black, 'Scream' pub in Broomhill. I remember it as a confusing and rather unpleasant place, with a terrible layout and horrid dark corners, peeling black paint work, and a pool table which seemed to take up most of the space. Being situated in the student Mecca for Sheffield Uni Freshers, surely this student pub, armed with it's super cheap spirits and nasty beer, couldn't go wrong?

It was awful, and most freshers quickly grew out of it. It eventually closed in about 2008. After a while it reopened as 'The Dove and Rainbow' which saw it reincarnated as a purple monstrosity, although it did have a good range of local ales on hand pull. Alas, neither the students nor the locals particularly took to this new place and it closed after a few months.

But wait! It has reopened for the third time after having lots of money spent on redevelopment by the new owners. It now belongs to a small groups of bars in Sheffield called the 'Forum Cafe Bars' - this includes some of the more upmarket places in town which the trendy kids frequent, like The Forum (didn't see that coming right?), the Old House, and The Common Room.

The York really fits into Broomhill perfectly, filling the gaping hole in the cafe/pub market for the older students, post graduates and 'Young Professionals'. It describes itself as a 'Victorian themed Cafe/Bar' and it has to be said that this fits the style incredibly accurately, in terms of decor, furniture, and food. Their website describes it perfectly...

The York's interior is an amalgamation of all three previous businesses with a modern and edgy twist. The walls are painted a rich dark blue with sections of heavy glazed green tiles both commonly used in the Victorian period. The pictures are a mix of gilt and wooden framed modern drawings and Darwin-esque style illustrations on actual Victorian newspaper. The heavy oak bar with canopy and hanging hops houses a huge array of divine wines, local and British hand pull ciders and ales including our very own porter and a whole host of wonderful spirits (the whiskey section is fabulous!).

They should not only be proud that the place looks incredible after not merely throwing money at it, but thoroughly soaking it through with giant buckets of cash, but it's good to see the thougt behind the theme isn't just cosmetic. The food is all seasonal and locally sourced, they have their own smokehouse at the back of the beer garden (I know!!), make their own breads jams and chutneys, and you can get real traditional Victorian English food with a modern twist, like scotch eggs and brawn.


The range of drinks on offer is fantastic, no matter what your taste is. Here's a quick run down...

• There is always a good range of local micro brewery ales on their 6 hand pulls, along with their own 'Anvil Porter' from The Brew Company which is well worth a try.
• Three ciders on hand pull
• A collection of some of the best continental beers you can imagine
• A good few premium lagers on draught
• An excellent selection of Whiskeys complete with a map to tell you all about them
• A huge list of wines from all over the world
• More cocktails than you can shake a twizzle stick at
• If you're a G&T fan, this place is heaven with a range of gins and tonics and the story behind the drink is explained.

During the day this pub is a busy cafe, serving pots of lose leaf teas in the traditional English way. They also have a selection of cakes and light lunches which makes this a perfect lunch time meeting place for their target audience - it probably wouldn't do anywhere near as well if it was just a pub-lunch type of venue.

To be honest, I could rave on, but I shan't. Even if the theme doesn't tickle your fancy, then at least go for the incredible range of drinks and excellent service which they come with. It's a bit 'yuppie', but that's what Broomhill needed, and it's always totally packed out which proves they've hit the nail right on the head.