TONIGHT a group of real beer buffs in Sheffield will get down to some serious drinking. They are deciding the champion ales at the Steel City Beer Festival.
Chances are many of the winning beers will be local as almost half of the 90 or so real ales, ciders and perries will come from breweries within a 20-mile radius of the city.
This is the 34th beerfest and while Sheffield's is by no means one of the largest – Sheffield Campaign for Real Ale (CAMRA) spokesman Andrew Cullen puts it in a middle of the league table position – it is one of the longest running.
This year's venue, in two marquees at Cemetery Park, Montague Street (off Cemetery Road) is a new venture for the CAMRA branch.
It's normally held indoors. A bureaucratic muddle prevented it being at Endcliffe Park but the novelty of the site next to the General Cemetery (Sheffield's Abbeydale Brewery will be sending along barrels of Last Rites and Black Mass) should give the event new life.
"Our ultimate aim is to be the same size as Peterborough, the second biggest festival after the Great British Beer Festival, with 300 beers," says Andrew.
The city has six micro-breweries, Kelham Island, Sheffield Brewery Company, Crown, the infant Little Ale Cart and Brew Company as well as Abbeydale, with others in the area including Bradfield, Thornbridge and Wentworth.
The festival, CAMRA's biggest event of the year, is also a showcase for the breweries, particularly the smaller ones.
Sheffield has a good reputation with beer lovers. There's a "real ale trail" in the Lower Don Valley around Kelham Island and the city is a magnet for "tickers," people intent on drinking every real beer in the country.
Each year CAMRA members go on a pub crawl to find out how many different beers there are being served. One day this summer they found 184.
While the image of real beer drinkers is one of long hair, woolly sweaters and open-toed sandals the reality is often very different. "It's almost got to the point where real beer is the new wine. Gastro-pubs are becoming very popular and have beer lists to accompany the menu," says Andrew.
The festival runs from tomorrow until Saturday. Opening times: Thurs 5-11pm (entry £2); Fri 12-4.55pm (£2) and 5-11 (£3); Sat 12-11pm (£3). Students free Thursday.
What do you think? Add your comments below.
READ MOREMain news indexYour letters.
FeaturesMore Rotherham newsMore Doncaster newsMore Barnsley newsCheck out the very latest on South Yorkshire's roads - including live traffic cameras on Sheffield's commuter routes - with our Traffic sectionLatest sport. The full article contains 456 words and appears in Sheffield Star newspaper.
