New craft beer bottle shop and tasting room, Hymn to Ninkasi, has opened in Little Kelham and has already had locals singing its praises for its diverse range of independent craft beers.
The new shop, which takes its unusual name from a song of praise to Ninkasi, the Sumerian goddess of beer, and an ancient recipe for brewing, can be found across from Domo restaurant and boasts huge fridges packed with around 180 different lines of unique and exciting independent brews from both Sheffield and across the globe.
As well as this mind-boggling range of bottles and cans, they also boast three rotating taps for drinking in, which will always offer the choice of a lager, a sessionable IPA and a third out-there sup, as well as a bespoke collection of small-batch local spirits and wine that can’t be found anywhere else in Sheffield.
The family-run passion project comes from brothers-in-law, Nathan Robinson and Andrew Rodgers, who are branching out from their usual areas of business to incorporate their shared love of craft beer.
Andrew told Exposed: “The UK beer scene has gone crackers, and Sheffield is a hub. They’re getting the product right and it looks awesome as well. Because of that, we’d been talking about doing something like this for three or four years and just before lockdown we started looking for premises.
“We were so confident that it was going to work that lockdown didn’t really bother us. It’s all about location, and we love Kelham. We wanted to be somewhere that has the right kind of vibe and this place has it. Craft beer and Kelham fit together nicely.”
Nathan added: “We’ve stuck to our principles. From the start we wanted north of 150 lines, we wanted quality and we wanted to go for the up and coming breweries. Everything in here is handpicked, and we’re supporting independent small batch breweries, who are doing cool stuff.
“I keep telling people that I know there’s no shit beer in these fridges. We’ve given people the challenge and they can’t find one. We knew there would be craft beer heads round here and even they are coming in, standing in front of the fridges, and finding stuff they haven’t seen before.
“Another part of the vision was that we wanted to pay respect to the beer, so everything is refrigerated, because that’s the right thing to do. A big part of the ethos is looking after the beer.”
With that in mind, the fridges take pride of place in the space, leaving room for a small bar area and tables able to accommodate 12 people for onsite drinks, as well as 12 people outside. Hymn to Ninkasi’s interior reflects the area’s industrial heritage and incorporates locally created steel and metalwork throughout.
Now that the space is up and running, the beer loving brothers-in-law are rightly proud of the venue they have created.
“We’re buzzing,” says Andrew, “It’s like all our dreams have come at once. We’re in, we’ve got great clientele who keep coming back. We’re really proud of the product, and we’re getting great feedback.”
Nathan added, “We’re getting compliments all the time, and who doesn’t like that?”
To pay your respects to Hymn to Ninkasi pop and see them in Little Kelham development from Wednesday to Sunday. In the meantime, go chuck them a like on Insta.
