Andy C Posted May 23, 2010 Share Posted May 23, 2010 From 28th to 31st May the Varsity on West Street is holding a real ale festival. Entry is free, they will be selling festival glasses and beer will be a reasonable £2 per pint. Beers 1-10 will be on festival bar (temporary stillage), beers 11-13 will be on the handpumps on the normal bar. The beer list: 1.Ennerdale Blonde 3.8 2.Ennerdale Darkest 4.2 3.Ennerdale Breeze 3.9 4.Ennerdale Spice 4.2 5.Kelham Island Pale Rider 5.2 6.Kelham Island Easy Rider 4.3 7.Kelham Island Best Bitter 3.8 8.Kelham Island Pride of Sheffield 4.0 9.Kelham Island Riders on the Storm 4.5 10.Kelham Island Ing-ger-land 4.0 11.Wells Young Bombardier Bitter 12.Greene King IPA 13.Black Sheep Bitter Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Meaks Posted May 23, 2010 Share Posted May 23, 2010 Varsity on West Street is holding a real ale festival. What a dreadful concept. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andy C Posted May 24, 2010 Author Share Posted May 24, 2010 What a dreadful concept. They should be supported for making the effort of putting decent beer on, try it, you may like it, and at least it will make a change from McSpoons. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GordonBennet Posted May 24, 2010 Share Posted May 24, 2010 What a dreadful concept. What a dreadful snob you sound. Real ale isn't just for middle aged men in grotty backstreet boozers, it's appealing to younger trendier drinkers now. As Andy C says we should applaud a mainstream bar like Varsity for trying to sell a quality product at a decent price to tempt people to try real ale for the first time. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CarlSheff Posted May 24, 2010 Share Posted May 24, 2010 What a dreadful snob you sound. Real ale isn't just for middle aged men in grotty backstreet boozers, it's appealing to younger trendier drinkers now.As Andy C says we should applaud a mainstream bar like Varsity for trying to sell a quality product at a decent price to tempt people to try real ale for the first time. Certainly is. I started drinking it a few weeks ago. I could do with some advice in how to be able to spot a real ale that i will like. If for example i drink lager which is rare i normally go for Fosters if i am down town. Other than that if i am out for a meal i like Cobra, Tsing Tao, Tiger is ok. Like i said i have had a few pints of real ale and its all pot luck what i am choosing at the minute any guidance on this would be much appreciated. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JenC Posted May 24, 2010 Share Posted May 24, 2010 Certainly is. I started drinking it a few weeks ago. I could do with some advice in how to be able to spot a real ale that i will like. If for example i drink lager which is rare i normally go for Fosters if i am down town. Other than that if i am out for a meal i like Cobra, Tsing Tao, Tiger is ok. Like i said i have had a few pints of real ale and its all pot luck what i am choosing at the minute any guidance on this would be much appreciated. A tried and tested method: sample as many as you can! (not all in one go, mind) I've been drinking real ale for about 3 or 4 years and I still try and choose different ones where possible. There's so much on offer, especially here in Sheffield, that I doubt you're only going to want to try a select few. Plus, you may end up sampling some ale you love that you wouldn't have otherwise gone for because you didn't think it'd be to your taste. If Varsity is somewhere you ordinarily go, get down and try what they have on offer during the festival. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andy C Posted May 29, 2010 Author Share Posted May 29, 2010 Certainly is. I started drinking it a few weeks ago. I could do with some advice in how to be able to spot a real ale that i will like. If for example i drink lager which is rare i normally go for Fosters if i am down town. Other than that if i am out for a meal i like Cobra, Tsing Tao, Tiger is ok. Like i said i have had a few pints of real ale and its all pot luck what i am choosing at the minute any guidance on this would be much appreciated. I would probably agree with Jen that experimentation is the best way, have a half of a few different beers and see what you like. Not everyones tastes work the same way so there isn't a simple rule but: Normally drink a session lager such as Carling: try the lower ABV pale ales or light bitters, for example Caledonian Deuchars, Bradfield Farmers Blonde, Kelham Island Easy Rider or Black Sheep Bitter may appeal to you. Normally drink an imported premium lager: Try a good IPA - look for one that is 5-6% and well hopped, example would be Thornbridge Jaipur IPA, Brew Company Hop Ripper or possibly Kelham Island Pale Rider might do the trick. Normally drink Guinness: Any stout should do, however there are quite a variety styles within the Stout genre, for example Bradfield Farmers Stout is what is known as a 'Milk Stout' which tastes creamy and smooth, you also have others which have a more roasty kind of taste such as Dark Star Espresso Stout and finally there are the really strong Imperial Russian style stouts like Thornbridge St Petersburg. Normally drink John Smiths Smooth: You'll be looking for a traditional brown, malty bitter. Abbeydale Brimstone is a good example of this - or of course there is John Smiths Cask Bitter. There other styles too of course such as milds (both dark and light), old ales, barley wines and porters, plus specialist beers such as wheat beers, fruit beers and honey beers that you never know you may like! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CarlSheff Posted June 2, 2010 Share Posted June 2, 2010 Thanks for both the replies and the info. I guess i will have to use the world cup as an excuse to try a few Real Ales. Cheers Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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