This year, Sheffield stalwart Abbeydale Brewery celebrates its 30th anniversary. Last month, we headed to its home on Aizlewood Road, getting an up-close look at the brewing process before rounding things off with a pint at its latest venture, the Abbeydale Beerworks taproom. As someone who’s long been a fan of its output – whether cask, keg or can – it wasn’t a bad assignment to land.
But, as many seasoned beer lovers and pub-goers in the city will no doubt be aware, there’s a third string to the Abbeydale bow. Situated in leafy Fulwood, a few miles west of central Sheffield, the Rising Sun completes the hoppy holy trinity on offer, adding a bustling community pub to the mix. Naturally, we thought that if we were to have the full Abbeydale experience, we’d need to get ourselves out to S10 for a teatime visit – something only reinforced when we heard that Joe Grayson, formerly one half of the award-winning Juke & Loe restaurant, was now at the helm in the kitchen.
Abbeydale took over the Rising Sun in 2005, but its history as a public house on the same site stretches back to 1860. The building you see today dates back to the early 1900s, where according to research undertaken by local beer historians, an early newspaper report mentioned it being a popular teatime venue, particularly renowned for its Bovril, teas and meat sandwiches.
While hot mugs of beef and yeast extract are no longer on the menu, one thing has remained much the same: people flock here for the food. As Exposed arrives at 5pm on a weeknight, there’s already a good number of tables filled with diners and a distinct bustle to proceedings. A quick scan of the room and you can see the pub’s broad appeal. Groups of students mingle with old boys nursing pints of cask at the bar, families settle on the larger tables for a midweek meal, while those looking for a slightly elevated dining experience are shown to a separate, recently refurbed dining room to the right of the bar.
Sticking to our natural habitat, Exposed chooses a table in the bar side of the building, where GM of eight years Garry Raynes joins us for a chat. “It’s very much a community pub,” he says. “We’re really proud of the team we’ve got in and what we offer – from the food and drink to the events we put on, to the fact that we’re now employee-owned. A lot goes into making the experience a friendly one for our customers – a place they can feel instantly relaxed.”
Clearly, it’s working. The Rising Sun was named CAMRA Sheffield & District Pub of the Year in 2024, while Abbeydale picked up SIBA’s Employer of the Year award in 2025. The pub also currently holds the CAMRA Pub of the Year title for Sheffield West – recognition that suggests they’re getting plenty right. The beer offering certainly helps: across the bar there are 22 lines in total, including 11 handpulls pouring a mix of Abbeydale favourites, lagers, ciders, stouts and rotating guest beers.
There’s been a particularly exciting addition on the food side, with the arrival of Joe Grayson, formerly co-owner of the Michelin-recommended and much-missed Juke & Loe restaurant. The brief, Garry explains, was to give Joe room to bring some of that pedigree to the kitchen without losing sight of what people want from a pub meal. “We want to stick to a traditional food offering, but Joe has been able to put his stamp on the menu as well,” he says. “There’s things on there that can’t come off, like the burgers and the fish and chips – the stuff you expect to find. But everything’s been elevated towards the high standard he works at.”
Furnished with pints of Abbeydale OG Moonshine – when in Rome, etc – we placed our order. We started conventionally by sharing an award-winning Owen Taylor Huntsman pork pie – a handsome slab of well-seasoned pork and sage stuffing encased in golden pastry – alongside freshly baked focaccia that was light, chewy and ideal for tearing apart at the table. Veering slightly from the expected was a Korean-style skewer of corn-fed chicken, served with sharp pickled onions, a tasty lime and garlic mayo and fresh coriander. It was a neat snapshot of what had been described: recognisable pub food done well, with room around the edges for some fun.
Continuing that classic-versus-creative theme with the mains, my dining partner flew the culinary Union Jack with the ever-popular fish and chips – Cornish hake battered with the brewery’s Heresy Lager and nori seaweed, which arrived looking suitably resplendent and at home in its settings, served with healthy side portions of crayfish tartare, mushy peas and chips.
I opted for the cottage pie, which intriguingly swerved the usual minced beef filling in favour of confit duck leg and chorizo, topped with cheddar and onion mash and served with pickled red cabbage. Rich and comforting, the duck and chorizo chunks brought plenty of savoury depth, while the creamy, cheesy mash came with a perfectly crisped top – all in all, a winning spin on a pub classic.
There’s no skimping on portions here and, as such, we decided a shared dessert could just about be managed – and thank goodness greed got the better of us. The chocolate and Black Mass dark IPA cake was delicious: a dense, deeply chocolatey slab sitting in a pool of glossy brown sugar sauce, topped with a generous dollop of fresh clotted cream and a crisp tuile. It was just the ticket – combined with another round of Moonshines – to put us out for the count and round off the perfect pub tea.
If there’s one thing that sticks with me as we finish up for the night, it’s what an all-rounder the Rising Sun is. Perhaps local pubs have to be these days, in a world of supermarket beers, changing drinking habits and the rising costs of – well, everything. But more than that, it feels like the perfect bricks-and-mortar representative of a much-loved local brand entering its fourth decade – broad in appeal, proudly independent and respectful of its heritage, but still willing to experiment and improve the offer.
So, in less than two months, Exposed has ticked off visits to Abbeydale’s longstanding brewery, modern taproom and thriving community pub. 30 years into their story, they’re proving that the best things really do come in threes.
The Rising Sun,471 Fulwood Rd
Sheffield, S10 3QA – 0114 230 3855
risingsunsheffield.co.uk
@risingsunsheff
